Dusk Gate Character Interviews: Nathaniel Rose

I’ve been promising this interview for awhile. Since it’s my birthday today, I decided to carve a little bit of time out to get it posted.

Nathaniel was not nearly as excited about being interviewed for the blog as Thomas was, but he has graciously agreed to answer our questions. 🙂 I’ll dive right in with the things that readers are dying to know. 🙂

For those who haven’t “met” Nathaniel, he is William’s uncle. He is a doctor in our world, with a small medical practice in Bristlecone, Colorado, and a healer in his own world who travels throughout Eirentheos (and sometimes Philotheum) helping establish clinics and impart some of the medical knowledge he has learned in our world, which is much more technologically advanced than his own world is.

Alyssa: How do you cope with being away from home for so long?

Nathaniel:  I’ve been doing it for a very long time now, so I’m sort of used to it. My life very much revolves around being able to pick up and go from one “life” to the other. I’m always very busy, wherever I am, so most of the time I don’t really have the opportunity to think about it.

Beth: Do you ever regret spending so much time in our world and wish you could spend more time in your own?

 Nathaniel: I don’t really know how to answer this question. On one hand, I’m extremely grateful for the time I’ve had to spend in your world. The things I’ve learned here and have been able to bring back to our world are amazing, and none of it would have ever been possible if I hadn’t had the chance to live here. On the other hand, I truly love my own world and wish that none of it would ever have been necessary. The life I “should” have had was very different, and I regret that circumstances were such that it didn’t happen. It is a wish of mine that things in my world would be restored to how they should be, and if that happens then I would return to my own world to live full time there with no hesitation.

Kristy: Have you ever considered staying in Bristlecone forever?

 Nathaniel: I’ve thought about what it would be like if I had to — if the political situation in my own world worsened to the point where it would be dangerous for me to spend time there. While there are many things I love about that world, and have even grown accustomed to, it would never be my first choice to stay there forever.

Sara/Jenni: Have you ever had a woman in your life/been tempted to settle down? (Actually, a number of readers are quite interested in learning if you’ve ever had any romantic exploits.) 🙂

Nathaniel: (blushing!) Um … I’ve always hoped that someday I would meet the right person and be able to settle down. Of course, balancing my life between two worlds doesn’t exactly make that easy. I don’t know if I could ever find a woman who I could share my secret with, and who would be willing to either deal with my being gone all the time or would come with me.

I have thought about it from time to time … and I’ve met a couple of women I wouldn’t have minded getting to know better, but so far nothing has really worked out.

Kristy: Will you go on a blind date with me?

Nathaniel: How do you feel about a horseback ride to Cloud Valley? 😉

Sara: How did you get interested in medicine?

Nathaniel: I am the fourth born child in my family, which means that the gift I was given at birth is “healing.” While there are many things this can mean, I knew from an early age that I wanted to work as a healer of people. When I first traveled to the other world and discovered the medicine there, I knew it would be my life’s work to use what I could learn there to enhance the healing practices in my own world.

Jenni: What are the best and worst things about having medical practices on two different worlds?

Nathaniel: Probably the best thing about having access to both worlds is truly having the ability to compare and contrast the different practices in the two. It’s maybe because our technology is so limited in my world that our healing is much more individually focused and more holistic. Care is very relational in my world. It’s also nice to be able to study the scientific and technological advances of another world and have the ability to incorporate the best of both worlds into my philosophy.

The worst part is that I’m never in one place long enough to really build up my own ideal practice. I’m always moving, drifting from one thing to another, so there’s never really the chance to build up the community and relationships that I would truly love to.

Kristy: Do you like tomatoes?

Nathaniel: It took me a while to get used to them, but over the years I have acquired a taste for tomatoes, yes.

Jenni: What is your favorite color?

Nathaniel: Green. For all of the challenges and difficulties I have faced, in my heart I will always be loyal to my real home.

 

Nathaniel has graciously agreed to answer any follow-up questions you’d like to ask in the comments. Comment below for a chance to win a “new and improved” paperback copy of Seeds of Discovery when it is released in the next couple of weeks! 🙂

Dusk Gate Chronicles News

I know I’ve been a complete slacker about the blog lately. I’ve been knee-deep in other projects with the writing — editing Thorns, re-formatting Seeds and Roots for new hardcover versions, and lots of other little things. The blog is definitely what suffers. Something has to give. 🙂 If you’re ever wondering what, please feel free to drop me an e-mail, or stop by on Twitter or Facebook.

