Interview with Damien Francis, Author of The Tome of Haren
Hello Damien and thank you for taking the time to do an interview! To kick things off, what is your book pitch for those who haven’t read it?
Of course! Let’s see how this goes!
The Tome of Haren is an Epic Dark Fantasy. Following an orphan and a group of champions, they must race against a group of deadly mercenaries to retrieve a book of magic with knowledge of all things. They must traverse a violent world filled with horrors in the deep darkness, terrifying creatures, and a city of the undead.
Except the young orphan is also told he is to become the next great hero, a Keeper. Nothing can prepare him for what he must face, and he will never be the same again.
If you enjoy an epic story in the likes of Tolkien, Deltora Quest, and Rangers Apprentice, mixed with the horrors of Stephen King and H.P Lovecraft, and the violence and action of a Matthew Reilly novel, with multiple complex characters, magic, political intrigue, spirits, tons of fantasy, and even a dragon!
Then don’t miss out on The Tome of Haren!
What were some of your main inspirations for The Tome of Haren?
A lot of the inspirations came from all the fantasy books I read growing up, and wanting to tell my own version as well as pay some kind of respect to the stories that had come before me and paved the way. So the main inspirations for The Tome of Haren came from my childhood reading which would probably include The Lord of the Rings, Rowan of Rin, Deltora Quest, Chronicles of Narnia, Rangers Apprentice, The Belgariadand The Inheritance Cycle would be the big ones.
As I got older other inspirations came along and not just fantasy which helped flesh the world and story and even writing out. These would include Harry Potter, The Night Angel Trilogy, Game of Thrones, anything horror by Stephen King, Lee Child and the Jack Reacher series, Matthew Reilly and his action novels, Patrick Rothfuss,H.P. Lovecraft, Robert Ludlum amidst a myriad of other novels. They all played some part in inspiring me. And my inspirations continue to this day. I’m certain if I was to be asked this again in like 5 years, I would have more series to add to my ‘inspirations’ as it doesn’t really stop for me.
To follow up with the first question, how do you handle moments when it’s difficult to find inspiration?
I have a few strategies in place to assist in re-inspiring me again.
Firstly, I try to sit down and write every day even if I’m not in the mood. The habit of writing even when I don’t feel it helps to keep things ticking over and when that spark of inspiration hits, it usually happens when I’m in the zone of writing and not elsewhere. Sometimes I don’t always have time to sit and write, work and life takes up time also.
To keep the inspiration mind ticking over I often read as much as I can and read widely from a variety of genres. The more I read, the more I read different stuff, continues to help inspire me.
When it’s really difficult to find inspiration, I sometimes recognise that I need to take a rest and let my mind stop and my thoughts drift away. After a brief rest I usually find myself recharged to go again. And that could take anywhere from a day to a week.
Has there been an instance where real-life events have inspired your writing?
That’s a tough one. While I look into and examine the broader parts of history, like war, societies, cultures to help create the world and elements of the story I have,it’s a little harder to narrow it down to specific real-life events that directly influenced my own writing.
I think that there are probably moments in my life that did inspire me to write, or to come up with a scene that reflects something I have seen or experienced, but global real-life events are harder to pin down.
Out of all your books characters you can pick two to be your battle buddies. All the remaining characters are banded together and ready to fight you. Who are you picking to assist you in the fight and why?
That’s pretty tough, cause there’s some pretty powerful characters who get ignored if I don’t choose wisely. But:
First pick off the rank is the mighty dragon of the Vale of Onofor, Akath. If he was against me and my other battle buddies, we would have no chance of winning. And to combat the rest of the problems I would choose the spiritual entity, Ca-Hielm. Basically, two nigh unstoppable creatures/beings. One for the physical world, one for the spiritual. There’s no stopping them if they teamed up.
If the rules are more main/side characters then it would be cool to have a team of Cailad and Horrin. Physical and magical team that would be able to handle a decent number of threats.
