Author Spotlight: Aaron Rosenberg

award-winning, bestselling novelist, children’s book author, and game designer

Readers, thanks for checking out another Author Spotlight Interview. Let’s give a good, hearty welcome to this week’s guest!

Aaron Rosenberg is the best-selling, award-winning author of nearly 50 novels, including the DuckBob SF comedy series, the Relicant Chronicles epic fantasy series, the Areyat Islands fantasy pirate mystery series, the Dread Remora space-opera series, and, with David Niall Wilson, the O.C.L.T. occult thriller series. His tie-in work contains novels for Star Trek, Warhammer, World of WarCraft, Stargate: Atlantis, Shadowrun, Mutants & Masterminds, and Eureka and short stories for The X-Files, World of Darkness, Crusader Kings II, Deadlands, Master of Orion, and Europa Universalis IV.

He has written children’s books, educational books on a variety of topics, and over 70 roleplaying games (including the original games Asylum, Spookshow, and Chosen, work for White Wolf, Wizards of the Coast, Fantasy Flight, Pinnacle, and many others, the Origins Award-winning Gamemastering Secrets, and the Gold ENnie-winning Lure of the Lich Lord). He is a founding member of Crazy 8 Press.

Aaron lives in New York with his wife, and kids, and their feline overlord.

Aaron, thanks for agreeing to be here today. Most author spotlight interviews start off with the boring stuff, but I know what readers REALLY want to know.

If you could have any pet (real/fantasy/no-allergies/no worries about feeding it) what would it be?

I’ve been a huge fan of Alan Dean Foster’s Flinx series since I was a kid, so I’m going to go with an Alaspinian mini-dragon like Pip. Smart, loyal, affectionate, empathetic, and can fly—and spit poison to defend you. Plus, they’re clean and quiet, and have excellent table manners. What’s not to love?

What a cute mini-dragon! As long as you don’t get on their bad side.

What do you write? And how did you get started?

I write speculative fiction, but within that, I do almost everything: epic fantasy, urban fantasy, dark fantasy, science fiction, space opera, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, superhero, mystery, thriller, action-adventure, comedy, Western, and some horror. I tend not to write pure romance or military but anything else is fair game.

I started writing when I was a kid. I won the school-wide writing contest in third grade—my school was K-4, so I beat out the fourth graders, and that was the first time I realized my writing could reach people beyond friends, family, and teachers. I still have the plaque hanging up beside my desk.

A lovely array of sub-genres!

What do you like to read?

Oh, I read all the same things I write, so just about everything.

I like to alternate, so I’ll read a modern-day urban fantasy and then switch to a period mystery or a classic space opera or an off-the-wall comedy. I’m currently reading Burning Roses by S.L. Huang, but before that, I reread F. Paul Wilson’s horror-thriller Legacies, and before that was Kerstin Hall’s The Border Keeper and Edgar Cantero’s This Body’s Not Big Enough for Both of Us.

I think I might be adding a few more books to my over-full to-read pile…

Do you snack when you write/edit? What are your favorites?

Ha, no, I need to keep my fingers clean and on the keys! I don’t snack much while reading, either, though part of that is because the bulk of my reading is during my morning and evening subway commutes, and I need one hand for holding my Kindle and the other for straphanging!

How clever of you. I should really clean my keyboard.

What do you drink when you write/edit?

I live on unsweetened iced tea, particularly the Japanese teas like Oolong and green tea, so I almost always have a glass of that beside me when I write. When I’m editing I sometimes switch to hot tea if it’s cold out, and there I favor English, Irish, or Scottish Breakfast.

I don’t drink a whole lot, but if I’m reading instead of writing I might have a glass of wine.

That sounds lovely.

Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that doesn’t work for you

Stick to one genre and write a book or two a year.

Someone one told me that, in order to build my brand, I should only write “one, maybe two books a year” and all in a single genre. I laughed. I average 2-4 novels and 10-20 short stories each year, and I’d be bored to tears if they all had to be the same subgenre, tone, and style.

Does that dilute my brand because I write so many different things? Maybe. But I enjoy what I’m doing, and switching between types of writing keeps it interesting for

The single genre and that volume of books were definitely more accepted advice when traditional publishing was the only acknowledged path. These days, it’s all about the hustle. I’m glad you get to play with all the worlds and voices.

Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice they can pry out of your cold, dead hands

Write to a schedule.

“Write every day” doesn’t work for everyone, though it does for me—when I’m on a novel, I write a chapter a day, every day, no matter what.

