Tell us about the Emaneska series. What’s it about?
The Emaneska Series is an epic fantasy series that follows the path of Farden, a powerful yet solitary and troubled mage. It’s a fast-paced mix of brutal fantasy and crime thriller, taking place in the pseudo-Nordic world of Emaneska, a cold and gritty land wrapped up in the Long Winter.

The series starts with The Written, with Farden being sent to unravel the mystery behind the murder of five scholars, and the theft of an unknown book. As he digs deeper and deeper into a mire of politics, war, and murder, Farden realises that he is more involved than he ever imagined. As the plot unravels, so does his life, and he’s soon fighting tooth and nail to keep himself, and the rest of the world, alive.

What kind of readers will it appeal to?
As you might expect, I wrote the Emaneska Series with those who like that genre in mind. But at the same time, I wanted to write something that people on the fringes of the genre, or even complete strangers to it, could pick up and enjoy. From the feedback over the years, it appears I’ve done that.

A reviewer described it as “Harry Potter meets Sin City”. What would you liken it to?
Strangely enough, my original tagline, or ‘brief’ if you will, for the book was ‘Lord of The Rings meets Sin City’. I feel that fits it pretty well. Like a lot of epic fantasy authors, I’ve drawn a lot from Middle Earth, definitely more so than Hogwarts. That reviewer was on the right track though!

Tell us a bit more about the world you have created for the series, and the people and creatures that inhabit it.
Emaneska is a cold and brutal place, a medieval, pseudo-Nordic Europe that when the Series begins is in the grip of a ruthless winter – the Long Winter. It’s a human world, for the most part. The ancient daemons and monsters of creation have been banished, and have been resigned to myth and lore. Only the Sirens remain of that age – a race of dragons and their riders, living deep in the icy, volcanic country of Nelska.
The rest of Emaneska stretched from bucolic Albion in the west, across the mountains of the Arka, where Farden belongs, to the vast wastelands of the east and north, where the land-hungry empire of Skolgard rules.

What’s next for the series?
The Series is drawing to a close this May, with the final two books – Dead Stars Part 1 and Part 2. The early diagnosis from reviewers and beta readers is that it’s every inch the epic ending the Series needs, which I’m very happy about. After that, it’s onto to different things and new worlds. Who knows, Emaneska might return again in the future. Farden too.

Tell us more about Dead Stars then.
Dead Stars is set fifteen years after the chaotic finale of Pale Kings, book 2 of the Series. Without ruining too much of the story, it sees Farden and the Arka in a seemingly hopeless situation, with enemies, new and ancient, crawling out of the woodwork on every front. I chose to make it two parts because there were simply far too many storylines to try and wrap up in one book, and far too much of Emaneska that I haven’t yet shown. I wanted to do it justice, and that meant a double release. It was hard work, but well worth it. Very much looking forward to releasing it in May this year (2013), on the 31st.

You run courses on self-publishing, don’t you? 
I’m very passionate about showing other authors how to self-publish and market themselves successfully. It’s an industry that is still going through a lot of change, so what I try to do is help authors make sense of it, providing honest and detailed advice via my website SHELF HELP and also with 1:1 consultations over Skype, phone, or face to face.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
Aside from being an author, I’m into my fitness – mostly surfing and running. Like every author, I’m a book addict, and also like to do a spot of cooking, as some of you who follow me on Twitter (@BenGalley) might have seen from all the pictures of my attempts at delicious creations. I grew up in the mountains of Scotland and currently live on the south coast of the UK, near Portsmouth.

What’s next?
What’s next for me? Well, after successfully funding a Kickstarter project not very long ago, I am looking forward to getting started on that – turning the first book in the Series – The Written, into a fully-fledged graphic novel, with the help of Artist Mike Shipley. You can find out more about that on my blog and at www.bengalley.com.