Featured Interview With Santana Young
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’ve been a fan of science fiction since I was little and am a proud history geek. I play in a medieval recreation group and my love of history is often integrated into my science fiction.
I have a degree in Anthropology and love learning about other cultures and archaeology. This comes into my work in that I can create very detailed cultures for the people that live in my books.
I was raised in a little village called Bremen in Ohio. I still live in Ohio but near the city of Athens, a gorgeous city with lots of hills, history, and friendly people. I don’t have any pets at the moment but I dream of getting a pet fox one day.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing almost as soon as I could write. My sister started writing then too, and I think it sprung, at first, from the typical copy-my-big-sister mentality. But our writing took different flavors from different approaches and likes.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love reading the works of other indie authors, especially ones I know and have met. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of Urban Fantasy, though I’ll get back to scifi soon. Some of my biggest inspirations have been E.A. Copen and R.R. Virdi when it comes to urban fantasy.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Arena, and soon it’s sequel, Liberator, are products of a series and world that I’ve had in my head since I was around nine. It started with a poem I read once in an anthology and several over inspirational sources, including Babylon 5, added more flavor. It’s evolved so much you’d never recognize the first rendition.
I love making characters that readers can feel a connection with. The books are very character focused. At the same time, action is fun, too. So in the Arena, you’ll see several of Duncan Greyson’s fights with gladiators, some far bigger and older than he.
Duncan may be a bit young but he’s someone who comes up with solutions and jumps on it. He’d never be happy with a quiet life and, after being a slave, he can have some trust issues.
His best friend and a fan favorite is Mahmud “Mom” Kartal who teaches Duncan how to fight in the Arena. He’s a protector (hence the shortening of his name to Mom) and has good intuition. He’s often at war with himself about if he should let Duncan make his own mistakes or try to protect him. He’s certain he’ll die in the arena but he wants to believe that someone can escape, and not just survive but leave Neo Roma and live happily ever after.
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