Dylan West 

I met Dylan at a book festival where our tables were set up side by side. It was amazing to see his table—he had a large tv which projected a video game that he developed. The kids flocked to his booth, excited and engaged. I knew right away—I had to interview him! 

Bio: I’m a Jesus lover, web developer, video game developer, former Navy nuclear operator, foreign language nut, and a nut in general. While other people are busy thinking normal thoughts, I’m crafting corny jokes. I live in Chesapeake, VA, with my wife and daughter.

Where are you from? I live in Chesapeake, VA, but grew up in St. Marys, GA, where I donated a few gallons of blood to the neighborhood mosquitos while romping in the woods. I climbed high trees from the age of five, and my parents were totally fine with it, as long as I returned home before sundown.

When did you know you wanted to become a writer? I wrote my first novel at age 13, but was more consumed with the act of writing to worry about if I wanted to become a writer. It wasn’t until a few decades later that I looked up from my worn-out keyboard and realized I had quietly become one.

Tell us about your books. The Scribes Series is like a futuristic Narnia with a science focus. Scifi with clean content suitable for younger readers is hard to find. Christian-based scifi is even rarer. Parents of teens shouldn’t have to choose between young scifi that’s “dumbed-down” for that age group or adult scifi that’s full of explicit content. And scifi should use science to drive the plot, not brush it on as a thin veneer to satisfy the genre requirement. Come to my books if you want massive world building and hard science, especially electrical engineering, robotics, geology, and physics.

Here are a few of Dylan’s book covers: 

What is your inspiration for writing scifi? I joined the US Navy as a nuclear operator right out of high school. The science and engineering I learned there burrowed its way into my scifi novels, along with all the random science facts I pack in my head on a regular basis. I want readers to know science and faith can work perfectly together, and to see that in action. For those who already follow Jesus, I want them to begin loving science. If they do, they’ll study it more. And if they do that, they might just learn enough to answer their nonbelieving friends who’ve been using science as a reason to doubt the Bible.

What else do you do? For my day job, I build web applications for the Navy as a contractor and do cybersecurity. I also study lots of foreign languages. You can find me speaking Arabic, Russian, and Farsi to the pine cones that I clean up from my yard. I sometimes attend churches that speak other languages. I’m also building a video game for my books. You can play the free sample here: https://dylanwestauthor.com/demo If you leave a review for any of my books on Amazon, I’ll add your name to that game as a collectible item!

Where do you get your ideas from? ’ve read hundreds of fantasy and scifi novels over the decades. The big world building that Brandon Sanderson does in the Stormlight Archive inspires the world building in my books, and the Holy Bible inspires my themes. Thinking through the science implications of the worlds I create help drive the plot and character development. And I do tons and tons of brainstorming. I never get writers block because I’ve figured out how to pinpoint what plot decision I’m momentarily stuck on and how to bust through that with a process I’ve settled on over the years: writing out all the options for a given plot point, listing out questions to myself and answering them, and further developing the relevant world building aspects that might be too thin. I also have an alpha reader that I bounce all my ideas off of long before I start drafting.

Why did you go the self-publishing route? Back in 2022, while I was raking my yard, God told me in a near-audible voice to self-publish. I jumped in and found that I should’ve started it long ago. By building my own publishing business, I was forced to learn all aspects: sales, marketing, formatting, distribution—all of it. I like that I’m completely responsible for my success or failure. There is no big publisher coming to save me. I must learn to run my own ads, arrange my own sales events, arrange cross promotions with other authors, and so on. And I’ve fallen in love with the process. It turns out that the business is every bit as fun as the writing. (You can’t see my face right now, but I’m saying this in complete sincerity.)

If an agent ever does show interest in my books later on, and I want to try the traditional route with one of my titles, I’ll actually know what that agent and publisher should be doing for me, because I have done that work myself.

The mathematics just don’t work in the favor of unproven writers. Take some hypothetical numbers: if over 100 million writers around the world want an agent, and only around 100,000 agents are taking submissions, each agent would have to take on 1,000 authors to get everyone published! Of course, that’s not going to happen. When writers ask for an agent and publisher, they’re asking someone to risk thousands and thousands of dollars on them. They’re asking for a business partner. When that writer has no business experience and no existing fan base, that’s a big risk for the investor. But… if that writer self-publishes and sells thousands of copies to thousands of readers and has built a mailing list of loyal fans, that author is much more likely to land an agent. That author has already proven himself.

What is the most challenging thing for you as a writer? Getting chapter one just right. Readers hold crazy expectations about all the things that single chapter should accomplish. The next hardest thing is writing a cover blurb. There’s no other occasion when I’m sweating for 12 hours to write 3 paragraphs.

What is next for you? I need to get Scribes Emerge (book 3 of the Scribes Series) out to market soon. Then I’ll add another area to the related video game and start revising Scribes Beyond (book 4). Once I’ve published that and book 5, completing the series, I plan to launch a YouTube channel. I’m hoping that will introduce my books to a wider online audience. And once I’ve finished paying back my investor, I’ll save up to produce my first audiobook.

If you’d like to follow Dylan: 

Home

Dylan.west@dylanwestauthor.com

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100078540828516

Sign up for my monthly newsletter if you want the geekiest science tidbits that go into the making of my books: https://dylanwestauthor.com (click the big red subscribe button at the top) While you’re on my website, try a sample of Scribes’ Descent (book one): https://dylanwestauthor.com/scribes-descent

If you’re local to Hampton Roads, VA, come find me at the Portsmouth Farmers Market on the corner of High St. and Court St. on Saturdays from 10a to 2p. I’m the tent on the corner right beside Jimmy Johns. If you come near, I’ll be the short Asian dude calling out to you, asking you to try my video game and check out my books. I might also pepper you with corny jokes.

Dylan, thank you for the interview! Best Wishes. 

MY JUNE BOOK GIVEAWAY WINNER IS THERESA SCHULTZ! Congrats.