We chat with author R.R. Virdi about his latest release The First Binding, which marks the first installment in the Tales of the Tremaine series.
Hi, R.R.! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I grew up in Northern Virginia and surrounded by cars and books. So I ended up very early interested in the automotive scene: working on cars, racing them, restoring them. The other end of most of my life me saw me diving head first into nonstop reading. Most of my early life passed by with me under a hood or nose deep into a novel.
I still have those loves and they’re still among my favorite things to do.
When did you first discover your love for writing?
At age 18, Summer before college. I started writing the most god awful fantasy ever but the process itself hooked me. That was it. I knew writing was for me. But the novel itself is banned under grounds of that it’s considered torture to read for people.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
There wasnt one that made me want to be an author per se. But my favorite series is the Dresden files. Favorite standalone novel? Ooof. Treasure island? Never where? Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist.
Your new novel, The First Binding, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Epic lyrical theater kid fantasy!
What can readers expect?
Well…a lot of the above to be honest. XD
Where did the inspiration for The First Binding come from?
The idea of the most interesting life ever lived like in Forest Gump but set along the silk road in a fantasy world is a concise version of that.
Can you tell us a bit about the challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?
Having the time for it honestly. There was a point I had two jobs at the same time. My solution? I carved out time when I could at cost of sleep, going to bed late or waking up early. Sometimes I’d bring a USB drive to work on my projects. Eventually I did the math and realized the best way to have more writing time was quit my dayjobs!
This…was a questionable decision.
Were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Radi, because he is my preening chaotic chaos gremlin bard.
So…he’s a musical theater student, really.
I love you all music theater nerds. Truly.
Were there any ‘must-haves’ you wanted to incorporate when it came to writing your novel, such as tropes, topics, characteristics etc?
The theme of storytelling and Ari’s quiet interpretation of musical notes as unsaid words and stories
What’s the best and the worst writing advice you have received?
Best: you don’t have a muse, you have a mortgage
Worst: they must have been so bad I don’t remember them now.
What’s next for you?
Book four of the grave report. Editing book two of this series. Cupcakes? Oh Dragoncon!!
Lastly, do you have any 2022 book recommendations for our readers?
Sunyi Dean’s The Book Eaters, Richard Swan’s The Justice of Kings, Clay Harmon’s Flames of Mira, and Scott Drakeford’s The Rise of the Mages
