Gordon Blackwood
Author Interview - Gordon Blackwood
Author of The Magician's Tales
“In my writing, I use rhythm, vocabulary, and various poetic devices to craft a story that reads like an incantation performed by a magician"
Included in this anthology are nine tales ranging from fiction, fantasy, and horror!
Fatebringer: A knight is tasked to investigate a village where it is a prophesized a century-dead necromancer will reincarnate himself.
The Lament of Darmandhas: The patriarch of a tribe struggles to cope with his own death.
Wonderful World: A little girl, named Laura, is whisked away to a strange land where she can live the childhood she never had.
Lucid: A man tired of the mundanity of life teaches himself how to lucid dream.
The Mender of Roads: A wise elder tries to bring peace between the Lyceans and Dakonians who have been at war for centuries.
The Knight in the Well: A knight, named Sigmund, is confronted by his former master who challenges him to a duel.
Berserker: A group of vikings return home from a raiding expedition to find their village under attack.
Love’s Shadow: Sir Rodney Cumberpatch falls in love with the mysterious Lady Lavine.
A Kiss From The Daughters of Xynea: Bumbling thief, Sirouv Telamnius, sets out on a quest to steal a kiss from one of the beautiful daughters of Xynea.
Author Interview - Gordon Blackwood
Author I draw inspiration from: My favorite author is Clark Ashton Smith. He's had the greatest influence on my writing. A lot of his stories tend to blend fantasy, horror, and science fiction together, and are brought to life through his prose which makes use of a lot poetic devices and has a lyrical element to it. Aside from him, there are many author I admire and take inspiration. Here's a short list from the top of my head of authors I've read recently: CL Moore, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert E Howard, Leigh Brackett, Flannery O'connor. My favorite genres in particular to read and write are fantasy, fiction, horror and romance. Of course, as a devoted student to the craft of writing, I'm always reading the works of different authors outside my preferred genres and trying my best to learn as much as I can from them.
Author Interview - Gordon Blackwood | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book: My home. Can't say I spend a lot of time reading elsewhere. I prefer quiet places to read so public spaces other than the library aren't really my best options.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein. He seems like a pretty down-to-middle-earth halfling, and I imagine he has some pretty interesting stories to share while we wait to get unstuck.
Author Interview - Gordon Blackwood | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: I've fantasized about becoming an author throughout my childhood. It wasn't until after I graduated from high school that I embarked on writing my first novel (which I ended up scrapping). While I first began with the intent of becoming famous and making money, I realized writing is something that I enjoy doing just for the sake of it, so much so that I don't see myself not-writing any time soon. I write for 2-4 hours a day. As an author, I hope one day to cultivate a small following of people who enjoy reading my works.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: I prefer having a physical copy of the book over digital formats. I like paperbacks more than hardbacks because they feel better in my hands. At the time writing this, however, I've mostly been reading ebooks because they are free or cheaper. I've never listened to audiobooks before to have an opinion on them.
The last book I read: The Tree of Life by CL Moore. It was a weird an interesting sci-fi tale involving the main character getting whisked away to a twilight realm of the past, inhabited by the ancestors of a martian race and ruled by a strange, eldritch entity. The story was beautifully written as well, highly recommend others giving it a read.
Author Interview - Gordon Blackwood | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer: Pen and paper. I write all of my first drafts by longhand first. I prefer writing by hand over typing on a computer because I deprive myself of the luxury of a backspace button which forces me to think about the sentence and iron it out in my head before getting it down on paper. I aim to get my stories right on the first draft that way I save a lot of time on editing later drafts. Personally, I'm not a fan of using word counts to measure productivity. I've always believed in quality over quantity.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: Bilbo Baggins for the same reasons I wouldn't mind being stuck in an elevator with him. He's a writer also so that is something we can bond over. Maybe we'd exchange critiques and talk about some of our favorite authors and stories.
Author Interview - Gordon Blackwood | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a: I guess I'd be an accountant since that's what I'm currently studying in university.
Favorite decade in fashion history: I don't know much about fashion or its history. I'll say the current decade since that's the decade I'm alive in right now, and my sense of fashion isn't half-bad. Everyone else is alright I guess.
Place I’d most like to travel: The shire. I'd just chill, relax, live a simple life and read and write.
My signature drink: Coffee. As a writer and university student, it's essentially my go-to drink to help keep me energized and increase productivity.
Favorite artist: I've always considered writers to be artists as well. So my favorite would be Clark Ashton Smith. Aside from just writing poetry and prose, he was also a painter and illustrator and did some sculpting during the latter-half of his life. I envy authors who can paint/draw because I those probably help complement their writing. I know I'd definitely like to draw my own characters and environments I've come up with if I could.
Number one on my bucket list: To create a bucket list.
Anything else you'd like to add: I'd like readers to know that I'm currently blitzing out as many short stories as I can which I plan to compile into anthologies and publish in the future. One of the anthologies will consist of stories taking place in the fantasy land of Ultara, from the perspective of characters who have strange encounters with eldritch affairs. In the meantime, I'd appreciate if readers could purchase my debut anthology, The Magician's Tales, currently published on Amazon. Also, thank you very much to Ashley Hasty for this opportunity.
Find more from the author:
You can reach out to me on Twitter @GordonBlackwood where I’ll post updates of upcoming projects I’m working on. Feel free to DM me as I’m always interested in entertaining a conversation, especially if it's writing-related.
Author Bio: My name is Gordon Blackwood. I am a 20-year-old creative writer from Toronto. I developed a passion for reading when I was young but didn't start writing my own stories until I graduated high school. I write from the heart, solely to entertain, and believe literature is a great way to feed the soul and unite people together.
