Welcome to BookView Interview, a conversation series where BookView talks to authors.
Recently, we talked to Nathan Ash about his writing and recently released book, THE LEGACY OF THE DREAMER, a haunting, tense, and thought-provoking fantasy that thrusts readers into a world of forbidden magic, unrelenting grief, and an unshakable quest for truth (read the review here).
From the blurb: Renealt lies bloody and dying as a mysterious presence lingers before him. He begs for his life to be saved as the darkness closes in. Suddenly, he is shaken awake, and finds his wish has been granted. His wound has vanished and the only explanation is magic. But magic is forbidden, and those who practice it are hunted.
Who was that he pleaded to in those final moments before he faded into the black?
Driven by an obsessive desire for knowledge, he embarks on a quest to uncover the truth. Every answer only leads to another question, but he can never give up.
On his journey he discovers that the magic that saved him was not only impossible, but permanent. He cannot die.
Is an eternal life long enough to unravel his mystery?
Do you find writing therapeutic?
I do. I have a hard time showing my creativity in any way other than writing. I’ve never been a great artist or musician, but writing comes fairly naturally to me.
How often you read?
I read novels very little. The only non-academic book that I can think of that I have finished in the last 15 years is The Hobbit, which I brought along during a long car ride. I enjoy reading, and in my younger years I did a ton of it. Many years ago when I began to work on the original outline of my story I stopped reading other things, as I was worried I would unintentionally derive ideas from them. I lost the habit of reading and never really picked it up again.
Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
It was very important to me to be original. So much, in fact, that I feel that I will have a fairly niche audience. Fantasy stories about magic are wildly popular, but my story is less about magic and fantasy creatures than it is about the life on the main character.
How do you select the names of your characters?
I agonized quite a bit over the names of some of my characters, and eventually broke it down in a few ways. Because of the length of time my book covers, there are really only two important characters. Both of their names are anagrams of other words, one of which is given away in the text, and the other is strongly hinted at. There are actually seven anagrams in the story, the others being places or things. Other names I tried to keep around a theme. Names of Humans are similar to ours, dwarven names are single syllable with hard sounds, and elven names are drawn out with repeating characters.
What is your favorite childhood book?
I loved Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I read the series so many times I had much of it memorized. I remember loving the original BBC series, and being extremely disappointed when the movie of it did not follow the writing to the letter.
Does your family support your career as a writer?
Writing is not a career for me, but more as the only way I feel satisfied expressing my creativity. My day job is in IT, and I am likely to stay here. When I wrote this novel, I told no one other than my wife. I hired an editor and a book cover designer to help me craft it in a way that others could enjoy it as well. When it was finished, I ordered the very first copy to be sent to my parents, who had no idea I still had an interest in writing. I had not spoken to them about writing in nearly 15 years. They received the package in the mail, and I asked them to call me before they opened it. When they did, I said “Surprise! I wrote a book!”, and they are still amazed now, over a month later.
What inspired the premise of your book?
Ever since I was a child and people talked about wanting to live forever, I simply could not imagine that being a happy existence.
How many rewrites did you do for this book?
I wrote about 10 – 12 short chapters following an extensive outline that I created about 5 years ago. One day while watching a TV show I began to feel like my writing had been subconsciously copied from much of the media I had consumed, and became discouraged with it. I eventually scrapped much of it and started over on the outline.
Are any of your characters based on real people you know?
There is one minor character who is based on a real person who I have played online games with off and on the last few years. He is an alcoholic, and every time I play with him he inevitably drinks too much and begins to say “You know what I’m saying?” after every sentence. One of the dwarves is modeled after him. I told him recently, and he thought it was hilarious.
Which scene or chapter in the book is your favorite? Why?
Near the end of the book, the main character finally finds something he has been searching for. He has already been going mad for some time, and this is the object that finally breaks him completely. I love the metaphors I used in this chapter and leading up to it.
Where do your ideas for this story come from?
I have found many of my ideas from both the moments before I fall asleep, as well as dreams. I focused on this intentionally, meditating on the thoughts of my writing as I laid down at night. I know I lost some good ideas by not wanting to write them down, and expecting I would still remember them in the morning.
How did you decide on this title?
Names in general are one of the hardest parts of writing for me. At some point I came up with the current name, and most regrettably, I forgot to check to see if there was already books with a similar name. I found out about “A Legacy of a Dreamer” less than two days before my book launched on amazon. At that point it was too late to change, I already had everything else completed and submitted. Oops! I don’t know what else I would have named it, but I would have come up with something different to avoid confusion.
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