[Day Twenty One of 31 Days] Giveaway + Author Interview: Robert Cherny, author of Flying with Fairies

Today's guest is Bob Cherny, author of Flying with Fairies! He's visiting my blog for an interview. And yes, there is also a giveaway. Bob is giving away one set of the series Flying with fairies - books 1 and 2 plus AN EXCLUSIVE book 3 that is not yet available to the general public!

When Bob was working on his MBA, one of his instructors told him that his writing was so good that he was as interested in the writing as the content. For a professor of business this was not intended as a compliment, but Bob took it as encouragement and when he finally had the time, he began to write "on purpose". The works listed on this site are the result of that final push and Bob's life long love of books.
His first series, the "Stagehand" series from which the screen name derives, has been consigned to the dust bin of history and will never be published. The second series, the "Warriors" series, represented as samples here, does not have a publication date having has been pushed back as more current works become available. The "Fairies" series, the first two volumes of which are already published, was written next. The two remaining volumes have been pushed back and do not have a publication date. Doogie Stone was written simultaneously with the latter two books of the Fairies Series. It was released in June 2010. "Heron Baby Island" was written starting in the spring of 2009 and work continued on it into 2011. The photographs were collected over two years by both Bob and his wife, Betsy. "Seeds of Anger" was started in late 2009 and finished in the spring of 2010. "A Father's Ghost" was written in a frenetic three week obsession in April of 2010. It was released in July of 2010. "Seeds of Anger" and "Swamp Witch" have both recently been released.
"Citrus Sanctuary", the sequel to "Heron Baby Island" is finished except for the photographs. It is scheduled for release in the fall of 2011. A light comedy base on a summer theater production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore is in final edit and should be released in the summer of 2011.
The current work in progress is a topical mystery for an adult audience called "Murder as a Competitive Business Strategy" and is expected to be released in time for the 2012 campaign season. It will not be suitable for young readers.

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Welcome to The Fairytale Nerd! how are you today?
I am well and honored to have been asked to participate in this promotion.

Tell me about your book.
The book is a three-volume series centered around a recent medical school graduate who has magical healing powers. As a descendant of a fairy and a human, he can fly (Superman style) as well as heal. In the first volume, the fairy queen sends her daughter to retrieve the young doctor and bring him back to the land of the fairies to rescue them from a biological warfare attack by one of the fairy queen's long time enemies. The daughter makes a complete mess of it, but the doctor arrives shaken although uninjured.

The doctor finds the source of the poison that is debilitating the fairy army and has taken the life of the king. With the help of juvenile fairy healers, he nurses the army back to health. He recognizes that the strategies proposed by the king's human advisers are wrong, and conspires with the princess and her lover, the commander of the fairy army's airborne divisions, to develop a new battle plan. The doctor was right and the seasoned human military vets were wrong. Even so, the battle is brutal and only due to the heroism of one of the juvenile fairy healers who flies into hostile territories to seek aid in fighting a common enemy, the battle would have been lost. The fairy castle is in shambles. The queen has died. Allies have arrived to begin reconstruction and it is only a matter of time before life returns to normal. The princess ascends to the throne and sends the doctor back to his earthly practice.

Immediately upon his return after the battle, a chance encounter reunites him with the woman he loves and discovers that she, too, can heal with magic. The story continues with their continued efforts to defeat the fairy enemies.

Why fairies?
The opening scene of the story came to me in a dream. Is that trite or what? Except that it's true. The book opens with a mid-air collision between the doctor and the fairy princess, sent by her mother the queen to collect the doctor and bring him home to the castle. Only upon his arrival does he discover that the queen is a former lover.

What is the message (from your books) that you want to convey to your readers?
You don't have to be a hero to be a good person. Being a hero is nice, but not necessary.

Where do you get your ideas for your books?
This series started as a single vision of a single incident. I then built a story to make the vision make sense. Most of the rest grew out of idle thoughts while driving.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
My computer is set up with two screens. My working document with back-story, character names and time-line is on the right hand screen along with any research I need. The left screen holds the manuscript being written.

What is your most treasured possession?
I'm not really about physical things in the sense of treasuring them and getting bent out of shape by losing them. I guess the things I care about the most are the certificates:

My Bachelor's Degree diploma from Brandeis University

My USAF Form DD 214 that shows I served honorably in our country's military

My Master's Degree diploma from the University of South Carolina

The birth certificates for my two daughters and their subsequent graduation from high school, college and graduate school.

My MBA diploma from Rollins College

My copyright certificates

Having said all that, none of that is important as the relationships with my wife and children.

What was a time in your life when you felt really afraid?
I used to run a convention center. Surrounding the convention center we had several square miles of open forest and swamp. We were hosting a rally for the Equal Rights Amendment. The theater had fifteen hundred people in attendance. Approximately 90% were women.

This was a politically dangerous community. The KKK was still active and virtually every pickup truck carried a full gun rack.

Midway into the meeting I heard the unmistakable sound of a rapid fire rifle. I was standing outside the building with one of the highway patrol officers who managed the highway for us since the state would not allow us to have a traffic light. He went pale. He called on his radio and raced to his car.

We never did find the shooter, but we found his spent shells and the trees he shot up. He was close enough that he could have walked to the building unopposed while the troopers were looking for him.

Who is your hero in real life? What about in books?
In real life, an unassuming college professor named Doug Maddox.

In books, it would probably be Honor Harrington.

The one who loves you or the one you love?
The one who loves me

Batman or Superman?
Batman 

Apartment or dorm?
Apartment 

Viral epidemic or nuclear explosion?
Epidemic 

Harry Potter or The Chronicles of Narnia?
Harry Potter (Tough one by the way)

Fantasy or reality?
Reality 

Blind or deaf?
Deaf 

Summer or winter?
Summer 

Christmas or Halloween?
Halloween 

Ferrari or Lamborghini?
Lamborghini 

What's your next project?
I have two projects that are nearly completed. "Citrus Sanctuary" is the sequel to the recently released "Heron Baby Island" and "Murder as a Competitive Business Strategy" which is the sequel to "Citrus Sanctuary". I have started a fourth book in the series, but the more I think about it, the less I like it, so I am casting about for new ideas.

BUY

Flying with Fairies

by Robery Cherny

The reign of Fiona, Queen of the Fairies, is threatened by an unknown affliction. With most of her court and soldiers sick, she sends her only daughter to bring back the one man, a human, that she knows can save them. Titania bungles her first excursion to the world of the humans and instead of politely greeting him on the street collides with him in mid air and brings them both crashing to the ground. Danny has enough magic power of his own and knowledge about fairies to realize he can not fight this inept youngster and goes with her to attempt the rescue. They are intercepted in flight and brought down by belligerent forces. Surviving the aerial combat, they walk across hostile territory meeting enemies in combat as they travel. Rescued at the edge of Fiona's territory by an airborne fairy patrol, Danny joins the effort to cure the population of a biological warfare attach by one of their enemies. Expecting Fiona's military to have been weakened by the biological agent, the enemies attack the fairy castle. Danny's influence on the battle is profound and its influence on him is no less significant. He returns to the woman who has loved him with the new found understanding of his love for her. After an uncertain start, they band together to carry on the fight against those who would destroy them. It is a tale of combat and resolution, but most of all it is about awakening love in an uncertain world.

Now fill out the form for a chance to win books one and two (Flying with Fairies and Love is in the Air), and the EXCLUSIVE third book, Resolution.