Book Hookup had the pleasure of sitting down
with Author Hawkings Austin, a published author in history, science, and fantasy. Of his works, I've read the The Broken Man: A Fantasy Novel (The Rise
of the Fisher King Book 1) and look forward to The Bone God (The Rise of the Fisher King Book 2). Hawk is currently Director of Radiation Effects
for a spacecraft company, but he’s had a number of other careers including:
survivability engineer (DoD) and environmental scientist (NASA). He has also been a fight instructor for both self-defense and stage which brings his fight scenes to life. You can find him on twitter @sablehawkBook. Here's what he had to say:
BH: When did you
consider yourself a writer? You know what I mean? The time when you realized
that you crossed the line from 'want to be a writer' to 'I am a writer'.
Hawk: So, I tried
writing when I was 12 and it didn’t appeal to me. Of course, I was only working
on a typewriter and it was a hundred degrees in the back room. I tried real
hard for about two days, then gave up.
I liked being a
storyteller, and I would say that I stuck with that for close on to 30 years.
I’ve always had a story around the campfire, or bedtime, or anything. Even now,
if you stopped me and asked for a story, I’d probably whip out “Serpent of
Connemara,” or “King Peter at the Pass.” I love telling stories.
I had a period of …
underemployment … back in 2012 and my wife suggested that I write a book. She
picked one of my stories, the Waylaid Ghost Story, and I got to writing. Some
years later, it became The Broken Man.
BH: Do you feel you
have more than one voice in your writing?
Hawk: Absolutely. I
love the jokey – break the 4th wall – fun voice. However, I haven’t
actually written a full book in that voice. (Trolls, upcoming someday) I also
do serious 3rd person omniscient which has its own flavor. Frankly,
I love to find characters who have a voice worth sharing. Then I write in their
voices. Purity’s books are basically written by her. I just channel it.
BH: What kept you
writing while getting rejection letters or struggling with writer's block?
Hawk: That’s tough. I really hate criticism and rejection. On the other
hand, I really don’t get too much of that. Baen keeps rejecting me. A couple
agents have rejected me, but usually my editor steers me to someone who’d like
my writing and then they publish it.
I do have a secret for writer’s block. Do an outline. (Not while you have
the block, silly, but early on in the novel.) Then, if you can’t do anything on
chapter 5, you can skip over to 13 and re-read your work. Then…you’ll just
start adding to it. Block gone.
BH: Do you use
certain tricks that help prevent you from straying from your goal?
Hawk: My wife is a tough boss. When I’m working for her, I’m on target
every day. (I don’t want to get fired, ya know? I’ve got a lot of goals, not
just writing, so I’ve got a list of tasks that have to get done. Yeah, make
lists, get ‘er done.
BH: How did you come
to set this goal?
Hawk: For writing, my
goals are fairly generous. I just want to tell a story. So I usually look at
each month and see how much story I can get written.
BH: Tell me about any
workshops you offer?
Hawk: Currently I’m
not offering any writing workshops. I’ve thought about it in the past and I
really don’t know what I bring to the table. I do teach sword fighting on a
weekly basis, so I’m happy to talk about that with anyone.
BH: What inspired you
to write The Broken Man?
Hawk: So, I used to
play a lot of D&D, and Waylaid was born in one of those games. I also do a
lot of historical research. I’ve been digging into ancient religions and the
fall of civilization back in 1300 BC for years.
The story started as
a bedtime story with my son Nick. Waylaid, Piju, Brea, and Keynan came out of
these long stories. I had a few of them, and Nick always asked questions. Piju
has more than a bit of Nick in him. Piju, through Nick, has wandered long in
the lands of Pywer. When I decided to write this
all down, I was surprised at how huge the world had become.
BH: How long will we
wait for the next book?
Bone God is the
sequel to Broken Man. I have hopes to get Serpent King out in 2023.
How do you develop
your plots and characters? Do you use any set formula?
Plots are easy. I
find a “bad guy” and figure out how he/she wins. Then, I reel back time to …
well… that part is secret … and then I set the heroes the task of stopping
him…if they can even figure out what is going on.
Some characters are
easy. Some aren’t. A quick story:
I was stuck on a
scene, and I couldn’t get Waylaid to seem real. I went to the gym, had a hard
work out, then sat in the sauna for a while. After about 15 minutes, Waylaid
came and sat down with me. He laid out the explanation for himself that I put
into his conversation with Brea. (30 minutes in the sauna taking notes. I
didn’t die.) After that, he has been in my head. He doesn’t care to talk to me
(thankfully) but I write the finale waiting on him to decide what to do.
How do you come up
with ideas for your writings and why do you feel you choose some over others?
I can’t stop having
ideas about writing. I have a dozen of them written down at any one moment. As
for which one I work on next? Well, I ask my wife. I can’t make up my mind.
How much time do you
devote to marketing your book and what kind of marketing do you recommend?
Yeah, I got nuthin’.
I know nothing about marketing. I talk about my books, I try to get people to
buy my books, and … I’ve got no marketing technique that works.
What are your current
projects?
I’ve got Castle Brave heading off to Tuscany Bay. I’ve got Court Human on
my laptop trying to get edited. I’ve got Serpent King in pieces all over my
computer. I’ve got the outline for a Space Opera and a non-fiction about
survivability.
Where do you hope to
take your writing in the future?
I just want to get my
stories in print. I don’t have enough hours in the day to write them all. I
don’t have enough hours left in my life to run out my supply of stories. I’ll
just keep typing, hoping to do better with each book.
What dreams have been
realized as a result of your writing? Any special memories that you would like
to share...please, oh, please?
So, this is kind of funny. I love Dragon Con. It’s a Convention in
Atlanta for 70,000 of my favorite weirdos. I do panels on Science, Space,
Fantasy Writing, Fighting, History, Survivability… in any case
I’m sitting on a panel with John Ringo and we’re arguing about “hit
points.” I’m against and he’s for.
He says, “I’ve friends who’ve taken a bullet in the lung and fought. So
they have high hit points.
I am about to contradict him, then I realize I’ve fought with a broken
rib. “Yeah,” I said. “You win that one.”
Another time, I was sitting on a panel with Peter Beagle. I know, me, on
a panel with HIM. I really wanted to crawl back into the audience when he
introduced himself. (Last Unicorn, lifetime grandmaster, etc.)
Look, I can’t tell you I did or said or learned anything, except that
that man knew how to tell a story. He GRIPPED the audience when he opened his
mouth. He had timing for comedy or tragedy with every word and hit every beat.
I want to tell stories that well.
You can think that you’re at the top of your craft on one day, and then
you meet a true master and realize that you’ve got miles to go.
How do your friends
and family feel about your writing venture in general?
My mother wishes I
wrote literature. She doesn’t like fantasy or sci fi. My dad wishes I’d finish
Serpent King. (He’s my biggest fan.) My wife thinks my plots are too
complicated, and my sons wish I’d quit murdering them. My dogs are pretty happy
when I’m writing, I stay put in my office and they can lay on my feet.
What do you do to
unwind and relax?
I love watching bad
anime, reading good novels, and drinking beer. Honestly, my best relaxation is
fighting. I’ve been doing martial arts for over 40 years. I just go kill some
people, and I feel all better inside. (Yes, everyone lives through my
murders…maybe a couple new bruises, but alive.)
If you had to do it
over again, would you do anything differently?
Maybe I’d learn marketing, but it sounds boring. I have the greatest
difficulty in doing anything boring.
What advice would you
give to writers just starting out?
Tell good stories.
That is the only thing that matters.
* * * *
Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a
participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate
advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking
to amazon.com and affiliate sites.