But some people work better writing only on weekends, or only alternate days, or whatever. It’s all good, as long as you find your rhythm, your schedule, and stick to it. It’s the NOT sticking to it, writing only when and if you feel like it, that’s a problem.

Indeed! The only true rule about writing is “do what works for you”. But, making your writing a priority is the only way most of us manage to make any progress.

Shameless Self-Promotion time!

DuckBob Spinowitz Adventures (1-3)

No Small Bills

DuckBob Spinowitz has a problem.

It isn’t the fact that he has the head of a duck—the abduction was years ago and he’s learned to live with it. But now those same aliens are back, and they claim they need his help!

Apparently, creatures from another reality are invading the universe, and only DuckBob can reset the device that maintains the barrier between dimensions. He reluctantly agrees to help, but how can a man whose only talents are bird calls and bad jokes, and whose only work experience is punching random buttons on a computer in a standard cubicle, be expected to save the universe?

The Relicant Chronicles (1-4)

Long ago, Ritakhou was a flourishing empire filled with light, life, and magic. Then came the Schism.

Now the kingdom is called Rimbaku and is a pale shadow of its former self, a land stripped of its glory and its power. The only magic left comes from aitachi, the Relicant Touch – the ability to absorb skills and memories by consuming aishone: the bones of the dead.

Rimbaku’s enemies are circling, testing the nation’s borders. They know the empire is weak and are determined to push it over the edge, and then strip its bones as it has done to its dead for so long.

Meanwhile, the brothers Kagiri and Noniki set out from their small village with a handful of aishone and a great deal of hope. They soon find the world a bigger, darker place than they imagined and are forced to accept a dangerous proposal, one that will put both of them at risk for not only their lives but their very souls – and that may change the Relicant Empire forever.

O.C.L.T. Supernatural Thrillers (1-7)

Brought To Light

Fans of Fringe, The X-Files, Supernatural, and Grimm will love the adventures of the O.C.L.T., slam-packed with action, adventure, the occult, magical creatures, and history, this series follows an elite group with special abilities and skills as they work behind the scenes to help keep the paranormal and the unnatural from endangering the world.

There are incidents and emergencies in the world that defy logical explanations, events that could be defined as abnormal, extraterrestrial, or simply otherworldly. Standard laws do not allow for such instances, nor are most officials or authorities trained to handle them. In recognition of these facts, one organization has been created that can. Assembled by a loose international coalition, their mission is to deal with these situations using diplomacy, guile, force, and strategy as necessary. They shield the rest of the world from their own actions and clean up the messes left in their wake. They are our protection, our guide, our sword, and our voice, all rolled into one.

When a world-renowned scientist with a high-level security clearance goes missing in Uppsala, Sweden, and then a trained CIA operative follows suit, the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) taps Reed Christopher Hayes (“R. C.” to his friends and “Crease” to his teammates) and the rest of his Military Intelligence unit to investigate. What they find lurking in the shadows of that quiet little city defies belief. The real question, though, is can they take it down before more lives are lost—including their own?

Eldros Legacy (1-11)

Two thousand years ago, a race of fifteen-foot-tall, highly intelligent, highly magical Giants ruled Eldros with an iron fist. The other mortal races—Humans, Elves, Delvers, Arachlan, Shadowvar—were all slaves to this master race.

Then there was a revolution.

The mortal races overthrew their oppressors, and half of the Giants died during the war. The other half fled. And vanished.

Two thousand years later, the races have all but forgotten about the Giants. They tell stories about them, of course, but these stories are considered myths.

But the Giants have not forgotten. In the shadows, they have been nurturing their hate. And want their world back.

In the forgotten places of the world, they are building an army that, when it is ready, will be impossible to defeat…
Unless, of course, the world of Eldros can muster a band of heroes who can do the impossible.

Yeti Left Home

Small-Town Yeti, Big-City Problems

Peaceful, unassuming Wylie Kang-a Yeti with an appreciation for more human creature comforts-lives a quiet life in his self-built sanctuary on the outskirts of Embarrass, Minnesota. But when violent dreams disturb his peace, and a series of strange murders plague the area, a Hunter comes to town, nosing after Wylie’s trail.

Fleeing pursuit, Wylie packs up his truck and heads for the Twin Cities, hoping to lose himself in the urban jungle, only to find a thriving supernatural community.

Just as he begins to settle in — with the help of some new-found friends — he discovers the bloodshed has followed… as has the Hunter.

Can Wylie catch the killer, before the Hunter catches him?

Check out Aaron Rosenberg across the web!