Mathew Bridle, Author YOUNG WARLOCK |
Mathew
Bridle has enjoyed reading fantasy since he was a child, so it is not
surprising that he writes fantasy. His new book YOUNG WARLOCK—with more to come—is
for young adults and, according to its author is “quite dark, some humorous—mostly
though, a romp through my imagination.”
As important, “It’s a story about learning to stand on your own two feet
in a world filled with danger and adventure.”
Bridle
is from the UK, has a wife and three children who occasionally allow him to
play xbox, and likes to make people laugh. His 3-word description of himself
is: balding, fat, and 50!
To
really understand him, however, don’t miss the excerpt from his newest novel
following this interview.
Q: Why do you
write fantasy? Why do you find this genre appealing? What first attracted you
to it?
Mathew Bridle: I have always
been drawn to fantasy, even as child. I was always reading the latest copy of
2000 A.D. or my brother’s Marvel comics. I just love the freedom of imagination
that fantasy has. My mind just runs riot, I see the worlds in my head as though
I was there, like walking through a prophet’s vision. I’m then compelled to
site and tell everyone about the wondrous things I’ve seen.
Q: Tell us about your most recent release, YOUNG WARLOCK. Who are your
intended readers?
Mathew Bridle: YOUNG WARLOCK
is for young adults. Some of the content is quite dark, some humorous—mostly
though, a romp through my imagination. It has taken a few years to get it into
shape and focus the story down to a few characters. Dekor, the young warlock in
question, causes an awful lot of problems for himself, not all deliberately. He
has to flee for his life and on that journey he begins to question himself
about who he is and what he will become. It’s a story about learning to stand
on your own two feet in a world filled with danger and adventure.
Q: When you write fantasy, how important
is believability? How do you create a world that readers will embrace?
Mathew Bridle: Believability
is crucial to me, even when I’m reading—if I cannot picture myself walking in
the world which someone has created then I think how can anyone else do it. I
like my characters to experience the good and the bad things in life. I want
the world to exist around them and I want a lot to be going on in the world at
large. I struggle with tightly focused stories where only a single character
gets to experience it all.
Q: Why do your
readers care about your characters?
Mathew Bridle: That’s tough
to say. I do not create friendly, flawless people. Sure, there are good ones
which I want you to like but I also want them to be real, so some part of their
make-up must be flawed, but not always in an obvious manner. YOUNG WARLOCK is
the beginning of a saga, so a lot of the content has to introduce future
players together with the workings of the world in which they all exist.
Q: What makes a good villain? How relevant
is the concept of hero vs villain in your books?
Mathew Bridle: A good
villain, to me, is one who loves what he does, is what is, and does not
necessarily need a reason. My bad guy, a half-troll-half-human warlock is doing
what he’s doing for a very simple reason which I’m not revealing here. He is a
cruel tyrant trapped in his own beliefs. He is however, not the only bad guy in
this part of the saga. I have a few devious characters who play a larger part
than first appears.
As
in real life, people change sides or allegiances, or just get bored and fancy a
change. Even good guys can be turned for a price.
Q: Do you write your books to deliver a
message to your readers? Or are you writing purely for entertainment?
Mathew Bridle: I suppose
there is message. Some early commentators thought there was one which is
pro-religion, but most just read it for the purpose which I wrote it for—to entertain,
to suspend reality.
Q: What made you want to be a writer?
Mathew Bridle: As a child, in
primary school, I was always writing. I am blessed with an overactive
imagination. I see stories in most everything I see and read. A tiny statement
or line in a song can become a novel or a story.
Q: What is your greatest strength as a
writer?
Mathew Bridle: I never run
out of ideas, just time.
Q: What’s next?
Mathew Bridle: Next, is the
sequel ‘Fire and Thorn’ I’m about 10 thousand words into it, though I have
written 300 thousand words of future story line, so I have plenty more to come.
Q: Tell us about Mathew Bridle. What do you like to do when you’re not
writing?
Mathew Bridle: I was recently
asked to describe myself in 3 words: balding, fat and 50! I’m a bit on the
crazy side always trying to get a laugh out of everything. I work at a day
centre for adults with learning disabilities. I have three children and have
been married for 18 years. I like to read; I’m currently reading The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan;
plenty of action in that one. I play xbox with my kids (when they let me) and
watch as many movies as I can fit in, the last one being the new Wolverine
movie.
About Mathew
Bridle
Mathew
Bridle was born in Horsham, West Sussex in 1963 where he spent the first 35
years of his life. Educated in state school, he barely scraped an ‘O’ level in
English. He has tried his hand at many things even running his own graphic and
web design company for 15 years until he had enough of not being paid. Now he
works with adults with learning disabilities near his home in Crawley, just a
few miles from his birthplace.
