Interview with Penn Fawn
Author of Necropolis
Penn Fawn, a graphic arts production artist with a research and writing background is a New Yorker. He is the author of the dark fantasy series, Necropolis. For more information please visit https://pennfawn.com/about/
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How would you describe <the Necropolis> to a new reader?
- A short answer is, amongst other things, it is a grimdark fantasy series about the afterlife.
What was the inspiration behind <the Necropolis series> ?
- A combination of my love for dark art of all kinds, not just writing, in addition to environmentalism. For example, I'm a big fan of HR Giger's work and he was of course not a writer.
Regarding my mentioning environmentalism: At the general most basic level the Necropolis series is about there being life after death and that afterlife is far more terrifying than any biblical description of hell.
Within the narrative, burning in a lake of fire, for example, is just one of the many horrors awaiting mankind.
However, a more perceptive reader will grasp that on a deeper level the series is not merely about fantasy/horror or retribution. Rather, it also belongs to a genre called eco-fiction. In brief, eco-fiction, as defined by Wikipedia is: the branch of literature that encompasses nature-oriented (non-human) or environment-oriented (human impacts on nature) works of fiction.
The central figure in Book One is the antagonist environmentalist named Nyeusi, one who can move between this realm and the underworld.
Which authors do you admire? How have they influenced your writing style?
- I admire many authors. Many of them influenced my writing style. I could take a long time time trying to answer this question, so let it suffice to say the satirist Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, is my favorite novel and perhaps forever will be.
Can you tell us a little about the locations in your book?
- Aye. Well, amongst other things, and aside from it falling under the following fantasy sub genres; grimdark and dark fantasy adventure, it is also part speculative fiction and high fantasy. High fantasy is of course set in an alternative, fictional "secondary" world, rather than the "real" one. The alternative world as it pertains to this case is the afterlife.
But there is more. I said part high fantasy because by contrast low fantasy, which is characterized by being set in the primary or real world is the one presented in the earliest part of the first book.
This is never explicitly stated. However, in the attempt to show as opposed to tell, I dropped a plethora of hints for the reader to use his imagination to figure out what is the most likely landscape.
For example, the book begins with poachers attempting to kill elephants. There are two remaining species of elephant, the Indian and African elephant. That is hint number one.
So where is the location? Hint number two. Lions attacked the aforementioned poachers. Lions? Elephants? Lions are not native to India, well . . . I read there is still one critically endangered population in western India, so obviously the background is somewhere in Africa. More specifically, where? Somewhere sub Saharan Africa.
This setting is further revealed if the reader is perceptive enough to again grasp the hints. For example, an excerpt from chapter two about the origin of the main characters reads: They were from the lands north of the great desert, from a place they called Kemet. Kemet is an ancient name for Egypt and the “great desert” is of course the Sahara.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors? How would you advise a new author about traditional publishing versus self publishing?
- Unless you're one of the needle in a haystack writers who gets a traditional publishing deal, I'd advise aspiring authors to self publish. This is a decidedly short answer. I'm being brief because it would take quite a bit of writing to explain why I said what I did.
What's your writing process?
- I don’t write off the cuff. If I do start off that way it is because I have an outline in my head which I always resort to putting down on paper.
Which character in <the Necropolis> has had the greatest impact on readers?
- I cannot reply to this question because as of this writing, there are few people who know this work is around and available. I'm still working on promoting it.
If <the Necropolis> were to be adapted for TV or film, who would you see in the lead role? Who did you have in your mind’s eye when you wrote him/her?
- I'm not sure. I'm not too hip about actors and actresses. That said, the lead character in the first book is the antagonist, so whoever plays him needs to be a dark skinned black man with dreadlocks. Below are descriptions of him from the novel:
From Chapter 1 "Nyeusi": Their friend, one with feet almost as dark as coal, trailed from a distance of about seventy yards.
Also, from Chapter 1: A cool wind swept through his mane of hair and dried the sweat on his brow.
How have readers responded to <the Necropolis>?
- As of this date, it has a 4.3 star rating on Amazon. So the reviews have mostly been positive. I got excellent feedback from some readers on Goodreads who found a few typos during the first publication that got past my editors. I have since fixed those.
Also, while leaving book reviews, some readers mentioned feeling challenged trying to keep up with the names and number of characters and places. Consequently, anyone who purchases the book after 07-28-22, will notice I have included a glossary.
As of this writing, it's available at all major retailers except for Amazon. By the end of the day today, today being 07-28-22, I expect the updated kindle version to be available at Amazon's site too.
The updated paperback version will be available at a later date yet to be announced.
Where next? What are you working on now?
- I'm working on editing the second book of a spin-off series called, The Underworld Series. The title of that book is "Gargoyles and The Goatlord." The goatlord, a terrifying creature to witness, is a half-man half-goat, product of bestiality.
