I’m privileged to introduce a very exciting writer, Dylan West. He is the author of the young-adult science fiction Scribes series, which includes some fantasy elements. Today we’ll learn about the first book in the series Scribes’ Descent, but Dylan has also created a video game and writes a technology related newsletter that you will want to investigate.
Short Bio: I’m a Jesus lover, web developer, video game developer, Navy veteran, foreign language nut, and a nut in general. While other people are busy thinking normal thoughts, I’m crafting corny jokes. I live in Chesapeake, VA, with my wife and daughter.
Please tell us about your current release.
People worship technology on Planet Daishon.
With inventions that prolong life and eradicate disease, it’s little wonder. Death seems obsolete until an earthquake kills thousands, including Mallory’s parents. They should have lived for a thousand years, not just fifty. Mallory scrambles for answers. Such a disaster shouldn’t be possible.
Quakes have never happened on this world before.
Suspecting the top research center had triggered it, her best friend’s father investigates. When he turns up missing, Mallory goes on site after him as a geology intern. She can’t bear to lose anyone else.
An old mine sits at the epicenter of the recent quake, and an unbreakable alien barrier seals it off. But a door hidden in its surface opens for Mallory when she translates its engravings. Once inside, she evades underground predators while cut off from the tech that’s always protected her.
Some graves run much deeper than six feet, and this place could be one of them.
Within this self-contained world lie the remnants of a universal war, revealing that Daishoni folklore is more than superstition. To survive, Mallory must trust in something more than science and logic. She must follow the voice of one she can’t see down to the very bottom. Something deadlier than a quake is trapped there, and it is trying to escape.
What inspired you to write this book?
I made this as a video game first. Try a sample of the game here: https://dylanwestauthor.com/demo
Where can readers see an excerpt:
I’ve provided the first 4 chapters of Scribes’ Descent on my website: https://dylanwestauthor.com/scribes-descent
What’s next for your book or future plans you’d like to share?
I released the sequel to Scribes’ Descent in September 2023. It’s called Scribes Aflame. Check it out here: https://www.amazon.com/Scribes-Aflame-Book-2-ebook/dp/B0CH5L623Y and here’s a free sample: https://dylanwestauthor.com/scribes-aflame/
I’ve also released Emolecipation, the related novella that’s quoted in both Scribes’ Descent and Scribes Aflame: https://www.amazon.com/Emolecipation-Dylan-West-ebook/dp/B0BDXZKHBZ/
I’m making big art improvements to the video game, and I’ll soon resume my revisions to book 3 of the Scribes Series, Scribes Emerge. I hope to release that sometime next fall. I also owe an agent a fully revised copy of another novel, World of Me. He asked me for a full manuscript when I pitched this book to him at a local writing conference last year. Read a sample of World of Me here: https://dylanwestauthor.com/world-of-me/
What got you interested in writing things for others to read?
The book Salamandastron, by Brian Jacques, turned me into a reader and writer when I was in the 8th grade. This was the first book I read purely for fun, not for a grade. That summer, I wrote a 400 page novel on wide-ruled notebook paper with a number 2 pencil. And though the book was terrible, it gave me valuable experience, which led me to write another novel I wouldn’t publish. But novel number three was Scribes’ Descent, my first published work.
What’s one challenge you had to overcome to write your book?
My biggest obstacle was finding good critique groups. I eventually found a home at scribophile.com and at local, in-person critique groups in my area via Facebook. If I had spent more time searching for such groups earlier, I could have started publishing novels about 2 decades earlier.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
No, I write after my regular work day, but that still amounts to about 20 to 30 hours a week.
As a child, did you think you’d be writer? Or what did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was a young child, I was too preoccupied with what I wanted to do in the moment to think much about adult work. It just so happens that I spent a lot of time designing video games on paper and writing stories, both of which I still do today. When I was a teen, I wanted to be a foreign missionary. Now I see myself as a missionary to my fellow science geeks 🙂
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
If you review any of my books on Amazon, I’ll put your name into my video game as a collectible item.
And don’t forget to subscribe to my monthly newsletter to find out when the game comes out. Sign up here: https://dylanwestauthor.com/
What’s something fun you like to do outside of writing?
I like to powerlift, jog, study foreign languages, and sell my books.
Are you part of a writer’s group and if so, how has it helped?
Scribophile.com has been the best thing that’s happened to my writing. The critiques I’ve written and received there have turned me into a published author, without question.
How can Readers connect with you?
Website: https://dylanwestauthor.com/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Dylan-West/author/B0B1W33JXY
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Dylan-West-Author/100078540828516/