Today’s Friday Five focus is Timothy C. Ward, author of dark fantasy and technothriller short stories, novellas, and novels.

Timothy C. Ward is a former executive producer and Hugo Nominee of Adventures in SciFi Publishing. He has been broke and lost on the other side of the world and now dreams of greater adventures from his keyboard in Des Moines, Iowa. He recently released his second Sand Divers book, Scavenger: A.I., where two parents use an ancient technology to fight a reproducing A.I. while trying to resurrect their deceased infant. His next novel is Godsknife: Revolt, an apocalyptic battle for godhood in the rift between Iowa and the Abyss. Sign up for his newsletter for news, sales, giveaways and more.

In Godsknife: Revolt, the rift between Iowa and the Abyss is thinner than it seems. Modern society meets the power and reality of myth in the new war between Chaos, Order and Maker. A priestess of Order seeking godhood unleashes a virus to mutate and enslave the human race. Those who survive to face the height of her power must choose not to bow before it.

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1. Why do you write in the genre(s) you listed above?

My style is a combination of liking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joe and Goosebumps in elementary school. In middle school I discovered epic fantasy in Dragons of Autumn Twilight, literary fiction in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Catcher in the Rye, and horror in King’s Cuju, The Shining, and the Dark Tower books. I write because I loved all of them and want more and more adventures like I had growing up.

2. Is there a certain type of scene that’s harder for you to write than others? How do you deal with this?

I recently heard an interview with Robert Kroese who said there are people who can’t picture images, or something like that, so it is really hard for him to write description. I’m like him. I’ve had a lot of coaching, and I try really hard to show what’s important and let the reader use their imagination. If I show too much it slows the read, and that’s not something I can handle as a reader.

3. What literary character are you most like and why?

I’m almost as clumsy and unaware as Mr. Bean, but I wish I was as smooth as Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible.

4. How much of your published writing is based on personal experiences?

Godsknife: Revolt has scenes in Iowa and South Korea, where I’ve lived. I taught English in South Korea for six months and loved it. Much of the next book in the series will alternate between South Korea and Iowa.

5. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever researched for your works or biggest/most out-of-the-ordinary thing you’ve done while researching?

Nuclear fission. In Scavenger: Evolution, I created a power source in the military base they discover that is like a micro sun that creates safe nuclear fission energy into plasma. Also, it’s ironic to think of me, someone who struggled to get a C in geology in college, writing a book in Godsknife: Revolt where Order mages have to master elements of stone and other surfaces before they can wield them and walk through them.

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Godsknife: Revolt is currently available for preorder at Amazon. Plus, you can enter to win not only a copy of Godsknife: Revolt, but also the first two Scavenger books: Evolution and A.I.!

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