{Teen Book Scene Tour} Interview with Daniel Coleman author of Hatter

Seeing Night Reviews is the next stop for The Teen Book Scene Tour, I'd like to welcome Author Daniel Coleman who is here today to talk a bit about his latest book Hatter! 

Don't forget to check out my review: Hatter Review

Seeing Night Reviews: Can you tell us a little bit in your own words about Hatter?

Daniel Coleman: Hatter is a colorful, character-driven story about the emergence of what we now know of Wonderland and its inhabitants.

SNR: What made you decide to write about the world of Alice in Wonderland?

DC: It started with my love of the poem Jabberwocky, which appears in Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There.  I fell in love with the strange nature of the nonsense that somehow made sense, and I wanted to make the stroy more approachable than the poem.  Once I started writing in that world, I encountered many more fascinating characters with whom I wanted to explore Wonderland.

SNR: What did you enjoy most about creating your own unique twist of the characters and world of Wonderland?

DC: I loved bringing to life characters that as written by Lewis Carroll are a bit archaic and sometimes hard to understand.  In addition, most of the characters of Wonderland make extremeley brief appearances.  Mr. Carroll did such a brilliant job of creating fascinating characters, I wanted to spend much more time with them.  I love the Alice in Wonderland books that Lewis Carroll wrote, but they aren't very approachable for a lot of modern readers.  At a book signing last month, someone asked if reading my book would give him a headache like Lewis Carroll's books did.  Sometimes reading Alice can be like reading a dream sequence.

SNR: Do you have any interesting quirks when writing? Ex. Listening to certain music for inspiration, watching television, writing outside, etc.

DC: I work full-time as a fire-fighter, so I stay at the station for 2 days straight, them I'm off for four days, so I do my writing in four-day bursts.  I also have numerous playlists.  Each viewpoint character has their own playlist, and I have dozens of other lists for a variety of emotions: Struggle, Alone, Friendship, Lost Love, and on and on.  (If you want specifics on the playlists, check out my guest post on Sept 2nd at http://dog-earedandbookmarked.blogspot.com/).  Other than that, I prefer to write early in the morning or late at night when my family is sleeping because it allows me to get immersed in my other worlds.

SNR: What was your favorite experience in writing this book?

DC: I have a friend who is a HUGE Lewis Carroll fan.  She knows more about Lewis Carroll and his works than I ever will.  I've known her since college and I know she's brutally honest.  I was extremely nervous when I sent her the manuscript and asked for feedback, but I wanted an expert's opinion on how the world I wrote relates to Wonderland.  She loved the story and had no problems with how I wrote the characters that she loved so much.

SNR: Who are some of your favorite writers?

DC: I read in a lot of genres, but most of the authors I read repeatedly write fantasy and sci-fi.  Some of my favorites from my teen years are Orson Scott Card and Robert Jordan.  More recent favorites (with favorite books in quotes) are Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn), Larry Correia (Monster Hunter International), and James Dashner (Maze Runner).

SNR: If you could be any one of your characters who would it be and why?

DC: I would be the Cheshire Cat.  It's his purpose to help people on their journey, but he does it in his own way.  He doesn't give people all the answers they need, but leads them to find answers for themselves, and always has fun while he's doing it.  Plus, he can go invisible by turning his colors off.  Who wouldn't want to do that?

SNR: Can you tell us what your working on next?

DC: I just finished writing an Urban Fantasy with genetically and technologically modified people living in a separate society.  There are Pirates, Vampires, Sprites, Ninjas, and many more.  The book doesn't tell you if a Ninja is better than a Pirate, or a Vampire better than a Werewolf, but it'll give you food for thought.  I'm going to start rewriting and revising it next week, so it won't be out for a while.


Thank you so much Daniel Coleman for visiting Seeing Night Reviews!