Interview with YA fantasy-adventure authors Grant Reed and Gary Reed

I have an interview today with Grant, one of the pair of authors of the YA fantasy-adventure novel, Funny Fruit -- Grant Reed and Gary Reed.

While the authors do the virtual book tour with Goddess Fish Promotions, they will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit their other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bios:

Grant Reed has a background in business management, computer programming, and computer networking. He would much rather be out fishing though, so he spends his time writing and exploring the lakes in his back yard of Canada. He lives in Lively Ontario, Canada with his wife Robin, and their two children Aidan and Megan.

Gary Reed, his wife Kerry and their two children, Hannah and Kailey also live in Lively Ontario, Canada. And yes, he spends his time exploring the countryside too. Photography, fishing, and playing with his girls are amongst his interests.

Welcome, Grant. Please tell us about your current release.

Funny Fruit is a comedic fantasy following the exploits of the children Garrett and Azilda as they are trained by the two old masters – Fonn and Yarl- to be protectors of the realm. It is a light hearted read and aimed at a younger audience, but it contains some adult humour in it too. It’s a novel that some have referred to as whimsical fantasy.

What inspired you to write this book?
Funny Fruit was written by Gary and I back in 2003. I had just completed my first novel “Shadow of the Makarios”, which is a darker epic fantasy. I think Gary was reading a Terry Pratchett novel at the time, and after reading my novel, he said we should try to write something “Funny”. I didn’t have any interest in writing something “Funny”, as I wanted to write action, suspense etc…but when he produced the first few pages, I must admit I chuckled and I was onboard. Then it became sort of a game, and we would work on different sections and then swap, to see if we could make the other guy laugh. It was a fun time.

We went on to write a sequel “The Cassadian Chalice”, and then while Gary decided he was more into photography and his university studies, I took the characters and advanced the storyline by 20 years and set out to write a series of mystery books with the same characters. The result was the three book “Vellian Mysteries” series.

Excerpt from Funny Fruit:
When the arrow punctured the straw man’s lower left lung, the crowd went even crazier than last time. Swallowing his anger, Heindi waved to the crowd and pretended to cheer with the rest of them, though both Azilda and Garrett could make out his curses.

Heindi allowed the man several more bows and a couple of blown kisses to his fans before he stepped up to the sharpshooter and leaned in beside him. “What are you doing?” he raged, though he kept his smile in check. “Quit showing off and finish this thing or I will banish you from my property and keep your bow to pay off your debts.” Heindi patted the man’s bottom and waved to the crowd, which had somewhat quieted with the fear that something was wrong. “Good show,” said Heindi, his pearly white teeth visible behind his grin.

Willie stood straight and flipped his eye patch over to cover his left eye. Switching the bow to his left hand, he found his last arrow and made his way to the shooting line again.

“Crap,” whined Yarl. “You’re in for it now; he’s going with his good eye. Do something,” he urged his brother.

What exciting story are you working on next?
I have switched gears this year, and I am currently working on the graphic novel version for the first Vellian Mystery book – “Welcome to Deep Cove.” I’m not sure why I have undertaken this task as reading graphic novels has never really been an interest of mine, but I do love working on the art. Issue one has been completed, and is available online. I will be the first to admit this is much harder than writing (for me) and the hours invested to produce a chapter or two has been staggering (128 hours for 24 full color pages).

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I think in the last few years I have come to consider myself a writer. It’s what I have always wanted to do, but a small part of me has always held back calling myself that. I guess that I thought I had to make a living at writing to consider myself a writer (in my younger years), but now that I have completed six novels and the ideas keep churning, I am comfortable calling myself a writer. I have produced a body of work. Whether or not I am ever financially successful with these novels, has no bearing in my mind as to whether or not I am a writer.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I wish I could devote my time to writing full time, but like everyone else, I have bills to pay! I have in the last few years allowed myself the benefit of only working a part time job, so as to have that writing time. My wife has been very understanding on this- so a BIG THANK YOU TO ROBIN!

As an example of how I split my time up, this past month I worked a little over 100 hours at my real job…and 128 hours on the graphic novel. Work at the casino drags by slowly, but a 10 to 12 hour day working on my graphic novel, flies by!

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

When I finish a novel, I watch Misery. LOL!!...Corny, but true.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I remember thinking at the age of 12 that I wanted to be a writer. I had my dad buy me a typewriter when I was in high school (I know…what’s that?). Eighteen years has flashed by since the completion of my first novel, and I still want to be a writer.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Fun Fact: Gary and I are identical twins. My mom is an identical twin too!

Links:

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