The Lightning Rod. The title itself sounds absolutely electrifying, but what's really epic about this fantasy adventure is that it is just one part of an even greater journey in the trilogy series written by our Writer of the Week C.S. Ratliff.
A resident of Willshire, Ohio, C.S. Ratliff is a twenty-eight-years-old indie author with thousands of followers on Twitter, numerous reviews on Amazon, and a trilogy already under his belt.
Photo of Author, C.S. Ratliff
The first book in this trilogy, The Lightning Rod, starts with leading character sixteen-year-old Ranir Trysfal. Ranir discovers he has been given the power to stop Shadow Magic from spreading and begins to emerge as the last hope to protect the world of Gnariam. "I’ve always tried to imagine the world with a little bit of magic in it. However, the Inheritance Cycle, by Christopher Paolini, was my first love of a different world. That's what really pulled me into the genre of fantasy," C.S. told The Writing Wall Blog.
When we caught up with C.S. he was reading Maximum Ride by James Patterson but says his all-time favorite will always be fantasy. Like many writers, this author likes to be comfortable when he writes and says he does most of his own writing from his recline.
C.S. said music did help him in his writing process, "I listen to Epic music when I write fantasy. It puts me in the mindset of my worlds." Besides fantasy, this indie author says he has written outside of his usual genre before. At the moment he is working on an educational book, "which is much different than fiction."
Having been one of his thousands of followers I asked C.S. what he enjoyed most about the Writing Community on Twitter. "I love the support system. I find much less judgment and much more help in so many ways, from sharing to teaching."
Fighting scenes are also part of his books and we asked him what was his favorite movie, or book, fight scene. "I really liked the Trinity vs. Thanos fight in Avengers: Endgame." If you're a writer looking for assistance with these fight scene descriptions you can reach out to C.S., some of the battles his hero goes through are well written and descriptive in the series.
C.S. offered this advice for writers looking to self-publish, "I didn’t know anything, almost, going into publishing. I would say don’t rush. Take your time and research. And there’s no shame in self-publishing."
To learn more about C.S. Ratliff's trilogy series visit him on Twitter @CSRatliff, Instagram @CSRatliff, or find his books on Amazon.com at the link below:
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