Introducing Ed Ireland
Ed Ireland was born in Philadelphia in 1954. In January of 1955, the hospital he was born in was torn down. Presumably, they didn’t want anything like that happening ever again.
In 1972 he joined the military where his wanderlust surfaced. He has called many places home while on his way to his current place in Miami. He claims his penchant for wandering is now at an end here in the shadows of Hemingway.
On the personal side of his life, he is a rabid Philadelphia Eagles fan, a self-confessed video game addict and a proud supporter of wildlife issues.
Why don’t you begin by sharing a little about yourself.
Well, I’m the very proud father of 2. I enjoy gardening, cooking, and photography. I despise writing, but you know, the voices won’t let it rest. I wish I could say I was one of those precocious child writers who pushed their first novel at 4, but it just ain’t so.
I didn’t start writing until much later. About 40 years later. The voices were polite then…now they’re just demanding. I’ve asked for a divorce but they say no.
Anyway, I mentioned that I am involved in animal rights, and I am. I wish I could open my home to any and all animals that need help, but that’s what they call a zoo and you need special permits and stuff. And way more room than I currently have. So I work primarily with one group of animals, wolves.
Wolves suffer relentlessly. They are persecuted by those who just can’t or won’t understand them. I try to educate and a portion of my sales goes to a wonderful lady on Long Island who sends mine and the thousands of other donations to wolf sanctuaries across the nation. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure Tim doesn’t have enough web space for me to go on anymore.
Could you tell us a bit about your latest book?
My book is entitled “The Last Ranger of Sarn”, but it’s not quite my latest. Last Ranger was previously released by a new publishing company that promised the world and delivered a small dog park instead. But, I have taken it back, re-edited line-by-line, added a bit of new content, and recovered it.
It’s a classic epic fantasy with clear-cut villains and heroes. It follows the MC, Vespias from birth. I show her as a real person who has a typical child’s life. Then, an event changes her. Her story begins to take a dark turn, but with help and love from her family, she takes her lessons from the dark and moves on to a better time.
A better time that’s not to be had unfortunately. Hers is a story about normal, average people thrust into extraordinary circumstances. A person either rises to meet the challenge or doesn’t. But just because that ordinary person rises, it’s not a guarantee of winning.
Who is your intended readership?
My fellow geeks of course. I’m practical about it. I don’t expect my book will find its way into the boardroom of Chrysler or the pulpit of Saint Rita’s church. But, if you like adventure, if you like action, if you like romance, horror, and/or philosophy, then you’re my target audience.
My book isn’t YA, not that I even know what the hell that is anymore. It’s got mature moments. It has some adult language. It also has a good story behind it. It introduces characters that I’ve nurtured for years and presents them in a way designed to make you care about what happens.
This is the start of a series, so I need readers who are willing to become friends with my people. I can promise, they won’t let you down.
When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
I still don’t want to be a writer. Writers do stuff. They walk around in fancy “smoking jackets” while they puff on pipes. They drink brandy. They have Irish Wolfhounds.
I quit smoking, my best jacket is in storage since it never gets cold enough to wear it here, and I have a Saint Bernard and a Pit-mix. My dogs aren’t regal, they’re goofy.
My problem is these stories that keep popping in my brain. Sometimes I can will them off, but other times…they are as persistent as a crack-head who saw a dollar bill in your hand. To make matters worse, and Tim can back me up on this, I have an old Cuban lady named Marisol as my muse. She just keeps pushing and pushing…
Do you have a favorite author, or writing inspiration?
My inspiration was the first writer I ever read, J.R.R. Tolkien. I think that having him as inspiration is about the only thing I’ve done right. I also very much enjoy reading Gregory Maguire. Now, if you don’t know who he is, just avoid the dirty looks Marisol and I are giving and listen.
