{"id":1272,"date":"2021-01-02T02:39:10","date_gmt":"2021-01-02T02:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/willbly.com\/?p=1272"},"modified":"2021-01-04T00:48:45","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T00:48:45","slug":"5-questions-with-author-timothy-dempsey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/?p=1272","title":{"rendered":"Five Questions with Author Timothy Dempsey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\" Author Tim Dempsey is our first guest of the new year! Tim is a young up ‘n comer who recently released his first novel, Urban Monarchs<\/em>, on Amazon. Of all the authors lined up, I felt it fitting to start off our series of interviews with someone whose focus is on dystopian fiction. Dystopian fiction seems particularly relevant during these trying times. I especially appreciate Tim’s description of Board City. He has meticulously crafted the city from the ground up and populated it with all sorts of interesting creatures and characters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your book, Urban Monarchs<\/a><\/em>, is described as a cyberpunk dystopia. What parallels do you see in your book with what’s going in 2020?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The setting of my novel, Board City, isn\u2019t your standard dystopia. There is no all-encompassing authoritarian body, not that there aren\u2019t some who are trying to fill that role. Instead, the dystopic aspect of the book comes from the constant instability of Board City as different gangs try to eliminate one another and seize the power of their rivals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to 2020 and my story, I\u2019d have to say that the largest connection would be when the main characters end up trapped within their penthouse by a forcefield and argue with one another about how to handle the situation. Granted this was due to a very different circumstance than a pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are there any cyberpunk influences in your writing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t think of one \u201cbig\u201d influence for Urban Monarchs<\/em>. It takes a lot from all over the genre, especially in terms of aesthetics. When it comes to names, my two biggest influences would have to be the book, The King In Yellow <\/em>and the game of chess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Describe Board City. What is it like to walk down the street?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Board City is the type of place where you\u2019d have a harder time finding someone that hasn\u2019t killed someone than one who has. In the more populated areas of the city, you will find streets filled bursting with people, many of whom will have a brown liquid running out of their eyes and down their faces, a common symptom of drug abuse in Varse. In one part of the city, The Brooks Maze, you would see many bleak apartments piled on top of one another in hastily constructed stacks. The black eyes of the Varse inside will watch your every move as they huddle against the window and wait for a sign of vulnerability, it is best to bring a weapon or a group when visiting. In the nice part of town, Monochro, the odds of you being assaulted on the street are at least half what they would be in other parts of the city and as you walked through the sidewalks and passed by the glittering buildings, the only things you would have to watch out for are the black-clad Marauders gang who make their home in this part of town. All in all, it\u2019s a very unpleasant place to be unless you happen to really enjoy the prospect of unprovoked violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Urban<\/a>
Tim’s debut novel, Urban Monarchs<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

How do you implement magic in a world of technology?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The magic existed long before the technology did, although the Varse isn\u2019t its biggest fan. In my setting, magic does not come from the world around you but is instead accessed from within oneself. Humans and the other species that have populated the world long before the Varse appeared had been using magic for millennia. When half the planet died during the Black Stone Event and was turned into the vast desert that the story of Urban Monarchs<\/em> would one day take place in, the Varse appeared one day out of that nothingness. After a few generations of spreading out across the continent, a figure called The Provider allegedly appeared and gifted the Varse with the technology that they have now and promised to return with more when they mastered the gifts that they were given. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What can we expect in the future from you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am currently writing my second book which is set in the same world, but in the past and deals with the conflict between vampires who wish to spread themselves across the world and the vampire hunters that have been tasked with stopping them. I have also started a homebrew Dungeons and Dragons <\/em>Podcast called Dice and Effect, <\/em>in which my friends and I will adventure through the mysterious world of Corieon and either help defeat the evils that lurk there or make everything many times worse, which is much more likely.<\/p>\n\n\n\nGrab Urban Monarchs<\/a>\"\" at Amazon\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more about Tim and the world of Mekebe, check out his website at www.mekebestories.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author Tim Dempsey is our first guest of the new year! Tim is a young up ‘n comer who recently released his first novel, Urban Monarchs, on Amazon. Of all the authors lined up, I felt it fitting to start off our series of interviews … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[16,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6aT9B-kw","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":550,"url":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/?p=550","url_meta":{"origin":1272,"position":0},"title":"Goals for 2016","date":"January 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Publish \"Torrent\", a 40,000 word Sci-fi novella. Publish the sequel to \"Ravens in the Sky\". Publish \"The God Rule\", a dystopian sci-fi short story, as part of an anthology. By the end of 2016 I hope to have these things done and to continue working on my YA Fantasy novel,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1211,"url":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/?p=1211","url_meta":{"origin":1272,"position":1},"title":"Five Questions with Anthony Black, co-author of Social Distancing.","date":"June 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Just recently, I shared some of my thoughts regarding Social Distancing, a collaborative project with Anthony Black. As we make this short story available on Amazon, I ask Anthony some questions to gain a little insight in regards to this story. Anthony's creative approach adds depth and uniqueness to this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":310,"url":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/?p=310","url_meta":{"origin":1272,"position":2},"title":"Twisted short stories","date":"April 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Ethereal Princess has been submitted. A first draft of a project known as \"Happy Village\", a dystopian short story, has been finished with Anthony Pellegrino. A first draft of a horror story has also been finished with Anthony Pellegrino. The name is seriously too good to share. Well, in our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books, Novellas, and Stories"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1017,"url":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/?p=1017","url_meta":{"origin":1272,"position":3},"title":"5 Questions with Fantasy Reader and Hobbyist Writer John Blenkinsop","date":"July 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I think the real fun thing about this interview is that John writes for children he knows in the same way that Tolkien did. Stories written for specific children tend to resonate with others, and the same can be said about the Worlds of\u00a0Yifan books. Prince Yifan and Princess Yifan\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Author Interviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":949,"url":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/?p=949","url_meta":{"origin":1272,"position":4},"title":"5 Questions with Author Robert Mullin","date":"June 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I recently had the pleasure of asking Robert Mullin a few questions. Robert is an author of Science Fiction and Fantasy, and is also a cryptozoologist who has been featured on the History Channel. A search for a living dinosaur has taken Robert to Africa multiple times. I actually have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Author Interviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":774,"url":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/?p=774","url_meta":{"origin":1272,"position":5},"title":"Consolation of the Rose -- A new, free urban fantasy drama #flashfiction","date":"March 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I am (happy? sad?) to release a new flash fiction, urban fantasy drama. This story is the closest I've come to writing about myself and what's going on in my life. Many families are decimated by cancer each day. Yeah, this story goes there. The read is under 1000 words\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1272"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1272"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1293,"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1272\/revisions\/1293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}