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Finndragon''s Curse - An Interview With Welsh Author Richard Phillips
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The Legend of Finndragon’s Curse is the first book in a unique, two book fantasy adventure series and is a fast paced, engaging and thrilling page turner. The story races along with plenty of twists and turns as it heads for the prophesized confrontation between the children and the evil Finndragon himself.
Americymru spoke to author Richard Phillips about the book and his ongoing ''blog tour''.
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AmeriCymru: Hi Richard and many thanks for agreeing to talk to AmeriCymru. How did you become a writer and what attracted you to writing young adult fantasy fiction?
Richard: Diolch. I guess I was always a writer, but didn''t realise it. Well not until my children persuaded me to turn the magical bedtime stories I told them, into a book.
Okay, I wrote a lot of poetry when younger, which gathers dust in the dark recesses of my hard drive. I might take them out one day and see if any are worthy of publication. I also wrote a couple of ''underground'' satirical magazines at work, lampooning my colleagues and their antics. These were great fun, but had a very limited readership.
I actually started writing a sci-fi novel about fifteen years ago, but ran out of steam after just 4,000 words. I don''t think I truly believed in myself back then.
When a very close friend died suddenly aged 42, I wrote some blog posts describing our fantastic (and almost unbelievably true) adventures. These stories are definitely not suitable for younger readers and the blog has long since been removed. However, I think it would be a great to write a work of fiction based on some of the events. If you can imagine something between Twin Town and Grand Slam you''d be on the right lines!
It was my daughter Katie who first started nagging me to write a book about the bedtime stories. These tales always centred around three children named Emma, Megan and Scott, (my kids'' middle names) and their adventures, which usually involved characters ''stolen'' from their favourite TV shows such as Doctor Who. I don''t know quite how, or even when it happened, but the seeds of an idea started to grow. What I did have were the three protagonists. Their characteristics and personalities are based upon my children, albeit older versions.
I wanted the story to be deeply rooted in Wales and also wanted to write about places I knew. That''s where Morlais Castle comes in. It was in my thoughts when describing Castell y Mynydd and is a great starting point for the story. Most importantly, I was writing it for them, so the story had to be suitable for my kids to read. At that time, I didn''t really expect or intend for anyone else to ever read it.
AmeriCymru: Care to introduce the ''Tales of Finndragon'' for our readers?
Richard: Tales of Finndragon is a unique two book fantasy series set firmly in, and under, a fictional 21st century Welsh town named Crafanc y Ddraig. Although written for young adults, the story is suitable for children aged 9 years upwards and has also been very well received by adults who like fantasy books such as Harry Potter.
Book 1, The Legend of Finndragon''s Curse starts with the Davies family, who are still trying to come to terms with the unexplained disappearance of their father and husband.
There is a local legend which has been passed down from generation to generation. It tells of the mighty 6th century, medieval Kingdom of Morgannwg, which was ruled by King Dafydd the Defiant, and his impregnable castle, Castell y Mynydd. Dafydd had a powerful wizard called Finndragon, who cursed the kingdom after being banished and it was swallowed up and sank into the belly of the earth.
One day the siblings, Emma, Megan and Scott discover an ancient scroll and a photograph of the nearby mountains, hidden amongst their dad''s belongings. Realising that these are clues to his disappearance, the children set off to find him and the lost Kingdom of Morgannwg. And that''s where their fantastic adventure begins.
There are many twists and turns over the course of the two books, as the children encounter Finndragon''s terrible demons, magical creatures, and are helped by an inept wizard''s apprentice and by King Dafydd himself.
AmeriCymru: Where can people go online to find your work?
Richard: The books are currently available for kindle via Amazon and will shortly be available in other ebook formats and in print. You can read the first few chapters of each book for free.
AmeriCymru: You have a ''blog tour'' running until the end of June. Care to explain how this works for our readers? How can people participate?
Richard: A blog tour is a virtual book tour, where an author visits several book blogs rather than bookshops. I decided to plan my own tour in order to promote the release of my second book, Return to Finndragon''s Den on 29th May. I sent countless emails to book bloggers and put together a schedule which started 15th May and runs until the end of June.
There are lots of reviews, interviews, guest posts, free ebooks to win and an ambitious and unusual competition.
You can find the schedule on my blog My Name''s Not Earl . I would be grateful if you could checkout all the blogs, it''s not to late to visit the earlier posts. If you like what you see, please support the bloggers by joining their sites. They have been kind enough to help and support me and I want to return the favour in any way I can. If you want to tweet or share the posts on Facebook or via other social media, you will usually find links after the posts.
AmeriCymru: Apart from your blog tour, how are you promoting your books?
Richard: I recently took my son Jonathan to Morlais Castle for the first time, retracing the steps I first took with my own father as a young boy. I have posted some photographs on the Americymru website.
Looking at the photographs gave me an idea and I created a book trailer, which can be viewed on Youtube and on my Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads pages.
AmeriCymru: What''s next for Richard Phillips? Any new titles in the works?
Richard: I want to continue writing young adult fantasy (or possibly sci-fi) for the foreseeable future. I have a few ideas for stand alone stories, one of which will probably be a short story or novella, and hope to get started once the blog tour is over.
In the longer term, I''d like to write for an older audience (although most of my current readers are adults who love fantasy).
Whichever genre I write, I''m sure to be influenced by the people and places I know and love.
AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?
Richard: Thank you for taking an interest in me and my books. I''m always delighted to hear what people think about my books, blog, book trailer and anything else for that matter. You can find me on:
