Delighted to see the second part of my Horbeck the Mercenary story "Lies and Treachery" will soon appear in the July issue of Crimson Quill Quarterly.
This is my second Horbeck tale, the first being "The Demon from Another World" (Anthology of the Damned: Necromoirrium). Since then I have written four others, finishing the last only yesterday at 14,000 words.
In the meantime Crimson Quill Quarterly have posted online the first of a two-part interview with me:
"For our next Author Interview, we caught up with David A. Riley, whose story "Lies and Treachery" appears serialized over two parts starting in the April 2025 issue and concludes in our upcoming July 2025 issue of CQQ!
Story overview:
After having escaped death in the Great Desert as they fled from their pursuers, Horbeck and his fellow mercenaries are hoping for some time to recover in the small, stockaded town they reach beyond the desert’s edge, little realizing they will be betrayed and forced to grapple with creatures of appalling evil, some demonic and some human.
Do you have further plans for this character and/or setting featured in your tale?
All the major characters already feature in an earlier story (“The Demon from Another World”). I have already written three more and have plans for a fourth. Whether or not all these mercenaries will survive these tales is another matter, but I am tempted for at least some of them to continue for a while yet as I have a great fondness for them.
Now that you have been published with CQQ (and possibly other markets) a number of times, how do you feel your style has changed over the course of your writing career?
For most of my writing career I concentrated on horror with an occasional venture into science fiction, though these tended to have elements of horror too. For the past four years, though, I have concentrated on sword and sorcery, or at the very least dark fantasy, such as in my tale “The Carpetmaker of Arana” which appeared in Savage Realms Monthly. My writing style had already changed over the years as, I think, I learned from practice and experience. This was brought home to me when I recently had to proofread two of my very earliest horror stories, due to be reprinted in a hardcover edition from a rather prestigious publisher. I was surprised how overwritten some parts of these tales looked to me now. And, of course, writing fantasy has seen another alteration in my style, with more emphasis on world building and action.
Furthermore, can you describe your writing process? Do you have a certain routine you like to follow or a certain time of day you like to write at?
I have absolutely no routine at all and never have. The first thing I need is to get into whatever tale I’m writing, then I might add more to it at all times of the day and night in short, productive spurts. I wish I could be like some writers who set aside certain hours of the day to sitting at their typewriter or, more likely these days, their computer to concentrate on adding thousands of words to whatever they’re writing. I can’t and never have done that, perhaps because I have never been a fulltime writer but always had a day job and writing was something I did in my spare time.
What do you think leads to the creation of a good protagonist in an S&S or dark fantasy tale?
They obviously need to be interesting or at least have something about them which can capture the empathy of the reader – and of me, of course, as their creator. I like to think of them as well-rounded characters with distinctive traits and personalities, and their fair share of virtues and vices to give them credibility.
Stay tuned for part two of David’s interview, which will be posted on Thursday!"
