Ask the Author: David W. Tollen
Answered Questions (3)
David W. Tollen
My girlfriend (now wife) was studying to be certified as a public school teacher, and she was having trouble with history. So I took her history outline and give her a four-hour lecture/review of all the history on the test. It worked like a charm, and she had no trouble passing. Afterwards, I wondered, "Why is all this history rattling around in my head," (I'm a big history buff) "and what can I do with it?"
I started thinking about a book that covers as much history as my girlfriend's (again, now wife's!) test. But I wanted to write fiction. My first thought was to write a series of short stories, taking the reader through the entire history of Western Civilization (something like Rutherford's novels: Sarum, etc.). But I wanted to tie it all together somehow (tighter than Rutherford does). One day while driving, it hit me: turn the timeline into an actual, physical river in a fantasy world. So the characters travel through history, while having a journey-type adventure--allowing me to cover multiple periods in a single story. Thus was born my current book, The Jericho River.
I started thinking about a book that covers as much history as my girlfriend's (again, now wife's!) test. But I wanted to write fiction. My first thought was to write a series of short stories, taking the reader through the entire history of Western Civilization (something like Rutherford's novels: Sarum, etc.). But I wanted to tie it all together somehow (tighter than Rutherford does). One day while driving, it hit me: turn the timeline into an actual, physical river in a fantasy world. So the characters travel through history, while having a journey-type adventure--allowing me to cover multiple periods in a single story. Thus was born my current book, The Jericho River.
David W. Tollen
David Tollen I'm working on another young people's book that uses fantasy to teach history and science. It's called Secrets of Hominea, and it's a series of connected short stories set in an alternate world, with strange people and creatures but run on principles of evolution and natural science, just like our world. Expect it in 2015, from Winifred Press.
I'm also working on a training program about IT contracts, related to my book, The Tech Contracts Handbook. Most likely, it'll be distributed as DVD's or online.
I'm also working on a training program about IT contracts, related to my book, The Tech Contracts Handbook. Most likely, it'll be distributed as DVD's or online.
David W. Tollen
Good catch, Zahraa! My real name is David Tollen, but I also write law books under that name, and I'm the founder of a San Francisco law firm. So I was concerned about "blending" my brand -- concerned people would goodle David the law author/lawyer and find my history/fantasy writings, and get confused. So I published The Jericho River's first edition under a pen name "David Carthage."
Eventually, though, I decided my concern had been wrong and that blending the two roles might actually be a good thing. Makes for an interesting story. And who knows? -- a few law readers might get interested in the fantasy/history books, for themselves or their kids, or vice-versa. So in the second edition, I went with my real name (at the same time as we updated the cover, for independent reasons).
Eventually, though, I decided my concern had been wrong and that blending the two roles might actually be a good thing. Makes for an interesting story. And who knows? -- a few law readers might get interested in the fantasy/history books, for themselves or their kids, or vice-versa. So in the second edition, I went with my real name (at the same time as we updated the cover, for independent reasons).
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