YABC: What surprised you most while writing your latest book?
Django Wexler: I’ve started writing the fourth Forbidden Library book, the sequel to The Palace of Glass. There’s a bit at the beginning when most of the characters who’ve turned up in the series so far end up in the same place, and I was shocked how many of them there are! It turns out to be quite difficult to keep track of everybody. For my next series I’m going to have to keep a spreadsheet.
YABC: If you could live in any fantasy world, which one would it be?
DJ: One of the safe ones! Seriously, most fantasy worlds are pretty dangerous, especially if you’re not part of the chosen elite or a wizard or what have you. If it’s allowed, I’d probably pick a science fiction world instead ‐‐ places like Iain Banks’ Culture novels or Peter Hamilton’s Commonwealth seem to have pretty good lives for everybody, plus you get to live forever! The trouble with fantasy is you can’t assume you’re going to be the main character.
YABC: Do you have a mantra that gets you through the drafting phase?
DJ: It’s something pretty simple, like “We’ll get there.” A reminder that the process, which can seem endless and intimidating, will eventually come to an end. This seems obvious, but it can be easy to lose track of! If you keep piling the words up, eventually you’ll get to the end of a draft, and then you do the next part and the next until you’re done.
YABC: What is your favorite hobby when you’re not writing?
DJ: I have quite a few! I play a lot of games ‐‐ computer games, board games, war games. For the latter I also paint miniatures of various sorts. Somewhat surprisingly, this is pretty relaxing, even if I’m still all that good at it! http://djangowexler.com/2015/03/15/facing‐the‐dragon/
YABC: Which character gave you the most trouble when writing your latest book?
DJ: I’m not far enough in to Forbidden Library #4 to be having trouble yet. The previous book was The Guns of Empire, book four of my military fantasy series The Shadow Campaigns, and it had a couple of tricky characters ‐‐ Janus, the Sherlock Holmes‐esque general, gets put into a couple of unusual (for him) situations, and it was interesting trying to figure out his reactions.
YABC: Do you enjoy writing to music? If so, do you have a go‐to playlist?
DJ: I have a very eclectic playlist I’ve been building since the very early days of MP3s. It’s all music that I’ve listened to so often that I barely hear it anymore, so it makes perfect writing background. For some things, I need more deliberately exciting music, so I have a Pandora channel based on some bombastic music from movie trailers.
YABC: Is there an organization or cause that is close to your heart?
DJ: I do some volunteer work for SFWA (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association). They put on a lot of interesting events and do great work on behalf of writers, and when I was very new I got
introductions through their forums to a lot of wonderful people. I’m trying to help other new writers get the same experience!
YABC: What’s a book that you’ve read recently that you would recommend to your readers?
DJ: Right now I’m listening to the audiobook of Franny Billingsley’s Chime, which is both a fantastic book and a great performance. I’ve also recently liked Calamity, the third of Brandon Sanderson’s Reckoner trilogy, and City of Blades, Robert Jackson Bennett’s sequel to has fantastic City of Stairs.
YABC: Which part of the writing process do you enjoy more: Drafting or Revising?
DJ: Definitely drafting. There are parts of it that can be agonizing, but when it’s going really well it’s amazing. Editing and revising, for me, is always a slog ‐‐ I find myself impatient to be off inventing new things!
YABC: What would you say is your superpower?
DJ: I have the ability to hear the high‐pitched hum some electrical devices make when they’re charging or in standby mode. (Really! Sometimes I have to go around unplugging things before I can get to sleep.) Shockingly, this has turned out not to be particularly useful when fighting crime.
Meet The Palace of Glass!
An action-packed middle-grade fantasy with classic writing, a resourceful heroine, a host of magical creatures, and no shortage of narrow escapes—for fans of Story Thieves, Inkheart, Coraline, and Harry Potter.
For Alice, danger threatens from inside the library as well as out. Having figured out the role her master and uncle, Geryon, played in her father’s disappearance, Alice turns to Ending—the mysterious, magical giant feline and guardian of Geryon’s library—for a spell to incapacitate Geryon. But, like all cats, Ending is adept at keeping secrets and Alice doesn’t know the whole story. Once she traps Geryon with Ending’s spell, there’s no one to stop the other Readers from sending their apprentices to pillage Geryon’s library. As Alice prepares to face an impending attack from the combined might of the Readers, she gathers what forces she can—the apprentices she once thought might be her friends, the magical creatures imprisoned in Geryon’s library—not knowing who, if anyone, she can trust.
Meet Django Wexler!
Django Wexler is the author of the Forbidden Library series, as well as the adult fantasy series the Shadow Campaigns. He lives near Seattle, Washington.
The Palace of Glass
By: Django Wexler
Release Date: April 12, 2016
*GIVEAWAY DETAILS*
Three winners will receive a copy of The Forbidden Library, The Mad Apprentice, and The Palace of Glass (US only).
*Click the Rafflecopter link below to enter the giveaway*
This book sounds exciting! I love your answers to the questions! The cover looks amazing!
Wow! This book and the series has everything I love–a strong, smart heroine, action, adventure, magic. This sounds really exciting!
I like the cover and description of the book. It sounds like a good story with characters I will like.