It's been a while, but I'm back! And I'm not alone either, please welcome the aspiring CharlesLeonard0719, the author of A Heart of a Warrior!

Legend:
Q: The interviewer (as usual, me, yay!)
A: The interviewee (CharlesLeonard0719)

Q. Greetings! I'm TheWordArtistBooks, and I come from Author Insights. Ready for your interview?P.S. What nickname would you like me to refer you as?

A. Hi. You can just call me Charles and yes I'm ready for the Interview.

Q. Charles, like your username, right? 

So with that, let's begin with the questions! Would you mind telling me a bit about yourself, Charles? It can be as personal as you wish, or just your books.

A. Yep that's right. I'm a 18 year old guy from the sunny state of Florida and I'm currently going to college for a degree in Computer Science. I'm new to writing books since I only started writing back in September. I love hanging out with with friends, exploring nature, Reading books (I'm a bookworm when I comes to books, I love Fantasy/Dark Fantasy, Dystopian,Action and Adventure books) and playing video games.Some elements of my books are based on a dark time of my life by going through depression and my Family's long military heritage that spans nearly 40 generations from the Roman's till now.

Q. I'm a bookworm too! And 40 generations? That's really long! 

 Ooh, on the elements, we'll come to that later! 

 First, books! What's your favourite book(s)? Why do you like them?

A. That is a tricky question to answer since I like so many but to say the top 2 books/series for me is the LOTR books and the Hunger Games. Both give detailed explanations in to the worlds the stories take place in. LOTR has the magic and adventure with a battle against forces of evil, while the hunger games happen in a divided Dystopian world with a sense of fear, distrust, dissent and I could say a cheesy love story.

Q. They both sound quite captivating! 

Do you read books of the same genres that you write?

A. Yes, I do read the same books in the genres I write in. Since I'm new to writing and this is my first time putting effort into writing anything since 3rd grade. I draw elements from across Fantasy/Dark Fantasy, Action, Adventure, and Drama (This is a genre I love if it's written well or it just makes the story cheesy) genres. I decided to put them into the books I'm currently writing or future books because I think these 5 elements can pair well with each other if you know what to write about or how to use the elements. But Fantasy is the Primary genre that I have decided to start with since it is the easiest genre to just let your imagination run wild with no restrictions to building a world for someone to get lost in and fall in love with the world or the characters that live in that world.

Q. I agree. 

On that note, have you ever purposely read a book of the same genre just to try and get inspiration? How did it turn out?

A. Yes I have and I love just getting lost in the book and just let the ideas run wild. That is what happen when I created the world that I have created for my current book series since it draws inspiration from the writing and worlds created in the books GOT (This books series is well written since it has the Fantasy and Drama elements I love seeing in a book),LOTR (Creating a world), The Eighth Day books (These books inspired the magic elements in my book) and this might be a weird one for everyone but I also draw elements from the world the Erin's created in the Warrior cats books (Dark elements like Death, Torture and Possession, Nature and Tribal/Clan like elements are drawn from these books) .

Q. I doubt your last inspiration is weird, it sounds pretty useful. 

What do you like about these fantasy worlds that you create?

A. Sorry, for such a late response. Life has been a little hectic, and I was buried in schoolwork for College. 

The Fantasy worlds that I have created so far and the things I like about them is the complexity of the world and the interactions between characters with the world around them, just like my love for nature and the enjoyability of the world to hook people in to keep them coming back for more and to learn the story of the main characters through their perspectives on the world around them and their lives

Q. It's alright, thanks for the note. 

I totally agree with what you said. Fantasy is like having your own world, and you make the rules! :D

Let's talk about your fantasy novel, A Heart Of A Warrior. Would you mind giving us a description of what your story is about?

A. A Heart of A Warrior is a story that takes place in a fantasy world where humans don't exist and, Wolves and Other animals on the island Continent of Altaria have become sentient due to the magic in the world. Also, a quick warning the story will get pretty dark and bloody real quick :). 

Here is a simplified version of the blurb of my book. "There are eight Great Kingdoms and Empire, and four minor Kingdoms that call Altaria their home, The Sunstrike Kingdom, The Noven Empire, The Kingdom of Iceveil, The Kingdom of Aselia, The Kingdom of Woodhaven, The Kingdom of Ashadore, The Kingdom of Sevaeth, The Kingdom of Endora, The Kingdom of Fae, The Kingdom of Ga'hoole, The Kingdom of Asniydor, and The Kingdom of Stroya all lived in relative harmony for generations, but a war called the Great Altarian War has torn the eight great nations and four Minor Kingdoms apart. At the thrilling beginning of the series, the story follows, the beginning of The Noven Empire's fall from grace, its brutal rule over half of Altaria's kingdoms, and the one Kingdom that defied the odds and rebelled against the Empire's evil rule Sunstrike. To save Altaria from the grasp of evil that the Empire has unleashed." 

This story draws heavily from experiences from my life, things I have read in books, and real-life events that have happened in the world. The Main characters are Jarin (Hero) and Mavu (Villian). They represent both sides of my personality with Jarin being the good side of my personality led by morals of Loyalty, Fairness, and Love. Mavu represents the darkest corner of my mind and personality which is constantly fighting an endless war against my inner demons, I'm going to make him a lovable villain with a redemption arc and I have given him a backstory in the prologue where people would connect and understand why he went evil.

Q. So Sunstrike's like ruling over them all? 

Intriguing! And a backstory of the villain in the prologue too! I've never seen that on Wattpad before. 

