Author interview: Daniel Arenson

Daniel Arenson is a USA Today bestselling author of fantasy and science fiction. The Huffington Post has called his writing “full of soul.” He’s written over forty novels, most of them in five series:

EARTHRISE — They came from deep space. They came to destroy us. Against the alien onslaught, Earth stands alone. But we will fight. We will rise. We will win. Start reading with Earth Alone, the first novel in this military science fiction series.

REQUIEM — Welcome to Requiem, an ancient kingdom whose people can grow wings and scales, breathe fire, and take flight as dragons. Requiem is explored in six trilogies, which can be read in any order. If you’re new to Requiem, you can start reading with Requiem’s Song (you can download it for free). For fans of dark, gritty fantasy like A Game of Thrones.

MOTH — Discover Moth, a world torn between day and night — its one half drenched in eternal daylight, the other cloaked in endless darkness. For fans of classic fantasy worlds such as Middle Earth and Narnia. Start reading with Moth, the first novel in this epic fantasy saga.

ALIEN HUNTERS — Got trouble with aliens? Call the Alien Hunters. A group of scruffy mercenaries, they’ll remove the pest for you. Low rates. No questions asked. Start reading with Alien Hunters, the first book in this space opera series. For fans of Star Wars, Firefly, and Guardians of the Galaxy.
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KINGDOMS OF SAND — Enter a world of sand and splendor, a world where gladiators battle in the arena, where legionaries and barbarians fight for glory, and where empires rise and fall.

​You were already a bestselling author before the Earthrise series but it definitely seems to have catapulted you into an even higher author stratosphere. What’s that experience been like and how did you celebrate?
Back in 2011, my Song of Dragons series had similar success to Earthrise today. The Song of Dragons trilogy sold hundreds of thousands of copies that year, enabling me to quit my day job and become a full time author. After that, I still had successful books, though Earthrise is the first series to reach Song of Dragons heights. I haven’t done anything to celebrate, though I’m very grateful every day for the opportunity to write full time for a living.

What’s a typical day like for you?
I usually spend my mornings answering emails and doing administrative work. I’ll start writing after lunch, then write until midnight. At midnight, the laptop usually shuts down and I spend an hour reading. I work seven days a week and haven’t taken a day off in years. Though to be honest, every day feels like a day off, since writing is how I used to spend my vacations anyway when I still had a real job!

​What do you like most about writing in the science fiction and fantasy genres and do you think you’ll ever venture outside of them?
My parents had lots of old Asimov and Heinlein novels lying around, so I was born into reading science fiction. Like many kids in the 80s, I also played a lot of Dungeons and Dragons and read fantasy novels. They’re simply genres that have always been a part of my life and that I enjoy consuming, and so that’s what I write. I’ve always wanted to attempt to write a thriller and horror, so if I ever venture out of science fiction and fantasy, that’s where I might go.

Which are you currently reading?
Currently on my reading table: Hell Divers by Nicholas Smith, The Atlantis Gene by Riddle, and Waking Up by Sam Harris.

Which of your books would you most like to see made into a tv series of movie and who would play the lead roles?
Since I’m currently working on the Earthrise series, that would be my pick. As for the lead roles… in the first novel, the characters are all eighteen. I don’t know many famous teenage actors (aside from the kids on Game of Thrones), so I imagine we’d mostly hire unknown actors and catapult them to stardom. ;)

The zombie apocalypse has hit (as we all knew it would one day). Which TV or movie characters do you want as part of your crew? (no superheroes…that’s cheating)
I’ll have to go with:

• Michonne from Walking Dead, since she’s already experienced with killing zombies.
• Kate McKinnon’s character from the new Ghostbusters movie, since she’s great at inventing weapons for fighting the dead.
• Sam from Game of Thrones — he killed a white walker!
• Ash from Evil Dead. He’s proven that with his chainsaw hand and boomstick, he can kill anything the undead throw at him.
• And finally, the zombie-killing priest from Braindead. In his own words, he “kicks ass for the lord!”

Originally published on Knockin Books​ — Blog