Interview with David H. Reiss, Author of 'Fid's Crusade' @davidhreiss #interview

**We are delighted to have David Reiss here today to talk about his new scifi/contemporary fantasy, Fid's Crusade.**

Welcome to The Writer's Life, David. Now that your book has been published, we’d love to find out more about the process. Can we begin by having you take us at the beginning? When did you come up with the idea to write your book?

I hit a road block while working on another project and decided to start something different to spur on my creativity. Given that superhero stories have been everywhere lately (and because I’m a huge comic book nerd), I decided to try my hand at writing a piece of superheroic prose…with a twist. Fid’s Crusade was originally intended to be a short story, a nonlinear stream-of-consciousness deep-dive into the mind of a supervillain informed by the works of Faulkner and Vonnegut—a literary take on a popular genre that focused on the perspective of a traditional antagonist.

When the story was finished, I found it to be technically well-written but so dry and chewy that even I didn’t want to read it. So…I tore it apart and re-wrote it in a different style. And tore it apart again, over and over, until at some point I realized that I’d come up with an entire novel’s worth of story to explore.

Who is your publisher and how did you find them or did you self-publish?

I’d begun the process of querying agents, but in the end decided that having the book published before my Grandmother’s one-hundredth birthday was more important. I ended up self-publishing and have never regretted that decision. The book was dedicated to my grandmother and I was able to give her a signed copy as a present.

Is there anything that surprised you about getting your first book published?

Somehow, I’d been under the impression that if I wrote a good enough book and released it into the wild, readers would magically find it. I hadn’t truly understood how much work was involved in marketing and advertising a novel. It’s an entirely new skill that I hadn’t taken the time to learn beforehand.

Oops.

Do you believe a book cover plays an important role in the selling process?

Once a reader opens a book and looks at the text, the cover doesn’t matter very much. But you have to convince the prospective reader to open the book first! A book’s cover is absolutely important when trying to attract a prospective buyer’s attention.

How hard was it to write a book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make the journey easier for other writers?

Writing this book took quite a bit of effort, but I wouldn’t say that it was hard…writing this book was a joy. I looked forward to every evening’s writing session.

That having been said, there were certainly technical aspects which set me back.

One piece of advice that I would offer is that if you’re going to write a book that makes extensive use of nonlinear narrative techniques (flashbacks or flashforwards sequences, for example) you may wish to choose a consistent way of identifying those sections so that the reader is not confused. That could be a visible shift in formatting or a very obvious verb-tense change, or any number of other tools...but I think that it’s important to give hints to the reader so that the reader is not confused by the jump away from a linear storyline.

What other books are you working on and when will they be published?

I’m currently putting the finishing touches on a sequel in The Chronicles of Fid series and that will be released shortly. Beyond that…I’m planning to set aside the world of superheroes and supervillains for a while to focus on a fantasy story that has been nagging at my subconscious.

(Fans of Fid’s Crusade shouldn’t worry…Doctor Fid will return!)

Finally, what message are you trying to get across with your book?

While I like to believe that my protagonist is sympathetic and charming (in his own way), he is also ultimately a tragic figure…and every one of his problems was made worse by his isolation and refusal to reach out for help. For all that I want for my readers to enjoy reading about Doctor Fid’s adventures, I also hope that they see his emotional failures and recognize the need not to follow in the lonely and tortured supervillain’s footsteps.

Thank you again for this interview! Do you have any final words?

I’d like to take the opportunity thank my fans and readers…ever since I hit the ‘publish’ button, I’ve been getting wonderful feedback and I’ve enjoyed every moment of it. You folks are awesome!

Writing is hard work…but I’m having the time of my life. Stay tuned, I have many more stories to tell.

About the Author

While growing up, David H. Reiss was that weird kid with his nose in a book and his head in the clouds. He was the table-top role-playing game geek, the comic-book nerd, the story-teller and dreamer.

Fortunately, he hasn't changed much.

David is a software engineer by trade and a long-time sci-fi and fantasy devotee by passion, and he lives in Silicon Valley with his partner of twenty-six years. Until recently, he also shared his life with a disturbingly spoiled cat named Freya.

(Farewell, little huntress. You were loved. You are missed.)

David's first book, Fid's Crusade, has just recently been published; this was his first novel-length project, but it certainly won't be his last—he's having far too much fun!

Website Link: https://www.davidhreiss.com

Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/davidhreiss

Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/davidhreiss

About the Book:

Title: FID’S CRUSADE
Author: David H. Reiss
Publisher: Atian Press
Pages: 365
Genre: Scifi/Contemporary Fantasy

BOOK BLURB:

Consumed by grief, rage, and self-loathing, a brilliant inventor rebuilt himself to take on a new identity: the powered-armor-wearing supervillain, Doctor Fid. For twenty violent years, Fid has continued his quest to punish heroes who he considers to be unworthy of their accolades, and the Doctor has left a long trail of blood and misery in his wake. After a personal tragedy, however, Doctor Fid investigates a crime and uncovers a conspiracy so terrible that even he is taken aback.

Haunted by painful memories and profound guilt, the veteran supervillain must risk everything to save the world that he once sought to terrorize. Every battle takes its toll…but the stakes are too high for retreat to be an option.

In the end, it may take a villain to save the entire Earth from those entrusted with the Earth’s protection.

Praise:

"Fid's Crusade by David H. Reiss is one of the most refreshing and lively takes on the superhero genre I've seen in years. His title character's crusade is colorful, compelling, and takes wonderfully unexpected turns, and the novel delivers an impressive emotional punch (to go along with the super-powered ones). It stands easily alongside other character-driven superhero novels like Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible, Carrie Vaughn's After the Golden Age, and Paul Tobin's Prepare to Die!." - Hugo award-winning author Tim Pratt