Rather Barefoot than bookless: Author Spotlight: Interview with Nathaniel Stewart

What are your current projects?

At the moment, aside from graduating college in May, my focus has been devoted to “The Last Alignment: Book Two,” which is VERY close to completion. I am overly excited to release it and I can’t wait for readers to delve deeper into all the different aspects of this world that I’ve created

Do you need anything to write (music, coffee, etc)?

I don’t need much of anything when I write except my notes. But when I do choose to listen to music, it’s mainly soft, mid-tempo instrumentals. They don’t exactly inspire me, but they do create a calm mood that makes writing a bit easier.

Do you prefer eBooks, paperbacks or hardcover?
All three. There is absolutely nothing like actually holding a book, but as more and more areas of life are becoming digitized, there is a convenience with eBooks that really cannot be denied.

Transitioning from a college student to an indie author, what were the challenges? How does the constantly changing landscape of the publishing industry affect your pace of writing more books?

For me, transitioning into an author was not too difficult on top of my other studies. I’ve been writing for a long time now, so when I realized that I was going to go forward with The Last Alignment, I was as prepared to take that step as I could’ve been. I was confident in my ability as a writer, and the fact that most of my professors at my college had complete faith in me was what gave me that final push toward making my dream a reality. Being an indie author definitely comes with a lot of challenges in the sense that you are the driving force behind your own projects. But, one could argue that that is also the beautiful thing about it as well.
The fact that digital publishing is making it easier for writers to become authors is great, but it’s tedious all at the same time. Because you don’t have to go the traditional route to publish your work, it means that you are the master of your own affairs and that anyone can finally put their stories out there to the world.

And on the flip side, that is the exact problem. Anyone can publish a book or eBook, so how do you make yours stand out? How do you set yours apart and get people interested?

As a reader, I know what it is like to find a great series and fall in love with it. And if you happen to find a series that has not been completed, the anticipation is one of the best things about the experience. I personally don’t necessarily feel any pressure to have a pace as far as production, but I definitely aim to release my work within reasonable time spaces. One thing that meant a lot to me was the release of a free short story that I published back in October of last year. “The Possession of Sarah Allis” is a piece that got left on the cutting room floor from TLAB1 that I revised and turned into a mini tale. This is something that I definitely plan on making a habit. I feel like if someone pays for my work and loves it, then the absolute best way that I can think to thank them is to put out free pieces of writing whether it be “deleted scenes,” outtakes, or just entertaining spin-off stories to help them get a better feel for my work.

What are some of your favorite books? Do you still have much time to read?

I don’t know if I could pinpoint specific books as I have encountered a lot, but I will say that as of lately R.A. Salvatore’s “Dark Elf” series is absolutely incredible, as well as a lot of Kelley Armstrong’s stuff from her “Women of the Otherworld” series. I just had the pleasure of reading the latest books in both of these series (Armstrong’s came out very recently), so they are fresh in my mind’s eye at the moment.

You said you came up with the idea for “The Last Alignment” when you were a teenager. What is one thing you would tell your 15 year old self?

Wow. This is an interesting question, but if I could go back and tell my fifteen year old self anything, it would probably be to spend more time with my mother. She unexpectedly passed away when I was sixteen, and so getting in that extra time and making sure that the love between us was felt even more than it was would be my request of my younger self.

QUICKFIRE!

Oprah or Jerry Springer? Oprah. By far.

In the country or abroad? Abroad.

Ocean or Mountains? Mountains.

Forrest or Beach? Forrest.

Ice cream or Sorbet? Ice Cream.

Outside or Inside? Outside.

Long hair or Short hair? Long hair.

Lettuce or Spinach? Spinach.

Laptop or Desktop? Desktop.

Microsoft or Apple? Microsoft.

Underwater or High in the Sky? High in the sky.

Beer or Wine? Neither. I don’t drink.

Fall or Spring? My two favorite seasons, but I’m going to pick Fall.