Monday 4 February 2013

Author Interview: Peter Koevari

Peter Koevari has written Prophecies Awakening and Darkness Rising.


1. What is your name and where do you call home?
Peter Koevari, and I currently live in Queensland, Australia

2. Do you have a pen name?
No, I didn’t see the need for one, even when I write books in other genres in the future.

3. What is the name of your most recent book and if you had to sum it up in 20 or less words, what would you say?
That would be Legends of Marithia Book 2 : Darkness Rising.
The second instalment in an epic magical journey in fantasy like you’ve never experienced before. You will be surprised.

4. Do you have plans for a new book? Is this book part of a series?
Absolutely, and I am writing the third instalment in the Legends of Marithia series as we speak. It is turning it to be far bigger and more intense than I had ever imagined. For the future, I have so many ideas for a new story that I may take a break from the Legends series to begin something new, and it will most likely still be in the fantasy genre.

5. What or who inspired you to start writing? And how long have you been writing?
I always loved reading, but my introduction to fantasy was by a well known author called Robin Hobb. Her books opened up the longing inside me to pen my own stories. I have been writing various unpublished stories over the course of my life, but published the first edition of Legends of Marithia Book 1 in 2009.

6. Do you gift books to readers for book reviews?
Absolutely, and I provide them in eBook format.

7. How did you come up with the cover? Who designed the cover of your book?
The covers for Legends 2 and Legends 1 Uncut are both by an amazing talent, Claudia Bartoli-Mckinney at www.phatpuppyart.com . Her work is of the utmost quality and she is a really nice artist to work with. The Legends 1 cover features a character named Trisa, who is a healer with magical powers. The cover for Legends 2 is from a scene out of the epic battle of the book, where Helenia waves the flag that calls in the dragons. It is one that I think readers will be happy to see visualised.

8. Which is your favourite cover of all the books you have written?
Now that is an incredibly hard choice, and so far I have created the covers for 2 books (the first edition of Legends of Marithia 1 was designed by a publisher and mostly out of my control). I would say it would be Legends of Marithia 2, as Helenia is one of my favourite characters in the series and that is an intense scene in the book.

9. Is there anything you would change about your book covers?
Not anymore, I did that with my first book when I rewrote it into a new edition.

10. Would you have different book covers for different countries?
If there was a need to, I suppose I would, but all it would really need would be a translation.

11. How did you come up with the title for your book?
Originally and after long self deliberation, I was going to title the series, “Legends of Lore”, but being that the story focuses on a world called “Marithia”, I decided to rename it to Legends of Marithia, as it felt far more natural. Why Legends? Because the books focus on many characters and beings that are legendary in my story of clashing prophecies.

12. Is there anything you would change about your book? And why?
Yes, and although I went ahead with rewriting my first book into an extended and uncut edition, I feel that I stayed a little too true to the original book. I still love my debut novel, but it was heavily focused on an adrenaline pumping pace and delivery. This can be a very good thing, but in hindsight, I would like to improve the interaction between the characters and add some pivotal scenes which are referenced and touched on in the sequels, but would have provided more insights to the reader. One scene that I would like to write in particular is the missing training scene between Vartan, the boy born of dragon’s blood, and the dragons on their home island, Trahoterra.

13. Do you have a book trailer? And what are your thoughts on book trailers?
Yes, I do for the first book, and it can be found on my website and Youtube. I think that they are very effective, but I have not had any professional videos made, and this is something on my wishlist for the series.

14. What is your opinion on ARCs?
I think that they are great to provide early feedback and reviews for potential readers to see.

15. Do you prefer e-books, paperbacks, hardcovers or audiobooks?
Personally, I read most of the above, with the exception of audiobooks. eBooks are very handy for someone like me who writes and edits my books on an iPad (Yes, I am serious).

16. Are you a self-published / Indie author?
I am now. My first edition was published by a New York publisher, but they did nothing to promote my series, and certainly nothing that I couldn’t do myself. When I wanted to change my book’s cover and rewrite it, I was looking at hefty costs, and I realised that I needed to free myself from the publisher, which is exactly what I did. My first edition can still be purchased and still is, but I followed a professional process for writing and publishing Legends of Marithia 1 Uncut and Legends of Marithia 2.

17. Have you ever read a book more than once? And if so what was it?
Yes, and it was Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders series. The sections with the serpents still didn’t appeal to me, but the rest is still incredibly great to read.

18. Have you ever bought a specific edition of a book because of it’s cover? (For example a UK, US or Canadian version)
No, although I definitely get influenced by a book’s cover.

19. Have you ever read a book just based on it’s cover?
Yes, I have done this before. Sometimes I have been pleasantly surprised, and other times bitterly disappointed. I have also read books based on the hype. Hunger games series blew me away, while I didn’t get past the first chapter of 50 shades of “oh crap” grey.

20. Has the quality of the cover of a book ever put you off of reading it?
Absolutely, and this is never so true as it is in the indie industry. I rarely see great covers on indie books, and while we don’t have endless resources, it should never be an excuse to produce a book with a cover that looks like it was done in paint or hand drawn by the author themselves (unless they are an author illustrator as an exception). It is all about perception. If your cover looks shocking, then people will assume that the words are equally so. If in doubt, then ask someone for help.

21. What is your favourite film based on a book?
Tough question, but I would probably go with Lord of the Rings. Jackson has done an amazing job.

22. What is your favourite book genre at the moment?
I always love reading fantasy novels, but am enjoying apocalyptic themes and liked reading the Walking Dead comics, which were surprisingly good.

23. What books have made it onto your wishlist recently? And why?
I have a pretty decent list at the moment, but one recent addition was Amanda Hocking’s Hollowland, which I am checking out due to her enormous success as an indie author.

24. What book are you reading at the moment? And in what format?
Funnily enough, I have a few books on my reading list. The Airmen, Hollowland, and Primal Leadership.

25. If you could invite any four celebrities (alive or dead) to your dinner party, who would you invite and why?
J.R.R. Tolkien – To give me advice, critique, and do me the honour of reading a few chapters of my books.
King Arthur Pendragon – To understand what medieval life was truly like, and what is and isn’t true about Arthurian legend, including learning the truth about the Knights of the round table.
Nostradamus – Although I would need an interpreter, it would be fascinating to know if his prophecies were actually true, and what he sees changed in the future as his predictions would have most likely changed.
Captain Kidd – As he no longer has any need for it, to discover the location of his famed buried treasure that has never been found.

26. Do you have any advice for other writers? And what’s the best advice that you have been given when it comes to writing?
Stay true to yourself, never stop writing and never ever stop learning, improving, and listening to your readers. Beware POD publishers. Stop finding excuses to procrastinate and make the time to write. If I can do it on public transportation and an iPad, then so can you!

27. Do you have any hobbies that aren’t related to reading & writing?
I play guitar, although not anywhere as well as I would like to. I also love to play games that challenge the mind, like Chess, Chinese Checkers, and Magic the Gathering.

28. Where can your readers follow you?








Thankyou so much for taking the time to do this interview and allowing us a glimpse into your writing world!

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