Interview with Ravon Silvius and Giveaway!

Today I welcome M/M erotic romance author Ravon Silvius to my blog.  We’ve got a fun interview in store for you, and the opportunity to win a PDF of Ravon’s latest release, “Remembrance.”

Comment at the end for one chance to win.  To throw your hat in the ring twice, follow my blog (shameless, I know), and for a third chance, pop over to Ravon’s blog and subscribe.  Finally, tweet this post and you can qualify four freakin’ times!  That’s gold!  I’ll collect all the votes and draw a random winner on Saturday, March 16th.  May the luck of the Irish be with you!  Ravon will contact the winner, so don’t forget to leave an e-mail address with your comment (in the blah blah at whatever dot com format–damn spambots).  Feel free to tell me which ways you are qualifying so I don’t hurt my wee little brain with all the counting. 🙂

Since I can’t win, I’m going to have to buy this one, because it sounds right up my alley.  Smokin’ hot sci-fi guys!  Yum.

Now, on with the show!

Hi, Ravon!  Great to have you here.  Let’s get right into it, shall we?  Screw the foreplay!  Do you have a character you’ve written who you most strongly identify with?  Who and why?

Ooh, tough question! I often write characters who I’d like to be, not who I actually am, but let me think…

I think I relate to both Nick and Julian, from Alpha, which was my first novel. I see some of my ambition in Nick, and I see a lot of my uncertainties in Julian.  I want to do great things and go places, but I always second guess if I’m good enough.

What got you interested in writing M/M?

I can honestly say that it was yaoi manga that first got me into the genre. I hadn’t realized there was fiction out there that had gay characters, and I began devouring it as soon as I found it. That also led me to find slash fiction for anime and video game characters, which I read and enjoyed. That was back in high school. I’ve mostly grown out of yaoi, but once I got to college and got my Kindle, I found M/M.

Writing it came along with reading it, with one minor caveat. My very first novel, written before I graduated high school, was the WaterLord Trilogy, which I always intended to contain gay characters. A lot of people told me it would never sell, though, so I focused on other things until I realized how popular M/M was. I began writing more M/M, and soon enough I started going for publication. Then I realized I could take my old story, improve it, and finally share it. So in a way, it came full circle.

You write a lot of high fantasy and science fiction.  What authors/books inspired your love for those genres?

I always loved fantasy and sci fi, even as a child, when I mostly read animal fantasy such as Tad William’s excellent TailChaser’s Song. I got into high fantasy when I read the Wheel of Time series, which to this day is my favorite series of all time, warts and all. As for science fiction, I can’t think of a series that influenced my love for it early on, but there are plenty of science fiction authors out there now, including John Scalzi, who I really enjoy. A lot of my sci fi explores themes that I don’t see often in mainstream sci fi, though.

What is your writing process like?  Are you a planner?  Pantster?  What is your favorite writing tool or tip?

I’m definitely a pantser, although I tend to have the ending of the story in my head at the very least. Of course, it doesn’t always turn out the way I intended.

My favorite piece of writing advice? Hmm…I can’t think of one that is more helpful than any other. It took me a long time to write well, and I’m still improving. But I think one piece of advice that helped me is to remember that my first draft is never as good as I think it is. It’s always good to step back from your writing for a while after finishing and edit it later. You’ll find many more mistakes that way.

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

42!

I see you are privy to the top secret woodchuck information [Ravon and Kimber do the woodchuck handshake complete with buck-teeth chattering].

Do you believe in Happily Ever Afters in real life?  Why or why not?

I don’t think Happily Ever After in the fantasy sense is realistic. A story is never truly over, and no matter how romantic and wonderful a romance is, there will always be the annoyances and fights and challenges down the road. But a slow, quiet life together, taking the challenges as they go? Sure, that can happen. A true loving relationship is measured at the end, not the beginning. Real romance is an elderly couple walking slowly down the road without even realizing they are walking in perfect sync with each other. 

Who are your favorite M/M authors right now and why?

Hmm…I tend to have favorite books, not favorite authors, but I’ve loved a lot of what Mark Alders has written. Mark writes a lot of science fiction, which is less common than other things in M/M. Also, I loved Outcast Mine by Jamie Craig.

If you were stuck on a deserted island, what one book, one CD, and one type of food would you choose to have with you?

Food is easy-chocolate. As for book, probably something long, as I read fast. Maybe Andrew Ashling’s Dark Tales of Randamor the Recluse? They’re long and complex. And CD…I’m easy with music. I have the ability to like anything if I listen to it enough times, so probably just a CD of the top music on the charts or something.

 If you were conducting this interview, what question would you want to ask yourself and how would you answer it?

Yikes, the hardest question yet! 😛 Hmm…I’d ask what kind of themes I go for in my writing and how I got the ideas for my stories. And now I get to talk about my books!

For Perils of Forgotten Pain and Remembrance, I wanted to explore the concept of a cyborg. In a lot of sci fi, cyborgs are present, but they are the faceless enemy, or a way to show lots of explosions and ridiculous battles. I wanted to see how changing the human body would affect someone, and in Perils, how changing memories could affect someone. Herman and Aldric, the main characters in Perils and Remembrance, are some of the most complex characters I’ve come up with.

For Alpha, I wanted to explore social inequality. Even today, access to good schools, tutors, and high economic standing has a huge effect on life success. I took that to an extreme with the idea of an intelligence increasing machine that only the rich have access too, creating a giant social gulf where intelligence is the only thing that matters.

As for the Waterlord Trilogy, like I said above, it was my first novel. I wanted to write a pure fantasy, and it also addresses the idea of the outcast, since the main character is a water mage driven out of a society ruled by fire mages.  

Please give us a two-hundred word teaser from your latest release, as well as the tag line for your book. J

I’ll share a bit of Remembrance with you.

The world is ending, but love can remain.

The war is over. The majority of humanity has fled the dying planet to live in space, leaving behind a chemical called Overgrowth that will speed up the restoration of the war torn world.

But some were left behind, and not all by choice. A chapter of humanity is coming to an end. Aldric, a soldier who thought he had nothing left, finds a city that is struggling to hang on to life despite predations by desperate killers. There he meets Daniel, a historian who sees potential even in destruction. Aldric agrees to help Daniel with his project to catalogue what will be the end of civilization on Earth for nearly a thousand years. In doing so, he may even find love, but only if Daniel can put aside his own past and accept Aldric’s feelings.

If that sounds interesting to you, leave a comment on the blog! I will select one person at random and send them a free PDF copy of Remembrance!

For more of my work, you can check out my blog here!  Don’t forget to follow for an extra chance to win!  

I have lots of books, and a free read that is ongoing right now. If you want a free New Adult M/M story with a dash of fantasy fun, check out Freshmen Blues on my blog. The first chapter is already up!

For direct links to buy my books, check out my author page at Extasy here.

Thanks so much for stopping over to chat, Ravon!  I look forward to checking out your work!

Thank you so much for having me! J