I was born in 1980 and spent my early years moving around a lot. I moved between countries five or six times. I currently live in Toronto, and have been living here for several years.
I have a university degree in computer science. It taught me a lot about writing! Managing large applications, thinking logically, and solving problems–all the skills you learn in software development–are invaluable for an author.
I’ve always loved books. I think a great novel is one of the best things in the world. When I’m not writing or reading, I enjoy painting.
How long have you been writing and how did you get to this point in your career?
I’ve been writing since high school. I sold my first short story in 1998, when I was eighteen. I’ve been writing seriously since then, and have sold a couple dozen stories and poems. Firefly Island, my first novel, was published in hardcover in 2007, and has just recently been released as an ebook.
Tell me what inspired you to write this particular novel?
Firefly Island is my first novel, and is inspired by hundreds of fantasy novels I read growing up. I loved authors such as Roger Zelazny, Tolkien, Weis and Hickman, George R. R. Martin, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Orson Scott Card, and many other authors of fantasy and science fiction. I wrote Firefly Island because it’s the kind of book I love to read, and I wanted to share my story with others.
An epic fantasy full of wars and battles, Firefly Island is also inspired by history; its conflicts, triumphs, and tragedies.
Finally, fairytales inspired me. Firefly Island has a strong fairytale feel–not happy Disney fairytales, but the darker Grimms Brothers fairytales which blend the magical with the creepy.
I have a keen interest in dark fiction. Tell me how you would classify this book and is there anything dark about it?
People are often surprised by the darkness in Firefly Island. I don’t categorize it as dark fantasy–there are no vampires, no werewolves, no demons. It’s a high, epic fantasy, and that means adventure, magic, and romance… but also battles, sacrifice, and destruction.
In Firefly Island, I deal with contrasts. I illuminate the lighter scenes by interposing them with dark, violent scenes. You appreciate the fragile light when you see the darkness. You fear that darkness when you’ve felt the light it can extinguish.
Booklist called Firefly Island “dark and gory”, and it certainly includes those elements, but it also has a magical, lighter feel.
Sometimes we have to be ruthless in writing/editing. We cut scenes, eliminate characters or even kill them off. Tell me what was the hardest of these in this book.
I cut so much from Firefly Island. Pages and pages. Entire scenes and characters. I tossed out and rewrote the opening few chapters at one point. It’s all hard to do. You say goodbye to so many magical locations, so many characters. But it’s part of being an author; we have a pen in one hand, an axe in the other. We create with the one, cut with the other. I don’t know if one deleted scene was harder to cut than another. Ultimately I’m happy with all the choices I made. You can’t include everything, not if you want an exciting story that flows well and keeps the reader turning the pages.
This blog is called Random Musings, so give me a random quote from the book – something you’re particularly fond of.
Well, it’s not exactly random, but here is the first sentence:
The little girl huddled in the corner, weeping silently.What can we expect from you next?
My dark fantasy Flaming Dove will be released later this year. Half angel, half demon. Outcast from Hell, banished from Heaven. Laila–of tears and blood, of sins and of piety. Flaming Dove tells her story.
Where can we find you on the internet? On my website, you can learn about me and my works, read free stories, and find free writing tips. The URL is: http://www.DanielArenson.com
My facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DanielArenson
My twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DanielArenson
Firefly Island in the Kindle store
Any final comments or thoughts?
I’d like to say how thrilled I am with the surging popularity of ebooks. Firefly Island was released in hardcover back in 2007. It’s only been an ebook for several weeks now, and has already sold hundreds of copies in the Kindle store. It’s soon coming to iBookstore and other places. I love connecting with ebook readers and selling digital copies. This is the future of literature.
And thank you, David, for the interview! It was a pleasure.
Thank you very much for dropping by and answering these questions, Daniel! Good luck with Firefly Island, sounds like it’s doing great, and I look forward to Flaming Dove when it’s released!
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