An Interview with David R. Slayton

Hi David and welcome to Spells & Spaceships Blog! It’s great to have you here to celebrate this nautical themed, piratey reading event.

Tell us about your new book, Dark Moon, Shallow Sea. What are you hoping readers will love about it?

This is the dark fantasy of my heart. It’s got everything I love in the genre: dead gods and magic swords, monsters and ghosts, all in a world I hope you’ll long to explore.

How did writing Dark Moon, Shallow Sea compare to writing your Adam Binder series? Going by title alone, the book certainly appears to be a little different in tone than your previous work?

The biggest difference is that this is high fantasy and set in an original world, which is a real shift away from urban, which overlays our world. It’s less personal that way. For White Trash Warlock and the other Adam Binder books I drew a lot on my own experience. Raef, the main character in Dark Moon, is very different than Adam or me. We have less in common, but I came up with Raef and his story first, long before I conceived of Adam. I like to think of him as my firstborn. I’m glad I finally get to share his story with you.

With Dark Moon, Shallow Sea being labelled as a read for fans of Dark Souls, what similarities will fans of the series find here?

The vibe is similar. Dark Souls has a grim and shadowy mood. I feel like the world of Dark Moon, Shallow Sea, which is ghost-ridden and haunted after the moon’s murder, has that flavour, especially in the mist and mystery I’ve tried to evoke in the setting. The world is slowly dying without the moon. The tides have stopped, the nights are darker, and the ghosts of the dead no longer have a path to the underworld. They hang around, blood-hungry and desperate, rising at night in a mist called the Grief. The rare fire is the only thing that keeps them at bay. It’s not grimdark however. There are heroes, points of light, and sparks of hope.

What appeals about the sea to you as a setting?

It’s the great unknown in our own backyard. It’s vast and dangerous. We have no idea what’s really down there. We like to think that we can master it, but cannot. Travelling it was necessary for us to explore and know our world. It’s that way in Dark Moon, Shallow Sea – the sea is essential for trade and who controls the economics in the region and the flow of grain, which is a big issue in the world’s dying state. Since this book has a strong Greco-Roman influence I leaned into the ancient Greeks and theiir relationship with the sea, how drowning was a hated death and their limited knowledge of what lay behind the horizon.

Will we get to meet some pirates in your book!?

We do! I don’t want to spoil anything, but the pirate storyline is critical to the overall plot. I especially enjoyed the action scenes with the pirates.

What was the last book you read that you really loved?

Can I cheat and name two? Shaun David Hutchinson’s Before We Disappear and Helen Corcoran’s Daughter of Winter and Twilight. Both are great YA with magic and fantasy.

Do you have a favourite aquatic animal?

My partner will be so mad I didn’t say shark, but for me it’s dolphins. They are incredible and there are some amazing myths about them like when Dionysis was kidnapped by pirates and he turned them into dolphins.

Dark Moon, Shallow Sea may not be out until the end of October, but have you already started work on the sequels?

I have synopses and blurbs. I’ve outlined two more books if we’re lucky enough to sell them. It depends on how the first book sells honestly, but I promise that it’s a standalone. No cliffhangers since I don’t know yet if I’ll get to tell you more of the story. I have a bunch of cauldrons simmering, and don’t worry Adam Binder fans, those proposals include more Adam books as well as sequels to next year’s spin-off, Rogue Community College.

David Slayton can take 3 non-survival items on a desert island, with nothing but ocean for miles. What would you take with you?

The collected works of William Shakespeare, because if I only had one thing to read for who knows how long, I could dive into those plays again and again and still find new things. I’d also need a crate of paper and pens because even then I’d still have to write. Hopefully when rescued I’d have several more books for you all!

Thanks for much for joining me today David! Best of luck with the release of Dark Moon, Shallow Sea!

Thank you for having me and if anyone wants to follow my writing adventures, look me up at http://www.davidrslayton.com!

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