What inspired you to create this world of nations and minor kingdoms? (Honestly I'm already fascinated hehe)

A. Yes, The High Kings/Queens of Suntrike do rule indirectly over the 12 kingdoms, but all of the kingdoms are independent with their own Cultures, Languages, Sovereignty, and History as the Vassal states to the Kingdom, which then breaks down further into the intricate tribal life with the Chieftains/Chieftess ruling their tribe. The things that inspired me to create this complex world of Nations, Minor Kingdoms, and Tribes were based on Europe's rich patchwork of ancient kingdoms (Like the Kingdoms of Wales, Scotland, England, Ireland, Aragon, Germany, and the Nordic People), Tribal confederations/coalitions of the Celtic tribes of the ancient times and Languages.

Q. What an intricate system! 

Just curious (because I also wrote a wolf-pack based story), do the wolves that enter another Kingdom or Nation's area, are they punished? Why, and how?

A. No, they usually are not punished for crossing the border into another kingdom's territory, which it is encouraged by some kingdoms for its citizens to travel or move to other kingdoms. This is what made Sunstrike a diverse melting pot of cultures and languages. Since all the domains are traditionally peaceful and trade goes on between all the realms. But if they commit a petty crime they are punished by having to pay reparations to the kingdom they committed the crime in. The ones who have committed a very bad crime like (Murder) are banished to the fringes of the kingdom and become bandits, warlords, or outlaws and they normally, fall under the influence of the darker entities in the world or are executed.

Q. I see. 

What similarities does a life of a wolf in a Kingdom or Nations have compared to humans? What is different? Why?

A. For my world nothing much has changed between the similarities between the humans in our world and the world with the Wolves, Owls and Etc. The major difference though it that a lot of our technology like Factories or Gun like Weapons (Gunpowder dose exist but it's mainly used in rituals or building), vehicles (Except Carts and Wagons). My world is based off of medieval times so a lot of the technology around that time will be found throughout the world.

Q. So I can expect to see wolves pulling carts and wolves selling apples at a wooden stall?

Your story's title is A Heart Of A Warrior. Is the protagonist a real warrior or are they fighting against something or somebody, or maybe, the antagonist?

A. It is unorthodox to think about it, but yes you can expect to see wolves pulling enchanted carts or selling stuff in a market. 

Also, with all the topics you mentioned, you hit the nail right on the head. The story follows the protagonist Jarin who is the crown prince to the Kingdom of Sunstrike as he fights against a great evil in the land in Ciarán the Dark Spirit and Mavu who are the antagonists and it follows his story as he protects his family and kingdom from Mavu's invading armies during the Great Altarian Wars. But I'm not going to say what happen since it will spoil the book and people have to read it but a lot of Death and Betrayal happens that will tug on your heartstrings to where you will love and relate to both Jarin and Mavu and you will see both sides of the war from there POV's.

Q. Oh, so you will alternate POVs? That's practical. And, great for creating suspense too.

In your opinion, what makes this book so different from others? What do you find unique about it?

A. That's a tough question since I'm still new to writing books, but in my opinion that makes my book different from other books so far is that I go against that grain on what people expect from a character and throw all of those cliche tropes out the window and do the characters justice by giving them character, emotions and etc without following those things and build those characters from the ground up to show people where the characters started/came from. The thing that is unique about my books is the alternating POV's between the main characters by giving a view into the lives (This especially is what will happen with Mavu because his POV will show you why he became evil and how he will redeem himself) and how the main characters lives interact with each other from their perspective on certain things.

Q. From what you've told me, I agree with you 100%. Cliches are bad ideas, but when you change a stereotype character into a realistic character, that's when you create a relatable protagonist. 

What do you in mind for the future of A Heart of A Warrior?

A. The things I have in mind for the future of my book A Heart of A Warrior is that it is going to be a 4-5 book series with a world guide (Which I'm currently working on alongside the first book, which is what we are talking about right now). I'm, hoping to have this book completed by the end of the year or in early 2024, and currently, chapters 3 and 4 which will show you the build-up to the start of the Great Altarian Wars, should be published sometime in the next month or earlier than that but, a quick warning Chapters 3-8 are going to be very dark, heavy and very bloody. So far, I have only two books named, with Revolution being Book 1 and Coronation being Book 2. Also, I might have these books professionally published if they do well here on Wattpad.

Q. That sounds like a very exciting future! I'm sure all of your readers will be over the moon if they read this hehe. 

I do have two more questions for you: 

 1. What makes your writing unique (e.g. good in character development, stunning worldbuilding) 

2. What is one piece of advice you would like to give to any aspiring authors?

A.  1) The things that make my writing style unique are that I draw inspiration from events that have happened in my life and the world around me, and the world-building in my world is inspired by real-world locations and creating a world from my imagination. 

2) The one piece of advice I will give to all the New, and Aspiring authors out there is, to never give up on yourself, and don't let the world break and tear you down no matter how bad it gets, and always push through the pain and show the world what you can do. Always think outside the box and go against the grain by being unorthodox with the elements you implement into your story, and never fall into the cliche tropes found in many books, It is time for a revolution in writing :).

If this is the end of the interview. I want to thank you, for taking the time and having the patience to interview me. :)

Q.  Oh, don't mention it, I just wanted to show the world the amazing writers behind the usernames :D 

And yes, that wraps up my interview! Thank you Charles :)

~~The End~~

That was my talk with Charles! If you found his book interesting, be sure to check out his book A Heart of a Warrior and follow CharlesLeonard0719.

If you enjoyed this interview, sign up for one at the Forms chapter (after completing payments, of course). I hoped you learnt something new and had fun reading this. For more insights, add this to your library to get notifications on the latest interviews! See you then!