Please welcome Danie Ware to The Qwillery. Ecko Endgame, the 3rd and final novel in the Ecko trilogy, was published on November 10th by Titan Books.
TQ: Welcome back to The Qwillery. Your new novel, Ecko Endgame, was published on November 10th. Has your writing process changed (or not) from when you wrote Ecko Rising to Ecko Endgame?
Danie: My writing process is sandwiched between job, single parenthood and (more recently) juggling the heavyweight of administration which has gone with getting my house on the market and dealing with losing my Mum. If it’s changed, it’s only been because I’ve had less and less time and even trying for a few hundred words a day has often proved to be impossible. ‘Rising’ and ‘Burning’ were both written to deadline – with a bit of effort. ‘Endgame’ took longer, and a huge effort of concentration, partially because I had too many other things to worry about, and partially because I was tying up a lot of plot threads and had to get them all right. It’s proved to be the best book of the three, though!
TQ: What do you wish that you knew about book publishing when Ecko Rising came out that you know now?
Danie: Having worked with book publishers for seven or eight years prior to ‘Rising’ being published, there were few surprises in store. Authors are creative, idealistic, overworked and frequently skint, and not everybody gets to be J K Rowling. On the other hand, there’s always plenty of wine!
TQ: Tell us something about Ecko Endgame that is not in found the book description.
Danie: Ecko believes he’s in a computer program, a ‘Virtual Rorschach’ designed to ripple with his movements and reflect the consequences of his every choice. There have been many dream/reality cross-overs, many layers to what’s real and what’s not, and I had a lot of fun making sure they all made sense, and that the ending was a suitable reconciliation. It also has some kick-ass battle scenes, which I had a LOAD of fun writing!
TQ: Which character in the Ecko series surprised you the most? Who has been the hardest character to write and why?
Danie: The character that surprised me was Triqueta. She was always going to be the strong female lead, but her age, the choices and responsibilities that go with it, her relationship with Redlock and what happens to them in the end… she went through a journey that was both unexpected and very personal. She ran away with me, I think.
The hardest character to write was Ecko himself. Easy in the early days, because he was fuelled by rage and sarcasm, but harder as he learned to understand the people and the world/program around him, learned to stop fighting them and actually let them in. It takes a lot for a character to admit they’re vulnerable – or to admit that they might be wrong – and with Ecko, it was harder than most. Doesn’t mean he gets away with it, though!
TQ: The Ecko series is Science Fiction. What appeals to you about writing SF?
Danie: Ecko is half-SF and half-fantasy, and the unlikely juxtaposition of the two was what drew me. During our RPG days, we used to throw characters from one gaming reality into a completely different one just to see what would happen, and Ecko’s story has a bit of that same ‘stuff it let’s see what happens’ feeling to it. The real magic of it, though, was the ability to make contemporary jokes at the expense of a fantasy environment – to view the fantasy as very tongue-in-cheek and to be able to take the mick out of it, but to draw it with love at the same time.
TQ: Which question about the Ecko series or Ecko Endgame do you wish someone would ask? Ask it and answer it!
Danie: The character I rarely get the chance to talk about is Rhan, one of my personal favourites and inspired originally by too much John Milton when I was at Uni. I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of the fallen angel, and Rhan came from the question: is there such a thing as an angel half-damned? Cast down, but not as far as Hell because his/her transgression wasn’t that serious? In Rhan’s case he’s banished to the world and then left there, abandoned by Gods and bereft of his brothers. He’s too powerful for anything to harm, and (certainly initially) bored out of his mind. Immortality is a complex curse, sometimes.
TQ: Please give us one or two of your favorite non-spoilery lines/paragraphs from Ecko Endgame.
Danie:
Ecko was sure of one thing: this long distance forced march sh*t was no fun at all.
He was jogging, for chrissakes – jogging! – and he was out on the flank and alone. It was methodical, cold and boring; his rhythm, the sound of boots hitting the dead-cracked ground in perfect unison, his music, the cold wind, the snap of flying banners and the rattle of the horses’ tack. Now, if only he could remember the words to ‘The Duckworth Chant’.”
