Book Tour Q&A: No Safe Haven by James Lloyd Dulin

Fiction Fans
Oct 29, 2023
7 min read

Today we're taking part in the book tour organized by Escapist Book Company for No Safe Haven by James Lloyd Dulin! Continue reading for the book blurb and a Q&A with the author.

About the book

Anger will not be quenched by blood alone.

The Missing, a rebel army that is little more than a rumor, may be Kaylo’s only path to exact his vengeance against the empire that claimed his home and killed his family. If it means a chance to balance the blood he owes, he will steal spirits and become the Missing’s tool, as long as they aim him in the right direction.

Eighteen years later, a war is raging between factions for control of Ennea. With Tayen, Kaylo, and Nix caught in the middle of a power struggle—Kaylo will have to find a way to fulfill the promise he made to Tayen, Nix must face the consequences of her betrayal, and Tayen will have to choose between vengeance and her spirit. When blood is owed, virtues will be challenged.

On to the interview...!

Thank you so much for joining us for this Q&A! We’ll start off with one of our standard podcast opening questions–tell us something great that’s happened recently.

My youngest son, Dominic, turned two October 1. He is starting to communicate more and discover new things about the world. Nothing makes him smile as much as a dance party.

What are you currently reading or what’s up next on your TBR? What made you pick up this book?

I am finishing up Sistah Samurai by Tatiana Obey and listening to Eleventh Cycle by Kian Ardalan. They are extremely different, but both every good. I’m not sure exactly what’s next. I might get into Shades of Madness by Thiago Abdalla or maybe I’ll finally start The Bound and The Broken by Ryan Cahill.

What is one book you want to shout about to the world? What about it makes you love it so much?

I’m going to cheat a little and shout out a series rather than a single book. I completed The Green Bone Saga over the summer and it has had such an amazing impact on the way I understand character development. Fonda Lee took a cast of characters from their teens and twenties to their fifties and sixties in these books. The core truths about these characters anchor them, while the ways in which they enact their truths change. They don’t suddenly become someone different, but their viewpoints and ideas adapt based on their experiences. Hilo in Jade Legacy is guided by the same core truths as he is in Jade City, but he also makes very different decisions.

The Green Bone Saga is an exemplar of expert character development for an entire cast, and it helped me put words to the hallmarks of quality character development.

Can you give us an elevator pitch for your book?

No Safe Haven is an exploration of anger, the strength it can lend and the damage it can do. Tayen and Kaylo will have to understand and control their anger in order to wield it against those that would claim ownership over the land they were born to.

Describe your book in 3 adjectives.

Rageful, Brutal, Hopeful

Has your writing process changed since you wrote the previous book? If so, how?

When I started No Heart for a Thief, I had no idea what I was doing. I was exploring ideas and the barest bits of a plot with every draft until I truly understood the story I was trying to tell. I eventually got there, but it was chaos.

I began No Safe Haven with a clearer idea of the themes, the characters, the plot, and the story I wanted to write. I understood the voice I wanted to use for the characters and the general narration. Compared to No Heart for a Thief, I actually had a writing process for No Safe Haven.

My first draft was my chance to tell the story to myself. While I knew the key plot points I planned to hit, so much of the story changed from what I had envisioned to when it hit the paper. The character arcs and the story arcs largely stayed the same, but new side characters started to develop into fleshed out people and the path to get to where I wanted to go twisted and turned a bit. The next few drafts were all about refining and cleaning up the story.

I assume that my writing process will continue to develop as I learn more and more not only about storytelling, but myself as an author.

When you started the series, did you have a clear idea in mind for how you wanted to continue it in subsequent books? How, if at all, has that changed while writing this book?

I had no idea what I was doing when I started. I had a couple of ideas about what might happen in the first book, most of which changed. However, by the time I finished No Heart for a Thief, I understood the major story moments for the series. There are a lot of different threads I am trying to weave together, and I had a good understanding of how they would meet.

That being said, I discover the nuances of how the various story threads weave in and out of each other while I am writing. When I was writing No Safe Haven, I changed several major plot points in order to tell a better story. The entire ending sequence in Kaylo’s backstory in this book went through a major rewrite after the first draft.

