About The Story- The Harvest Wars

Bran, a great hero, agrees to become the vessel of an ancient evil set on eradicating all life, so he might resurrect the friends that died fighting against said evil. Reborn as a Harvester and reunited with his now undead companions, these fallen heroes must gather an army of monsters before the combined forces of the Scarred Empire can stop them.

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About The Author- MarcoBaier

Marco R. Baier, born in 1978, is an international games industry freelancer and jack-of-all-trades with a penchant for darker fantasy. He lives in Bavaria, where he is most likely writing, laughing wickedly, or baking right now. In addition to his work on games like World of Warcraft, Diablo 3, and StarCraft 2, he has published several books in English and German. His science fiction novel ARCHETYPE won in the "Storysmith" category at the world's largest online writing competition - the Watty Awards - in 2018.  

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"Man may call us monsters, but they know so little..." - Bran.

-from The Harvest Wars

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Q. How did you discover Wattpad? What is the most memorable moment you have encountered here?

Honestly, I cannot recall how I discovered Wattpad, but I can certainly tell you what my initial thought was when I did. It went along the lines of, "Damn... a website where authors can upload their stuff and interact with readers? How long is this thing online, and why has nobody told me?" 

As for the most memorable moment. Hmm. That would have to be when I won a Watty Award for my story ARCHETYPE in 2018. Especially since it was like a chain of most memorable moments, delivered in consecutively more stunning and exhilarating punches. I uploaded and entered the Watty's on a whim that year and didn't expect to win. Imagine my surprise when I saw my name on the Longlist (Pow!), then Shortlist (Pow!), and finally the Watty's. (KO!)

Q. Your book, 'The Harvest Wars', mainly focuses on an antihero character Bran who is desperate to save his friends and the woman he loves. What do you expect when making the relationships like friendships or family bonds between characters impactful and special enough to an antihero like Bran?

[SPOILER ALERT]
Well, firstly – and I hope I don't burst anybody's bubble here – I wouldn't actually call Bran an anti-hero but rather an anti-villain. While he commits his share of evil acts, he does not do it with malice or out of the desire to cause evil. In fact, both he and his resurrected comrades, who, after all, were the most beloved and famed heroes of the Scarred Empire, very much retain their personalities. 

I think that is what actually makes them so relatable, even likable. The Thirteen are still heroes at heart, but of the fallen sort now, and as such, while they do still care for the people, they have no qualms about killing them to achieve their mysterious goals. Thus, the love that motivated the Thirteen while still alive is just as powerful now that they are undead. Perhaps even more so. Friendship can carry people through hard times, but it may also change them – for better or worse. One might argue that the latter was the case for Bran since, wise as he was, he simply could not bear the thought of losing his chosen family. The question of what a person is willing to sacrifice to rescue his beloved ones has always fascinated me. 

And as it turned out, Bran was willing to sacrifice quite a lot... ;)

Q. When Bran's true intentions are revealed, he almost feels like a villain of the story. Which details in the story do you feel like makes such a grey character appealing to you and to the readers?

Bran is a badass in many ways. I only learned this recently, but Brandon Sanderson has this nifty idea of what makes a character attractive to audiences. These components are Likability, Competence, and Proactivity. Bran scores pretty high in all three categories, so this might already be what makes him so appealing. However, I also think that Bran's path of suffering and loss goes a long way in making him appealing as both hero and villain. It makes it easy to put ourselves in his shoes. 

Just ask yourself, what would you do to be reunited with your lost loved ones...

Q. What was the biggest challenge when writing this series and relationship impact?

I found the biggest challenge in writing this series is a lack of time on my side. Too many other tantalizing projects keep me busy. Worse still, I am also quite perfectionistic when it comes to editing my work. I may hammer out a novel in a few months but then edit for years. Not necessarily the best approach for a series. Well, I guess you can get away with it when your name is G. R. R. Marting, but who is? Except for him, of course. 

If you have been working on a series for such a long time (I published Awakening in 2010), your writer's voice and style are apt to change somewhat over the years. And while growing as a writer is undoubtedly a good thing, the loss of consistency in terms of style and voice may bother the occasional reader. 

