I spent 50 hrs/week working at Starbucks and daycare before I was published. My 6th novel INVICTUS (Doctor Who meets Firefly) is out 9/26. I’m Ryan Graudin. AMA.

[u/rgraudin]

Hi, I’m Ryan Graudin! First thing’s first, I’d like to clear up a common misconception: I am no man. Yes, my parents knew Ryan was a traditional male's name. No, they did not care. Thus I was accidentally placed on an all-boys municipal soccer team as a child. This experience caused me to shun organized team sports. I turned to synchronized swimming and creative writing instead. Only one of those hobbies panned out into a career.

My books span (and often blend) a wide variety of genres: fantasy, thriller, alternate history, sci-fi, etc. My most popular series, Wolf By Wolf, is a WWII alternate-history set in 1956 where the Axis Powers won the war, and features a skin-shifting heroine on a mission to assassinate Hitler via a cross-continental motorcycle race. Think Inglourious Basterds meets X-Men. A strange mix, I know, but people liked the book enough to nominate it for a Carnegie medal.

Invictus, my newest novel, is my fan-girl homage to both Doctor Who and Firefly. It’s about a crew of time traveling thieves who steal antiquities from history that won’t be missed. Here’s the synopsis:

Farway Gaius McCarthy was born outside of time. The son of a time-traveling Recorder from 2354 A.D. and a gladiator living in Rome in 95 A.D., Far's birth defies the laws of nature. Exploring history is all Far has ever wanted, but this future seems shattered when he fails his final time-traveling exam. Kicked out of the program with few prospects, Far takes a position commandeering a ship with his own team as part of a black market operation to steal valuables from the past.

But during a heist on the sinking Titanic, Far meets a mysterious girl who always seems to be one step ahead of him. She contains knowledge that will bring Far’s very existence into question. Far and his team must race against time and through it to discover the truth: history is not as steady as it seems.

Invictus hits bookstore next Tuesday (9/26), but you can pre-order a signed copy from my local indie Blue Bicycle Books. Also, there’s a special promotion where my publisher is sending a free set of character trading cards to any US pre-order.

A bit about my path to publication: I was born and raised in Charleston, SC. I went to an arts high school, where I majored in creative writing and continued this trend at the College of Charleston. By graduation I’d written an urban fantasy manuscript, which I submitted for publication. It racked up over 250 rejections. Because of the 2009 recession, my husband and I moved to South Korea and became English teachers. I wrote for an hour every morning before school. That year produced two more manuscripts and hundreds more rejections. I moved back to Charleston and worked as a barista and a pre-school teacher, often pulling 50+ hour weeks between the two jobs, writing whenever I could find free time in my schedule. At age twenty-four I landed my first publishing contract. Fast-forward six years later and I’m writing full time, with my sixth novel on the way.

I’m excited to answer your questions about books/writing/publishing/owning a wolf dog/anything at all! I plan on being here most of the day!

Here's proof: https://twitter.com/ryangraudin/status/909773298023763968

You can check out my website here. I’m also on Twitter and Instagram with counterproductive regularity

EDIT: Thank you guys so much for all of your questions! I had a great time today.

[u/Chtorrr]

What books really made you love reading as a kid?

[u/rgraudin → u/Chtorrr]

I was obsessed with Brian Jacques's Redwall series. To the point that I would roleplay woodland creature battles in the woods behind my house. I also wrote fan fiction inspired by it. Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted was the book that really pushed me into writing. I finished it and wanted the sequel so badly, but there was none to be found, so I decided to write my own thinly veiled fan fiction of the sequel. It was 60 pages and the first long piece of work I ever finished.

[u/coffeeismycraic]

How did you develop the dedication it takes to wake up before a full day of work and write for an hour before spending the day in front of kids or making coffee? Teach me something about grit!

[u/rgraudin → u/coffeeismycraic]

I was 22 at the time, so that helped a lot in terms of youthful vigor. I was also full of a fire and the holy fear of knowing that if I never wrote, I would never have anything published. It was definitely hard. And, caveat, I did have coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

[u/kolnidur]

-Where did you get your amazing sense of humor? "I am no man!"

-In today's world of endless intrusion from facebook, instagram, etc, how do you find the willpower to tune out distractions and write? You've done SIX books in what, 5 years? Which seems crazy to me, and it's not like these are novellas or anything, they're full blown epics. As a self employed type I find the hardest thing is just focusing and getting shit done, especially with all the distractions from technology. Was this something you had to learn or do you just have a natural habit of laser-sharp focus?

[u/rgraudin → u/kolnidur]

I'm just a girl who loves her LOTR references. Eowyn is my Patronus.

Focus is HARD. I've used MacFreedom and Anti-Social a lot the past few years. Take the internet away and suddenly the productivity levels go up to 1000.

[u/[deleted]]

How did you get over the fear of exposing yourself / your work to the public? I have two I've written and went as far as to have a literary agent but couldn't go through with it. I guess it's the fear of rejection since I put so much of "my self" and "my experiences" into the story / characters.

[u/rgraudin → u/[deleted]]

I feel you. It's a scary, scary thing putting your work out there. I always joke that books are like Horcruxes. Their pages are filled with the author's blood, sweat and tears and once I've finished with one, it always feels like a small piece of me floating out into the world. Most artists I know feel this way, and I think one way to brace yourself for rejection is to know that it will happen. No matter what. It happens at every level in this business. From queries to Kirkus reviews to whether or not Target wants to stock your book. Once you come to terms with the fact that there will be naysayers, you find that the actual naysaying isn't as terrible as all that.

But I've found that whatever tough skin I've built around one book completely sloughs off before the next comes out. Every book release is a process. Good luck!

[u/almondparfitt]

Has living and writing in South Korea and Charleston influenced your stories? Love the green hair in your tw profile!

[u/Hiott0119]

I love all the names of the characters in your books. How do you pick your names? Are they inspired by real people/experiences/meanings?