Interview with Darren Deegan, author of "The Knight Series"

My review of the book "Knight's Judgement", volume I of "The Knight Series":

Cover of "The Knight Series"
volume I: Knight's judgement

'Knight's Judgement' is a really interesting story and the first volume of "The Knight series" about the Bounty Hunter Rebecca Knight. She is a strong female lead.
The story is filled with a lot of suspense, a dense atmosphere and crime. As the story continues, you get to know more about Rebecca, you learn her past and how she became what she is now. To tell the truth, her past is kinda saddening, she lost both her parents and her childhood was ... sad (in lack of a better word).
Most of the series takes place in San Fransisco, California.
Since I am no native speaker, I can't tell you much about how good or bad Darren's writing style and grammar is, all I can say is, that this story takes you in, is easy to read and to understand, also for non-natives.
So if you are interested in detective and crime stories, this series is perfect for you!

I give 4 out of 5 stars. This is a great story!
(this review was also posted on Amazon.com and GoodReads)


I also had a nice talk with Darren Deegan, author of "The Knight Series". He is a really nice and kind guy! 
The series can be bought on Amazon.
Here's the link to Volume I - Knight's Judgement and the link to Volume II - Knight's Salvation
Both are available as eBook and paperback! Support Darren and buy this great crime series!

Visit Darren Deegan on Facebook, follow him on Twitter and check out his website ^_~


And now, enjoy the interview ^_^ 

Darren Deegan, author of "The Knight Series"

What's your name? Do you write under your real name or do you use a pen name?

Darren Deegan. I write under my real name as I haven't felt the need yet to use a pseudonym.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. How old are you? Where do you live?

I've just turned thirty and already feel older and far wiser! I was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland. I've lived in other places over the years, but Dublin is where I belong and I can't imagine living anywhere else for any considerable amount of time. I'd love to say I have very exciting interests such as knife throwing, fire juggling or deep sea diving, but sadly my interests are far more normal than that. Reading, writing, or enjoying fine Irish Whiskey in good company brings me great pleasure.

How did you come to be a writer? Was it always your dream?

I've wanted to be a writer for a long time, but couldn't even begin to tell you the moment I said "I'm going to be a writer!" There was a point last year though, when I decided it was time to begin this journey. I quit my day job and decided I needed to put the hours in and make a career out of writing. So far so good, and hopefully I’ll be able to continue this dream for a long time to come.

When did you start writing?

I was quite young when I started writing creatively, maybe eight years old. My grandfather was a writer. I'd spend every Sunday at my grandparent's house, and over the years my grandfather started to involve me in his writing. He would sit in his favourite chair, take out a notepad and being writing opinion pieces on whatever topics had interested him that week. Out of love or a need to silence me while he wrote, he would give me an old notepad that had a few pages left in it and tell me to write.

You are a Selfpublishing author - what made you choose this path?

I had done a lot of research over the year leading up to me finishing my first novel. Trade publishing was all I knew about for a long time and I thought that that was the way to go, but then I discovered the world of indie authors and how self-publishing had evolved in recent years. Having control over my work, how and when it was published, and the freedom to write whatever I wanted, was what excited me about being an indie author. It's hard work, long hours and will take awhile to establish myself, but I'm loving every minute of it.

What is your favorite quote?

“We Irish prefer embroideries to plain cloth. To us Irish, memory is a canvas--stretched, primed, and ready for painting on. We love the "story" part of the word "history," and we love it trimmed out with color and drama, ribbons and bows. Listen to our tunes, observe a Celtic scroll: we always decorate our essence.” - Frank Delaney

Who and what is inspiring to you?

I try to draw inspiration from different parts of my life. Friends, family, past experiences, they all come into play when I’m writing. When I’m feeling uninspired; I like to read great books or watch movies, as I always feel inspired by their stories. Authors such as Dan Brown, Michael Connelly or Trudy Canavan are wonderful storytellers and always help bring out my creativity. I’m also considering hiring a full time muse, as I hear they’re great. Applications welcome. ;)

What inspired you to write your novel series "The Knight Series"?

I woke one day about 5am from having a very vivid dream about this bounty hunter chasing down criminals. I lay there for a moment and thought about it. It didn’t take long for me to realize it would make a great story, so I quickly jumped out of bed, went to my desk and wrote what became the first chapter.

Tell us about the story, what is this series about? What genre is it?

The series follows Rebecca Knight, a bounty hunter based in California, and most of the series takes place in San Francisco.

The first installment of the series is called “Knight’s Judgment” and opens with Rebecca being wounded, while in pursuit of a target. The opening scene shows the reader just how strong and determined Rebecca can be and gives them a taste of her skill in her chosen profession. As the story progresses over the series, we get to see a lot more about Rebecca’s past, her violent childhood and time as a Marine which haunts her to this day.

Tell us about the main character of "Knight's Judgment", the Bounty Hunter Rebecca Knight.

Rebecca is a strong, powerful and determined person. She takes great pride in her work and will stop at nothing to complete her assignments. She lost both of her parents as a child and was raised by her grandfather; whose parenting skills left a lot to be desired. Between the “tough-love” attitude of her grandfather and the ruthless people of her neighborhood, she quickly learned the world was out to get her and that she would need to become something else to survive it.

Her emotional scars have left her personal life in disrepair, and any friendships she still maintains are strained at best. Although she has had many relationships with women over the course of her life, she has yet to make any of them last for a significant amount of time, and so finds solace in the simple things in life, like riding her motorcycle or enjoying some Irish whiskey.

How many volumes do you plan to write for this series?

I have no number in mind just yet, however I have written three books at the moment, with two of them currently published. Look for the third book in a few months.

Is this your first novel?

Knight’s Judgment is the first novel I published, but not the first I’ve written. I have another series that I’ve yet to publish, the first serious novel I wrote is part of that series which I will hopefully begin releasing closer to the end of the year.

Do you have plans for other novels yet? If so, tell us a little about it.

As above, I do have another crime series for publishing later in the year. That series is set in 1940’s New York and is more of a traditional crime noir story. I’m also working on a fantasy Serial that I hope to begin publishing in June.

Darren, thank you very much for your time and the insights!
We wish you all the best for the future!

How to write a synopsis

Okay, I have been asked this a few times now, even though there are lots of information about that on the internet, as well as HOW-TOs.

I hate to write synopses. It is my least favorite thing to write when I am done with a novel. I always get the feeling it makes my story less interesting for the one who has to read it and decide if it is worth publishing, because there is so much that falls by the wayside.

Enough nagging XD'''

Oh, and yes, surely you have read that a synopsis normally is written before you write the novel, but in my case this doesn't work (I change a lot while I write a story so I decided to always write it in the end when I am done).

This is how I write a synopsis:

Working title (working title, because the title might change)

Genre

Target audience

Length (word count)

Quote (one sentence that sticks out and speaks for the idea of the story) <-- difficult one, and not really necessary

Short summary (describe the story in a few sentences, similar to a blurb on the back cover)

Content (this will be a summary of the whole story, it should be around one Word page, but not more than two! You need to write down the central theme, the most important stuff and no side story information) <-- this is why it sucks!

Biography of the characters (main characters and a few minor characters - describe their appearance, race, special abilities if they have any, age if known, characteristics, who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist, short summary of their relevance to the story)

Background information (if there is any, for example a special belief, why is something the way it is in your story, a relevant myth the story is build on)

Motivation (why did you write that story?)

I hope that helps ^_^

If you have any more questions, feel free to contact me.