+Author Interview+ Sitting down with A. Christopher Drown, a debut author with Indie Publisher Seventh Star Press on his epic fantasy “A Mage of None Magic”!

{: A. Christopher Drown is welcomed

to Jorie Loves A Story :}

Author Biography:

A. Christopher Drown is a native of Brunswick, Maine, who currently resides in Memphis. His work has appeared in several magazines and anthologies. The first edition of A Mage of None Magic won the 2010 Darrell Award for Best Novel. His story, Path of an Arrow, received the 2012 Darrell Award for Best Novella. He recently completed his second novel and is at work on The Book of Sediahm, the next book in the Heart of the Sisters series. An award-winning graphic designer, when not slogging away at his trusty Macbook, Pedro, he can be found hiding around a nearby corner waiting to leap out at either of his unsuspecting children.

I am thankful to take a moment to sit down with another debut author through the Indie Publisher Seventh Star Press! I am always most delighted being able to interview emerging authors who are on the very fringe of launching their literary careers! There is such an excitement to absorb into their debut work, to see how their own unique style of story-telling will start to emerge and entice us to continue forward as their next books are released in due course! I had a smiting of an idea about A Mage of None Magic, but I did not know as much about the writer who penned the epic fantasy tale! Therefore, whilst I opted to participate in the blog tour for the book, I wanted to interview the author behind the fantasy series! This is merely the first book to get the world set in our eyes, and to introduce us to what will come next in The Heart of Sisters series!

I elected to ask him about his personal approach to writing as much as to gather a sense about who he is outside of the realm of creating stories and illustrations! As you will note, the book cover-art for A Mage of None Magic is of his own creation! Elsewhere along the tour he went into a bit more detail on how he originally sketched out the idea for who graces the cover by using inspiration quite close to his heart! The link to read the post which reveals this bit of ‘behind-the-scenes’ joy will be added underneath “Related Articles”. As I do try to find extra bits of relating material as I can find them per post.

Let us pause now to listen to the conversation:

On your Facebook page I noticed that whilst giving a recent talk at a library you highlighted a book shelf devoted to Shel Silverstein of whom I blogged about myself as being one of the integral writers to read as a child. His poems and his way of telling a story inside his collections was such a refreshing bolt of creativity and inspiration for me. My parents would surprise me time to time with each new ‘hardback’ edition. The hours I spent inside “Where the Sidewalk Ends” and “A Light in the Attic” is not even measurable by the joy in which was lit inside me! What drew you to the writer and what do you feel is his greatest legacy for children & adults alike?

Drown responds: My second-grade teacher, Ms. Sheriff, introduced me to Shel Silverstein via Where the Sidewalk Ends and the magic of that book has proven relentless. Beyond the opening lines of “Invitation,” (in which he refers to dreamers, wishers, and liars) what drew me into the crooked little world contained upon those pages was the wonderful sense of danger that lurked within the silly concepts and funny rhymes. Children being devoured by snakes, flying ships disappearing into the unknown, little boys turning into TV sets, kids literally losing their heads, poems written from inside lions because the author has been eaten, and so on. And the cover illustration so perfectly promises what awaits inside: Adventure, which can be fun, thrilling, sad, and frightening—often all at the same time.

The fact that I purchased copies for my own children, that they’ve grown to love the book just as much, and that there are millions of others who have done so for three generations now, is more legacy than the overwhelming majority of writers could ever hope to enjoy.

You also mentioned on Facebook, H.R. Giger taught you about juxtaposition (one of my favourite literary terms in writing narrative!), as I will yield to not know of the artist — Giger didn’t write :) — myself, in which ways did you take what he taught you and transmorphed that into your debut novel “A Mage of None Magic”!?

Drown responds: I think one need spend only a short time browsing Giger’s art to comprehend his genius for expressing the nightmarish by means of lithe elegance—gentle curves that tangle into madness; beautiful organic faces emerging from automated decay; sexuality conveyed through torturous machinery. I find that horror works best when presented intimately, and in Mage there are characters who discover that colossal power devastates even the smallest, most well-hidden pieces of who you are—on the most intimate terms.

