Question & Answer With Leonard D. Hilley II

Leonard D. Hilley II, creater of The Darkness series (Kindle, Nook) is here for an interview today!  As this is my favourite thriller series  (see all my reviews: here), I'm really happy to have him!   Before we start, Leonard would like me to mention that he is raising funds for the library at the school he used to go to, after a tornado.  So, now is the best time ever to buy his books - you get a suspense, thriller-packed read, and you raise money for a good cause!  For more information, go: here.

The world you created, with all the scientific advances and clones, shifters and other scary beings was just amazing.  Where did your inspiration come from? 

I have a wicked muse.  When she speaks, I am compelled to write down how she directs.  I find it all hard to believe myself.  This whole series spawned from the opening sentence of Predators of Darkness: Aftermath.  “Dropping a cat from the top of a ten story office building was not the best way to remain hidden, but it was necessary.”  This one sentence is where this all evolved. 

It was definitely a gift from the Netherworld.

You have also created so many brilliant characters, but which one is your favourite? 

Morton, the talking cat, is my dearest character and the hardest one to write.  He’s as stubborn as any cat can be.  He only speaks when he wants.  I cannot force him to talk.

If you had to describe The Darkness series in one sentence, what would you say? 

I can’t narrow it down that much.

You’re a self-published author, but when did you first realise that you wanted to be an author and what did you find was the hardest part? 

I’ve been writing stories since I was six years old.  I wrote my first novel at age 11.  I’ve always wanted to write for a living and knew that at an early age because I loved reading books.  Finally, I started writing books like I’d love to read.  I have a unique spin on things in my series, and I hope that freshness is what readers enjoy and hunger for more.

Now, I know many authors have strict writing-not-writing habits.  Do you have any specific habits and what do you like to do when you’re not writing?  

Currently, I’m writing every day, more than ever, too.  When I’m not writing, my mind is thinking about the storyline.  Last week, I kept waking up with the current novel and characters running through my mind.  This is good and refreshing.

Misleadingly simple-looking question: What’s your favourite book of all time? 

The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny.

Let’s say the events in Predators of Darkness: Aftermath actually happened, and the whole of the world was trapped scavenging for food and fighting off horrible shifter-beasts.  And, worse, you’re only allowed to take five books!  Which five books would you take? 

I’d take Mr. Murder and Watchers by Dean Koontz, The Great Book of Amber by Zelazny, The Mist and The Stand by Steven King.  Of course, there’d be no time to read since we have to kill shape-shifters.

Keeping with the make-believe theme, which fictional character/being would you most like to be, and which fictional world would you like to live in? 

Corwin of Amber

What’s next for you: any new books being planned?  If so, what genre and could you maybe, pretty-please, give us a quick sneak-peek? 

I’m currently revising my dark fantasy, Devils’ Den, and hope to see it out in late August.  Devils’ Den is a haunted, magical cave.  Justin McKnight is a teenage boy that receives a warning that his life is in danger through an artistic drawing he drew.  Elias Jackson is the face he sees in the drawing and who whispers that he’s coming to get him.  Elias has been in hibernation for the past twenty years, awakening for the final time to make his final sacrifice to gain immortality.  The connection between he and Justin in the picture is the link Elias believes destines the boy as his final sacrifice.  Instead, Justin enters the cave and is sealed off from the world and is suddenly trapped in the mystical Underworld, where he is safe from Elias, but he faces new, unexpected dangers as he tries to find his way back home.

I also hope to have Death’s Valley complete later this year.

And finally: do you have any advice for all the aspiring writers out there?  Keep writing and reading.  Never stop. 


Thank you for stopping by, Leonard!  Hope you all enjoyed the interview!