The Bard laughed, the noise layered and reverberating as if the walls themselves would come down. “Let them come,” he said. “This is it, Ecko. This is endgame.”
TQ: What's next?
Danie: I’ve strayed a short distance into a new thing, a different kind of fantasy, something moving completely away from Ecko, angels, programmed realities, epic battles, the lot. I’m finding it an uphill struggle at the moment – partially due to the time issues mentioned above and partially due to the sheer weight of new information I’m having to create. Ecko had been with me so long, I think, that snap writing was easy – I knew all the characters and backgrounds without having to think about them. Doing it from scratch is proving to be exhausting!
TQ: Thank you for joining us again at The Qwillery.
Danie: My writing process is sandwiched between job, single parenthood and (more recently) juggling the heavyweight of administration which has gone with getting my house on the market and dealing with losing my Mum. If it’s changed, it’s only been because I’ve had less and less time and even trying for a few hundred words a day has often proved to be impossible. ‘Rising’ and ‘Burning’ were both written to deadline – with a bit of effort. ‘Endgame’ took longer, and a huge effort of concentration, partially because I had too many other things to worry about, and partially because I was tying up a lot of plot threads and had to get them all right. It’s proved to be the best book of the three, though!
TQ: What do you wish that you knew about book publishing when Ecko Rising came out that you know now?
Danie: Having worked with book publishers for seven or eight years prior to ‘Rising’ being published, there were few surprises in store. Authors are creative, idealistic, overworked and frequently skint, and not everybody gets to be J K Rowling. On the other hand, there’s always plenty of wine!
TQ: Tell us something about Ecko Endgame that is not in found the book description.
Danie: Ecko believes he’s in a computer program, a ‘Virtual Rorschach’ designed to ripple with his movements and reflect the consequences of his every choice. There have been many dream/reality cross-overs, many layers to what’s real and what’s not, and I had a lot of fun making sure they all made sense, and that the ending was a suitable reconciliation. It also has some kick-ass battle scenes, which I had a LOAD of fun writing!
TQ: Which character in the Ecko series surprised you the most? Who has been the hardest character to write and why?
Danie: The character that surprised me was Triqueta. She was always going to be the strong female lead, but her age, the choices and responsibilities that go with it, her relationship with Redlock and what happens to them in the end… she went through a journey that was both unexpected and very personal. She ran away with me, I think.
The hardest character to write was Ecko himself. Easy in the early days, because he was fuelled by rage and sarcasm, but harder as he learned to understand the people and the world/program around him, learned to stop fighting them and actually let them in. It takes a lot for a character to admit they’re vulnerable – or to admit that they might be wrong – and with Ecko, it was harder than most. Doesn’t mean he gets away with it, though!
TQ: The Ecko series is Science Fiction. What appeals to you about writing SF?
Danie: Ecko is half-SF and half-fantasy, and the unlikely juxtaposition of the two was what drew me. During our RPG days, we used to throw characters from one gaming reality into a completely different one just to see what would happen, and Ecko’s story has a bit of that same ‘stuff it let’s see what happens’ feeling to it. The real magic of it, though, was the ability to make contemporary jokes at the expense of a fantasy environment – to view the fantasy as very tongue-in-cheek and to be able to take the mick out of it, but to draw it with love at the same time.
TQ: Which question about the Ecko series or Ecko Endgame do you wish someone would ask? Ask it and answer it!
Danie: The character I rarely get the chance to talk about is Rhan, one of my personal favourites and inspired originally by too much John Milton when I was at Uni. I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of the fallen angel, and Rhan came from the question: is there such a thing as an angel half-damned? Cast down, but not as far as Hell because his/her transgression wasn’t that serious? In Rhan’s case he’s banished to the world and then left there, abandoned by Gods and bereft of his brothers. He’s too powerful for anything to harm, and (certainly initially) bored out of his mind. Immortality is a complex curse, sometimes.
TQ: Please give us one or two of your favorite non-spoilery lines/paragraphs from Ecko Endgame.
