Author Friday!!

Happy Friday to all, and Merry Christmas Eve (if that's your thing...)

Today is Author Friday!!! SQUEEE!! So I am featuring....

EDWARD "ED" COTE!

I don't have any fun pictures (yet...) but promise to provide them as soon as Ed can get them.

So, here is Ed's interview!!

1) When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I started trying to write when I was a child, but I didn't really figure out how to do it until my twenties, and I didn't firmly resolve that I would become a professional writer until 2009. I had always known at some level that I wanted to write, but now I know that this is my career and the only one I can fully embrace.

2) What is the hardest part about being a writer?

So far the hardest part is just getting started and established. Finishing the book was a challenge, but now I have to polish it, get it edited and formatted, get a cover, network, market, and promote. I have limited credibility until I publish and earn some sales. I'm doing what I hope will be the final major revision now, and that can be frustrating at times. I want the book to be the best it can be, but I can't keep working on it forever.

3) What inspires you?

All sorts of things- music, people, places, and images. Sometimes I become intrigued with a "what if" scenario or a philosophical question, but other ideas just seem to come from nowhere.


4) How many books have you written?

This is the first book that I have finished, though I do have strong concepts for several other projects.

5) Tell me a little about what you are currently working on.

Violet Skies is the name of both my series and the first book in the series. It is young adult fantasy set in the world of Aeo, which is entirely carved up into city-states, each ruled by a powerful wizard called a Great Magus. The story follows Taya Mindaerel, who has the potential to become one of the Magi. The bad news is that there is no room in the world for another, and one Magus, Dibian, sends his best hunter on a man-eating horse to track her down and kill her. The good news is that her mother Oma is an Oracle and foreseeing the danger, she leads Taya to seek sanctuary in the city of Dibian's rival Olbinaar. On the way, they meet three boys who will serve as their allies: Alex, a charming scoundrel, Brand, a dour swordsman, and Ogger, a wild creature.

6) When does your book come out?

I'm not certain exactly when I'll have it ready, but the first book will probably be available on Amazon's Kindle store in February.

7) What is your favorite genre to read?

I like a wide variety of different things, but when it comes down to it, most of what I read is fantasy. When I was a kid, I read science fiction almost exclusively, but I switched to mostly fantasy when I started reading The Wheel of Time in college.

8) What is the one thing you want to tell the world the most?

I will always have something to say, but exactly what that is might vary from year to year. The theme of Violet Skies is power- its use and abuse. I can foresee that coming up again in my writing in the future, though. For example, I have an idea for another fantasy series in which the theme would be death, but there would still be issues of power in the story. Off the top of my head, I can think of only one project on my hard drive in which power is not a major issue, so it's probably safe to say that this is a theme I will return to and explore throughout my career.

You want something more specific for the soap box right now? How about this: An abuse of power is an abuse of power, no matter who does it. All of the horrible things people think a Big Brother government would do are not somehow acceptable if a corporation does them. The idea that private interests can be trusted with the sort of unaccountable tremendous power we would never want for any government is patently ridiculous and very dangerous.

To end on a lighter note, I think that kids and people in general are reading more now, and I hope to play some role in that, however small.

Thanks, Ed! I hope to see your book out soon!

So guys and gals if you want to learn more about Ed, pop on over to his blog.
Have a great holiday everyone!!!