Author Bio And Interview With Christopher Russel
Christopher Russel is a passionate reader and writer since young age. The 27-year-old mechanical and aerospace engineer reads from every genre, and loves to combine his knowledge and passion in his stories. He brings together magic and science, creating his unique fantasy from the expertise from his education and Christian faith. He lives in Virginia with his dog, who was named Vallen after the protagonist of Christopher's first work. Christopher published the e-book version of 'Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth' on June 2 and today, on September 22 is the release day of the trade paperback.
If you want to know more about Christopher Russel and his books, you can check and follow his social media and website.
https://www.christopherrussellauthor.com/
https://www.facebook.com/DivinitysTwilightBooks/?view_public_for=101421541236852
https://www.instagram.com/christopher_russell_author/
https://twitter.com/Chris_DT_author
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-russell-1386171b5/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ0d6wMwDP7LO1s4YnMz__g
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088PB6M5D
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/divinitys-twilight-christopher-russell/1135077167
https://bookshop.org/books/divinity-s-twilight-rebirth/9781642798876?aid=3914
https://www.bookdepository.com/Divinitys-Twilight-Christopher-Russell/9781642798876
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Christopher_Russell_Divinity_s_Twilight?id=hvbkDwAAQBAJ
https://www.waterstones.com/book/divinitys-twilight/christopher-russell/9781642798876
https://www.christopherrussellauthor.com/affiliate-purchase-links
The interview
1. First of all, I would like to congratulate to the release of your new book. Could you tell me about it?
Divinity's Twilight: Rebirth is the first entry in an expansive series that straddles the line between magic and science-fiction. Taking cues from Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and other seminal series, it seeks to age up classic themes and myths into a modern epic, creating a tale that is at once familiar and unique.
TEASER:
A world consumed by war . . .
An ancient evil resurrected . . .
A millennia old bargain comes due . . .
When two blades clash, the third will fall, and the fate of all will be jeopardized. To save Lozaria, the failures of the past must be atoned for by a new generation of heroes. The time has come for mortals to cast off sight and, in doing so, truly come to see . . .
Victory is never absolute.
Seven centuries ago, the forces of order won the Illyriite War on the plains of Har'muth. Darmatus and Rabban Aurelian slew their elder brother, Sarcon, the despotic architect of the conflict, then sacrificed themselves to banish the cataclysmic vortex opened with his dying breath. The first advent of the Oblivion Well was thwarted. Even without their vanished gods, the seven races of Lozaria proved themselves capable of safeguarding their world.
Or so the story goes.
The year is now 697 A.B.H (After the Battle of Har'muth). Though war itself remains much the same, the weapons with which it is waged have evolved. Airships bearing powerful cannons ply the skies, reducing the influence of mages and their spells. Long range communication has brought far flung regions of Lozaria closer than ever before. At the center of this technological revolution are the three Terran states of Darmatia, Rabban, and Sarconia, who have fought a near ceaseless campaign of 700 years in an attempt to best each other. The roots of their enmity lie buried beneath the wasteland of Har'muth, a place all three nations consider best forgotten.
However, an ancient power sealed within Har'muth has not forgotten them, and the descendants of those who fought on that field must now take a stand to rectify the mistakes of the past.
2. Is there any book, or author, who inspired your whole writing style, or topics?
Most fantasy writers are voracious readers, and therefore their influences can be counted in the number of books they have read. But even more than that, a tiny bit of everything I've read, seen, learned, or experienced has found its way into my writing - either consciously or unconsciously.
This answer is, of course, a pithy cop-out. My apologies to the interviewer; I shan't derail the conversation again.
Brian Jacques is the earliest fantasy author whose work I consumed. His anthropomorphic heroes and villains were delightful, his medieval world deep and storied, and his feasts a source of much salivation. I think my love of detailed prose grew from rereading his Redwall series over and over again.
Tolkien, practically required reading for any aspiring fantasy author, was my next stop. His brush strokes represent a manifesto on world-building, and I was more than happy to take notes.
I've also read almost every Star Wars book in existence. Grand Admiral Thrawn is my favorite character, Palpatine was working for the good of the galaxy, and the Jedi deserved to be cast down for their hubris. Okay. Only one of those is true, maybe one and a half. I'll let you sort out which.
However, the series that convinced me to write my own epic was Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It's not that his storytelling, formulated around humans who bore the traits of insect ancestors, did anything that hadn't been seen before. Rather, its execution of mundane concepts like espionage, technology, politics, military maneuvering, and other hallmarks of a fantasy war was outstanding. I won't spoil any specifics, but Tchaikovsky examines the consequences of innovations and extrapolates them out to every other aspect of society and culture - which is, in my opinion, the crux of fantastic world-building. Start small, change one thing, and figure out how it dominoes into every adjoining thread.
3. You have read books from every genre. Do you have any favourite, both for reading and creating a story?
Fantasy books are my favorite to both read and write. I write in order to indulge my creativity, and crafting whole worlds—geography, cultures, races, political hierarchies, mythology, weapons, social customs, history, etc.—is how I do so. In traditional fiction, you sculpt using pre-existing tools. In speculative fiction, you mold the clay yourself. Characters and plot are still the two most important elements of any story, but world-building is where the imagination of a writer is truly on display.
