The Interview
In the form of a tweet, how would you describe Shadow of Wrath?
Hunger Games meets Gladiator in a brutal and shocking dystopian tale.
Shadow of Wrath features an evil man in charge, people fighting for their lives like gladiators, a girl trying to save a boy, and what seems to be quite the amount of violence. Where did you get the inspiration for such a thing?
Well the entire premise was to focus around the concept of Wrath, thus I needed a setting where themes of violence, vengeance, and hopelessness are prevalent. As I was brainstorming for an appropriate setting, Spartacus came on the television and it was only easy to connect the concept of Gladiators and Wrath together.
What are five interesting facts about your book?
1) It serves as a prelude to my Sins of the 7 series, and can be read as a stand alone book.
2) I surprised even myself writing the finale of the book. I wanted to raise the stakes in the world I created as well as deliver a story that is void of clichés. I want the readers to experience something that's different from all the other teen books out there.
3) I wrote the continuation of Shadow of Wrath entitled Awake the Ghosts first. Realizing that I needed to do some world building in order to make Awake the Ghosts three dimensional, I decided to write Shadow of Wrath to serve as an introduction to this dystopian world I created.
4) I did the cover myself, with the help of my lovely wife who taught me the ins and outs of Photoshop.
5) You'll see many of the characters from Shadow of Wrath again in my Sins of 7 series, though their characters will all have evolved into something different.
If YOU had to fight in the gladiator arena, who's one fictional character you'd want to be up against, and one you wouldn't?
The one fictional character I'd like to go up against is probably Lucky the Leprechaun. He annoyed the hell out of me as a kid, prancing around like a selfish jerk, taunting children that just want to eat a bowl of cereal. In the Arena, he'd have nowhere to run and he'll taste some of my magically delicious boot once I'm through with him.
As for the one fictional person I wouldn't want to go up against, it'd have to be Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. How can anyone ever want to hurt that poor depressed patchwork donkey? I'd probably just surrender and let him kick my rear, just so he can have one moment of happiness.
What was your writing process like?
The first draft was fairly quick, and once I finished it, I hated it. I wanted to scream to the heavens and beat my chest, announcing to the world how unhappy I was with it. Of course, I usually do that with all my first drafts. Then I took it to a second revision and salvaged a good portion of it, refining sentences and making it flow, develop some type of rhythm to my writing. Then I sent it off to my beta readers, allowing them to tear it apart. Once I got back all the comments, I put together the third and final draft, producing something that I was finally proud of.
What's next for you?
I actually have two projects on the go at the moment, the first being Awake the Ghosts the first book in the Sins of 7 series. The story revolves around Noah, a bastard, who encounters the ghosts of several teens, murdered by a serial killer that steals the face of his victims. To his horror, he discovers that their pasts are linked somehow and it's up to Noah to unravel this mystery of his origins in order to stop the killer from murdering someone close to him. P.S. Noah fails.
At the same time, I'm working on a novella entitled City of Indecency which I describe as a sexy version of Lost involving superpowers, witchcraft, paganistic rituals, and some erotic thrills. This is geared more towards the New Adult crowd, so if you're into that type of thing, make sure you check it out.
Using the letters of WRATH, how would you describe yourself?
I'm a Wacky
Robot who writes
Ass kicking and
Robot who writes
Ass kicking and
Tantalizing tales
for voracious reading Humans.
Reading like a ninja and writing like a samurai,
L.W. PatricksThe Author
L.W. Patricks is the author of Shadow of Wrath and the literary architect behind the upcoming Sins of the 7 series with his second book: Awake the Ghosts to be published late 2013.
His short fiction works has been published by Crow Toes Quarterly Magazine, Fiction and Verse literary magazine, and upcoming Denizens of the Dark. He enjoys writing contemporary fantasy with an emphasis on creating urban mythology for his stories.
Though he calls Toronto his home, L.W. Patricks has a passion for exploration and has travelled all over the world including Germany, Netherlands, Italy, France, Spain, Czech Republic, Austria, United Kingdom, Thailand, Hong Kong, Cambodia just to name a few. His diverse experience amongst other cultures provides inspiration for his stories.
He currently lives in Toronto with his wife where he enjoys the scorching summer days and the icy winter nights while masquerading as a Word Samurai. He claims to be the offspring of a typewriting chimp and a literary ninja.
You can visit him at his website, Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter. You can also join his email list and recieve a free eBook compiliation of short stories he wrote.
The Book
Shadow of Wrath, a 300 page eBook out now from Strange Crow Publishing!
Purchase from Amazon, Smashwords, or Kobo.
If survival meant murdering an innocent person in cold blood every week, could you do it? Are you able to stick the knife into your opponent's heart while they look at you with fear in their eyes? Life in the Arena turns everyone into sinners.
When a starving and homeless boy is kidnapped and brought to a modern-day gladiator arena, hidden deep within the abandoned city of Bimini, he is forced to fight for his life. The crude death matches are a source of enjoyment for Ryker, who resides over the Arena as its vicious master. Given the name Dog, the street boy must find a way to survive, even if it means murdering other innocent kids in combat at the expense of his humanity. With every dead body he leaves behind in the pit, the blood and the violence threatens to wake a beast inside him.
Allegra, a slave girl in the pits and a victim of Ryker's constant abuse, is his only key to salvation. She has lost everything already -- her family, her innocence, and her dignity -- while her will to live hangs on by a thin thread. Can she save Dog's humanity before she too succumbs to the horrors of the Arena? With death casting it's long shadow over everyone, how can anyone survive?
The Giveaway
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