So I got tagged in this author blog tour by the incomparable Ren Cummins, an all-around friendly bloke who I met at this year’s Spocon. Here’s his bio!

Ren Cummins (from website):
I write. I’m a writer, perhaps much the way my act of breathing makes me a breather. Wait, that’s a poor example.

I began with sketching, but my love of music and math turned me into a musician, and from there prose and poetry fashioned me into a writer. My first series, the young adult (steampunk) fantasy series “CHRONICLES OF AESIRIUM” about a young girl who becomes an angel of death, marked my work as a light hearted and optimistic look into death and darkness, but I’m sure that’s just the lip of the rabbit hole.

I also helped found Talaria Press, a loosely affiliated gang of misfits whose work can be found at www.talariapress.com – come join the parade, there’s space enough for all.

Also, feel free to follow me on Facebook and Twitter!

Here’s the gist of the project:
“This tour highlights a main character from your WIP (work in progress), recently published work, or soon to be published work. The person who invites you will have a set day to post. You will post one (or two) week(s) after that, the authors you tag will post one/two week(s) after you, and so on.”

So, here’s the list of questions for me:
1) What is the name of your character? Is he/she fictional or a historic person?
My character’s name is Catbeard the Pirate! He is in fact fictional.
2) When and where is the story set?
The story of Catbeard the Pirate is set in the nebulous time of the Golden Age of Piracy. This allows me to play fast and loose with some details.
3) What should we know about him/her?
There are two main important things about Catbeard: He is under a voodoo curse to have a living cat for a beard, and he wants the treasure of Scurvy Skeen.
4) What is the main conflict? What messes up his/her life?
Well, as much as Catbeard loves the beard, he is a living cat, with wants and needs of his own. Plus, he’s a pirate on the open seas – there’s monsters, rival pirates, ninja, you name it! And all of ’em are distractions on the hunt for the lost treasure of Skeen.
5) What is the personal goal of the character?
Catbeard wants to find the legendary treasure of the most infamous pirate of all time, Scurvy Skeen, and live free and wild on the seas.
6) Is there a working title for this novel if it is a WIP, and can we read more about it? OR what is the title of this novel and where can it be found?
Catbeard books one through three will all be available soon on the website through the Store tab on the top menu, but you can read all of Catbeard’s current adventures for free on catbeardthepirate.com! All of the books contain more adventures not found on the site.

That’s everything! I’m tagging my buddy Dan Absolonson.
Dan first started writing stories in elementary school, where he and a friend would skip lunch and recess once a month to eat in the library while hearing about the new books on the shelves. His love of reading lead him to write his own fiction. A huge fan of audiobooks, Dan podcasts all of his stories for free. He also runs a book review podcast and narrates audiobooks for other authors.