4. Magic and science. You bridge the gap between them in your story. However, if you should choose, which one would you prefer and why?
Magic. Despite my penchant for crafting hard magic and hard science systems, there's a special freedom to the arcane, an unexplained unknown beyond our understanding. What if we could shoot fireballs from our fingers? What if we could move objects with our minds? Fantasy is at its most wondrous when asking this question, and magic is most mesmerizing when it can't be rationalized. Allow your inner child to run wild, imagining all the possible abilities, places, and worlds that could be.
5. Writing a book is a lot of work, usually which part of it is the easiest and the most difficult for you?
I tend to have the least trouble writing action sequences, while revising and editing are more agonizing than running across a bed of flaming coals. The latter is a common belief among writers because we have difficulty "killing" our proverbial "darlings:" portions of the narrative that we think are vital but aren't helping the story. My method for overcoming this defense mechanism is to save all the sections I remove in a separate document. Certain ideas may not have been right for my current novel, but that doesn't mean I won't be able to use them in the future. Never permanently toss out anything you've written.
6. Your dog is named after your first book's protagonist, Vallen. Do you like using events from your life, or people, who you know, for your scenes and characters?
Very rarely. Exceptions to this rule include placing portions of my personality into characters, and broadly basing character quirks on the habits of family and friends. These include icy glares and a tendency to give too many compliments. However, all of my main characters take traits I possess to the extreme. I leave it up to you to discover which parts of me they embody and why.
7. When you create a whole universe with magic system, do you use any folklore, myth, or you figure out alone every small detail?
It depends. In Divinity's Twilight, I set out to make a unique world that collectively drew on everything I'd read, seen, or experienced. This knowledge includes a variety of cultures, religions, philosophies, and so on. Then, as a panster, I evaluate what would make each detail exciting or engaging along the way. If I think a tribal group would be a perfect addition to a desert oasis, I'll do research until I believe I can synthesize my own believable substitute without directly copying what already exists.
However, in a separate work in progress (WIP), I've directly imported the concepts of Yokai, ancestor worship, and samurai values from Japanese culture and mythology. This deviation is the result of attempting to tell a story with a specific flavor—one in which it would be counterintuitive to reinvent concepts people may or may not be familiar with.
8. If you should choose, do you have a personal favourite and least favourite from your own characters? If I ask no spoilers, why they?
Sylette Farkos is my personal favorite. Poised, determined, brash, and forthright, she's everything I'm not - which makes her a delight to pen. All the biting remarks I want to say but don't are placed in her mouth, and every dressing down I want to indulge in is delivered with her scathing wit. Yet while we're different on the outside, our calculating, logical natures are very similar. It's likely we'd get along terribly at first . . . at least until we had a detailed conversation and discovered our worldviews aren't so different.
Her opposite number, Vallen Metellus, is likely my least favorite. Traumatized by his past, he's fallen to lethargy, indolence, and disdain, mocking in others the traits missing in himself. Most of his frustrations are taken out on Matteo, a timid bookworm who shares a lot in common with myself at his age. I do cherish Vallen, and his arc throughout the series is going to be thrilling, but his initial persona is the antithesis of the person I want to be.
9. Today your new book is released. Do you have any new, or already ongoing project? If yes, could you tell some secret about it?
December 2020 - Gravitas short story releases in the IFA (Indie Fantasy Addicts) Authors Villain Anthology. A preview is available on my website (christopherrussellauthor.com) blog.
Secret: Magic is wielded through connections with artifacts. The more history, value, or importance and item possesses, the more power it grants its holder.
Early 2021 - Divinity's Twilight: Rebirth audiobook??????????
3rd or 4th quarter 2021 - Asian Fantasy standalone novel set in the same universe as Divinity's Twilight. The prologue is available on my website (christopherrussellauthor.com) blog.
Secret: The magic system is based on the principles of thermodynamics, a callback to the college class in which I first developed Divinity's Twilight.
4th quarter 2021, 1st quarter 2022 - 2nd Divinity's Twilight novel releases. Currently in beta-reading, after which I will make necessary revisions and send it to my editor.
Secret: Every Divinity's Twilight title will begin with an "R." Can you guess some of the upcoming entries?
Down the road - Divinity's Twilight is intended to be a TEN book series split into two arcs: one concluding after book six, and another beginning in book seven. There are countless mysteries, twists, and enigmas left to be uncovered . . .
10. If you could be anything in any fictional, or real universe, what would you be and where? And why?
Probably a Mistborn from Brandon Sanderson's world of Scadriel. The combination of their Allomantic abilities leaves very few gaps in the wielder's arsenal. Emotional, strength, telekinetic, sensory enhancive, and warding powers make Mistborn highly versatile fighters. Then, with all that might at my disposal, I could sit in my room writing novels without fear of coming to harm.
Yes. No matter what magic I'm invested with and regardless of where I am, I think being an author—a being who literally creates worlds for others to enjoy—is my true calling.
Thank you for your answers! And you, dear Reader, what would you ask from Christopher Russel? 🙃
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