Hollywood Trivia Interview with J.A. Hunsinger Author of Axe of Iron

How would you convince seven shipwrecked individuals on a deserted island to buy your book? If you were asked to give a speech on the Book Walk of Fame what would you thank and why? Find out all this and more today when The Real Hollywood’s Book chat welcomes author J.A. Hunsinger, author of the historical fiction novel Axe of Iron: The Settlers.


ABOUT THE BOOK:
The first novel of a continuing character-driven tale of a medieval people whose wanderlust and yearning for adventure cause them to leave the two established settlements on Greenland and sail west, to the unexplored land later referred to as Vinland.

Eirik the Red established Eiriksfjord in 986 and later Lysufjord, 400-miles to the north. Just 22-years later, new settlers from the homelands found all the best land already occupied, the fragile Arctic environment strained by too many people and animals on too little arable land.

Under the capable leadership of Halfdan Ingolfsson and his lieutenant, Gudbjartur Einarsson, 315 men, women, and children set sail from Greenland in the spring of 1008, bound for the unexplored continent across the western ocean.

Standing in their way are uncounted numbers of indigenous people, the pre-historical ancestors of the Cree (Naskapi), Ojibwa (Anishinabeg), and Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Indians. From the outset, these native people strenuously resist the incursion of these tall, pale-skinned invaders.

Two calamitous events occur that pave the way for the hostile beginnings of an assimilation process to occur between these disparate peoples. The way is rocky and fraught with danger at every turn, but the acceptance and friendship that develops between the Northmen and the Naskapi over an affair of honor, the eventual acceptance of a young boy of the Northmen by his Haudenosaunee captors, and a scenario that seems ordained by the will of the gods, makes it all begin to fall into place, as it must for the Northmen to survive.

See the saga unfold, in this first book of the Axe of Iron series, through the eyes of the characters as each day brings a continuation of the toil, love, hardship, and danger that they come to expect in this unforgiving new land.

THE INTERVIEW:
1. Gilligan’s Island Trivia – Taking a three hour boat tour, you find yourself shipwrecked on this tiny little remote island where 7 people were also shipwrecked. How would you convince this varied audience to read your book? Remember on this island besides The Skipper, his little buddy Gilligan and MaryAnn, is the smart Professor, the rich Mr.& Mrs. Howell who have the money to make your book into a movie and Ginger the movie star who might have a starring role. Please talk to the audience not to me.

In spite of the mess that we are in, I may have a solution in my new book, Axe of Iron: The Settlers. Fortunately, for us, I have a copy with me and I will be happy to share it with all of you. My book is a story about a medieval people whose lives are surprisingly like ours, although they are not trapped on an island. They have the same basic desires for happiness, love, food, and shelter that we have. Within these pages, you will find survival skills that are essential. Since we are eight in number we can either take turns reading it aloud to the others, which makes the most sense given our circumstance, or you can share the book individually. Of course many of us will starve waiting to read the book if we choose the later—you decide.

2. Wheel of Fortune – you have been asked by the Wheel of Fortune writers to create a word puzzle spelling one of the books characters his/her name. Which character name would you want on the Wheel of Fortune puzzle board and why?

Gudbjartur Einarsson, the expeditions second-in-command, comes to mind because it is difficult, in a contemporary sense, to pronounce. The fact that he is literally, ‘Einar’s son,’ would add another level of difficulty to the puzzle.


3. Hollywood Book Walk of Fame – A bookstore in Hollywood, California had decided that books should have their own walk of fame. So they have lined the sidewalk in front of their store with book molds in the sidewalk. Your name is to appear on one of these book molds. You give an acceptance speech at the ceremony. What would you say and who would you thank?

Ladies and gentlemen, and members of the Awards Committee, good afternoon. What a beautiful day you have selected to convene this ceremony. I am humbled to receive this honor for my writing and me. This honor has vindicated my lifetime pursuit of perfection with the written word. I wish to thank my parents for ensuring that I received the best education possible in the parochial school system. To my many merciless editors I must give resounding thanks, for they did not allow me to be satisfied with mediocre prose. Last, but not least, I wish to thank my wife Phyllis. She never gave up, let up, or allowed me to shirk my duty to the task that I had undertaken. Thanks, Babe! Without you, I would not have gotten here.

Thank you Jerry, for stopping by The Real Hollywood blog on your virtual book tour. I wish you continued success on your virtual book tour and who knows your book might just make it to the silver screen.

You are welcome. Thank you for inviting me, it has been fun. Should anyone want my book, here are a few links:

Axe of Iron: The Settlers is available on my website:
http://www.vinlandpublishing.com/
from my distributor: http://www.atlasbooks.com/marktplc/02175.htm, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books-a-Million, and other major booksellers nationwide and in Canada at: chapters.indigo.ca
e-Books are available at http://theebooksale.com/, The-Plot-Thickens, Amazon Kindle, and several other outlets nationwide.



AXE OF IRON VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR '09 officially began on March 2 and end on April 30. You can visit J.A's blog stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in March and April to find out more about this talented author!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available.