Featured Interview With Author Ethan Warrener
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised on a farm in Southwestern Missouri, and I still live in the area. I have a couple cats, but it would be more accurate to say that my wife has a couple of cats. The cats and I have adopted a "live and let live" policy that satisfies us mutually.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in elementary school, but I really fell in love with thrillers when I was in high school. I read a lot of Frank Peretti and Dean Koontz. I actually started writing out of spite (such a pure motivation). My younger sister wrote something in fifth grade with conflict and figurative language well beyond what you'd expect from a fifth grader, and as the oldest sibling, I was not to be outdone. It wasn't until I was in high school that I had my first "Holy cow, I HAVE to write this" moment.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My tastes and preferred authors have evolved and diversified over the years. I've enjoyed Michael Crichton, Neal Stephenson, Andy Weir, Martha Wells, Hilari Bell, Pierce Brown, Marissa Meyer, Ted Dekker, Frank Peretti, Jorge Luis Borges, George Saunders, and others. I tend to read a lot of technothriller/sci-fi, but thrillers were my first love, and I have an unceasing itch for suspense that remains hard to scratch.
I've been inspired to write by movies and music as well as books. I've been profoundly influenced by 90s Harrison Ford thrillers like Clear and Present Danger and The Fugitive, as well as movies like Children of Men, District 9, Wit, Road to Perdition, and, of course, The Lord of the Rings.
I also listen to a lot of metal, and lately I've been spending a lot of time in the melodeath/prog metal subgenres. If you're curious and want to dip a toe into that world, I'd recommend In Flames, Dark Tranquility, and Be'lakor for insight into some of my inspiration. Does it make sense for the author of a post-apocalyptic novel set in West Virginia? It does to me, I guess.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
For Home and Hearth is the first novel of The Tucker Clan Saga, with books two and three set to come out later this year. I've described it as M. Night Shyamalan's The Village if it were post-apocalyptic and set in "misty taste of moonshine" West Virginia. I aimed for a down-home, salt-of-the-earth baseline feel for the story with moments of more intense terror, tragedy, and violence. I thought the interplay between those moods would make for a unique and interesting read, and hopefully readers will agree.
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