But since I have been slacking, I’ll make up for it with a couple fun news items.

First, Seeds of Discovery is FREE on Amazon today. Stop by and pick up your copy if you never have. If you don’t have a Kindle, remember that you can always read it on a free Kindle app, AND that it’s DRM-free, so you can easily convert it to epub or PDF to read on any e-reader you’d like.

Second … speaking of other formats, Roots of Insight is now available at Smashwords, and in the next few days, you’ll be able to pick it up at Barnes and Noble and other retailers. And, as a bonus, use this coupon code at Smashwords checkout for a 25% discount:  XD57C  The code is good through April 15.

And the last bit of news, I will be interviewing Nathaniel for the blog on Friday. Please comment below with questions you’ve been dying to ask Nathaniel! 🙂

An Interview with Prince Charming

Nine weeks from today – June 1, 2012 — is the official launch of Book Three in the Dusk Gate Chronicles, Thorns of Decision. In celebration, several of the characters have agreed to be interviewed here on the blog, and to answer some of the questions you may have about them.

Never one to shy away from attention, Thomas has graciously agreed to go first (or else, possibly, he pushed me into it). 🙂

I have some questions for him, and there have also been readers writing in, both here on the blog, and on the Facebook page with questions of their own. 😉

Me: Let’s start with the basic things. What is your full name?

Thomas: Really? That basic? (smiling) My full name is Thomas John Rose.

Me: Do you have any nicknames?

Thomas: (the twinkle in his eye is visible, dear readers) Most of the time I go by Thomas. But, aside from Crumple Champion, Best Brother in the Kindgom, Prince Charming, Swordsman Extraordinaire, The Older, and Better-Looking Twin, and Supreme Potentate of Emma’s Tea Parties, my siblings often call me T.  I refuse to acknowledge anyone who addresses me with any other shortened versions of Thomas.

Scavenger Hunt, revisited

Okay, so it’s true, I’m a slacker and I’m easily distracted.

So on Monday, when only 1 person participated in the scavenger hunt (congratulations Jenni! I’ll be sending your prizes soon!), and then Tuesday came and my day slipped away from me, I just didn’t post anything new. Yesterday, I meant to, but between the day job, and the fact that I got really distracted by writing (to the tune of 3,200 new words on the rough draft for Thorns!), I still didn’t. 🙂

So, now it’s Thursday, and I have decided that the scavenger hunt will continue, with some new (and maybe improved? who knows?) modifications. 🙂

I will now post new questions for the hunt every 3 days. I realize now that posting on a Monday and giving folks only one day to get their answers in was probably not the wisest choice in the first place, anyway, aside from the fact that I can’t keep up with it.

(Sorry! I am a single mom running a 50-hour a week business, and marketing two books and trying to write a third. Things give sometimes. Any home-schooled teenagers out there looking for an internship in blog writing/book marketing? Contact me!)

So, the prize for this hunt is …

A gift pack of e-books by up-and-coming author Kristy K. James

A $10 e-gift cart to Amazon.com

A digital copy of either Seeds of Discovery OR Roots of Insight, your choice.

The Rules:

• You must e-mail the answers to the questions below to breeanap @ gmail . com (remove the spaces!)
• All participants with the correct answers will be entered into a random drawing for the prize.
• You can earn additional entries into the prize drawing by pressing the buttons below to share this post on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ (if you’ve answered the questions … if you haven’t answered the questions, you get virtual hugs for pressing those!)

The Questions (get hunting!)

In the “Works in Progress” section of writer Jane Bussey’s blog, she mentions the name of a town. What is the name of the town? (Hint: check the widget at the top of her main page).  A Writer Muses blog.

Using the character interview at Epic Robot Danni, how old was William the very first time he went through the gate?

What actor has author Kristy K. James had a crush on for years?  Answer in “A Secret Crush (well…it was until now!)” posted on Nov. 21st.

Still time to celebrate New Year’s Day! :)

So, I didn’t do anything special for New Year’s day… still in my jammie pants and not even having a New Year’s meal. But it’s been a great day, anyway.

I have decided to put a little party into it, though.

The first five people to comment on this blog post will receive a prize! 🙂 Your choice of an e-copy of Seeds of Discovery, or an ARC of Roots of Insight!

Everyone after that gets an extra entry into the drawing for a $10 Amazon gift card.