Author Interview: William David Ellis

1. Hi! Welcome to my humble blog of all things bookish! I would like for us to start by getting to know you. Give us a short bio, please!

William David Ellis is an award-winning author.  Other than that, he is the son of an English teacher, the husband of an English teacher, and the father of an English teacher. In spite of them, he occasionally punctuates.  He has written fantasy novels, and short stories. He writes in East Texas dialect (which covers a multitude of grammatical short comings!)

Novels:

• Dragons and Romans 

• The Harry Ferguson Chronicles:
  #1 The Princess Who Forgot She Was Beautiful
  #2  Dances With My Dragon
  #3 Kisses of My Enemy (which reached the high mark of being ranked #1 in Christian Fantasy on Amazon)
  #4 Rivals the fourth book and latest in the Harry Ferguson Chronicles

• Sherlock Holmes series:
  #1 Angels Saints and Sinners the Conversion of Sherlock Holmes.
  #2 Sherlock Holmes The Long Game

David  has a wife and six adult children, two master’s degrees and a doctorate. He raises honeybees, and gathers a lot of his stories from a small café where he just sits and listens and laughs. He was a third grader when he wrote his first novel. It was three hand written pages. It didn’t sell well. He writes because he loves words and stories, when he discovered people loved his story telling, he took the risk and started writing to publish.

2. To get to know you just a little bit better, I’d like to ask you some this or that questions. Answer 5 of these and explain why you chose this or that, or maybe an entirely different alternative!

Cat or dog? Dog but not all dogs, if they can be attached to a mop handle and mistaken for the end you stick in a bucket, they do not qualify as dogs. We own a German Shepherd, and after you have earned one of those dogs affection nothing compares. However a big black cat with definite panther genes adopted us three years ago. The dog had learned via nose scars to respect her
Library or museums? Museums I love history and artifacts
Hunter or gatherer? Gatherer, I used to own a blackberry U Pick farm and I still raise honey bees.
Plotter or pantser? Panster until I take a wrong turn then I have to back up switch to the left side of my brain and plot my way home.
Pen and paper or computer/phone?  Years ago I started with pen and paper, and would type the manuscript afterwards, I have learned, and it was a difficult process to type and think at the same time. I use my computer exclusively now.
Standalone or series? Every author starts with a stand alone, then proceeds to a series, and eventually a couple of series. Sometimes the story wont end with a single novel and you have to write to see what happens.
Book or ebook? Ebook the world changed and we have to adapt.

3. When you look for books to read, what trope or type of story will always catch your attention?  

One with an intriguing cover that is unique, I have seen enough abs and buxom lasses to last a stinking life time.

4. What do you write? Tell us about your current projects and the latest happenings!

I write rural fantasy and sherlock Holmes fiction. I am writing my third Holmes novel and my fifth rural fantasy. The rural fantasy is seated in East Texas where I live, and was born in a local café as I listened and laughed at the stories the old codgers told. My latest W.I.P.s are about half way done. I am stalling on the rural fantasy, because it is probably going to be the last in the series, and I Hate to let them go.

5. What is your most recent release? Give us a short presentation, cover, and a link for where to buy it!

Harry Ferguson has a problem. Dragons have blown into his sleepy East Texas town.  And it’s all his fault.  a spellbinding tale full of twists, tears and laughter

Now here’s what happened…

 Harry, along with the love of his life princess Sarah,  is thrown through time, and spat out a thousand years into the future. He lands in a small town in rural Texas. But that’s just the beginning of his troubles. Not only are Harry and Sarah far from when they were, Harry is now an old man. Perhaps even worse, Sarah has become a six-year-old girl with no memory of their past and the dragon that has vowed to kill Harry has followed them down through time and wants Sarah as his bride.

One thing is for certain, Moab, Texas will never be the same again.

6. What real-life inspiration do you draw from, and what are your primary fictional sources of inspiration (books, authors, films, music, etc.)? Name a few!

I read so many authors, but I really enjoy Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files. I like the protagonist vulnerability. I am also a fan of Shards of honor, by Lois Bujold first in The Miles Vorkosigan series. I don’t listen to music while I write, it hinders my concentration so no help there, ahh, hmm films, I love old Sherlock Holmes movies.

7. What is your writing routine? If you have one, give us the run-down!

Haha.. routine what is this thing you call routine?  I get my daily chores done and then my coffee made and then I read over what I wrote the day before. I ask myself what needs to happen next?, what could happen next?, and what twists can I play with? Then I check my word count and start writing, the word count is an important motivator for me. I like to have 2k days, I usually don’t, because I have a life and can’t write all day long. But when I am snowed in like I am at the moment I can get close to a 3k day,  now I am not talking about a clean manuscript thoroughly edited, hardly. That is rough draft, terrible punctuate and lots of plot holes, but it is forward motion.

8. If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice as you started out on the path to become an author, what would it be?  

Publish on Amazon in 2007.

9. Last but not least: where can we find you? Drop those links!

https://www.amazon.com/William-David-Ellis/e/B07BVG8S8K/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1

https://williamdavidellisauthor.com/

https://www.facebook.com/William-David-Ellis-Author-109138023953127/