Your writing mentor Joel Rosenberg is also unknown to me. What do you find were his greatest gifts in giving you inspiration on the level of writing fundamentals, the arc of story-telling, and how to approach publishing as a writer? What three essential books of his should every writer become known of and why?

Drown responds: Quite simply, Joel showed how it was done. He showed me how a master storyteller implements the classic slope of rising action, climax and denouement. He showed me how to begin and end a scene, what it looks like when a character undergoes meaningful change, how to temper poignancy with humor, that dangerous situations should have real stakes and that surviving them should have real cost. He taught me how to use tone, and how to make antagonists scary yet accessibly human. Through his essays he showed me how to structure a series, and yet how important it is to remain open to unforeseen veers from the original path that are bound to happen. He taught me how to take literary criticism, and how to be gracious to those who praise my work. And every time I re-read his stories, I learn more.

Which three mentors in the field of life would you consider had the most influence on your writing and of your perspective of the world at large? In which ways do you consider them an inspiration on all levels of gratitude? For me, I always claim Dr. Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Leonardo da Vinci, and Albert Einstein gave me so much depth and perspective of breadth.

Drown responds: Thomas Jefferson is a hero of mine for championing reason over all else, and for understanding so clearly the capacity human beings have for collective greatness despite our proclivities for individual folly. I admire Galileo Galilei for having conviction enough to prove wrong what the overwhelming masses believed deep down in their marrow was the incontrovertible truth. And I’ve loved Jim Henson since I was old enough to crawl, for the endless gifts of his boundless imagination.

You mentioned in another Interview about the heart of the message knitted into “A Mage of None Magic” would be embracing the bold confidence of your own unique lifepath and gift to give the world. In which ways do you think readers will respond to this message and why do you feel it is truly more important to convey right now in literature? Why do people tend to forget how important this is to have in their lives?

Drown responds: Gosh, that’s pretty profound. I said that?

If I were allowed to carry away only one lesson from my studies of Joseph Campbell, it would be his urging of others to “follow their bliss.” Find the thing that makes you happy and follow the path it sets before you no matter what anyone else may think or say.

But what might happen, I wondered, if you simply couldn’t? In Mage, Niel faces a challenge that’s a mirror image of Campbell’s: A path set before him he seems unable to avoid following, no matter what, even though doing so promises to bring him anything but bliss. So really, his task is to persevere with whatever resources he’s able to manage, lest great harm befall just about everyone—which may be a bit pertinent to the tough times from which we in the U.S. are just now beginning to emerge.
Were someone to lend me a soapbox, I’d probably say that I think people tend to forget how important it is to choose their own directions in life because the calls of innovation and unconventionality get drowned out by the babel of Need-to, Have-to and Supposed-to. I just don’t understand contentment with not leaving the universe with a little more than it had before you came along.

What tools and materials do you use to write? And, where do you write the most? Time of Day?

Drown responds: I use my trusty Macbook, Pedro, almost exclusively. Pedro and I have been through a lot together. I used to carry a small notebook around to jot, well, notes, but now it’s so much more efficient to record a voice memo on my iPhone to transcribe later.

I don’t have fixed places or times when I write. Given my schedule, finding time to work is pretty catch-as-you-can. I do like writing first thing in the morning, with the early light and smell of coffee filling the house. And if I’m traveling, a Starbucks usually makes a good home away from home.

On your own personal writing style in narrative and story-telling, what do you find sparks the most joy for you to compose a novel of epic fantasy proportions? What kinds of characters enrich your creative heart?

Drown responds: I have no idea why doing something as agonizing, frustrating and often times as lonely as composing a novel sparks joy at all. Okay, that’s not true.

I think what I enjoy most about fantasy writing is the challenge to relate to a contemporary audience through the actions and dialog of characters relegated to more or less a medieval understanding of the world. I like puzzling metaphors and other comparisons on the characters’ terms that (hopefully) still resonate with the reader.
And the characters that enrich my heart are usually the bad guys. They’re quite cathartic. Well, bad guys and loyal friends. Loyalty is especially important to me personally, and I like it when someone deadly—evil or good—expresses dedication to another. Because in fantasy storytelling, that either leads to glorious victories or devastating loss.