My plan for Only a Grave Will Do, Malitu Book Three, was the clearest from the onset. There are so many threads to tie off and connect. I imagine there will be a lot less freedom to make large changes in the plan as I finish writing this final book of the trilogy.

How do you manage character growth vs consistency over a multi-book arc?

When I started out, I didn’t have language to describe what I was doing with character growth and consistency. My plan was to change the plot where necessary to ensure character actions and decisions made sense to who they were.

Now, I understand that as defining core traits and characteristics that will remain consistent. Consistent does not mean immoveable. It means that these core traits will be there in one form or another because they are central to who that character is. Even if a character overcomes something, that act of overcoming defines them.

For example, Kaylo is insecure. He is so defined by the idea he has an evil inside him and he will hurt those around him that he will do anything to avoid causing harm to those he loves. He lashes out against this idea. He falls into guilt and depression around this idea. Even when he thinks he has overcome it, he returns to it when something goes wrong. It is his fundemental flaw. Even when he is trying to unlearn it, it defines him.

Now, just because Kaylo is tethered to his insecurity doesn’t mean it doesn’t show up differently when he is thirty-five compared to when he was seventeen. The key with someone like Kaylo who we see at two very different ages is they interact with their core traits differently. Young Kaylo is more angsty and angry. Older Kaylo is more reserved and resigned. The cause is the same trauma and insecurity, but it he has had more time and experiences to change how he expresses that characteristic.

One key thing I’ve learned is character growth doesn’t necessarily mean they have changed in positive ways. Most people don’t have a straight line between them and the negative traits they are trying to overcome. They have relapses and successes. The important thing with character growth is they don’t interact with their core traits in the same way as they move through the story.

Which location that appears on the page in the book would you like to visit?

No Safe Haven introduces us to the capital city of Astile, the Lost Nation. The defining feature of this city is the Citadel, a mountain pulled from the earth and hollowed out by dancers (magic users). The craft that went into making this hallow, a shelter made with magic, is so detailed and beautiful. I would love to see this hollowed-out mountain.

Has your favorite character to write changed from book to book?

Yes. I loved writing Nix in No Heart for a Thief, and I still enjoyed her in No Safe Haven, however writing Wal gave me a lot to work with. He is the broken character with a smile and sarcasm painted over the cracks.

In your opinion, what kind of reader would like this book?

The easy answer is readers who loved No Heart for a Thief will love No Safe Haven. However, I will go a little deeper than that.

If the following sound interesting to you, this series is for you.

Character-driven books with characters who wrestle with their trauma and try to find out who they are and what is right, will love this book
An elemental magic system with a twist in which magic is tied to the spiritual plane and experienced by magic users as a something close to a song
Found families who struggle to love each other when their interests diverge
Hope that struggles to survive the darkness

Do you have a favorite quote from this book that you can share with us? What about this quote in particular makes it your favorite?

“Forgiveness is not compliance. It is the acceptance of change and freedom from the constraints of the past.”

This quote is spoken by The Seed, a Great Spirit who gifts his descendants with the power to control plant-life. I love this quote because I think people often confuse forgiveness for weakness or not holding people accountable. I have. I struggle to remind myself that forgiveness isn’t about anyone else. It is accepting what happened and giving yourself permission to move on. It’s a hard lesson to learn.

Sometimes I like the lines that I write which are really just reminders to myself.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer a few questions for us! Do you have any parting thoughts or comments you’d like to leave for our readers?

No book is for everyone. My end goal is to find the readers who would love my books. If you give my books a shot and they aren’t for you, I hope you give another indie author a shot. There are a lot of amazing indie authors creating wonderful worlds, and I hope you find the worlds that excite you. Whatever you are looking to get from a book, I hope you find it. Happy reading.

And finally, where can you be found on the internet if our readers want to hear more from you?

I try to be as active as I can on social media, but my most active platform is Twitter.

Twitter: @Jamesldulin

TikTok: @Jamesldulin

Instagram: @jameslloyd27

Website: www.jamesldulin.com

Lastly, I co-host a podcast with Nathan Klembara called The Dragonfire Podcast which is available on most major podcast platforms and YouTube.