“A landslide, of exhaustion crashed into his body. He quaked with the pain of a hundred bruises and cracked bones. But he stood.”

The Devil From The River – Andrew Whittaker

The first ever book I read for my first ever book club was Andrew Whittaker’s The Devil From The River. It must have had a pretty good impact on me because here I am a couple of years later, heading up a brand new book club and with a TBR list as long as my arm (times 1 million!) Whenever I think about reviewing Andrews first novel, I always get a real good feeling and my love of reading simply sparks up once more. I wanted to share my recent author interview with Andrew with you guys too, and hopefully you’ll keep up to date with his series, the Unforgiven Sins.

1. The Devil from the River was a great debut. How did you come up with your plot?

I love Westerns, Spaghetti Westerns in particular. Once I knew this book was going to have a Western setting, I knew that I had to include themes that are common in the genre, revenge being the biggest one. But I didn’t want to tell just one person’s story about revenge, I wanted to show the cost of it, so I have three characters that are all in different stages in their individual journeys for revenge: one is currently and actively pursuing it, one has given up hope on it but finds that he has a chance after all, and the other shows what happens when you have only lived for it. Once I had that down, it was simply a matter of letting their stories intertwine and see how they reacted.

2. Where are you with book 2 in the Unforgiven Sins series?

Book 2 is with my beta readers and I am already working on the beta for book 3.

3. When you’re not writing, what do you spend your time doing?

Video games, movies, reading books, both running and playing different D&D sessions.

4. Which character has been your favourite to create and write about in your novels?

Norton, the old cuss of a doctor who’s in charge of patching up the people of River’s Edge. Seeing how he interacts with others has always put a smile on my face.

5. Who is your favourite author and what is your favourite book of all time?

Brandon Sanderson, and I don’t have a favorite single book, but my favorite series is The Wheel of Time.

6. Aside from book 2 in your series, have you any plans for a different series? Or even a different genre?

Yes. I like to keep things close to the chest, but you can expect more in similar and different genres from me in the future.

7. What three things do you think makes a good story?

1: a cast of interesting, varying characters. 2: a rich, living, vibrant world. 3: People who take action, and that goes for both protagonists and antagonists.

8. Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time?

Writing.

9. When are you most productive, or when do you feel motivated to write?

I try to treat writing as a reward. I focus on work for the entire day, time to reward myself with a few hours of writing. I completed my list of chores, let’s reward myself by writing now. If I see it as a reward, it is something I end up looking forward to every day. I doubt this will work when I get to the point in my career when I’m writing full time, but for now it’s a great motivator.

10. What is one piece of advice you’d give to fellow writers?

Write what you love, not what you think will sell. It shows in your writing if you love what you are writing.

About the author.

Born in 1983, Andrew Whittaker misspent his youth in Virginia and Utah where he ignored his teachers and cultivated his imagination with friends by wondering around forests and mountains. He began writing on his own which followed him into and beyond his college days. He graduated from Utah Valley University in 2011 with a degree in Creative Writing.

The Devil From The River is available to buy on Amazon!

Want to be under the spotlight?

If you want to take part in a little author interview and to spread the word about your work, please do get in touch! See the other author interviews I’ve done here. 🙂