Featured Interview With Author Ray Strong
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was born on a Navy base and spent my first years in Saipan. Before we settled down in Chicago’s South side, I flew and sailed more miles before I was four than most will in their lifetimes. And it grew in me a wanderlust I’ve never satisfied.
I now happily live in a San Francisco suburb now with my wife, three kids, three dogs, three cats, and a bird. It’s only miles from three international airports, but I can travel much farther in time in space through reading and writing than I ever will in my body.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My love of reading started when I was in kindergarten to compete with my older sister. She was having difficulty learning to read and our mother spent her extra time with her. So I scoured my mother’s bookcase and found the Little Orphan Annie books–the weekly cartoons bound into a book. I learned to read by matching the words with the action, and when I figured that out, I read her books. But got quickly bored.
The magic of reading did not start until I found the Witch World fantasy series by Andre Norton a few years later at the 79th Street Public Library in Chicago. I read their entire stack of fantasy and science fiction available.
I didn’t start writing until high school and had some short works published in the Chicago Tribune. But writing and my rock band would not pay the bills, so I went on to college. After graduate school in engineering, I spent years in a global career that exposed me to the worlds cultures and perspectives.
Reading always accompanied me, but writing always pulled at me. After reading Stephen Vincent Benét’s John Brown’s Body, t took a stab at poetry. It was quite horrible, but I published the story from that poem years later.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My list of favorite authors is a long list and found at Goodreads under my name. Off the top of my head, it’s Victor Hugo, Tolstoy, and Dostoyevsky. In science fiction, it’s the classics: Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Heinlein, Clarke, Cherryh. Downbelow Station, and Lucifer’s Hammer, and Pride of Channur, are old favorites. But who can forget Childhood’s End and the Foundation series? As for non-fiction, it’s Bruce Chatwin and The Songlines. (I have a brief review of that on Bookbub.)
My favorite genres are fantasy and science fiction, but include history and philosophy. I realized I had gone too far in my philosophy readings when on a plane flight to Europe, I laughed out loud reading Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy. I returned fo fiction after that. (Did you know that Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations was an inspiration for the movie Gladiator?)
My inspiration are the writers who weave great story with great characters like Tolstoy (Pierre Bezukhov), Hugo (Jean Valjean), Cherryh (Pyanfar Chanur), GRR Martin (Daenerys), and J. Corey (Chrisjen Avasarala).
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My recent book to debut in May is Zephyr’s Flight, the first in a 7 book fantasy series with female leads, dragons, and a world in conflict. It begins in a high mountain valley where the enigmatic dragons are leaving while the people despair at the worsening harvests. Our heroine, Astria, carves out a future for herself in defiance of . . . well, everyone. And I won’t tell you any more!
Each of the seven stories stands alone, but are set in a world in conflict where a few courageous and stubborn heroes and heroines must grow to meet the overwhelming challenges that confront them. They include:
Astria Sannfjaer, the heroine of the first book, is the daughter of a dragon Rider who has disappeared, leaving her without a dragon or a future.
Diana Stewert, the daughter of a militia colonel, who challenges the empress after decoding an ancient book of magic book she discovers in the ruins of a walled town on the opposite side of her world.
Katheryn Cervus, Diana’s mother, who rises from the daughter of a minor lord to a revolutionary who challenges the rapacious empress, earning her the nickname, ‘The Angel of Death.’
Makashti Sinura, daughter of an iterant teacher, is raised a slave girl but rises to the Governor of a province to rule an empire.
Of course, they are not alone. As they follow the paths of their lives, they befriend dragons, seers, sea captains, retired mercenaries, royalty, barbarian princes, shield maidens, and giants as allies (or lovers). And each fights in epic battles where armies clash on land, at sea, and in the sky!
Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles
To discover a new awesome author, check out our Featured Authors page. We have some of the best authors around. They are just waiting for you to discover them. If you enjoyed this writer’s interview feel free to share it using the buttons below. Sharing is caring!
If you are an author and you want to find new readers come submit your book to our Awesome Book Promotion service.