Author Interview: Andy Peloquin for Blade of the Destroyer

This is my second author interview so far and all is well. Blade of the Destroyer is an epic fantasy antihero book. While I didn’t find it really epic, it was an awesome book in its own. I was so intrigued with the premises of the book especially that I think it reflects much about the author that I send the author slightly intrusive questions which he answered so well. Without further ado, here’s how the Question and Answer portion goes:

Andy Peloquin--a third culture kid to the core--has loved to read since before he could remember. Sherlock Holmes, the Phantom of the Opera, and Father Brown are just a few of the books that ensnared his imagination as a child.

When he discovered science fiction and fantasy through the pages of writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs, J.R.R Tolkien, and Orson Scott Card, he was immediately hooked and hasn't looked back since.

Andy's first attempt at writing produced In the Days: A Tale of the Forgotten Continent. He has learned from the mistakes he made and used the experience to produce Blade of the Destroyer, a book of which he is very proud.

Reading—and now writing—is his favorite escape, and it provides him an outlet for his innate creativity. He is an artist; words are his palette.

His website (andypeloquin.com) is a second home for him, a place where he can post his thoughts and feelings--along with reviews of books he finds laying around the internet.

He can also be found on his social media pages, such as:

1. In your various martial arts practices, why stop at purple belt? What stopped you from moving forward?
   • When I started writing (in 2013), I had been recovering from an illness that lasted for two months. It gave me something to do with my time, and I soon became addicted. As a busy man (father to four kids with a day job), there weren't enough hours in the day to practice martial arts and writer. I had to make the choice, and writing was the one I wanted more.
2. Was the Hunter's fighting techniques drawn from your experience?
   • In a way, yes. While I never advanced to fighting with swords, I did learn about the bo staff and the double kai. Add to that the natural understanding of human movement and combat that I attained through martial arts, it was easy to visualize the Hunter's fighting moves in my head.
3. Asian martial arts with sword-fighting branch (like Wushu) don't use the word 'riposte' and I only read a little about fencing to come across that word to understand Westley and Inigo's match in the book, The Princess Bride. Did you ever learn any sword-fighting discipline or did you just read about it to shape the Hunter?
   • I did study a bit of fencing--particularly the style with sword and main gauche (parrying dagger), which is the Hunter's style. I also have a friend who is a professional fencer, so he helped me to make sure all the scenes were correct.
4. What age did you reach your maximum height?
   • Probably around the age of 18 or 19. Being 6' 6" at that age was an interesting experience…
5. What was the Japanese kids' take on your massive size (you know, because Asians are miniature in comparison)?
   • At the age of 12, I could see above everyone in a crowd. I got used to the stares and giggles pretty quickly.
6. As a Caucasian kid in an Asian country, how did kids find you, weird or attractive?
   • Japanese are a bit xenophobic, and they tend to see all foreigners as outsiders. No matter how many years you live there, you're never "one of them". Though I guess that's the same in most countries.
7. Was it hard finding a sparring partner while you were still learning your martial arts because of your height?
   • Yes and no. There were a few people who were in roughly the same weight class (though not size), so they provided a sparring partner. But my Sensei, though he was a little guy, was bloody fast, so that pushed me to move faster and think smarter, not just rely on my size and strength.
8. You're a huge fan of comics that you had this conviction that Marvel > DC. Did your father perhaps influence you in your becoming a huge fan of Marvel while growing up?
   • I know my dad read comic books as a child, but he never talked about it. I have another friend to blame for my love of comics--he got me interested in reading them at the age of 18.
9. In a few sentences, convince me why Marvel > DC.
   • One word is all I need: Deadpool.
10. I know this is going to be a very hard question because I'm going to require just one answer. Who's your favorite Marvel character and why?
    • Deadpool. He is just the right mixture of humor, violence, and flaws--the perfect character for a guy like me. The Hunter is sort of a Deadpool-esque character, though with far less humor and more of a Punisher vibe.
11. Since you spent your entire childhood in Japan, how did it happen that comics are so ingrained into you instead of manga?
    • Most of the manga in Japan was in Japanese, which is bloody hard to read! With four alphabets and more than 10,000 kanjis, I never fully understood what the manga were about. The pictures were fun, but it was too hard to read.
12. Was the American community closely knit there when you lived in Japan?
    • Absolutely! Seeing as most foreigners are perceived as outsiders, pretty much every foreigner living in Japan stays pretty close together. In fact, a large number of the "gaijin" living in Tokyo cluster into a single neighborhood--Roppongi. Or at least they did when I lived there.
13. I saw in one of your social media before a Christmas picture with your family. All I could remember was there are far too many girls in your family. How many daughters and sons do you have?
    • Two boys, two girls, all between the ages of 11 and 15.
14. Do you think there's at least one of them who'd inherit your giant height?
    • Sadly, no. They take after their mother much more.
15. Why do you dislike most Christmas music?
    • You can't escape it at Christmas time! You hear the same songs over and over and over, to the point where it irritates me.
16. When you write about that turning point that set the Hunter in rage and the devil's plan in motion, did you think about your daughter/s while writing that part? If so, (I'm sorry) which daughter did you think most (it's usually the firstborn)?
    • Honestly, I didn't think of any one of them. At the time I wrote it, the youngest son was about the age of the girl (9). Instead of thinking about one, I amplified that and thought about how I'd feel if I lost all of them at the same time. Considering how important she is to the Hunter, the loss is comparable.
17. How much of the Hunter is secretly you and in what way?
    • There are a lot of things about the Hunter that are like me. He is trying to fight his own nature, something I struggle with all the time--as a parent, as a spouse, and as a professional. He is trying to find his place in the world, something I very much am. He has a protective side, which I do as well.
18. As a foreign kid, did you ever feel alone as a child? If so, did you base on such experience in molding the Hunter?
    • I certainly did. I was a bit of an outcast at my school, even among those I called my "friends". So it was very easy to tap into those feelings of rejection or "being outside" when writing the Hunter.
19. Did your religion or metaphysical beliefs influence you in creating the world of the Bucelarii or was it just a product of pure imagination?
    • It was mostly imagination, but there are some philosophical truths in there that I hold dear. For example, at one point, one of the priests admits that the gods of the world are pretty much concepts that man have created as a means of soothing their guilt. After all, "the gods told me to do it" or "it's the will of the gods". I find that religion today is very similar.
      
      However, I didn't consciously make it a point to add those things in there. They just kind of came from within, so I'd have to say that they are somewhat a part of me.