1) Travis, thanks for being my guest. First question, what is the significance of the title of your book Hounding: A Tale of the Heaving Sky?
Hi Dina, thanks for taking the time! The title is in reference to the fact that our protagonist is on the run. Not only is he fleeing from agents of a very persistent dictator-turned-god, he's running from guilt about his possible complicity in the death of several people throughout the story, and he is hiding from some extremely important knowledge about himself and his upbringing. Additionally, something else is seeking him, something that he desperately doesn't want to meet, but that's getting into spoiler territory.
As for the 'heaving sky,' it's the world we find ourselves in, the world of the Four Corners. A catastrophe has struck, and nothing is static, the universe is still in flux. For now.
2) Your protagonist, Greydal, ends up early on in the story as disfigured with one leg. Why did you cripple him?
Even competent people make mistakes. Debilitations can be, well, debilitating. But it's what we do to overcome and adapt to our shortcomings, trauma, and the vicissitudes of life that make us "3D," that make us a full person, capable of handling the tough stuff. The trite answer is, it builds character.
3) Who do the Legate and Interloper/Old Man represent?
The Legate was inspired by those who are in power but are unwilling to hand the reins over to a newer generation. There's a song by Jay Munly called 'Grandfater,' which is a retelling of the classic Peter and the Wolf. In Munly's version, an old man is desperate to steal a wolf's teeth, so he can experience the vitality, respect, and strength of his youth. The Legate is like that: clinging to something gone for good, and putting everyone else through hell because of it.
Old Man Moonlight, aka the Interloper, represents the truly unknowable aspects of the world. There is a concept in medieval Christian mysticism called the 'cloud of unknowing.' It essentially suggests that the only way to mentally apprehend the divine is to accept the fact that, once you have identified any qualifiable attribute of it, you've now lost the thread. One has to surrender to the "unknowing," the mystics stated, to begin to grasp the truth. I think concepts like that fit very well with traditional cosmic horror.
4) Your figurative language is out of this world. Some examples are "terror clothed her", "...and the rain was its laughter", "...maybe I'm a cottage and someone added other rooms without my permission", and "the underside of the cloud rolled as though filled with eels...". Did you absolutely love English class? Who are your favorite writers?
I was obsessed with English, but I got in trouble for bringing my own books. As for authors, Gene Wolfe and his masterpiece Book of the New Sun is a likely bet for the work which touched and influenced me the most. Which makes sense; the man's talent was otherworldly, both in the beauty of his writing and the mastery he displayed. Other writers, such as Brian Evenson, Laird Barron, Ramsey Campbell, Kathe Koja, and Peter Watts all penned fiction which is fixed in my mind forever, because of how they wove tales, used language, or introduced shocking concepts.
I have a bag in the drawer of my kitchen. Anytime I see a bug in my apartment (barring spiders, because those are generally nice and helpful) I scoop them up and put them outdoors where they can hopefully flourish. If there is something bigger out there, it probably sits on the other side of a larger gap than the one between us and the ants. But I think the metaphor works well, and I hope that whatever that presence might be, it's kind.
6) In some of the scenes, I got a sense that you believe in other dimensions. Please explain your thoughts and views on parallel universes. (If I am way off on this, please disregard-LOL!)
I wouldn't say parallel dimensions, though tropes like that are great for bringing a bunch of incongruous stuff together on a single page. I'm not a scientist, though I'm sure they'll continue to surprise us for as long as the profession is around. However, I've had enough bizarre experiences in my life to be very open-minded, even if I rarely agree with most peoples' answers. There's a semi-famous work called The Trickster and the Paranormal, which tries to look at the commonalities between things like UFO sightings, high strangeness, and other odd events from the credible to incredible. I think that whatever answers we think we personally have (I'm not talking about science here), we're probably half off the mark. At best.
7) Your book easily covers two genres, fantasy and sci-fiction. Which genre do you see the book as? Which genres do you read the most?
I read horror the most, but fantasy follows close behind. The first chapter-book I ever read as a kid was R.L. Stine's Hide and Shriek, and it cemented horror as a favorite. I consider Hounding to be an epic fantasy-horror, though it shares some similarities to the science-fantasy genre, and to works from authors like Vance and Wolfe.
8) Are you like any of your characters? How?
I joke in tense situations like Ida, but if I'm honest, I'm probably closest to Greydal. The good and the bad. He's willing to take risks and stick his neck out for people he cares about, but he's also self-centered and sensitive. I think many authors' first works are in some ways autobiographical. That's true here; Greydal's experience throughout Hounding mirrors some of my own life, including his relationship with his father, as well as what you could call a (very frightening and protracted) spiritual awakening.
9) Are there more adventures planned for Greydal and Roan? Are you working on another book?
There are! The sequel is half-finished, though readers will likely be surprised at the setting and bizarre direction of the story. But several people like Greydal and Roan are returning, that's certain. But in what form? Can't say.
10) Please leave all of your links. Thanks for writing a terrific book and being my guest! Also, thanks for giving me an amazing interview!
Thank you for the time, Dina! Those interested can find me at the links below:
Author Website - https://www.travisrandall-author.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/puppyozone
Publisher - https://www.crossedcrowbooks.com/shop-burrow-and-grim/p/hounding-a-tale-of-the-heaving-sky
Amazon - https://a.co/d/gnGBZQq
