A Few Words with a Diabolical Scribe
1) What is your Author name; use your Pen name if you have one.
Isaiah Burt
2) What is your genre and what drew you to it?
My primary genre is dark fantasy. I was drawn to it because I saw a reflection of, and a method of catharsis for coping with, the dysfunctional family I grew up in. I used to spend hours and hours poring over the D&D monster manuals; I was fascinated and inspired by the fiends because of their ability to thrive in places so filled with torment.
3) Which character of yours is your favorite and why?
My favorite original character is Zeraga Baal’khal, the Doomfire; he is a devil from the Thirteen Hells of Nyrrakhâ. I created him primarily as a fiendish reflection of myself, and I have been writing, editing, and rewriting his stories for the past fourteen years. It is these stories that form the core of my Diabolical Ascension mythos (which can be found on my blog, linked below). Zeraga’s been with me through ups and downs and thick and thin. I cannot imagine my writing without him.
4) Which character of yours was the most challenging to write and why?
His name is Osbourne. He is a polar bear berserker who is the protagonist of a forthcoming novella from Concept Moon Studios. The reason why he was my most challenging character is simple: I’m not used to writing the good guys! That being said, the support from the Concept Moon team throughout the process has been amazing, and I believe that Osbourne is also one of my more compelling characters.
5) Do you prefer writing dialogue, action or other scenes?
I’m a huge fan of visceral action scenes. I love writing about blood jetting from wounds; ropes of intestines spilling out; and heads flying off. Give me the gore!
6) Have you ever taken a course on writing or advertising? If so, which one(s) and how would you rate them?
I took creative writing classes on long narratives, short narratives, and poetry while in college. I absolutely loved the professor from the long narrative class; he served as my academic advisor and gave me the best piece of advice from between the three courses: the lingerie theory of literature. The basis of the theory is simple: focus on what’s interesting, nothing more and nothing less. As for the other two courses, the professor who taught them was opposed to fantasy of any kind, but I still got A’s because I followed a piece of advice my mother gave me about college professors: give them what they want.
7) Did you ever feel like giving up? If so, how did you overcome that?
I can’t say that I’ve ever felt like giving up writing in general, and that’s because it’s as natural for me as breathing. I write primarily for my own satisfaction. If others derive joy from my work, all the better! Also, I knew from the start that professional writing was going to be an uphill battle, so I am thankful for every victory, no matter how minor.
8) What is your favorite book and why?
My favorite book is Elric of Melniboné. Blood and souls for Lord Arioch! That book, and the series as a whole, served as a template for my work; its influence on me as a writer cannot be overstated. I enjoy Elric first and foremost because of the soul-drinking demon-sword Stormbringer, but also because of the sense of powerlessness that Elric experiences in the sword’s absence. That relationship really spoke to me.
9) How many books do you try to read each year?
Around twentyish. I concentrate much of my reading in dark fantasy, but I’ve also branched out to nonfiction and philosophy.
10) In your opinion, can a book series be too long?
A book series is only too long when its plot is no longer compelling. To put it another way, a book series is only too long if the author has run out of things worth saying. These judgements, of course, must be made by the individual readers.
11) If you could take one item out of any book that you have ever read, what would it be or why?
The Ring of Three Wishes from D&D, definitely. Three wishes to do whatever I want with? Hell yeah!
12) What is your best book memory?
In the Night Lords Omnibus by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, I shed a tear over the death of a spindly, mutated human because of how well he was characterized.
13) What is the name of your book/series? Tell me a little bit about them.
The one that I am pushing most heavily right now is Legacy of Flames. Here’s the blurb:
A pariah brought out of hiding. A power as old as the world itself.
Gnav lives alone, and he likes it that way. He hunts; he eats; he sleeps. But when, when a messenger from the nearby city of Ironfire comes looking for him, the Cinderscale is offered a hunt that he simply cannot refuse:
A dragon hunt.
And the dragon is no ordinary dragon. It draws its sorcery from a primordial fire spirit threatening to raze Ironfire itself in an inferno the likes of which Sundara has never seen before.
Will Gnav defeat the dragon, or will his whole world turn to ashes around him? Buy your copy of Legacy of Flames today and find out!
14) Do you have a website? If so, what is it?
15) Where can we find and follow you? (Name your social media platforms.)
Here’s my Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IsaiahBurtAuthor
16) Is there anything important that you would want my readers to know about you?
I’m consistently putting out new material! I put up a new story on my blog every month, and I’ve also been working with multiple publishers to get more stories out there.
The majority of my published works can be found here: https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/browse?keyword=isaiah%20burt
My short story anthology, Darkness & Glory, can be found here: https://www.lulu.com/shop/isaiah-burt-and-victoria-blotta/darkness-glory/ebook/product-zg4n44.html?q=Darkness%20%26%20Glory&page=1&pageSize=4&fbclid=IwAR0OQ4W18NxAmL9YjKmZQZ5dNv3Txb_FcnmwoDKuh7izdMfe-BVQK1qAAhE
