Author Anton Strout Interview and $50.00 Amazon Gift Card Contest LIVE Here!

BBB: What specific thing have you done that impressed yourself. AS: Somehow wrote all of Incarnate while having newborn twins in the house. I think I deserve a medal, and one for my wife too. Or at least a box of Krispy Kremes, cronuts or chocolate covered bacon…
Actually, i think when I sat down and actually wrote out a complete novel without quitting, that impressed the hell out of me. Granted, that trunk novel should NEVER see the light of day, but it was an important exercise to prove to myself that it WAS possible for me to do it.
Then I got on to figuring out what I really wanted to be writing–things that go bump in the night. Or in the case of the Spellmason Chronicles, things that go flap flap flap smashy smash in the night.
BBB: What’s your motto in life?
AS: I have two that seem to come into play every day. The first dates back to Douglas Adams and the word that are written in big friendly letters on the cover of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: DON’T PANIC. Great advice, no matter what the situation, really.
The second is a bit cliche, perhaps, but I was seventeenish at the time and it really did change my life. It’s Carpe Diem, or Sieze the Day, as made cliche through Dead Poet’s Society, but it is true. As far as we know we get one go around in this world, and I try to drink in every moment and such the marrow from life as best I can.
BBB: What internet site do you surf the most?
AS: I love The Oatmeal and Penny Arcade for my geek humor, but it seems to be either io9.com or suvudu.com where I get more of my actual nerd news.
BBB: If you turn into your partner for a day, what would you do?
AS: Not to sound too pervy, but I would totally have to check out what it’s like having lady parts. I’d show myself a good time! I mean as my partner I’d totally have to know what it’s like making sweet, sweet love to America’s Favorite Lower Midlist Urban Fantasy Author (that’s me, btw)! That’s what everyone answers, right?
BBB: Please tell us more about Incarnate and the storyline that drives it.
AS: Book by book, I’ve been pulling the camera further and further back to reveal how our modern world is contending with the growing knowledge that there is an unseen arcane world lurking just out of sight. in Alchemystic we met the centuries old gargoyle Stanis and the great-great granddaughter of his creator, Lexi Belarus. Book two, Stonecast, gave us a bigger picture of what a gargoyle would be willing to do for the ones he cared about when released from servitude. Incarnate deals with how Lexi and Stanis both contend with the world at large becoming aware of the hidden world of the fantastical. Not all gargoyles are created equal, and some just want to smash humanity into a pike of fleshy goo.
BBB: How many more books will there be in the The Spellmason Chronicles?
AS: Incarnate is the concluding volume, but there are several short stories planned in several anthologies that will be addressing bits and pieces of my beloved characters that I would have love to explore in the books, but would have distracted from the novels themselves.
BBB: What sets The Spellmason Chronicles apart from other books in the same genre?
AS: I try not to take myself and the genre too seriously. I’m not necessarily trying to write a wacky antics urban fantasy, but my modern day characters are self away of things that exist like Dungeons & Dragons and the Harry Potter books. As the world of gargoyles and alchemy is slowly discovered in the narrative, a lot of how my characters process it is in comparison to those known fantasy quantities. Marshall Blackmoore (who owns the Roll for Initiative game store) insists on carrying rope while investigating abandoned subway stations because Sam from The Lord of the Rings talked extensively about the merits of always having some on you. It does, in fact, prove useful, much to Marshall’s satisfaction.
BBB: What types of characters / creatures can readers expect in your world?
AS: While there are hints that the world of the Spellmasons crosses over with that of my first series, the Simon Canderous paranormal detective books, reader can find the following: gargoyles, alchemists, witches, warlocks, brick golems, strange harpies drawn to living stonework, and I might have snuck in a Water Weird from Dungeons & Dragon’s Monster Manual.. shhh!
BBB: What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
AS: Smile, followed closely by the eyes. Sense of humor wins out over piercing to the center of their soul through their eyes. Wow. I sound creepy.
BBB: What childish things do you still do as adult?
AS: I love collecting action figures although I am casual at best about it. I read comics, play video games…. not that these are all that childish in today’s world.
BBB: If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you and why?
AS: I would have said Philip Seymour Hoffman, rest his soul. There aren’t too many pasty white blonde guys who are stocky would could capture my fantasy writer physique, and I think he’d be able to play the dark, light and eccentric moments that compose my life.
BBB: What is the best thing you have dressed up as for Halloween?
AS: The Utlimate Fanboy. I wore a Jayne from Firefly hat with steampunk goggles, a Jedi bathrobe, ten different convention lanyards (all my own), an Ewok t-shirt, Justice League sleepy pants and Jack Skellington slippers. I was armed with my Doctor Who Sonic Screwdriver, number 11.
BBB: What’s coming up for you for the rest of 2014 and into 2015??
AS: I’m frantically working on a yet unsold young adult Dickensian street urchin steampunk iron Man Voltron sort of book, as well as a sekrit project with a coauthor I can’t talk about yet. I also have three anthologies coming up:
Streets of Shadows will have a talk about freelance alchemist Caleb Kennedy from The Spellmason Chronicles.
Blackguards (which just funded fabulously through Kickstarter for Ragnarok) includes a new Simon Canderous paranormal detective story.
Fierce is a Jim Butcher edited anthology due out next year… i think i’m going to have another Simon Canderous tale in that one.
I also will play Lego Lord of the Rings and Lego Hobbit to 100% completion, and Dark Ages 2.
Read a 4 star review of Incarnate by clicking here. 
Buy a print copy of Incarnate from Amazon by clicking here. Buy a Kindle copy of Incarnate from Amazon by clicking here.
Books in the Spellmasons Chronicles in the order they should be read: Alchemystic Stonecast Incarnate

About Anton Strout

Author Bio:

Anton Strout is the author of the Simon Canderous urban fantasy series (DEAD TO ME, DEADER STILL, DEAD MATTER, DEAD WATERS), The Spellmason Chronicles (ALCHEMYSTIC, STONECAST INCARNATE) for Ace Books, a division of Penguin Random House, and many short tales published in various anthologies. The Once & Future Podcast is his latest project, where he endeavors as Curator of Content to bring authors and readers together through a weekly news show format.

11 Quick Things About Anton
Favorite Food? foie gras
Favorite Color? blue
Favorite Movie or TV Show of all Time? Ghostbusters
Favorite Drink? Lychee martini
Favorite Current Book? The Name of the Wind
Favorite Season? Fall
Favorite Online Hangout? Facebook
Favorite Animal? Corgis!
Favorite Band or Musician? The Mighty, Mighty Bosstones
Mode of Travel? (Trains, Planes or Automobiles) Planes
Favorite Vacation Destination? Disney World
Connect with Anton
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