Friday, February 28, 2014

Garrett Calcaterra on DREAMWIELDER and the Magic of Books

Author Garrett Calcaterra dropped by this week to chat about his debut fantasy novel, Dreamwielder, now available in both eBook and print edition!


As an emerging fantasy and science-fiction author, I have been very fortunate to know several legends in the field, including steampunk progenitors James P. Blaylock and Tim Powers, and, more recently, short story master Bruce McAllister. These three men, along with established genre authors like Misty Massey and David B. Coe, whom I’ve interviewed for Black Gate magazine and my blog, The Machine Stops, have provided me with a strong sense of history, not only for the genre I write in, but also for the publishing industry itself. Each of them has experienced a massive restructuring of how books are published, and they’ve survived. Just like the wondrous and magical characters in their books, they’ve been able to adapt and continue to be successful authors in the age of self-publishing, e-books, and print-on-demand when so many dinosaurs of the past publishing era have become extinct.

If I’d been around and writing twenty years ago, my debut fantasy novel, Dreamwielder, would have either been signed and published by one of the big publishing houses, or it would have never been published at all. Of course, I like to think it would have been published to huge acclaim, but I’ll never know which, because I’m writing in the 21st Century and the publishing world doesn’t function in that manner anymore. In our modern world, I signed with the cutting edge Diversion Books, Dreamwielder was released in e-book format first, then audiobook format, and now, after almost a year of positive reviews, it has come out in print. In the same manner that I took the classic tropes of fantasy and steampunk and put my own modern bent on them to tell the story of Makarria the dreamwielder, Diversion Books has modernized how readers can discover and enjoy books.


It’s been amazing, humbling, and gratifying all at once to see how readers have embraced Dreamwielder through the technological wonder of e-books. Makarria, Caile, Taera, and the evil sorcerer Wulfram have all come to life on Kindles, Nooks, iPads, and Kobos across the world. There’s still some magic left in print books, though, and I’m positively thrilled readers can now find Dreamwielder in a trade paperback edition. Fantasy has always been about discovering the magic that is lost in our modern world, so as much as I love technology, it’s an honor to now join all the fantasy greats in that classic form of print.


Get your copy of Dreamwielder by Garrett Calcaterra on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, the iBookstore, Kobo, and Audible. This exciting fantasy follows young Makarria, who has literally been forbidden to dream…

Legend has foretold the demise of Emperor Thedric Guderian at the hands of a sorceress with royal blood, and the Emperor has made it his legacy to stamp out all magic from the Sargothian Empire in favor of primitive coal fired smelters and steam powered machines. When Guderian’s minions discover a Dreamwielder on a seaside farmstead, a chain of events forces Guderian’s new threat—the young Makarria—to flee from her home and embark upon an epic journey where her path intertwines with that of Princess Taera, her headstrong brother, Prince Caile, and the northman Siegbjorn, who captains a night-flying airship.

Dogging their every step is the part-wolf, part-raven sorcerer, Wulfram, and Emperor Guderian, himself, a man who has the ability to stint magic and a vision to create a world where the laws of nature are beholden to men and machines. Only by learning to control the power she wields can Makarria save her newfound companions and stop the Emperor from irreversibly exterminating both the magic in humans and their bond with nature.

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