Interview with Luke Romyn @LukeRomyn

The Digital Ink Spot interviewed Luke Romyn.  Luke utilized his life experiences to fuel his own expansive imagination and began writing fiction. Initially starting with short stories, Luke rapidly progressed onto novels. His first book, THE DARK PATH, has been a Top 20 Bestselling Horror on Amazon and was also voted in the Top Ten Horror novels of 2009. BLACKLISTED, his second novel, saw his writing divert slightly away into the action-thriller genre, while his third, BEYOND HADES, sees the world plunged into a horror unleashed from mythology from which only one man can save us... if he stays alive long enough.
Visit the author at his website: http://www.lukeromyn.com 
Follow Luke on Twitter:  @LukeRomyn

The Digital Ink Spot: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
Luke Romyn: I think it was always there, hidden beneath many layers of ignorance. As a child in school I easily grasped the skills involved in writing, and my imagination always took me to places where I could escape from what was sometimes a horrific existence. Later in life, like many people, I always spoke of writing a novel about my life experiences, and then one day I just decided to do it. It was as simple as that. Of course, the memoir totally sucked and I decided to change course dramatically and write something completely fictitious, which I titled THE DARK PATH, and it went on to become my first published book.

The Digital Ink Spot: What was the book that most influenced your life — and why?
Luke Romyn: Definitely THE DARK PATH. When I began it I was drinking heavily and trying to turn my life around from what was once a very violent and miserable existence. Part of writing was to exorcise my own demons by creating an external version of all the rage I felt inside, putting it all within a character who could deal with it far better than I. Vain emerged and seriously kicked ass. By the end of the book – which took me many years to complete the first draft – I had quit drinking and vanquished many of the demons which had terrorized me for much of my life. He will always be there, within me, whenever I need to call on him for help. That is the power of writing.

The Digital Ink Spot: What are the challenges (research, literary, psychological, and logistical) in bringing your stories to life?
Luke Romyn: The scope involved in one of my novels is usually huge. One day I think I’ll need to challenge myself and write a miniscule-scale book centered on a single boring character locked in a room instead of the colossal, world-encircling adventures that I end up involved in. Until that time, however, I need to do enormous amounts of research on locations, technology, weapons, theology, religion, superstition, mythology, uniforms, armor, animals, plants, soil, speech patterns, and everything in between. Added to all this research is the task of putting myself into the boots of multiple diverse characters – some of whom are quite bizarre and mentally unhinged – and situations. Load it all up with heart-pounding action and a pace which sometimes leaves my keyboard smoking and you have one hell of a task on your hands.

The Digital Ink Spot: I hear you and a fellow author are trying to get on The Ellen Show. How did that all come about?
Luke Romyn: Haha! Yeah, we’re determined not to give up on that one, but I won’t hold my breath… yet. I spend a lot of time online networking with readers, writers, and basically anyone who wants a chat, mainly on Twitter, where I have over 180,000 followers. A good friend and fellow author from Canada named Claude Bouchard usually get on there at least once a day and exchange banter, and for some reason this has developed quite a following of its own. People often chime in with things and one day we joked to someone that we were going on The Ellen Show. All of a sudden things came alive on Twitter with people contacting Ellen (who follows both me and Claude) pestering the hell out of her to get us on there. A petition began and to date we’ve had over 1000 signatures, but no contact from Ellen. I’ve even had people offering to pay for my flight over from Australia if Ellen invites me on the show, so it really is kind of mind blowing. Twitter is definitely an amazing part of the internet, that’s for sure.

The Digital Ink Spot: What can readers expect from you in the future?
Luke Romyn: I don’t want to become too predictable, too safe. My goal in writing is to constantly challenge myself, to expand my horizons with each and every word I type until I become the greatest possible author I can be. Complacency is definitely not my goal. I have three more first-drafts already written and awaiting full editing before publication, which I am currently working my ass off doing every moment I get. The next release is a sequel to BEYOND HADES and is even larger in scale, action, and thrills. Wes returns for more ass kicking and wise- cracks as he tumbles through new dimensions in an attempt to stop the destruction of the universe. I can’t say much more about it, except that if people enjoy BEYOND HADES they will definitely love what’s coming. And following that I have planned a four-book saga, loosely following in the footsteps of THE DARK PATH. This won’t be a sequel, and Vain will not be the main protagonist, but he does make several appearances throughout, and fans of THE DARK PATH definitely won’t be disappointed.

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