Three Times A Charm with David Turnbull

Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the publishing industry.

This week author, David Turnbull, is visiting with us. David, can you please tell us a little about you? 

David Turnbull was born in Edinburgh and grew up in the Scottish borders, an area of Britain quite similar to the Low Counties as depicted in The Tale of Euan Redcap.

He now lives in South East London, His short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies; including stories featured in Mertales and Fangtales both also available from Wyvern Publications. The Tale of Euan Redcap his first published novel. He is currently working on a follow up where Euan Redcap is drawn into further adventures with Captain Zachariah and a host of new characters.

Can we hear more about your book?

 The Tale of Euan Redcap

The Tale of Euan Redcap is a story of kidnap, airships and dragons, with strong environmental themes, aimed at the 8 to 11 year old age group.

To begin with all that Euan wants is not to mess things up for his sister’s birthday party. Fate, however, has different plans as he stumbles into the clutches of the crazed Mrs Zachariah, the captain of dragon ship, The Drunken Molly. Kidnapped and made to be the ship’s fetcher, Euan is forced to struggle for his survival.

When Euan is used as human bait in an effort to catch the great dragon, White Sow, things go from bad to worse. Especially when Euan learns that dragons are slowly dying out, due to the dragon hunters, which will, in time, affect the very way of life of his people.

How can Euan share his newfound knowledge with the world? And can he stay alive long enough?

It sounds like Euan lives an exciting life!

Now, for the Threes. Share with us your top 3’s to help us know you a little better.

Top Three Books I’ve read in the past year.

1. The Wind Through The Keyhole by Stephen King – This has been described as a Russian Doll of a novel because it is 3 stories in one – a story within a story within a story. It set in the world of King’s epic seven-part fantasy ‘The Dark Tower’ and depicts events involving the Gunslinger Roland Deschain and his Ka-tet in the period between parts 4 and 5 of the original series. If you’ve never read any of the Dark Tower books before, imagine a blend of Spaghetti Western and Lord of the Rings, featuring a cast of contemporary characters who have stepped through a ‘wardbrobe’ style doorway into dark, alternative reality.

2. Redgunk Tales by William R. Eakin - a series of interlinking short stories centering on the dysfunctional residents of Redgunk, Mississippi and featuring, amongst other things, a Mummy’s brain and a yellow dog with smelly, black lips.

3. Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky – A post apocalyptic Russia where the remnants of humanity struggle for survival in the dark and frightening tunnels of the Moscow Metro. 

              

Top Three Tools I couldn’t live without

1. Notebook and pen – you never know when an idea for a story might pop into your head and relying on your memory is a lot less effective than scribbling it down.

2. Memory Sticks – Always back up what you write in case your computer crashes and wipes out all the hard work you’ve sweated over.

3. Ralan’s Webstravaganza - a writer’s market website and much, much more, run by the writer Ralan Conley. I check in with Ralan 2 or 3 times a week to see what calls have gone out for short story submissions to anthologies or magazines.

 Top Three Songs on my playlist

Songs about murder and villainy are my guilty pleasure.

1. Henry Lee – Nick Cave and PJ Harvey duet in a dark tale of bloody revenge by a woman scorned.

2. Down in the Willow Garden – The 50’s pop harmonies of the Everly Brothers contrasting with the lyrics of this traditional American folk song about a young man facing the gallows for the murder of his girlfriend down in the willow garden.

      3. The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde – Georgie Fame tells how half a dozen FBI    carbines open fire on the notorious outlaw lovers as they are out strolling in the sunshine.

Where can our tech-savvy readers go to keep up with you and your work?

Further information on The Tale of Euan Redcap can be found at

http://euanredcap.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/EuanRedcap?v=info

Thank you for visiting with us on this week’s Three Times A Charm, David. Best of luck with your writing!

THANKS!

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I am always looking for guests for Three Times A Charm. If you are an author, illustrator or book reviewer, an agent or an editor. If you have something related to children’s publishing that you’d like people to know about, feel free to contact me about a future appearance.