You may have heard of Dani J. Caile before. It could be because you read our previous interview with the Manna-X author here on our site. If not, well, we don’t know what kinds of dark alleys you’ve been hiding in, because Dani is one dangerous dude. Actually, we only said that because we love alliteration. (Who doesn’t?) At any rate, he’s recently published a new book entitled How to Build a Castle in Seven Easy Steps, and we’ve got questions that need answers. Seven questions, to be precise. Here’s what he has to say for himself.
What inspired you to write your book, How to Build a Castle in Seven Easy Steps?
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As my friend Jasper T. Scott of the Dark Space six-book series (name dropping there) notoriously said, “Congrats, your first ‘real’ book!” What he meant was my first book not self-published (published by Line by Lion Publications), but he was right for another reason. This was my first book where I stepped away from my old universe of Reginald and Graham from Manna-X, Man by a Tree, Bethlehem Fiasco, etc. At the time, I thought that had run its course and writing How To opened up a whole new world for me, a brand new, “clean” world of cannibals, mud, witches, power-driven megalomaniacs and a cat. It was invigorating!
Have you ever built anything before in your life, and if so, how did it turn out?
Before we moved, my youngest pleaded for a treehouse. A year after moving into a place with a garden, there weren’t any trees left due to me chopping them down (damn beetles). We also had to move the heating system, so the bicycles needed a new place… and my oldest wanted a swing. This summer we bought some wood, nails and screws and made a shed/swing/treehouse. Two weeks in the burning sun, sawing, hammering and it was done. Turned out rather well.
What makes you the foremost authority on building a castle in seven easy steps, and are the steps really all that easy?
The title of the book is a metaphor for life. If you’re wondering how to build a castle in seven easy steps, then this book isn’t for you (actually, there are seven steps hidden in the book, but who has the time to analyze that?). There are, however, “the basics” and many other things to spot, such as the names of all the characters, which are anagrams of writers I both love and hate.
What is the significance of soup in your book?
Soup signifies death. Soup is a friend.
If you were a contestant on a writing-themed reality show, tasked with convincing the judges to give you an enormous advance for your next book, what would you pitch to them?
Okay, hypothetically, because I’m the worst person to convince anyone of doing anything…
“Douglas Adams comes back from the grave to spend a week in a summer lodge with the surviving members of Monty Python, drinking through crates of Charles Baur Cremant d ‘Alsace, eating five tons of shrimp scampi and bucket loads of Ben & Jerry Phish Food. How to Build a Castle in Seven Easy Steps is the offspring of that conception. Read it. Love it. Sell it.”
Pay it forward: what living authors are you currently reading and enjoying in your genre(s)?
One of the reasons why I started writing was because I wasn’t enjoying living authors in my genre. I did pick up Dan Wells I am Not a Serial Killer the other month, and it was good in many ways. But I mostly read dead authors, and sometimes bestsellers of those who should be (they kill words with their sentences).
When visiting Hungary, what are three of the best things foreign visitors should see, do or eat there?
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Eat a Túró rudi. A small sweet (so sweet) “rod” of cheese covered in dark chocolate. Tourists love it until they’re told what it is… oh, sorry. - Travel on Budapest’s public transport. All of it: the metros, buses, trolley-buses, trams… and finish at the newly built Metro 4 Kálvin tér station, a concrete cathedral of immense proportions. Photos just aren’t good enough, you have to experience it for yourself.
- Go to Lake Balaton in the summer (southern side) and rest in the water. It took me three years to get there but we now go every year.
Connect with Dani on Facebook, Twitter, and his blog at danijcaile.blogspot.hu.