What do you feel is the hardest to convey as a writer? The imagined world in the backdrop of the story or the narrative voice of the epic fantasy hero or heroine?

Drown responds: The imagined world going on around the characters, for me, is the most daunting part of fantasy writing—how to make the setting exotic enough to feel like a different place yet accessible enough to feel familiar. I admire people who take the time to word-build before ever typing a syllable, but I tend to build the ladder as I’m climbing. You can have the most encyclopedically thorough fantasy realm in the history of the genre, but after that you still have to write a story. I do like throwing in the little touches that indicate that world is turning all on its own regardless our heroes’ actions. The guy in the cantina scene in Star Wars doesn’t care if you’re the last of the Jedi and our only hope; he doesn’t want your damn droids in his place.

As a girl with roots in the Northeast, I must ask you about how a Mainer has adapted to life in the South, residing in the heart of where Southern literary voices have emerged new talent: Memphis! I would imagine there is a ‘story’ within how you arrived in Memphis as much as how Maine still is attached to your heart? Do you oft return for visits or have you not looked back?

Drown responds: I arrived in South through Navy-brattery; my father was stationed here. And though I’ve lived in the Memphis area for thirty years now, I’m afraid it still makes an ill-fit. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate Memphis—the music, the food, the amazing creative community. I’ve made life-long friends here whom I love. And my children were born here—this is their hometown. But when I walk about, I don’t feel the ground being glad to have my weight as I do when I’m in my hometown. Maine, for me, always has been and always will be home. I have some family left there and I get back as often as I can, though not nearly often enough.

What do you think differs from growing up in the Northeast in New England from life in the MidSouth? Are there similarities or stark differences? What did you appreciate the most of community in the heart of a quintessential Maine towne like Brunswick? Is there any bit of that life that you miss?

Drown responds: The differences are indeed stark. And vast. And yet, at the same time, people for the most part are just people. Mainers tend to be a lot more straightforward and practical with their opinions. Far more “Quit yer carping gripe” than “Oh, bless your heart.” There’s an inherent stoicism among folks up there; a very bare wood, boiled potatoes, foggy day, flannel and gumboots kind of self-sufficiency that I find romantic and comforting. And yes; I miss it all.

What do you prefer to compose when telling a story? A short story or a novel? In which do you find is easier or more complex to convey?

Drown responds: For me, short stories are much more of a challenge. They force brevity and economy, yet still demand the full arc of an entire story. Novels allow elbow room, permit a bit of wandering off the main path just because it’s fun to see what’s there. I’ve always preferred round-about trips to direct routes.

I read in one of your recent Interviews that you do not readily read fantasy yourself. Do you find as I do with certain aspects of science fiction, that it is best not to tempt your own heart’s imagination by placing like-minded stories inside your imagination? To keep yourself blind to what other authors are writing in the vein of your own narrative verse reading like-minded authors and perhaps placing you betwixt knowing how to then proceed with your own creations?

Drown responds: There’s certainly that desire not to muddy the waters with other people’s ideas, especially the ones that are better than mine. But I think it’s more along the lines of a dessert chef drawing inspiration from the meal that’s to be complemented; or perhaps the rock guitarist whose ideas come from listening to Mozart. Painters generally don’t browse other paintings before they begin a new work. They go out into the world, take in as many different textures and colors as they can, from as many different sources as they can, then sit down to the canvas and translate all they’ve absorbed.

Are you a night owl writer? I noticed you tend to become creatively kinetic to your muse during hours in which most are enchanted by the dreamscapes. I, myself am a night owl writer and book blogger.

Drown responds: I used to make a habit of working into the wee hours, but for a number of reasons that’s just no longer possible for me. My friends and colleagues Stephen Zimmer and Allan Gilbreath, though, keep utterly inhuman hours and make me feel like a little old lady in contrast. As I mentioned previously, my writing times are pretty haphazard.

Can you share a bit about your artwork as a graphic designer and how the art in which you create inspires your writing? I oft find that my artistic pursuits feed back the creative karma I fuse into my narratives. Do you visually paint your stories alive as you write through your mind’s eye and therefore turn to sketch out your characters or scenes? Or do you let them stay housed in your imagination?