Or even Kaine and Meros, again that tag-team of physical and magical. Kaine and his just sheer determination to survive and plan, and Meros with such powerful magical abilities. But I want to win/survive so I gotta pick the two most powerful and stick with Akath and Ca-Hielm.
I am very fond of many of your unique characters in The Tome of Haren, some of which stayed with me even after I finished the book. Without any spoilers, will a certain ancient and white scaled creature be making another appearance?
I had a good long laugh at this question. The answer to your question is yes (hahahaha) he will return. He has some…interesting parts to play as the series progresses.
He will not be returning for the second novel. But don’t feel too bad. When he does show up again it will be important.
Which of your characters do you relate to the most and why?
I think there are a couple of characters I relate to but different parts of them. Aeidor and I are alike in some sense, a certain kind of hopeful outlook in the world, a desire to stand up and do the right thing even when it might mean you get hurt, a compassion for others.However, he’s not a complete replication of myself.
I think Iacor is someone else I relate to a lot. His sense of duty, his service to his fellow companions, his leadership qualities, his sacrifice. Iacor finds himself making hard decisions and I relate to that a lot. You make a choice and it ends poorly, but you have to stick to it because you have a responsibility to do so.
I think if there was a closer example to actually myself, it would probably be Sirrish. He’s very outgoing, dedicated to his profession, warm and friendly, considerate of others. I’d say there’s lots in Sirrish I can see in myself.
I think I can relate to most of them in some way shape or form.
What are you reading right now?
Right now I just finished reading The Rest to the Gods by Joshua Walker. A decent novella introduction into his series “The Song of the Sleepers”. I’m keen to see the next book in the series “An Exile of Water & Gold”.
Currently I’ve got like a few books on my slow creeping read. They include: Liberation by R.M Krogamn (I think it made it into SPFBOX this year), A King’s Radiance by L.R. Schulz (fellow Aussie author, an interesting read so far), The Beast Hunters: Dark Sovereign by Christer Lende (I loved book 1 and am enjoying this sequel immensely), Skeleton Crew by Stephen King (lots of good short stories, definitely some creepy ones) and a few others I’ve dived into like the first few chapters and will get back to again.
I’m powering through The Deep by Nick Cutter. It’s such a wild horror novel and definitely not what I was expecting. In fact I think I can safely say that The Deep is helping get me out of my reading slump.
Any advice, tips, or pointers for new and aspiring writers working on their first book?
I’ll probably say the same stuff everyone else is saying, but I’ll add a couple of extra things in the mix too. Pretty much if you’re a new or aspiring writer, then you need to write lots. I recommend the same time every day, whatever works for you. Just sit and write for a bit. Start the goal small and let it grow naturally as you improve. Write, write, write. Don’t wait for inspiration to hit and only then write, or nothing will get done. You might have heard this before, but it is the most important advice I can give right now.
I would encourage you to read, read, read too. Read widely, outside the genre, inside the genre, and everything in between. The more you read the more you have to draw on. Reading also helps you develop what styles you like and how characters are developed. Reading and Writing are the best combination to improve your own writing skills.
A few things some people miss are the tried-and-true stuff. Make sure it has a beginning, middle, and end.
Character arcs are important too.
Make your action short and snappy.
Internal and external conflict are important for character growth.
Antagonists need to be compelling. They can be wholly evil, or completely justified or somewhere in between, but make them equally interesting.
I think something that’s important as well is being able to edit your own work. A few tips here include printing what you have read and reading it out loud to yourself or other people, like you’re giving a speech. Often this is a great way to find those big or small mistakes.
The other way to edit your own work I utilise is to print it out and then read through it like it’s a book but have a nice bright red pen handy and carve the book up. Take out poor sentences, chunks of paragraphs, repeated words and anything else you find that doesn’t fit quite right.
Something I really wish I had learnt more about growing up and getting closer to finishing that first book was understanding the publishing industry. So I encourage you to research and understand everything that needs to be done. Because the publishing side is equally important. Look for editors, cover designers, look at how other authors market themselves.
