Interview with the Silver Tongued Prince- Sean Hayden

Today I have the joy of bringing you my great friend and fellow Echelon author, Sean Hayden. Please enjoy your read while you delve into the mischievous, devilish mind of my humorous friend. Ok, enough awesome adjectives. Though truly he is wonderfully talented author you must take note of. His first book Origins is coming out soon!

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? You do of course, need to tell us about The Duck. 🙂

Where to begin? I was born a poor…wait, wrong movie. It was a fall morning in the suburbs of Chicago when I first came into the world. My mother was a proofreader for the local newspaper, and my Dad was Fire Chief of the suburb we lived in. Deciding he didn’t like snow anymore, he moved us to Florida when I was ten. There I attended Catholic school until I graduated.

I’ve always loved reading and telling stories, but somehow ended up married with two children and ended up working in the cable tv industry. Not the fun end either. I splice fiberoptics by day, and write and edit novels at night. At least for now. Until my novels sell a billion copies and I end up purchasing my own tropical island with internet.

As for the duck, I have two children. Easter time came around and I found myself staring at a tub full of baby ducks in the local hardware store. Hmmmm, what a great Easter present for my children, I thought. I think the gods got a good chortle out of that one. Now the duck (one was eaten by turtles in our lake, don’t ask, very sad) hates everyone but me. My attack peeper.

When did you first start writing and when did you finish your first book?

I started about 2 years ago, wrote about 40,000 words, and then let it sit for about six months. After much butt kicking and coercion from those in my life, I wrote the second half in about a month. Then the fun began, finding an agent and publisher. I gave up on the agent but found a magnificent publisher who, get this, CARES ABOUT THEIR AUTHORS! I know right? Weird.

Anyway, the first book of mine, Origins, is due out in February and I have contracts for the sequel Deceptions, and another steampunk vampire short I wrote called Lady Dorn.

Where do you get your ideas? Do you ever experience writer’s block? Do you work with an outline, or just write?

Funny you ask about ideas. I had the pleasure of being hosted on J.R.Turner’s blog and did a post about inspiration. http://jr-turner.blogspot.com/ I take inspiration from all around me and play a game called “What If?”

Outline? What’s that? I write as I go. I don’t even make grocery lists.

Don’t tell anyone, but no. Writer’s block has never been a problem either. I just have a huge over-active imagination. It keeps me occupied when nobody’s around.

Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?

Do you have a few days? Writing a book is easy. Finding a publisher is like trying to teach Katy Perry how to sing. My book sat for a year before finding a publisher. I even almost fell for a few “Pay to have your book published” scams. It’s scary out there. I’m one of the lucky ones.

How do you market your work? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre?

Marketing. Sorry, didn’t mean to use foul language.

Marketing is a beast that can only be slain through perseverance and a hefty personality. It’s impossible to market yourself if you’re boring. Trust me, I’ve seen people try. What works best for me is the Twitter. I have made so many friends, made so many contacts, and learned so much about not only publishing, writing, and marketing from other authors.

All the social networks are invaluable marketing tools. Facebook, scribd, etc. They’re all out there, and it’s free. Blogs too are a necessity.

Can you tell us about your upcoming book?

Nope. It’s a surprise.

Just kidding. Vampires have always fascinated me. The thing that always bothered me is that there are SO many legends about them, their abilities, and their weaknesses. Origins explains all that.

The main character’s name is Ashlyn Rowan Thorn. She was born a vampire, and that fact alone made her believe she was something different, because everybody knows vampires aren’t born, they’re made.

While everybody knows in the world of Origins about vampires and werewolves and elves, nobody knows how they came to be, or why there are different species of vampire. The truth is every species is the product of either a demon and a human, or an angel and a human.

Ashlyn is the newest species of vampire, but doesn’t know her father is a powerful demon lord who has been ordered to destroy her to maintain the delicate balance that has been achieved. Another difference Ashlyn faces is the fact that she cannot live off the blood of humans, only other magical beings such as vampires and werewolves. She is a predator of predators. That ability gets her in trouble with the vampires where she lives, gets her enlisted with the supernatural division of the FBI, and puts her on a manhunt for the very vampire who wants her dead.

Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?

Sometimes, the people around me tell me I must be the offspring of a demon, but that’s about it. The rest is my imagination.

What project are you working on now? Will you have a new book coming out soon? Are there certain characters you would like to go back to, or is there a theme or idea you’d love to work with?

I finished the second novel of the Demonkin series, and there is sure to be more to follow. Deceptions is that second book and should be available around May of 2011.

Right now, I’ve shifted gears and am working on a YA novel called Soul Seeker. It’s about a character named Connor Sullivan, who gets his fondest wish for the hefty price of his soul. It is another tale of the struggle between angels and demons, who’s right and who’s wrong. In a vain attempt to save his soul, Connor wishes to be one of The Fallen. He gets his wish, but soon finds being one of the most hated creatures in the universe isn’t all it’s cracked up to be!

Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?

Never give up. As long as there’s a story to tell, there will be people who will want to hear it. The other thing is always listen to the advice of others, compare it to the advice given by others, and LISTEN TO YOUR EDITOR!

In an epic battle between good and evil who do you think would win? And which side would you join? 🙂

Evil. Way more fun.

Just kidding. I’m one of those people who will do whatever they can to help others. At the same time, I love causing trouble and being the biggest smartass you’ve ever met in your life. It helps me achieve balance. If an epic battle between good and evil ever broke out, I guess you could say, I’d wait and see who’s winning and then help the other side, just to keep it interesting.

Want to learn more?

Visit Sean’s website, his Demonkin site and most definitely check out his blog!

You can also follow his antics on Twitter and on Facebook.