He wrote Wicked. Not the popular yet silly Broadway musical, but the book Wicked, The Life and Times of the Witch of the West. It’s a dark, political look at Oz before Dorothy arrived and started killing people. In that first book he taught me this; every tale has two sides to it. I try to incorporate that into my books. Yes, one side may be good and the other evil, but there can also be similarities to each other. Or sometimes, maybe good is not all it’s cracked up to be.
What advice would you give beginning writers?
Stay with it! They say you don’t really get good until you’ve written a million words. I don’t know what my excuse is, but I know I refuse to give up. Don’t begin with the idea of becoming an international darling before you’ve even finished your first work. In my case, I write because I need to get these stories out.
Do I want to be on the NY Times Best Seller List? Of course, but if just one person buys my book and lets me know they liked it, then I’ve done my part.
Do you have any amusing writing stories or anecdotes to share?
No. Nothing amusing ever happens to me. Ever. Well OK, sometimes. Like when we went to go buy a puppy. We went with the plan of getting a Chihuahua or a Dachshund. We looked at them both and just out of curiosity, my wife wanted to see the “cute, little fuzzball Saint Bernard pup”. She was adorable, performing all the requisite puppy tricks to steal your heart.
Now mind you, I wanted a dog I could walk around the mall with. You know, while wearing a fancy smoking jacket and puffing on my pipe. Instead, I have this gigantic beast…she’s just under 7 months old and already tipping the scales at 80 lbs…who could drag me around the mall with little effort.
I know, what a madcap life I live.
What do you like to do when you’re not writing? Any hobbies?
My Philadelphia Eagles. I’ve suffered with this team all my life and they finally gave me a Super Bowl win! Dilly dilly!!!!
I’m also on the threshold of another life first achievement, buying a home. Once established in said home, I can start up that garden for real, instead of a few potted plants. I’ve already got the plans for all the veggies, blackberry and raspberry bushes and banana trees ready to go. And what goes hand in hand with all this fresh, healthy stuff?
Cooking. I love to cook. So much so that I’m also planning a cookbook with my Grandmother’s old recipes. But, I also have my vices. I spend too much time on video games. I’m addicted. But, it could be worse I guess.
What’s your next project? Any upcoming book secrets you care to reveal?
Next up is a complete edit to the 2nd book in the series, “Blood Moon Sacrifice”. The third book is already underway, and then there’s the cookbook. Marisol has been kind enough to keep throwing plots at me so who knows which one she’ll pick to antagonize me with.
The Last Ranger of Sarn; The Journals of the Huntress
Castia is shrouded in hate. Darkness advances in the wave of undead that sweep across it. Undeath it seems, comes in many forms. The slow, shambling, unspeaking horror that makes the living run. However, it has other faces.
Faces of friends and neighbors. Faces of children and elders. Faces of loved ones.
Extraordinary times call for heroes, but who are they? They can take on their own faces, like war-hardened generals, mystics and wizards, or the bravest of soldiers. Heroes are those special enough to stand in the face of death and smile. There are other heroes as well.
Heroes that call on love and hope to help them stand and face the terror. The unassuming butcher or blacksmith who fights to keep his or her family alive. Sometimes, it is a young girl, thrilled to plan for her wedding. A wedding that will have to wait until the undead are no more. It may be that the most unlikely of heroes come from the most unlikely of places.
This is the story of one such hero. Vespias never wanted the war to turn its ugly head towards her lands. It came nonetheless. She is the last person who should fight, but without her knowing, life has prepared her for these moments. It has secretly forged a hero from the mundane and ordinary. A hero that might just win the war and return her world to normal.
Or not.
The Last Ranger of Sarn brings you into Vespias’ world. It tells her story and holds nothing back. These journals of hers compliment the story, showing what she felt at the time. They appear throughout giving the reader a glimpse into her mind. A glimpse into what it takes to be a hero. A glimpse into what heroics cost and a sense of wonder if the cost was worth the end.
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Where to find Ed Ireland:
Website (Ed Ireland), Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook
Timothy Bateson (ramblings of an author) 