Interview with Daniel Meyer, Author of The Sam Adams Series
Hey Daniel, thanks for doing this interview! To get things started, wanna give a quick pitch for your books, as well as some comparables & some inspirations?
Absolutely; I’m the author of the Sam Adams novels; books one and two, Credible Threats and Rising Shadows, are out now and book three, Mysterious Ways is tentatively slated for later this year. The Sam Adams books are a fast-paced, action-packed urban fantasy series about teenage wizard, Sam Adams.
In book one, Sam’s city of Williamsport is polarized between the haves and the have-nots, and into that volatile mix comes Hex, a designer drug giving ordinary humans magical powers that leaves a trail of bodies in its wake. With Williamsport about to go up in flames, Sam is the only one with the skills to save the day, and he unravels a conspiracy much darker than anything he ever imagined. In Rising Shadows, we have to deal with the fallout from everything that happened in the first book, which includes having to solve a murder mystery while tracking a necromancer.
I think good jumping off points would be The Dresden Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I was also influenced by the slam-bang action, humor, and underdog protagonists of Die Hard, Lethal Weapon and Indiana Jones.
If you could run an anthology with 10 authors–dead or alive– who would you choose? What would the theme be?
Okay, this may be the coolest question I’ve ever been asked in an interview.
Well, I’d have to resurrect Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write another Brigadier Gerard story, and Robert E. Howard for another Conan story (or maybe another Dark Agnes story, since he abandoned that series just when it was getting started).
I’d also want to see Bernard Cornwell take on a fantasy story, and Giles Kristian writing a continuation of his English Civil war series. George R.R. Martin writing a story in the Elden Ring universe (this game has always fascinated me, but I haven’t played a video game in more than two decades). We could bring back P.G. Wodehouse to write a sword and sorcery tale with his inimitable style. I’m envisioning Pierce Brown writing a superhero story; with his moral ambiguity and cinematic style, I think he’d do a really cool take on that genre. Mark Lawrence could do a story about Jalan and Snorri, the protagonists of his (criminally underrated) Red Queen’s War trilogy. I’d love to see John Jakes take on an epic fantasy story (I believe he wrote some fantasy early in his career, but I’ve never read them, and I think it would be interesting for him to do something akin to North and South in a fictional setting.) And last but not least, J.R.R. Tolkien; I can’t decide if I’d want him to write a story about the Rohirrim, which were always my favorite faction in Lord of the Rings, or to have him do something with a completely new setting, just to see what he could come up with.
And I’m sure the more I thought about it, the more I could come up with. The theme, it seems, is apparently “Pipe Dreams” haha.
What was the best book you read in 2024?
This is a tough one. I may change my mind later, but I’m going to say Jim Zub’s run on Conan the Barbarian, collected in three trade paperbacks: Bound in Black Stone, Thrice Marked for Death, and The Age Unconquered. I’d never wanted to read a non-Howard Conan story, but the good reviews talked me into it and I’m glad they did. It’s a blast of pure sword and sorcery goodness.
I’ll give you a few rapid fire categories, give me the first word that comes to mind:
Wizard: Sam Adams, of course
Threat: Credible
Credible: Threats
Assassin: James Bond
GOAT: fainting
Music: Back in Black
Dream: Come true
What are you reading right now?
I’m reading Sharpe’s Rifles by Bernard Cornwell (and loving it).
What’s your favorite, and least favorite, part about writing?
My favorite part is the beginning, when I’m pounding away at my keyboard and the words are flowing, and I’m getting all the ideas I’ve been saving up down on paper. My least favorite part is what comes after, when I have to go over and over it, revising and rewriting and fleshing everything out, until the storyline hangs together and I’ve made all the changes I can think of and fixed all the problems I can find.
Who’s your ideal audience?
Hmm, I’m going to say urban fantasy fans who want a take on the genre that’s both fresh and familiar; people who enjoy fast paces and copious action and generally would like a book that reads like a blockbuster action movie; and readers who enjoy a drily humorous first-person narration (like me!)
What was the first book you ever tried to write?
Believe it or not, it was Credible Threats, Sam Adams book one, although the first version I wrote was very, very different (and not nearly as good) as the finished product. I would take periodic breaks from it to write other things, then come back and refine it. This went on for years, until finally I had a version I was satisfied with.
Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what kind?
Yes, from time to time, and it’s hilariously varied.
For book one, when I wanted to capture the “noirish” vibe, I’d listen to soundtracks from Body Heat and Chinatown; when I wanted to capture the “high school” vibe, I’d listen to “Disconnected” by Face to Face. And I know there were a bunch of others I’ve forgotten about.
With book two, it has more emotional scenes, so I listened to a bunch of songs from the soundtrack to The Vampire Diaries. And because the Lethal Weapon franchise has always been a big influence on the books, I listened to the obscure, awesomely Eighties title song from the original movie, and Eric Clapton’s version of “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” from Lethal Weapon 2.
Book three has been heavily inspired by spy thrillers, so I’ve been listening to a lot of music from the Bond movies; the Tomorrow Never Dies score has been a particular favorite.
Thanks so much for doing this interview! Any last message you want to leave for the readers?
You are very welcome, and thank you for interviewing me.
I just want to say THANK YOU to everybody who’s followed my writing thus far, and if this is your first time hearing about the Sam Adams books, I hope you’ll check them out. I have a lot I want to accomplish in 2025, most notably releasing a new book, and I can’t wait to unleash it on all of you. Onwards!
Daniel Meyer tried his hand at a few careers, but fearing they were too realistic and achievable, he became a fantasy writer instead. Now he spends his days writing stories about magic and explosions. He is a lover of Eighties rock, an occasional kilt-wearer, and a supporter of raccoons. He lives in Missouri, where, as ever, he’s working on his next novel.