Drown responds: The connective tissue between my writing and my design work is the use of metaphor. In graphic design, my task is to take a provided group of disparate elements, find a common thread, and arrange them in such a way as to convey that commonality—particularly helpful in my photo illustrations.
And yes, I absolutely have the movie of what’s happening playing through my head as I’m writing. I do my best to see the hues, smell the aromas, and feel the environment. I’ll never have a map at the beginning of one of my books, but I can see quite vividly every location.

I completely agree with you on the merits of writing your heart out and telling the story which is welled inside you to give back to the word of readers. To write stories which inspire you as a writer will in turn inspire readers to find the stories which are given. Instead of buying into the belief that writing has to be marketed to the bottom line or it has no value. What do you think gives us this bold instinct to remain true to ourselves rather than to remain tethered to the industry’s ideal of what a writer should do?

Drown responds: Because creative acts are subjective by their very nature. Only the artist knows when the work is complete, and the satisfaction of completion is the only thing that puts the creative mind at ease. For a moment, anyway.

I was a bit surprised your initial reaction to bookish and writerly conventions was misunderstood on behalf of why some readers and fans of literary genres choose to dress visually their passion for their love of authors, stories, and the fantastical worlds of imagination. To me the greatest compliment we can express at either a live event or a motion picture is the outward embrace of the creative product. To give back a piece of joy in a visual way which celebrates our love of what we are seeing or experiencing. How did you change your perception and embrace what you at first felt was the wrong approach of a reader or fan? Do you readily now approach those who are visually expressing themselves or simply nod a smile from a distance? As I think part of what implores us to be visually creative is a bit like why the Holodeck appealed to not only the crew of the Enterprise but all of us back home watching the series on tv. A way to step into the story and live it.

Drown responds: I did harbor an early and unfair prejudice toward the cosplay set, on which I’ve since fully reversed myself. Initially, I thought it a shame for so much creativity and capability to go into something that seemed, to me, fleeting. Why not turn that energy toward something lasting? Why dabble about in other people’s creations when you could be creating your own? I falsely equated that sort of effort to the person who wears the jersey of his favorite player, goes to every home game, paints his face and belly blue and at the end of the season yells, “We won!” Thing is, though, you didn’t win. And the guy whose name is across your shoulder blades has no idea you even exist. No matter how dedicated a fan you may be, a vicarious sense of accomplishment is the same thing as no accomplishment, other than some temporary entertainment. And living through the deeds of others, from my perspective, is a waste of passion.

However, I eventually came to see those who take the time to build and display their costumes for what they really are. They’re the mask wearers who sit beside the campfire and relay the stories they’ve heard. They’re the ones beneath the bear skin who become the mythic figure in order to make the story come alive. They take the time to embody what inspires them and share that inspiration with others. And that by no means is a waste of time or passion.

Oh, and I’ve always been the sort to smile and nod from a distance no matter what the occasion. One of my very favorite quotes from Mark Twain empathsises the point for me.

A beautiful capture of the author’s favourite Twain quotation & an eloquent picture of the writer is found on LifeHacks Quotes!

As your travels in childhood were accelerated by being from a Navy family, where did you visit that left you in complete awe of your surroundings? Where would you love to travel back as a father with your children and wife?

Drown responds: Alaska, by far, is the most incredible place I’ve seen. There you can’t turn five degrees in either direction without seeing a completely new postcard-worthy sight. The sheer scale of the place bends the brain, and the absolute indifference to you, little human speck of meat, humbles the ego.

I’ve taken the kids there, to Alaska. And to Maine. And to the Grand Canyon. And to Michigan to visit the graves of our great-grandfathers. I’m thankful each of them seems to have inherited my sense of wonderment and love of travel. This fall we’re heading back to Maine with an excursion into Boston so they can see the grasshopper vane atop Faneuil Hall, which was built by Shem Drowne with the help of his brother, Simeon Drowne—my eight great grand-uncle and my eighth great grandfather, respectively. They’re buried in Copp’s Hill Cemetary near Leonard Drowne, my ninth great grand-father and the first Drown to come over from England. I’m happy to say my kids are really excited about having a familial connection to American history.