On the plus side, I rarely have trouble with the actual story, the characters, or relationships. In a way, I'm like some invisible movie/documentary maker, following a bunch of heroes and villains around while constantly updating my camera equipment and then disappearing for months at a time, cutting and editing the material I filmed.

Q. Any details or scenes in the story that left a strong impression on you?

[SPOILER ALERT] Hmm. Pretty much anything leading up to a twist or shocking revelation. Like when Bran tells the caravan the story about the demise of the Thirteen, revealing that in the end, nobody escaped. Not even him. 

When I wrote that scene, I think I sat there, cackling to myself, smiling as only villains can, and thinking, "I wonder how many people I'll get with this one."
I do so love my little twists.

Q. If you were to take a trip in your own fantasy land, Ruuin, where would you go and whom would you take from your friends or family?

Oh, I love this question... Not so easy to answer either, since even in Ruuin's more civilized regions, life is dangerous and unkind to strangers. After all, I wouldn't want harm to come to the people I love. However, if some magical protection spells are part of the trip so that my loved ones are safe, I would take along my long-time friends and Tabletop RPG group. I just decided to name our new adventure band "Critical M.A.S.S." (let's see if anybody gets the joke :P). Antonio, Stefan, and Silvio have visited Ruuin with their alter egos on numerous occasions, so they know what they are getting into. I would also ask my brother along because he's a pretty big guy (we sometimes call him "Little Mountain") and would undoubtedly be able to handle himself in a fight. If that fails... well... somebody has to carry all our loot. 

As for the trip, I'd say the dwarf city of Mount Nocturne would be a good starting point for our heroic adventure. We could either go and explore the Bowels of Ruuin with its many hidden and secret places or hire an air-ship and take it from there. Perhaps we'd travel over the woods of Taan to see if we can find some undiscovered ruins or down to Redwater Bay. The Scarred Empire also is a good option.
Puh. So many choices. 

Q. As a Wattys Winner and a Wattpad Star, what advice or writing tips would you give to aspiring new writers in building such an impactful character and writing in general?

Flaws. When it comes to impactful characters, flaws and drawbacks are extremely important. Just imagine you would cook a stew with only meat and vegetables, but no salt or spices. Try it. It will be a rather bland affair at best, thoroughly disgusting at worst. I always found the most annoying characters to be those that either have no flaws or fake flaws, which only add to their coolness and never really get them in trouble. Don't get me wrong, your character can have perfectionism as a fault, but then it really should cause problems for him that he has to overcome (like fear of failure) and not only underline that he is good in everything he does. Positive traits may cause you to take a liking to a character, but his flaws will determine if you end up loving him.

William Faulkner once said, — 'The only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself' – which I can totally agree upon. Flaws can be a means of getting you started on the right path. 

As for general advice: Don't overthink writing. Hell, don't be an aspiring writer. Just be a writer. Write. If you have trouble with that, write directly after getting up in the morning. That way, the internal editor is still asleep, and you can write a terrible first draft that you can still fix later.
As for setting expectations, I always like to ask aspiring writers if they would still write if their future self traveled back in time and told them that they would never have any success in writing whatsoever. Many, if not most, told me they wouldn't continue. After all, what is the use of writing if you have no chance of becoming famous? This kind of thinking often frustrates or cripples fledgling writers, and I've seen and talked to many often very new Wattpaders who were frustrated because they haven't gained many readers yet. So here is my tip. Take the pressure off and consider writing as something good for your mental health the same way that working out is good for your body – because it is. While there are exceptions to the rule, it usually takes a very long time to become good at anything.

In the same way that you won't look like the Rock after three months in the gym, it also takes a long time to become a decent writer – and then it might take even longer to find your tribe (aka, the people who actually want to read what you have written.) 

So yeah, develop a sense of patience as a writer. Consistency is your best friend here.
Oh, and brevity, which I suck at. :P

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Thank you so much for joining this talk!

Have you read "The Harvest Wars"? If not, you should check it out now.

Check out more of their amazing works at their account MarcoBaier!

- More to come, friends