Author Spotlight: Randall Dunn

Hi friends! Today, our author spotlight is on Randall Dunn. Everyone, say hello to Randall! He writes YA paranormal thrillers that build character through fiction, demonstrating courage, friendship, acceptance, faith, and self-sacrifice. Let's get to know Randall and The Red Rider Saga.

Author Bio:
D.A. Randall is the fantasy and paranormal thriller pen name of Randall Allen Dunn, who was raised on a steady diet of Star Trek and The Twilight Zone before pursuing his studies of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Harry Potter, The Lunar Chronicles, and Doctor Who. He has taught writing, acting, and storytelling techniques to teens and adults. He now writes fantasy and paranormal thrillers that read like blockbuster movies. Action-packed, fast-paced & fun, with larger-than-life heroes wrestling with moral dilemmas and diabolical villains. He publishes Character Entertainment stories that build character through fiction, demonstrating courage, friendship, acceptance, faith, and self-sacrifice.

Overview of Randall's books:
The Red Rider Saga is a YA Paranormal Thriller series about a 16-year old scarfaced Red Riding Hood fighting a sinister cult of werewolves in a fairy tale French province. At age 7, Helena Basque was attacked by a large wolf that killed her Grand’Mere and left her with triple scars across her face. No one believed Helena when she said that the wolf stood upright and spoke to her. Her parents tried to protect her from further harm by limiting their travels and forbidding her to wear her bright red cloak, fearing it would draw too much attention. But as Helena grows older and sees no one stepping in to stop the wolf attacks, she determines to learn how to hunt down the wolves herself.

At age sixteen, she dons a red hooded cloak like the one she was once forbidden to wear, using it as a symbol of striking back at the wolves. Armed with a repeating crossbow and other unique weapons, she sets out to hunt down and destroy the wolves and free her province from their reign of fear.

The Red Rider Saga is an ongoing series, starting with The Red Rider and its sequel, Red Rider Rising, and continuing with the third book, Red Rider Redemption, releasing in August.
The series centers on several themes, all of which surround Helena. Feelings of isolation and ostracism, which are sometimes chosen for the sake of doing what is right. Fear of bullying, whether it is physical, psychological, or social. Questions of when and if it is right for a person of faith to kill. Questions of who to put your trust in, and how God often leads and provides for us in subtle ways. And above all, what makes someone truly beautiful or valuable – their appearance or social standing or power, or their bravery and kindness and self-sacrifice? Helena sees herself as ugly, and so do many people in the village of La Rue Sauvage. But those who know her well don’t see her facial scars, but the beautiful person underneath. It’s often easier for other people to see our true worth, which is hidden from us.

Information on books
When I first created the character, I was inspired by two things: the Red Riding Hood movie, which turned the Big, Bad Wolf into a werewolf, and the TV series, Once Upon a Time, which turned Snow White into a Robin Hood style hunter in the forest. I combined these ideas to create the Red Rider, a teenage Red Riding Hood who rises up to fight back against the wolves who terrorized her as a child.

I believe this story resonates with people in a deep way, because Little Red Riding Hood is literature’s greatest victim. An innocent little girl sent on a risky journey through the woods, who sees nothing wrong with telling a talking wolf where she’s headed, and later is duped into thinking the wolf is her grandmother. But in The Red Rider Saga, although Helena/Red Riding Hood grows up feeling terrified, she learns how to hunt the wolves and fight back. Seeing this horribly bullied little girl turn the tables and become a terror to her savage enemies, at great risk and personal sacrifice, makes us eager to see her win.

This is a paranormal action thriller, with a clear thread of faith throughout. Helena has a close relationship with her priest, Father Vestille, a longtime friend of the family. But her relationship with him becomes strained when she fears that he won’t take the necessary action to stop the wolf attacks. Still, Helena continues to seek out Father Vestille for guidance and prayer, and he encourages her to see her true worth, and to trust God to help her do what’s right.

Randall shares about his writing process:

When I start a new story idea, I write notes of action scenes and dialogue. I often listen to action movie soundtracks that fit those scenes and think through the details of the scene while I’m out driving, adding in details that fit the music score. Once I have enough story notes to organize them and create an outline, I start writing the story straight through. Once the first draft is done, I start a tedious process that I love and hate. I create detailed backstory for each major character, with physical description, dates of major personal events, the history of their relationships with family and friends, and significant life events. It’s frustrating because it takes forever, but it’s extremely freeing because it helps me catch plot holes I would have completely missed, and helps me discover new story details to make the story feel much more real and concrete. Then it’s a breeze to write the second draft, and needs very little revision. I then take beta readers’ feedback to catch any final errors, and it’s done.

Interesting tidbit about the books or yourself:

I published the original novel, The Red Rider, in 2013. Over the years, I’ve received high praise for the novel and its sequel, but very few people had discovered them. I decided to revise the storyline, to re-release it as more books that are shorter in length. The revised stories will also include some added details and scenes that previous readers will really enjoy, much like when the original Star Wars trilogy was re-released in theatres with extra scenes and surprises. The new version of The Red Rider is actually a brand new novella, that takes place during the events of the original novel. The story events of the original Red Rider book are reformatted in Book 2: Red Rider Rising, and the upcoming Book 3: Red Rider Redemption, which contains a lot of brand new material.

These are sketches of Helena Basque/The Red Rider, and her adversary, the werewolf Grenault.
















Below are links to connect with Randall and where you can buy his books:

Social media links:
https://www.randallallendunn.com/
https://www.facebook.com/RandallAllenDunn
https://twitter.com/randalladunn
https://www.instagram.com/dunnrandallallen/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZGeMw_uI69dXkF6mBYTHMw
https://www.amazon.com/Randall-Allen-Dunn/e/B009BQGC6U

Thank you so much for joining us, Randall!


If you're an author and you'd like to be showcased here, just let me know. Must be inspirational or clean, can be fiction or nonfiction.
Check out my website, connect with me, and sign up for my newsletter. https://sallyshupe.weebly.com/

Grab a copy of Randall's books and enjoy your day!