Why did you cross-compare your current work-in-progress “A Sister to Butterflies” as a cross-between “Wicked” (by Gregory Maguire) and “The Lovely Bones” (by Alice Sebold)!? I personally am a passionate appreciator of ‘Wicked’ as a Broadway Musical vs as a novel. Therefore my interest was piqued by your disclosure.

Drown responds: A Sister to Butterflies is more or less a fairy tale, but told in a realistic, adult voice—something that’s always fascinated me, children’s tales through the grim lens of verisimilitude. Maguire’s Wicked is exactly that: An Oz that has geopolitical concerns, wars, sex, religious zealots and murder. However, Maguire’s prose in that book, to me, runs a bit dry here and there. As a counterpoint, The Lovely Bones takes place in the modern world, but is written in such beautiful and lush language that it reads like a fairy tale.

So, that book falls somewhere within that spectrum. It’s my favorite work to date, and I’m excited to say it’s being considered by a publisher as I write this.

What is one thing readers might find surprising to learn about you?

Drown responds: That I have a vestigial tail.
Okay, that’s not true either. But that sure would be interesting. Maybe this’ll start a rumor.

Outside the realm of writing, what enriches your spirit the most? Where do you find your serenity?

Drown responds: Put me on a rocky coast with raspy grey ocean at my front and dark green pines at my back. Put me on a footpath deep in the woods with a daypack on my shoulders and a trek pole in my hand. Put me in airport, or put me in a car, with hundreds of miles to travel. Put me in a dim room with a cold beer and a close friend or two where we’ve hours to do nothing but save the world and each other’s souls.

Do any of those things, and I’ll show you serenity.

*Note: The author wished to quote from Sheil Silverstein’s “Where the Sidewalk Ends” except, as a book blogger I do look for permissions rights on quoting from each book that has a quotation on Jorie Loves A Story. Unfortunately, HarperCollins requires written approval for any and all quotations of their books for both adults and children. Therefore, I altered the quote by giving the essence of what is contained within the context of the opening page. If you see any quotations of books, due know it was after I either read the permissions per publisher website (as they sometimes allow small quotations for reviews), per book, or have personally contacted the publisher and/or author which applies to which book I’ve thus quoted. Thank you for your understanding!

Likewise, I found any quotations for Mark Twain published prior to 1923 can be freely quoted without prior permission due to fair use. Full information on quoting Mark Twain can be found on the Mark Twain Project website. Except to say, despite spending a few hours researching Twain database searches & source attribution sites, I cannot determine if the selected quote is inside the deadline or outside of it, as there is an authorised scholar of Twain who has the rights for anything written or said of Twain past 1923. I elected to yield to a site which has the quotation to be seen outside of this Interview.

I also exchanged one way of flavourfully colourising the mantra of Mainers for another!

Official Author Websites:  Site | Twitter | Facebook

Converse on Twitter: #AMageOfNoneMagic & #7thStarThis Author Interview is courtesy of:

as I am happily honoured to be:

Please visit my Bookish Events page to stay in the know for upcoming events!

Be sure to visit the other tour stops I am hosting

this week for Tomorrow Comes Media:

• On Editing Anthologies and Writing by Scott M. Sandridge
• A review of a Faerie Anthology of Stories: A Chimerical World: Tales of the Seelie Court (vote in the Reader Poll!)
• On writing Genre-Bending Fiction by AshleyRose Sullivan
• A review of a Comic-Fantasy with epic Superhero Heart: Awesome Jones
• Read Jorie’s Box of Joy to learn about my anticipation for the books!

Similar to blog tours, when I feature a showcase for an author via a Guest Post, Q&A, Interview, etc., I do not receive compensation for featuring supplemental content on my blog.

{SOURCES: Book cover for “A Mage of None Magic”, Author Biography, Book Synopsis, and tour badges were provided by Tomorrow Comes Media and used with permission. Author Interview badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Post dividers & My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. In conjunction with reading the novel for review on behalf of Tomorrow Comes Media, I wanted to interview Mr. Drown to gain an insight to his perspective as a debut author of epic fantasy. My questions were sent to the author and received a reply through Tomorrow Comes Media for which I am thankful.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2014.

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