If you're on Twitter then you have probably run across the handle @InkedinGrayPub or @DakotaRayne. Well, those two are one and the same. Author of Krov (Ukrainian for Blood) and The Chain are both stories featured in Inked in Gray's Anthology, The First Stain.
Thirty-seven-year-old Samuel Hale is from a place he says is best known for people who care for one another and frequent bear sightings (oh my!). Like me, you are probably wondering what Inked In Gray Publication is and how it got started. After all with their awesome content on Twitter, it is hard to not want to know who is behind the great MC (i.e. the main character) questions or the occasional writing quandary inquiries.
Photo of Author Samuel Hale
"Inked is a vehicle for addressing mental health as well as voices that are suppressed or marginalized within society. Inked's mission is to highlight societal issues in need of attention via fiction, as we tend to highlight the amoral nature of day-to-day life. Our indie publishing group started as a collaboration between a small group of writers who met via my writing workshop/critique group," Samuel informed the blog.
His main genre is a historical fantasy with a dusting of Grimdark, but the fascinating thing about his main character is that he actually has two. "I have two protagonists viewpoint characters in my current WIP, Lions of Carthage. Ajax is a descendent of the Carthaginian General Hannibal Barca and struggles to live up to the immense legacy of his father. Zo is a religious zealot that was raised in captivity with no grasp of how the world above her underground prison works. She acts as a foil for the reader to better understand the worldbuilding I’ve developed in the historically accurate setting of Northern Africa circa 146 BCE (the end of the Third Punic War)."
What started all of this? Well, Samuel said it all started with a fifth-grade history report on Genghis Khan. "I was hooked from that point on. I couldn't wrap my tiny brain around how immense a person's accomplishments were in a single lifetime. My parents were blown away by how much I wrote and how interested I was in the subject relative to my other studies. It was a watershed moment for me as a kid and as a fledgling writer."
Through it, all Samuel told The Writing Wall Blog that it was the support of, "Dakota as well as some close friends," that made the difference. "As someone who struggles with mental health, having people who are always supporting me is something I couldn't function without."
A favorite writing spot of Samuel's is his catty-corner desk. He explained that it was cozy and isolated from distractions. "I have all my most influential how-to writing books in sight so I can pull from them when I need a boost or some encouragement from the pros. Books such as Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, On Writing by Stephen King, are just a couple of the great books in his collection.
At the moment Samuel said he was reading, Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames. "It's a fun and humorous Grimdark Fantasy story," he reassured us adding that Grimdark or anything that played with history was favorite genres. As for future goals Samuel hopes to complete his first draft of his novel by October. "I've spent a lot of time revising the outline, researching the historical setting, and fleshing out my character's backstories. I'm ready to get this thing over with!"
Being an avid reader and clearly s lover of history, The Writing Wall Blog did ask Samuel what his favorite quote was. Turns out the quote is that of Terry Pratchett, "The first draft is just you telling yourself the story."
Samuel's advice for writers considering the self-publishing route was this, "Don't write to the market. Write to the highest common denominator, and write the book you'd want to read." To learn more about Samuel Hale and Inked in Gray Publication, visit them on social media at the links provided below.
Bio: Samuel Hale is the author of numerous short stories such as Krov and The Chain. Sam enjoys writing Historical Fantasy which utilizes his degrees in Anthropology and Education to bring history to life with intricate magic systems and hard-hitting action. When he isn’t writing about mecha and shield walls, Sam serves as an editor for the independent publisher Inked in Gray, as well as the host of the podcast Distropia where he and his co-host, Del Washington, examine tropes alongside various (un)related tangents. Sam thoroughly enjoys cats, tats, and yoga mats.
Social Media Information
https://twitter.com/SamHaleYeah
https://twitter.com/DistropiaPod
https://www.facebook.com/SamHaleStories
A new Writer of the Week will be featured every Monday. Be sure to also follow The Writing Wall on Twitter @TheWritingWall, or on Instagram @writingsonthewall85 for the latest. You can also listen to the podcast every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month.