The Skald's Black Verse by Jordan Loyal Short

TITLE : The Skald’s Black Verse (The Dreadbound Ode #1)

AUTHOR : Jordan Loyal Short

GENRE : Sci-Fi/Fantasy

INTENTED AGE GROUP : Adult

Pages: 339

DATE OF PUBLISHING : 2018

PUBLISHER : Self Published

Welcome to my tour stop for The Skald’s Black Verse by Jordan Loyal Short, hosted by Escapist Book Tours. I am so grateful to be part of The Escapist Book Tours and for getting the chance to do a Q & A with the author. Make sure to check The Escapist Book Tours out because they do an awesome job of introducing a lot of new titles mainly self pub and indie published SFF books.

If you are interested in checking out the official page for the book tour – CLICK HERE

The Skalds Black Verse tour stops (blog)

Content/Trigger Warnings :

Shown on page :

=>Violence

=>Infanticide

=>Racism

=>Apocalyptic themes

Alluded to :

=>Rape

SYNOPSIS

Brohr has been lied to, abused.

All he wants is to live in peace, away from the ignorance of his village, to outrun the raging ghost which haunts him.

But a hidden evil seeks to harness Brohr’s fury.

Accused of murder, hunted by ruthless soldiers, Brohr delves the way of the Skald, unlocking forbidden blood magic as he unearths terrible family secrets.

When the red moon is broken, and all is lost, it’s up to Brohr to lead a rebellion, or face the end of the world.

AUTHOR Q & A

1. What was your inspiration for writing The Skald’s Black Verse?

The core of the story formed around the connection between Brohr and his brother Olek. I kicked the idea around in my head for months until an actual story started to form around it.

2. What is it about the combination of science fiction and fantasy that excited you the most?

I love both scifi and fantasy and one of my favorite tropes in both genres is the ancient relic with wondrous powers. So writing a fantasy story with such relics that gave the story a scifi feel was a lot of fun to write.

3. If you were a Skald in Skolja what abilities would you want to have?

I think I’d have the power of illusion. Ever good storyteller needs this in their tool kit, so it would be
extra cool to tell stories with friggin magic!

4. If you were part of the rebellion similar to Brohr, and you are also faced with an end of the world incident, what would be your action plan and who would you like to be on your team(please choose authors you want on your team) and why?

Definitely a doomsday ritual with some other grimdark authors, I’ll take Joe Abercrombie, Mark
Lawrence, and Michael Fletcher.

5. What is the best thing and the worst thing about your main character Brohr?

He wants to love and be loved, but he will do anything to get that.

6. If Brohr wrote a memoir / autobiography what would be the title of the book?

“Not a Monster”.

7. What was the research process like?

Pretty light. I’ve read a lot of mythology which influenced the story but other than that I didn’t d much research. I just made shit up.

8. Do you have any writing rituals?

Every week I make a writing goals list and mount it on a clipboard. Then throughout the week I check tasks off as I accomplish them. My day-to-day is pretty chaotic other than that.

9. If you couldn’t write in the genre you write in, which genre would you prefer to write in?

I think I’d enjoy writing murder mysteries since I enjoy reading them.

10. Which genre would be the most challenging for you to write in and why?

Memoir definitely. I have a lot of respect for people who can bare their souls like that.

11. Tell us about a funny/weird / most shocking thing you discovered while researching for your book/ books.

N/A

12. How has your journey of book publishing been like?

It’s tough. I definitely never realized how much work goes into it before I began this process. It’s also very rewarding of course when someone reads your book and really gets it.

13. Tell us about the most fun and favorite thing you got to write in the book.

The scenes at the end when the world was ending was very fun to write, I really got to swing for the
fences.

14. What do you love the most to write and hate to write in your stories?

I love writing scenes with weird magic. The only time I hate writing is when a scene just doesn’t have
the mojo, you’ve just got to keep at it until things finally click.

15. Your favorite underhyped books you want more people to read.

Gareth Hanrahan’s the Gutter Prayer, Michael Fletcher’s Blackstone Heart, Rob j.
Hayes’ Mortal Techniques and Ed MacDonald’s The Raven’s Mark are some of my
favorite recent reads that I think are underrated.

AUTHOR BIO

Jordan Loyal Short is an author of epic fantasy. His first novel, The Skald’s Black Verse, is a dark and beautiful story about families, cultures, and beliefs at war with themselves. The protagonist, Brohr, must navigate the tangled loyalties and unforgiving biases of a planet conquered by invaders from another world. Using black magic, and the bizarre bond he shares with his stillborn brother’s spirit, Brohr unravels the truth about himself and an eon spanning war that has reached its end game.

You can see Jordan’s latest book reviews at Booknesteu.com.

Jordan has worked in a variety of industries, as a web developer, bartender, copywriter and more. He lives in Washington state with his wife where he is currently daydreaming about the end of the world.

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM

BOOK QUOTES

Giveaway Information:

Prize: An eBook, Audiobook, or Paperback Copy of The Skald’s Black Verse!
Starts: August 15, 2022 at 12:00am EST
Ends: August 21, 2022 at 11:59pm EST

CLICK HERE