My Smashwords Interview: Question One

I'm thinking about deleting the author interview on my Smashwords profile as, aesthetically speaking, it does take up quite a bit of space. And perhaps it is a bit wordy as well.

I'm trying to think realistically and pragmatically as a first-time reader, coming across a new author's page, might be overwhelmed by all of this text and information about a writer. They might not scroll down to see what books are available. Perhaps it is off-putting for some?

Well, in any case, I'm going to take it down.

But I would like to preserve its content as well, in case there are readers who might be interested in learning more about the author.

So here I am going to post up my Smashwords interview and share its content for any readers who might be interested. And I would also like to pose a question to readers: does knowing more or less about an author interest them in their work? Or does the book's content only matter?

Anyway, here's Question One:

What's the story behind your latest book?

Well, the story behind The Legends of Arria series dates back to sixth grade, 2000, when I had the idea of a girl in a rowboat adrift on an ocean, running aground on the shore of a magical realm called Arria.

After a series of adventures, she would have found a new life for her there and tried to raise a family, until her daughter was lost and had to find her way back home.

Yet the form of the ideas changed, and Arria changed, so that by 2002, it became the story of a young man who set out on a quest on behalf of the woman he loved in The Knights of Arria 2002, which had a rather simplistic style that developed a bit more in the year or two it took to write.

This story developed over several years, going further ahead a generation or two in the sequels. But then I felt the need to go back and start reworking the beginning of the story, again and again.

The 2008 version (on Amazon) was mostly just a revamp of the 2002 version, which added some more depth and plot changes to the story, yet it wasn't enough.

I wanted to find a better angle on the story, more mature and developed with characters having real thought processes and getting into backstories and realistic character motivations a bit more.

Then I got the idea to get into Coe Baba, Basha's hometown, a bit more and really showcase his adoptive parents Habala and Geda, his sword-fighting mentor Sir Nickleby, Basha's girlfriend Jawen and her family, Oaka and his girlfriend Sisila, which then included her family and finally the Old Man, who became very important in this process.

The Old Man had been lurking in the background for a long while as an immortal storyteller, but he really had no story beyond that to latch onto. So I gave him one and created new characters, Nisa and her mother Brigga, to help him fill out his new role.

When I first came up with the idea of Nisa, I thought of her as Oaka's and Basha's sister who would narrate the story and eventually team up with the Old Man.

But being their sister didn't really work out and so the relationship was changed.

I felt the need to delve into Jawen's home life more, introduce her extended family and get her father Lapo the merchant more involved. Previously, Jawen's romances with Basha and Hastin were simplified, so I made it more complex, unpredictable, and emotional.

This also happened with Sisila. I made her the baron's daughter, Hastin became her brother, and I moved away from portraying her 'crazy/grief-stricken' phase over Oaka leaving.

Iibala became Sir Nickleby's daughter and more important as a character, more heavily involved in the action of the story, same with Sir Nickleby as well.

Habala's and Geda's roles were more enhanced as parents and their relationship changed and developed, especially with the introduction of Smidge, Geda's brother, to complicate matters.

Coe Baba as a whole had been a rather simple, unfulfilled place.

So I made the town bigger and more complex, with fully realized characters and places. It was also more mysterious and haunted, being genuinely threatened by evil outside forces.

It made the lives of the characters inhabiting this place a whole lot more interesting. All of these changes were made with the start of Basha's story in The Smiling Stallion Inn.

The consequences of these changes continue on in Servants and Followers, Power Over Death, The Tiger of Light, The Tiger Enchantment and more coming soon.


(Note: Smashwords Interview is probably a proprietary trademark of that website. I am merely using the trademark/standard questions for noncommercial purposes. Or at least...I don't know, something along those lines.)