Written Author Interview
Tell me about yourself. What do you like to do outside of writing. What is a day in the life like for you?
I don’t think I have any strange habits. I’m a very homey guy. I like reading, listening to music, watching movies and TV series, occasionally doing some trekking, and that’s about it. My kids (I have two) and my “muggle” job (physiotherapist) take up a big part of my time.
What inspired your first novel? What was the thing that got you into writing in the first place?
I had been searching for a story to tell for a long time. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been writing—poetry, science fiction, thrillers… all in short stories. But it was frustrating not being able to string together a more powerful story that could reach a broader audience. Then, during a family trip to a well-known place in my country, inspiration struck. I imagined a Griffin flying over Lake Sanabria while I was talking with my eldest son on the shore, and that was the spark that ignited the story that led me to begin the Leyendas de Abbisan (Legends of Abbisan) trilogy.
How do you come up with characters? Are they spontaneous or meticulously planned?
For that, I’ve always preferred to go with the flow. I enjoy the freshness it brings to the characters when I don’t confine them from the beginning and instead let them grow with the story. Additionally, I find it much more enjoyable as a writer to discover them little by little, allowing them to surprise me. I see myself as a mere spectator of their actions, taking notes of their deeds and conversations. It’s incredibly fun and exciting.
What are some of your favorite genres to read? Are there any books you’d recommend to first time readers or people looking for something new?
I’ve always been a reader of fantasy and science fiction. Lately, I’ve been reading some horror (partly to set the mood for one of my upcoming projects… just putting it out there…). That’s how I discovered Mariana Enriquez and Gemma Files, amazing short story authors, and Catriona Ward. There’s also a great Spanish author I really like named Iván Ledesma, but I always go back to the classics that never tire me, like Tolkien, Martin, Pratchett, Cromwell, Asimov… it’s hard to list them all. As for a surprising read, I loved the originality of This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, which I highly recommend.
Without a doubt, finding time—and I mean quality time. The ideas were always there, but the days felt too short and exhausting for me not to fall asleep in front of the keyboard. Since 2019, I’ve had to steal time here and there until I managed to organize myself and
create a sort of “writer’s schedule.” Except for this past year, when personal issues made me very unproductive, I think I’ve found a balance that allows me to write peacefully and, most importantly, well-rested.
What is your process to completing a novel from outline to final product?
My process is very simple. As I mentioned before, I see myself as an observer narrating what I see (keeping in mind that what I see is in my head, haha). So, I stick to a fairly simple outline, with little to no detailed scripting. From there, I plan my novels in short chapters, trying to give each one a touch of action or emotion that makes you want to turn the page to see what happens next. I don’t usually create detailed outlines, and if I do, they’re typically just plans for the next 3 or 4 chapters to keep me from losing track of the story, but that’s about it. The documentation work (which I appreciate more and more) usually arises as I go along, whenever I need specific details to support the story. That said, for one of my new projects (the one I mentioned earlier), the research phase had to be done in advance and was so demanding it almost left me exhausted
What’s the most unhinged thing you’ve written in your novel? Don’t worry, we don’t judge here.
The wildest thing I’ve written is in a chapter midway through my latest novel, which concludes the Legends of Abbisan trilogy, titled Destino y Amanecer (Destiny and Dawn). In it, I recount, through a flashback, the terrible fate of the protagonists’ mother, which goes from a brutal attempted assault to a harrowing, violent outcome. I have to admit that while writing it (remember, I’m just a “mere spectator”), I felt uncomfortable, yet at the same time, fascinated by what I was managing to convey. I’m not sure if it’s the best chapter I’ve ever written, but it’s undoubtedly the most visceral.
What’s one thing about being a writer that absolutely drives you up the wall?
I wouldn’t know. Maybe the fact of not being able to reach all the public I would like to. The difficulty to achieve it and the laziness of trying and trying constantly without seeing that effort reflected in a proportional way. But well, there are many of us in this world of letters and it is very, very, very complicated to access that which allows you to dedicate yourself exclusively, body and soul, to writing. Although I have to say that I do not give up, because writing is a passion rooted in me since I was a child and I will continue to do it in spite of everything.
What does being a successful writer look like for you? What type of life do you want to live as a writer?
The life I would like to lead as a writer is simply to lead a writer’s life, (maybe having an office at home just for that?… that would be dreaming big, hahaha) with a set schedule where I can be calm knowing that “real life” will not interrupt you, being invited to conventions regularly, talking about my works to really interested and expectant people
and that those same people are interested in knowing the worlds I create and put me in difficulties looking for incongruities in the worldbuildings or making fanarts or retellings. Be translate to other languages (like english, for example, ). I think that at that point I could say that I would have triumphed (anyone would). But while it comes (if it comes… fingers crossed) I enjoy all the good and learn from all the bad of this exciting race.
Describe your writing journey. If you had to write a story centered around it, do you think you could pull it off?
I guess it would be a very boring story. The fun is in everything that has come out of my head and I have put black on white during all these years. Of course, all the tour de force that it meant for the publisher and for me that my first novel (Erdevaile) came out in time for its presentation at the Celsius232 festival in Avilés (Spain) in 2021 would be enough for a novel, I don’t know if it would be a horror, a thriller or a comedy one. The good thing is that the story finally had a happy ending… and here I am, with five novels already published, another one on the way, a thousand projects and still growing and learning and focused on having the best life as a writer and building a legacy for my kids and whoever comes after.
About Dani Sierra
Dani Sierra was born in 1976 in Madrid, although he has lived in Oviedo all his life. He has been a physiotherapist since 1999. Passionate about books, cinema, music… and fantasy and science fiction. Since he was a child, he has tried to capture his vast inner universe on paper with short stories, poems and short stories. His blog, Pequeños Mundos Inacabados , contains several of these attempts. Finally, in June 2019 he began to develop the story of the distant lands of Abbisan, of which Erdevaile was the first volume. The story continues with Los hijos del Grifo . In addition to fantasy, he writes science fiction and has published two short novels in the Miniclandestinos of Orpheus Ediciones Clandestinas: Soles de Primus and Antes de que el cielo arda .
Original Bio: https://orpheus.es/team/dani-sierra/
Leave a comment