Behind the scenes

   I went into the writing of An Emerging Threat with a few thoughts. First, I wanted to build a world and set individuals in it that used the space to its fullest. For example, the character of Oliver who begins at the Sun Fire Citadel and travels to the northeast and Ethan who begins in the south and travels to the farthest reaches of the north. Second, I wanted to have a few things that set it apart from the Fantasy I have read in the past. Examples are the Goblins, a merging of troll, goblin, and/or orc, injects of steam-punk, and even a touch of “undead”.

   Based on my experiences with certain authors, I decided to go the path of providing just enough detail throughout the novel. Some fantasy goes to the other extreme and throws encyclopedias of data at you about the world, the politics of every village, etc. While sometimes done well, it often left me feeling stifled. I believe providing every little smidge of information, while a testament to the author, does not allow the reader to experience the story in a personal way. In light of that, I tried to leave slivers of “white space” that the reader has the opportunity to fill with their own ideas, concepts, and memories. In that way, I invite the reader to become an active part of the journey. Though the story is told in a complete and connected way, don’t worry about that, the reader is empowered to close their eyes and color outside (between) the lines.

    Another opportunity that comes from leaving some questions unanswered is an ever expanding world that is filled through more novels! Book two of The Seeker’s Burden series is nearing completion and I have storyboarded the entire three novels. Believe me when I say that I have ideas for other series tied to the world that I have created.