Today we are with Mr. Dennis K. Hausker author of the new bookMortus-Book I-The Adventure Begins Book I of the Faenum Quest.Denny, thank you for joining us. 

DH:  Thank you!

PBR:  Before you became a writer, who were your favorite authors?  Which of them influenced your desire to write epic fantasies? 

DH:  Most of the authors I liked were even in my estimation.  The one author who stood out was Stephen R. Donaldson with his Thomas Covenant chronicles.  When he took us to the land it was a vivid visceral experience I never forgot.  Also he didn't sugar coat anything.  He wrote very moving sequences.

PBR:  I see.  When did you write your first book?  How long did it take you to write it?  How is Mortus different from the first book you wrote? 

DH:  I started my first book in my twenties when I was still working.  It had all of the technical warts of a first book by an untrained writer, but the story was pretty good.  It took decades before I got back to finish it.  Unfortunately I lost it to a fried hard drive on a prior computer.

PBR:  Faenum is an imaginary planet and Mortus is an imaginary place, so how did you decide on Faenum as the name of the planet and Mortus as part of the title of Book I? 

DH:  I have no answer.  It just popped into my head.  I guess I wanted something other worldly sounding.

PBR:  Your book Is a complete fantasy.  Is there any part of it that you feel is realistic or that has a realistic massage a reader would get from reading Mortus?  

DH:  The messages I feel are believable are no matter what happens you can overcome it.  Real life isn't easy and there are guaranteed to be serious hurdles.  There really is good and bad in everyone.  We can rise up to our best or sink down to our worst on any given day.

PBR:   What were the hardest challenges in writing Mortus and bringing it to life?

DH:  I can't really say it was a challenge for me bringing this book to life.  I know what I like in books and it was simply a matter of putting it on paper.

PBR:  Why do you feel your main character Dave is a worthy hero?  Why is it that he takes his popularity and leadership abilities in stride and tries to shun the spotlight? 

DH:  Dave is realistic about himself.  His humbleness is real and his self doubts serve a purpose in keeping him cautious with issues he doesn't fully understand.  He's a "good guy" and it shows through in how he lives his life.  He's honest about his flaws and the mistakes he's made in his past.  He rejects adulation because he honestly thinks everyone else is misguided, that they don't know the real and faulty him.

PBR:  You have put together a very interesting group of characters to assist Dave in this story.  Which one is your favorite character and why?

DH:  It would be hard to pick just one of them.  Kra'ac is rock solid and dependable, a massive man yet he follows Selane around like a big puppy.  Selane is Dave's inspiration in spite of what she goes through. Dave's draws her up to beyond what she thought she could do.  I love them all.

PBR:  One of my favorite characters was the deathcat, part bear and part cat and feared by all.  Yet, Dave has tamed this creature with his magical powers.  What gave you the idea for a creature such as this? 

DH:  There are so many of us in the world that love animals.  I wanted to have an animal as one of the heroes too. Giving him sentience just came to me.  I don't know from where.

PBR:  Will we see the deathcat you named “Bear” in the next two books of this trilogy? 

DH:  You will absolutely see "Bear" again.  He has critical parts in the saga.  Like Dave, Bear continues to evolve and improve.

PBR:  Is there a positive message to be had for why the women had to endure the tragic and unthinkable offenses they endured at the hands of the evil emperor and his wife? 

DH:  Just like Stephan R Donaldson, I wanted to make the story more believable.  As Selane said to Dave, “What do you think evil does to helpless innocence?”  Additionally the dark transformation of the women is critical to the rest of the story as you will see in the future books.  As far as a positive, in life it isn't that you get knocked down, endure travails, setbacks and humiliations, it's that you got back up to overcome those experiences and became better people.  Where we end up speaks volumes about us.

PBR:  Nice quote. 

DH:  Thanks.

PBR:  The next books in the trilogy are titled, The Gathering Storm-Book II and The Faenum War-Book III of the Faenum Quest Series.  What would you like your readers to know about each of these books in this trilogy? 

DH:  Buckle your seatbelt.  I wrote scary scenes, terrifying travails, deeply moving moments as we see the worst and the best in people.  Nobody is all bad or all good.  Dave never gives up his hope at salvation for even the darkest of his opponents.  I love to have unexpected twists and turns, I like to drop bombs on the reader and shake them about like rag dolls.  The final battle and the aftermath are titanic and I must say unexpected. I love this series!  

PBR:  We wish you the best of success with your trilogy, and thank you again for your time today. 

DH:  Thank you again as well – I enjoyed your questions!