Featured Author Interview with Daniel Tweddell

Y’all I am so excited to bring you an author interview with Daniel Tweddell today! I actually got to meet Daniel a few years ago before he published Ragabones over a cup of coffee one morning at a conference.

A little bit about Daniel Tweddell

Hi, I’m Daniel Tweddell. I grew up in the Bornean and Philippine jungle as a missionary’s kid. My neighbors had monkeys for pets. Just behind the tree line, “ex”-headhunters slipped through the shadows with spears and six-foot blow guns. It was the perfect incubator for a kid’s imagination. As an adult, I did a lot of things from writing high-octane video games with my friends to having my own companies. But I always loved castles, wizards, and monsters the best. So now I write white-knuckle stories about magic woven with truths from my life’s journey. I live in San Diego with my wife and 3 kids.
Find him at https://www.danieltweddell.com/

An Author Interview with Daniel Tweddell

What is your favorite book that you have written (Published or Unpublished), and why?

I’ve written one, Ragabones, so I guess that would be my favorite. That said, book number 2 is so exciting it feels like a Netflix binge when I write.

How do you pick your characters personalities, or looks?

Whatever they look like in my head is how they go down on paper. Sometimes a real person will inspire me. For example, in college I dated this girl with long black curly hair. I’ll never forget the day I saw her standing in the sunlight. The sun in her hair shone like fire. Her hair was red. Dark, dark red. That’s where Mom in the book got her ember-red hair.

What is your favorite genre to read? What is your favorite genre to write? And why are they your favorites?

Epic fantasy. Like most of my fantasy loving friends, I have a thing for swords, castles, and fire breathing dragons. I guess it’s why I write fantasy as well. My imagination is too wild for anything else. Even when I try to write something else, the fantastical sneaks into the story.

What inspires you the most?

Courage. Bravery. Resilience – triumph over adversity. What’s interesting to me is that each one of those is a choice. What is the difference between courage and cowardice? What I do. If I feel afraid, but choose to act bravely, it’s courage. The greatest and most evil people in history are known for their choices. I try to remember that when I have to choose between the thing I want now and the thing I want most. (Pretty sure Napoleon Bonapart coined that phrase.)

Once an idea takes root, how long does it take you to write it down?

I write them in google docs or my calendar right away. Then I’ll go back on writing days and sort through all the ideas.

Do you have a favorite author? Or someone whom you would say has influenced your writing style?

C.S. Lewis inspires me most. I’ve never read someone like him that can tell a gripping story full of deep profound truths without being preachy or slow.

Do you have a genre that you would never write? (In the Christian genre sphere i.e. speculative, historical, contemporary, etc.)

It would have to be romance. I like real romance, but I have too much hair on my chest only experience it in a book.

What are your hobbies other than writing?

I love mountain biking and hiking. I also love to invent things and bought a 3d printer. But which hobbies do I actually do? Build rollie Polie habitats, construct Lego spaceships, and play Roblox and Minecraft. Yep, I have a ten-year-old son.

What is one thing in your life that you would say has had the greatest impact on your writing? Or in your life in general?

I had a visual of a soapbox derby with the cars lined up from worst to best. The worst was made of cardboard with garbage can lids for wheels. The best was polished mahogany, with chrome wheels and velvet seat covers. Can you see the kids’ faces? One brushes old coffee grounds off his hood. He can’t face the crowd. Another polishes a gleaming fender and waves to his fans. I realized the difference between these cars isn’t the kids … it’s the time they spent with Dad. I’m fraught with blind spots, bad habits, and shortcomings. The only way my life and any project I undertake is going to be bigger than me, is if it’s a father/son project.

Lastly, what was your favorite book growing up?

I don’t think I can just choose one. One that inspired Ragabones was the Hobbit. I loved the way Tolkien wove one wild adventure after another into a single epic tale. Right now I’m re-reading the classic, A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin.

Thank you so much for letting me interview you, I am looking forward to reading Ragabones even more now!

Book: Ragabones

Author: Daniel Tweddell

Genre: Fantasy YA

Release Date: June 27, 2023

As if Josh having his memory stolen by an over-protective mother wasn’t enough, his older brother, Pete, wins every trophy and never lets him forget it. And oh yeah, Mom’s an ex-god of the underworld, so it’s no surprise their family has enemies.

Maybe that’s why Dad’s missing. Maybe that’s why ragged scars crisscross Josh’s throat. It’s definitely why Josh accidentally sprung the trap – the one that opened a portal and released the demon who now hunts them.

Turns out there’s another world; one with castles and dragons, and prisons that dangle into hell. That’s the world where Josh and Pete find Dad turned to stone, the world with entire cities enslaved by the demon. As the brothers race to undo Josh’s colossal mistake, Josh’s mysterious past comes to light, and Josh must choose between the fate of the world and the lives of his family.

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