Fantasy author Tyler Edwards struggled to connect with kids his age when he was growing up. Feeling rejected and alone, he became depressed and suicidal. Edwards says, “I remember reading The Hobbit, and the strangest thing happened. I was lost in this otherworldly adventure that took my mind off the struggles I couldn’t overcome. Stories became an escape. A safe place I could retreat to when life was too much. I loved writing them, reading them, and listening to them, I couldn’t get enough. Since I was eight years old, I’ve been writing stories in notebooks, dreaming of worlds and characters in hopes to one day create stories that someone else might find an escape in during their time of need.”
In the first book of Tyler Edwards’ Outlands Saga, Jett Lasting struggles to find his place in a world where drawing attention to yourself can get you killed. To survive, he must avoid guards, beggar gangs, and an ever-growing tension that could drag the whole city into chaos. Imagine Jett’s chagrin when he unwittingly becomes entwined in a plot to overthrow the government in which his choices could lead to the freedom or the death of everyone he’s ever known or cared about.
Q: What’s a memory of a story or book that made you realize you wanted to be a writer?
A: I remember as a kid my mother would read stories with me every night. The Call of the Wild, The Hobbit, The Book of Three, James and the Giant Peach and getting lost in these adventures. As I got older, I wanted to create those stories, those worlds for people to get lost in.
Q: Who are some of your favorite authors that you feel were influential in your work? What impact have they had on your writing?
A: Tolkien sort of set the template for fantasy writing, and I got hooked on his work early. One of my first worlds I got lost in. Dean Koontz writes in such a unique way in how he paints visuals for the readers. Stephen King is a legend for a reason, and his art of creepy tension is fantastic. Sanderson, Goodkind, and Butcher all had these incredible way of engaging stories and building worlds that helped me grow and learn.
Q: How do you nurture your creativity when life gets busy or overwhelming?
A: I don’t force it, typically. Writing comes in waves for me. When I try to make myself write, what I write is rarely good. I have to let my creativity come to a boil before cooking with it. So I like to let the desire build before forcing myself to write.
Q: What’s one writing habit you can’t live without?
A: Building a separate world building/descriptions/information file for characters, unique world aspects, and other elements of the story to keep things consistent.
Q: What’s a book that changed how you think about writing or storytelling?
A: How The Hunger Games was written in 1st person present tense was not something I ever would have thought could work. What it showed me is that the “rules” of writing can be reformed if you write well, with intention and purpose.
Q: What themes do you find yourself returning to again and again in your work?
A: I seem to be a sucker for Found Family tropes and enemies becoming friends. There’s something about different people coming together for a common purpose that just speaks to me.
Q: How do you approach writing characters with experiences different from your own?
A: Their voice has to be natural. It has to work in light of their experiences. I spend more time trying to make characters sound different from me than almost anything else.
Q: What’s a quirky or unexpected detail about your writing space?
A: My fortress of write-i-tude is a semi-large closet with a built in fan and indirect lighting where I can change the colors.
Q: What’s the most rewarding feedback you’ve ever received from a reader?
A: I had a reader who doesn’t like fantasy give my book a try and rethink her views on the entire genre. That was a very humbling and meaningful impact as a writer and one that I’ll keep with me for a long time.
Q: In your experience, what has been the best way to market your books? Where have you found the greatest return on your investment (whether it be time or money invested?)
A: Threads
Q: How do you define success as an author? Has that definition evolved over time?
A: Success is writing a quality story that is faithful to what the plot and characters should be. The story comes first. The characters come second. Everything else needs to be in service to those. Sales, reviews, finding good readers are wonderful, but as a writer, our success has to be defined by creating the best work we can create.
Q: What is your favorite genre to read? Do you write in that genre? Has that always been your favorite genre, or has your taste evolved as you have grown as a writer?
A: Fantasy. It’s about the only thing I regularly read. I do write in it and prefer to write in it more than anything else. It has 100% always been my favorite. I write in other genres so I can bring elements from each into a fantasy story and make it better, but I am way happier writing fantasy than anything else.
Q: If you could live in the world of one of your books for a day, which would it be and why?
A: The Dark Realm. It has magic, dragons, and all kinds of crazy races and monsters. I don’t know how long I’d survive in it, but I’d definitely want to live there.
Q: What projects are you working on at the present?
A: I am writing a stand-alone fantasy horror set in the same universe as my fantasy series the Dark Realm called Dark Requiem.
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Book Summary
When Jack Utley loses his daughter just as his business is about to soar, it seems he’s traded financial gain for Callie’s life. After an encounter with a mysterious woman on the eve of Callie’s funeral, Jack wakes up to find that time has somehow rewound to the morning of Callie’s accident. Jack gets an opportunity that most grieving parents can only dream of – he saves his daughter’s life.
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