Danie:
Ecko was sure of one thing: this long distance forced march sh*t was no fun at all.
He was jogging, for chrissakes – jogging! – and he was out on the flank and alone. It was methodical, cold and boring; his rhythm, the sound of boots hitting the dead-cracked ground in perfect unison, his music, the cold wind, the snap of flying banners and the rattle of the horses’ tack. Now, if only he could remember the words to ‘The Duckworth Chant’.”
The Bard laughed, the noise layered and reverberating as if the walls themselves would come down. “Let them come,” he said. “This is it, Ecko. This is endgame.”
TQ: What's next?
Danie: I’ve strayed a short distance into a new thing, a different kind of fantasy, something moving completely away from Ecko, angels, programmed realities, epic battles, the lot. I’m finding it an uphill struggle at the moment – partially due to the time issues mentioned above and partially due to the sheer weight of new information I’m having to create. Ecko had been with me so long, I think, that snap writing was easy – I knew all the characters and backgrounds without having to think about them. Doing it from scratch is proving to be exhausting!
TQ: Thank you for joining us again at The Qwillery.
Ecko Endgame
Ecko 3
Titan Books, November 10, 2015
Trade Paperback and eBook, 528 pages
Ecko 3
Titan Books, November 10, 2015
Trade Paperback and eBook, 528 pages
Winter has come to the Varchinde and with it, the fatal spread of the blight. The grass is dead, the cities are falling and the Kas take their chance to rise from Rammouthe.
Betrayed by his own forces, Rhan will abandon Fhaveon to lure the Kas into a final confrontation.
As battle rages round him, Ecko realises that to save the Varchinde, he must face the greatest threat of all – the one that has come from his own world.
Previously
Ecko Rising
Ecko 1
Titan, Books June 11, 2013
Trade Paperback and eBook, 480 pages
Ecko 1
Titan, Books June 11, 2013
Trade Paperback and eBook, 480 pages
In a futuristic London where technological body modification is the norm, Ecko stands alone as a testament to the extreme capabilities of his society. Driven half mad by the systems running his body, Ecko is a criminal for hire. No job is too dangerous or insane.
When a mission goes wrong and Ecko finds himself catapulted across dimensions into a peaceful and unadvanced society living in fear of 'magic', he must confront his own percepions of reality and his place within it.
A thrilling debut, Ecko Rising explores the massive range of the sci-fi and fantasy genres, and the possible implications of pitting them against one another. Author Danie Ware creates an immersive and richly imagined world that readers will be eager to explore in the first book in this exciting new trilogy.
Ecko Burning
Ecko 2
Titan Books, June 3, 2014
Trade Paperback and eBook, 528 pages
Ecko 2
Titan Books, June 3, 2014
Trade Paperback and eBook, 528 pages
Ruthless and ambitious, Lord Phylos has control of Fhaveon city, and is using her forces to bring the grasslands under his command. His last opponent is an elderly scribe who’s lost his best friend and wants only to do the right thing.
Seeking weapons, Ecko and his companions follow a trail of myth and rumour to a ruined city where both nightmare and shocking truth lie in wait.
Back in London, the Bard is offered the opportunity to realise everything he has ever wanted – if he will give up his soul.
When all of these things come together, the world will change beyond recognition.
About Danie
Danie Ware is the publicist and event organiser for cult entertainment retailer Forbidden Planet. She has worked closely with a wide-range of genre authors and has been immersed in the science-fiction and fantasy community for the past decade. An early adopter of blogging, social media and a familiar face at conventions, she appears on panels as an expert on genre marketing and retailing.
Website ~ Twitter @Danacea ~ Facebook
Website ~ Twitter @Danacea ~ Facebook
The Giveaway
What: Three entrants each will win a copy of Ecko Endgame by Danie Ware from the Titan Books.
How: Log into and follow the directions in the Rafflecopter below. Note that comments are moderated.
Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59 PM US Eastern Time on November 27, 2015. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.
*Giveaway rules and duration are subject to change without any notice.*
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for this fascinating feature and giveaway. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
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