Ask the Author: Brian McArthur
Answered Questions (4)
Brian McArthur
Real life. Mark Twain said truth is stranger than fiction, and I've found that real life can produce some pretty crazy moments that are wilder (and funnier) than anything I could possibly dream up. Many of the adventures in my stories are real, and so are many of the characters (or at least parts of them). So are many of the places and images. I find our own world is so full of incredible scenery and adventure that even as I experience it, my mind starts to embellish. What if that cliff had a city built into it? What if that tower belonged to the mages? How awesome would it be if this river valley were full of the remnants of some long lost civilization? I have a hard time not seeing the world through the eyes of Indiana Jones, and if it's good enough, I try and write it down.
Brian McArthur
Most of my ideas come when I'm away from the computer, so I keep a little journal with me on the trail or my phone with me in the city. Often these ideas come at 2am, so keeping these next to my bed or sleeping bag is essential. The creative juices usually come in waves, and I try to take advantage of them when they come, dropping whatever I was doing and pounding out my thoughts before real life forces me to be responsible and productive again. When I get writer's block, I try and give it about 30 minutes to resolve itself by writing anyway. Most of the time the writer's block subsides, and creativity begets more creativity. When it doesn't, I give up and do something else with my life until the ideas come again. No use trying to force it. I find that the result is painfully slow, boring, and labored writing. Just not something I would ever want to read, much less publish!
Brian McArthur
The Knights of Akhan is probably the installment of the Taldorian Chronicles that is dearest to my heart. We'll have to see once it's all finished! The plot is picking up, and it is so much fun to write.
The reason is the setting: the sunbaked wilderness between the River Andŭn and the Dağlar Mountains is where I would probably choose to live in the land of Taldor. Anyone who has been to the Nabataean ruins of Petra in Jordan, or Havasupai Falls in the Grand Canyon, or Sedona, Arizona, has experienced some of the wild beauty I am trying to capture in this book. After hours of hiking under a sun that kills, you suddenly stumble across breathtaking oases and impressive ruins, bursts of color that delight your weary eyes and pools of cool water that bring life tingling back to your skin. Having grown up in northern Arizona, these are some of my favorite places in our amazing world.
The other reason is the core theme of the story. Fighting human trafficking is one of my passions, and I try to depict it in all its heartbreaking reality, only set in a fictional land. The characters in The Knights of Akhan have the benefit of magecraft to combat this great evil, but the pain and loss they experience is enough to destroy anyone. Hakan of Korah, Kadir of Kazakh, and Çakal the coyote animist show us what life is like from Hakan's perspective. This book is written as if it were his personal memoir, as a warning to the Mage Council that the Scarlet Disciples are very much an active force in the badlands.
The reason is the setting: the sunbaked wilderness between the River Andŭn and the Dağlar Mountains is where I would probably choose to live in the land of Taldor. Anyone who has been to the Nabataean ruins of Petra in Jordan, or Havasupai Falls in the Grand Canyon, or Sedona, Arizona, has experienced some of the wild beauty I am trying to capture in this book. After hours of hiking under a sun that kills, you suddenly stumble across breathtaking oases and impressive ruins, bursts of color that delight your weary eyes and pools of cool water that bring life tingling back to your skin. Having grown up in northern Arizona, these are some of my favorite places in our amazing world.
The other reason is the core theme of the story. Fighting human trafficking is one of my passions, and I try to depict it in all its heartbreaking reality, only set in a fictional land. The characters in The Knights of Akhan have the benefit of magecraft to combat this great evil, but the pain and loss they experience is enough to destroy anyone. Hakan of Korah, Kadir of Kazakh, and Çakal the coyote animist show us what life is like from Hakan's perspective. This book is written as if it were his personal memoir, as a warning to the Mage Council that the Scarlet Disciples are very much an active force in the badlands.
Brian McArthur
The Taldorian Chronicles were born over Carnaval weekend, a 4-day holiday in Bolivia. I was stuck in a hostel waiting for five of the adolescents I was helping to raise to be released from an adventure camp. Because the camp is based on the element of surprise, prior campers (such as myself) are not allowed to participate a second time, and are sworn to secrecy. As their official chaperone, I had accompanied them on the 22-hour bus ride from Cochabamba to Tarija (Yes, your butt turns to hamburger after sitting that long), and I was essentially killing time.
I started drawing a map (I LOVE maps of all kinds), and then started imaging what it might look like in real life. And then what kind of people might live there. And then what sort of things they would do. I traded some notes with my friend Shannon Dix, who sent me the first chapter on Analise. I liked it. I wanted to know what Analise did next. So I wrote some more of her story. The other characters, principally Aeron and Garret, were expressions of their homelands, and probably represent some dear friends I have. The adventures they all began to have closely mirror many of the adventures I have personally experienced in this wild ride we call life.
I started drawing a map (I LOVE maps of all kinds), and then started imaging what it might look like in real life. And then what kind of people might live there. And then what sort of things they would do. I traded some notes with my friend Shannon Dix, who sent me the first chapter on Analise. I liked it. I wanted to know what Analise did next. So I wrote some more of her story. The other characters, principally Aeron and Garret, were expressions of their homelands, and probably represent some dear friends I have. The adventures they all began to have closely mirror many of the adventures I have personally experienced in this wild ride we call life.
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