Goodreads asked Michael Augustyn:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Michael Augustyn It's an adventure story for young readers, similar to what I read in high school, though my characters are all teens and use their wits and determination to save their lands from hostile forces. Frankly, I think "the market" shies away from stories with reference to any real violence, like war. It's ok to slay dragons and sub-human ogres and demons, but my take is that anything resembling real life that includes violence isn't popular. Yet foreign audiences seem to have little problem with it, maybe because their historical experiences, including recent events, give them a different perspective. But the focus of my new book isn't war. It's meeting a challenge and using any triumph to improve the world, which kings, counselors, and presidents have often failed to do--in the real world.

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