Author Archives: Michael

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Matthew Ward Talks The Fire Within Them

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words author interview, where today I’m delighted to welcome back Matthew Ward, whose novel The Fire Within Them – book two in the Soulfire Saga – is out now! I’ve spoken to Matthew about his books multiple times (you can find them all here) and it’s always an intriguing experience, but this time I thought I’d take a slightly different approach. We covered the usual questions about The Fire Within Them, but the main focus of the interview involves the magical elements at the heart of the Soulfire Saga. Having read book one, The Darkness Before Them, I was fascinated by this setting and the magic at its core, so this seemed like the ideal opportunity to ask Matthew to tell us more!

Continue reading →

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Austin Grossman Talks Fight Me

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words author interview, where today I’m joined by Austin Grossman to talk about his brand new novel Fight Me, which is due out on the 23rd of May from Penguin Michael Joseph. A superhero story unlike any I’ve read before, Fight Me is a fascinating read, exploring unusual perspectives on heroes and villains, power and consequences, and I was thrilled to be able to chat to Austin and delve into some of the themes running throughout the book! So read on to find out more about the cast and themes of Fight Me, along with observations on the appeal of superhero stories, the nature of villains and heroes, the reasons for wanting super powers, and loads more!

Continue reading →

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Laura R. Samotin Talks The Sins On Their Bones

Thanks for visiting Track of Words, where today I’m delighted to present this exclusive interview with author Laura R. Samotin, discussing her debut novel The Sins On Their Bones (which is out now from Random House Canada)! I jumped at the chance to read this book and chat to Laura, after Genoveva Dimova included it in her ‘12 Debuts To Look Forward To In 2024’ post last December, and I’m so glad I did – it’s a fantastic read, set in a fascinating fantasy world full of dark magic and complex, wounded characters. There’s so much to talk about with this book, so keep reading to find out more about the characters, the magic, Laura’s writing process, and loads more.

Continue reading →

Behind the Scene: Exclusive Author Commentary on Fermi’s Progress by Chris Farnell

Hello and thanks for checking out this Behind the Scene post, where today I hope you’ll join me in welcoming author Chris Farnell – author of the Star Trek: Lower Decks Crew Handbook, among other things – who has kindly contributed an excerpt from his four-part science fiction novel Fermi’s Progress, along with an exclusive commentary discussing this scene. When Chris and I started talking about doing this post, it became clear pretty quickly that with a book about a spaceship that blows up every planet it visits, the only possible scene to choose would be the first time this happens! But fun as blowing up planets must be for a writer, there’s a lot that goes into making a scene like this work, and Chris digs into this really well in his commentary about the scene.

Continue reading →

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Chris and Jen Sugden Talk High Vaultage

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, this time double the value with two authors – Chris and Jen Sugden, talking about their new novel High Vaultage, which is out now from Gollancz! Set in the same world as their fantastic podcast Victoriocity, High Vaultage is a fun, genuinely funny blend of retrofuturism and historical science fiction set in a wildly inventive version of Victorian Britain complete with a sprawling London, oddly cheerful automatons, a vast horde of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s engineer followers, and an assassination-immune, mostly-machine Queen Victoria. Whether you’re a fan of Victoriocity or (like me) High Vaultage is your introduction to this wild new world, read on to find out more about how this novel came about, what it’s like writing a novel in the same world as a podcast, and loads more.

Continue reading →

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: James Logan Talks The Silverblood Promise

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words author interview, where today I’m very pleased to welcome James Logan to talk about his debut fantasy novel The Silverblood Promise, which is out now from Arcadia Books! Like many readers I love a good Epic Fantasy series, and The Silverblood Promise kicks off The Last Legacy in style – it has everything I want in this sort of story, and I absolutely loved it. Given that, I jumped at the chance to chat to James for this interview – so read on to find out all about this brilliant book from characters, world building and influences to magic, themes and the writing process.

Continue reading →

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: John Wiswell Talks Someone You Can Build A Nest In

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words author interview where today I’m delighted to welcome the excellent John Wiswell, to talk about his fascinating new novel Someone You Can Build A Nest In – which is out now from Arcadia Books (UK)/DAW Books (US). This really is an intriguing book packed full of talking points, and I roped in my good friend (and increasingly regular Track of Words contributor) Fabienne Schwizer to help narrow things down to a manageable number of questions. So read on to find out more about Someone You Can Build A Nest In, its brilliant cast of characters, some of the themes explored throughout the book, and plenty more – and prepare to really want to read this book!

Continue reading →

Writer and Editor: Can You Be Both? (Kate Golden Guest Post)

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post, where today I’m joined by Kate Golden, author of the Dawn of Onyx series, whose second novel A Promise of Peridot is out now via Arcadia Books. I’m always fascinated to hear from anyone who works across multiple writing-related disciplines, and in this case Kate is both a fantasy novelist and a TV and film executive. I was delighted when Kate agreed to write this guest post about the realities of balancing those two aspects of her life, and the end result is a fascinating piece about creativity, passion and the craft of writing. Whether you’re a reader or a writer, and whatever genre(s) you read, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did!

Continue reading →

RAPID FIRE: Victoria Hayward Talks Deathworlder

It’s been a while since my last Rapid Fire interview with a Black Library author, but I’m back with my first of 2024 and it’s a doozy – please welcome the fantastic Victoria Hayward to talk about her debut novel, Deathworlder! After several great 40k short stories, I’m sure I’m not the only reader who’s been looking forward to Victoria’s first novel (which goes up for pre-order from BL/GW tomorrow), and joining the ever-growing and consistently impressive range of Astra Militarum novels, Deathworlder promises to be a Catachan novel like no other. If you’re keen to find out more about what to expect, we’ve definitely got you covered with this interview.

Continue reading →