Welcome to our interview for this month! We are with this talented author, TheTigerWriter, who penned the story, Alive At Crepusculum.

Dark Fantasy Team: Who or what was your inspiration in writing it?

TheTigerWriter: My own fictional character inspired the story. Several years ago, I wrote a historical fantasy fiction "The Façade of Quad in Nimrod". One of the villains in that story is a man named Richard, leader of an assassin organization and a seer. He's like a chameleon, able to actually change his face and body to look and sound like other men his age. He's a gray villain that punishes the rich to help the poor.

Despite that he sounds like a Robin Hood kind of guy, the way Richard goes about his goals are unapologetically evil and he loves his evil self. I'd always wanted to write a complementary novel with Richard as one of the main characters. I wanted to focus on this assassin, dig deep into his life, and find out what he gets up to and where he gets his powers.

DF: How and when did you start to write this story?

T:  First, I wrote "The Façade of Quad in Nimrod" for NaNoWriMo 2014. This is the start. The story takes place in an alternative Earth, specifically in a fictional country called Lwendolen inspired by 1820s England. At the end of the story, Richard goes off to a country called United Arcan. It wasn't until 2019 that I figured out the history of the alternative Earth and decided Richard's story will take place about 30 years after he left Lwendolen. Then I decided United Arcan will be inspired by 1855 USA and did some historical research to get a feel of the era. After about a week or so I was ready to pants the story.

DF: Tell us something about your plot and the main protagonists.

T: The story follows many characters but mainly these three: Richard, a (narcissistic) seer who is an immortal assassin with a demon companion; Anastasia, a woman who escaped from slavery to search for her lost husband; and Mallord, a seer who is a (rather nosey) retired legendary detective. All players juggle with their needs and wants.

Throughout the story, Richard juggles being the leader of his assassin organization while being obsessed with searching for Mallord to kill him. Having another seer in this world hurts the immortal ego. Anastasia needs to keep a low profile to avoid slave snatchers, but she wants to ask around for Mallord to find the illusive detective as soon as possible. As for Mallord, he needs to stay retired and safe for the sake of wife and kids, but when mediums ask for his help, he can't say "no". So, he gets involved in a case in secret.

Richard, Anastasia, and Mallord must all play a tug-of-war with each of their own needs and wants, but it becomes so much harder when their lives intertwine and a dark cult emerges from the shadows.

DF: Are you planning on making more parts of this book or will it remain an individual story? Tell us about it!

T: "Alive At Crepusculum" is actually the first book in a duology is called "Their Posthumous Lives" duology. It's a word-play title. Some of the characters are immortal or experienced death and come back to life (not zombies), so this is a story about "their posthumous lives". Also, the narrative often pokes fun at the main characters and at the ridiculousness of the world around them, so it's also "their humorous lives".

Anyway, I'm currently in the middle of editing the sequel, "Dead By Sunrise" which takes place in a fictional Egypt-inspired country called Iptaj. I have heavily researched what 1855 Egypt was like to incorporate some elements in the story. Like donkey carts. A whole lot of donkey carts.

DF: How does/did dark fantasy inspire you to write this book?

T: In the beginning, I was trying to make a historical fiction type of book with some satirical narrative like I did for "The Façade of Quad in Nimrod". But then I was tempted to put more magic into "Alive At Crepusculum". So, what is this genre? Paranormal because of the demon? But without any ghosts, I couldn't exactly call it paranormal. That's when I looked into dark fantasy and found out it was the closest genre. After that, I was able to write in all the dark magic scenes I was holding back.

DF: Do you write only in Wattpad? If not, what other platforms do you write on?

T: I only write on Wattpad. It's where I feel most comfortable. Besides, I don't know if other platforms are ready for someone like Richard ;) He can be quite a handful.

DF: What interesting things have you learned throughout your journey? Tell us something about them.

T: I could say some interesting things about 1855 USA (like their obsession with mediumship), but the best thing I learned throughout my journey was the writing style. It is omniscient with entertaining narration. The style was inspired by "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy and "Father Goriot" by Honoré de Balzac. In both, the narrators sometimes added their own point of view on the characters' actions.

So, in "The Façade of Quad in Nimrod" and "Alive At Crepusculum" the narrator adds in some character roasting and describes the world with sarcasm to make the darkness digestible. I had so much fun with it ;)

DF: If you could replace your life with one of your protagonists, who would it be and why?

T: Can I say no one? :P I don't want to become miserable or be a murderous villain. But if I had to choose, maybe Richard's demon companion, Charcoal. Charcoal has a pretty good time in the land of the living. Humans amuse him, so it would be interesting to see the world through his eyes. The only downside is that he has to spend an eternity with Richard who can be a pain in the neck. Richard is so full of himself that he can even annoy demons.

DF: What are your future plans about writing?

T: My future plan for "Their Posthumous Lives" duology is to finish editing the sequel "Dead By Sunrise" and post it on Wattpad. In terms of writing overall, my plan is to self-publish. The book I want to self-publish is "Lunar Heart, Shadow Bound", a high fantasy with dark elements. The one you see on Wattpad is the "Wattpad version" because I'm slowly editing behind the scenes. The story follows a blue bipedal feline named Pinti who would do anything to save her race from extinction.

Other than that? Well, I plan to post on Wattpad my newest dark fantasy story. It's about a fire mage's search for the secret to a curse that makes him forget the events of yesterday at midnight. That was a mouthful. Keep a look out for "There Lives a Beast in the Burning Heart" :)

Thank you so much, TheTigerWriter, for being with us and agreeing to our interview. Check out their work, Alive At Crepusculum, to support our author!

- The Dark Fantasy Team