Tell us about your
latest book.
My latest novel is an action/fantasy work
entitled “Legend Land”, which is aimed to hit stores around the Christmas
season. It’s actually a bit difficult to describe, for me anyway, because no
matter what synopsis or description I give, it really just doesn’t do the novel
justice. To me, it’s one of those works that you have to read to know what it’s
about. However, I’ll give it my best shot.
As
I’ve said, Legend Land is an action/fantasy novel; it’s not specifically for
young adults, nor adults, but rather for anyone who has a love of reading. Now,
in the novel, there is a world ruled by Death called “Legend Land”, where
legends and mythical creatures go to die. Several entities want the power in
Legend Land and the power of its inhabitants; this marks the beginning of a
grand cosmic game for Legend Land that mostly happens in the background
throughout the novel. The story is told in the first person narrative from
three different points of view, which allows me to keep the story flowing
quickly and gives the novel a more dynamic, easily shifting and twisting style.
In Legend Land I put my own twisted spin on various fairy tale characters,
legends and mythical creatures, as well as having a huge host of my own,
completely unique characters. Which isn’t to say that you’ll recognize many of
these myths and legends; I’ve done my best to change them heavily while still
at the same time remaining true to their original form, but it will take a more
attentive eye to catch these various “Easter egg” characters.
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| Noah with Edgar Allan Poe |
Who are your favourite
authors?
It’s a bit difficult to pick a favorite, as I read on such a regular basis
and so many things. I absolutely love J.K. Rowling and her Harry Potter series;
I finished the entire series once I was nine years old. It’s always fuelled my
creativity and sense of magic. I owe a huge amount of my love of fantasy to
Christopher Paolini, author of the Inheritance series, and enjoy a good deal of
classic authors such as Edgar A. Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Oscar Wilde (if for
nothing else than “The Picture of Dorian Gray”), Mary Shelley etc. etc. There
are many authors I really enjoy, and it hurts a bit that I can’t mention them
all here, but those are some of who I would consider my “favorites”.
What advice do you
have for other writers?
I
guess my advice is something of the following. To writers of all ages, I just
have to say: never give up. You’re going to be in that place where you’ve drank
all your coffee, you’re curled into the fetal position, pages of your manuscript strewn
about, just not knowing what to do. I’ll let you in on a secret: none of us do.
No matter how many times you’ve written a novel or how long you do it, it’s my
firm belief that every time you begin a new story (part of a series or not),
you’re going in blind. You have to create something from nothing, and no amount
of practice is going to change that fact. Just tell yourself though, “People do
this all the time; I’m a pretty
fantastic person myself. There are authors I don’t like, and if they
can do it, so can I!” Besides, hey, if a 17 year old kid like me can do it, you
definitely can.
What's the best thing
about being a writer?
You mean besides not having to leave your house
for work? Or being able to work in your pajamas? What’s the best thing about being a writer besides not having to be “social”? I
suppose in addition to all of those things, I love being a writer because I can
create something from nothing. From nothing I can make people, creatures no one
has ever even heard of or an entire world; the possibilities when you write are
nearly limitless. I think that’s the biggest appeal to me; the limitless
creative possibilities possible. And working in your pajamas.
Where can people find
out more about you and your writing?
There are plenty of places people
can find out more about me, or my writing. There’s my official website, Ark-Storm.com, where you can find frequent
updates on all that I do as well as some free short stories, to get a taste of
my writing style. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook, or check out my YouTube
channel for updates on, and snippets from, Legend Land, as well as guest
speakers and author interviews, writing tips and discussion, exploring the ever
growing field of writing hybrids and techniques, and just nerding out about
this whole “writing thing” in general.
Why do you think
readers are going to enjoy your book?
How do you research your
books?
Since
I still am in school, I do a lot of research for my schoolwork and projects in
general; if I’m interested in something, I research it. That being said, I did
a lot of research for Legend Land
specifically. I mainly use this wonderful, vast thing we have called the
internet, ranging from forums or obscure pages devoted to the progeny of one
Greek god, to skimming through Wikipedia for what I’m searching for. With Legend
Land in particular, I did a lot of reading; I read the fairy tales, the folk
lore, legends and all the stories that I wanted to include in my book. For
other stories, I will use medical or scientific websites, or I’ll take an
online course on it to get a basic, comprehensive understanding. Unless I’m
doing research on a particular writing style, book, series or author, I will
commonly use the internet, triple and quadruple checking my sources just to be
safe.
Who or what inspired you to
become a writer?
I’ve always wanted to be an
author; originally, in Kindergarten, when we were doing “writing time”, we
didn’t have to do difficult things like math. I think my love of writing and
wanting to be a writer grew from that. I’ve always really liked books, and all
the stories I’ve read, all the joy I’ve received from books have fuelled me;
eventually, I just wanted to contribute to the literary world that has been a
companion of mine for my entire life. I wanted to be able to make people feel
the whirlwind of emotions that I would feel when reading, or make something so
amazing that people want to put on their shelves and read over and over again.
After reading Christopher Paolini’s debut novel, “Eragon”, I began actively
working at making writing a full-time career and lifelong profession.
Admittedly, this was, at least in part, because I read he was a New York Times
Bestselling Author at age 19, and I wanted to get published before him.
However, the books I’ve read have always inspired me, and my family has always
supported my dream; I think the overwhelming amount of support I’ve received
from everyone, especially while my Kickstarter was going on, has really
inspired me to take writing as seriously as I possibly can, because it is something I want to do for the rest
of my life.
What books or authors
have most influenced your life?
J.K.
Rowling, Orson Scott Card, Christopher Paolini, Derek Landy, Mary Shelley, H.P.
Lovecraft, Edgar A. Poe and Jenny Nimmo, and their works, were all, and
continue to be, influential to me and my writing. Frank Beddor’s “Looking Glass
Wars” series has heavily influenced me; his style and illustrations inspired me
like nothing else at the time. There are many things besides books and authors
that have influenced my life and writing style; I heavily draw off of many
anime I’ve seen (for those of you who don’t know, “anime” is a style of
Japanese cartoon), movies, TV shows and life around me.
When you’re not
writing, how do you spend your time?
When I’m not writing, I tend to enjoy the heavily sought
after, much elusive “sleep”; having my head hit a soft pillow at the end of the
day is bliss, and it’s something I love doing. I also enjoy indulging in
several different media forms: anime (commonly action, dark/suspense, sci-fi
and fantasy), television shows (same), video games (of the RPG variety
commonly), western cartoons and movies (I’m a sucker for a decent feel good
film). I enjoy playing board and card games with my two younger brothers, and
inventing my own. Since my family and I travel full time, I also really enjoy
getting out of the house; hiking, visiting museums or interesting places. Music
plays a big part in my writing; I can’t play any instruments to any level of
appreciable skill, but I enjoy listening to music often. And, I will admit, engaging in “social interaction” with
others has its merits as well, and is something I like to do. Of course, I
think it goes without saying I just love to read; if it’s a good book, I will lay my hands on it and not let go
until it has been thoroughly read.