Over
the years Mathew has written a handful novels, The Rising, Lagoon, 3 Phaze and Emun of Mor all of which are available free in ebook from most
major book sites. Over the past three years there have been over 20 thousand
downloads of his books. He is pleased with the general response to his early
work acknowledging the fact that they are generally quite poorly written to
which he responds ‘I left in their original state because it shows how I have
developed as a writer. I am not at all worried how they are perceived so long
as people enjoy reading them. I will leave them as they are’
He
is currently working on the direct sequel to YOUNG WARLOCK, Fire and Thorn
which follows the progress of Dekor as he embarks on a quest in the unchartered
territory of Salzear and the lost troll tribes.
About YOUNG WARLOCK
Compelled
by his lust for the flame the young warlock is driven on a trail of
destruction. Running from those he once trusted, he befriends a tattlejack,
Icthus, whose gift of extracting the truth could become his greatest strength.
Now all he needs to do is defeat his lust and prove his worth to all those who
doubt him, including the young girl who is carrying his child. Only the old
priest believes the boy, Dekor, to be something more than just another warlock.
The
dogs of war are gathering. The undead seek allies among the enemy horde in the
north in their bid to rout the mages, break the control of the Council of
Twelve and take the land for themselves. Together the goblins and the undead
set out to scourge the lands of Alzear of all who stand in their way.
The
pieces of the prophecy are slowly cohering. The gods have chosen their warriors
and the people have chosen their gods. War is coming, a war whose like we have
never seen. The fate of an entire people may rest in the hands of a headstrong
young man and his unborn child.
Excerpt
"Very dangerous," chirped a voice,
startling Dekor who jumped to his feet. "Most dangerous indeed. Ice works
best in water, not fire."
"Who are you?" Dekor asked the
green-skinned creature hunched in front of him. Its claws dug into the soft
earth as it leaned closer to sniff him.
"Icthus. Who are you?" The creature
shuffled nearer, water dripping from his smooth skin, reaching out to poke at
Dekor's torn cloak.
"I am Dekor, from Mor."
"More what?" Icthus brushed his
skin with his long, spindly fingers. Blinking twice, his thick eyelids left a
fresh coating of mucus over his bulbous eyes. His long pink, forked tongue
flicked in and out of his broad mouth tasting the air.
"Mor is a place, a country." Dekor
paused, twisting the toe of his boot into the soft earth, "My home."
"On the run, are we?" Icthus padded
around Dekor, surveying his island.
"Wh... what makes you suggest
that?" Dekor's words tumbled over his tongue. Icthus picked up a stick and began poking
about in the soft soil. The spines on his back rose and fell with his
breathing.
Pulling a worm from the ground, Icthus
responded, "You have no bags, no food, no weapons." He walked around
Dekor checking his pockets and clothing.
Dekor shrugged. "Yes, I am on the
run." I have done some wrong things, some by accident, others not."
Screwing up his face as Icthus flicked out
his tongue snatching the fat worm from his own hand, Dekor shuddered.
"No one will find you here. No one comes
here." Icthus walked back to his small hut made of sticks whose walls were
splattered with handfuls of thick black mud. "Come in if you like, nothing
will harm you here."
They walked over to the small hut which stood
on the shore of a large open expanse of water.
"Does the marsh end here? As far as I
can see there is more marshland to the east while a dark shadow obscures the
horizon to the north. Everywhere else, there are swamps.”
"Wall that way, cliffs that way,"
Icthus replied nonchalantly hopping up onto the veranda of his home.
Dekor followed him inside.
"What?" he asked, looking at
Dekor's puzzled face.
"Nothing, your house is much larger than
I expected it to be." Dekor's eyes roamed around the hut taking in the
neatness of everything.
Icthus responded, "I might be small, but
my home does not have to be." Tipping his head to one side, he looked Dekor
over from head to toe.
"Yes?"
"Where are you going in such a fine
robe?" queried Icthus, reaching out to feel the fabric, "Exquisite is
it not?"
"Yes, but not originally mine."
Dekor wished he could stop blurting out the truth. It was becoming an irritating
habit. Icthus looked at him, smiling.
"Problem with your tongue?" Icthus'
smile broadened until his mouth had consumed the larger part of his face.
Dekor's mouth became a thin line. "You
know what is happening? How do you know?"
Author and Purchase Links
Purchase Links
E-Book version
Paperback version
Author Links
Twitter:
@mathewbridle
Many thanks for the interview Joyce, anytime you want to stretch your legs and guest feel free to come on over to my site.
ReplyDeleteAll the best.