Writing is only part of the process. Releasing a finished product to people is equally important, sometimes more so depending on the circumstances.
I also recommend starting some social media accounts before you finish your draft. Just start small, because by the time you reach that finished draft your audience will have grown. And when you reveal a cover, it will have grown a little more. And when you have a completed novel, there will be a group of people very invested in reading this story they’ve been following for some time.
My last tip, cause I think I’ve taken up wayyyy too much space here is you need to have thick skin. What do I mean by this? Well people are going to read your work. There will be some who love it. They will praise it to the highest heavens about its quality. These people are wonderful, a diamond in the rough, (I’m speaking about you Kristen).
There will be people who enjoyed it. They had a good time, connected with the characters and story, they’re excited to read more, but they won’t think about it all the time and might not even talk to others about it.
There will be apathetic readers. They will shrug their shoulders, recognise the good and the bad and continue on their way and might come back to read more if you did something that kept them mildly interested. You will need to temper your expectations. Of course, not everyone can love or like it. No book in the history of the world has been all things to all readers. It’s impossible. And accept that you won’t be the one to break that rule.There will always be one reader who didn’t like it for some reason.
Then there are people who dislike or hate it. These people will critique your work and by extension you. This is where you need to have a thick skin. You need to accept that they have found flaws, they haven’t enjoyed it, something didn’t work for them, or they hated it. It’s going to suck to begin with. You’ll feel a little upset, maybe frustrated, or angry. You’ll tell yourself that your book couldn’t possibly be that bad.
You’ll go through all the stages of grief. It happens. You need to be able to accept it and move on. If you dwell on it, you will fall into despair. If you attack it then it will bite back again. Don’t do either of those things. Instead, let those stages of grief wash over you, but don’t act on them. Then when you arrive at acceptance, recognise that there isn’t anything you can do to change their mind. Don’t focus on them anymore. There’s someone else out there waiting to read your book and enjoy it and they don’t even know it.
Don’t quit because you’re too hard on yourself or someone says something you disagree with about the quality of your work. Keep going! You’ve already done something not many others have done. You’ve written a book! Just remember to keep that thick skin. It’s a tough world and you’ve got to be prepared for the inevitability of critique or harsh opinions.
I know you have been keeping me in the loop, but for the rest of the community- What’s next for Damien Francis?
That’s a big question. Everything that’s next is aiming for 2025. The plan is for 2024 to be a writing year and 2025 to be a release year. I’m currently working on re-releasing The Tome of Haren next year. Followed hopefully by book 2 a few months after and then the prequel novel I’ve got in the works for a few months after that. The hope is to have them all done and ready sometime this year and release them next year. We’ll see how it goes as these plans often get derailed sometimes.
Lastly, anything you wish to leave with the audience? Where to buy your book? Upcoming authors events? Lifelong advice?
I guess what I want to leave with the audience is if anything you’ve heard or read about my book interests you I’d love for you to take a leap of faith and give it a chance!
I’m also recently part of the group the Secret Scribes! I recommend to anyone giving the other authors in this group a look and a read!
They are:
This is part of a current book tour, so I recommend checking out the other stops along the tour and see what they have to say! (Hopefully good things!)
You can also purchase my books from Amazon as well! If anyone wants a signed copy feel free to reach out!
I don’t have much lifelong advice. I haven’t lived long enough (hahahaha). Maybe keep reading and keep writing!
Also as the Ravens say in my novel “Many Trees for Many Seasons”
Thank you so much Kristen for this wonderful interview!
Damien is an Australian author living in Canberra. He has had a love and passion for writing, reading, and telling stories since he discovered the joy of escaping into fantastical worlds from a young age.
He considers his faith, family and friends to be the most important things in the world and strives hard to honour all three.
When he’s not writing, he can be found enjoying a wide variety of film, television shows, music, and video games.
