Author Interview- Scott T. Barnes
Author of Christian YA Fantasy Novel
1. What inspired you to write this story?
Chaos Woods contains autobiographical elements: I grew up in the mountains, surrounded by forests and wilderness, in a small town where everyone knew everyone else’s business. I love the wild places—and the feeling of being lost—which definitely shows through in the novel. That said, I never begin a story unless several “brainstorm” elements seem to come together. In this case, it was the forest, the town, the feisty and stubborn protagonist, and the Spring Sale, where magical artifacts from the woods are traded. All of these popped into my imagination as separate elements but felt like they belonged to the same tale. That’s how I knew I could begin writing.
What kind of research did you have to do for this story?
I want to get things right, so I end up doing a lot of surface-level research, just enough to avoid making obvious mistakes. For example, the imaginary town of Harlech is a mountain town that survives thanks to trappers. I did a lot of research on how to set traps. At the end of the day, I deleted the chapter where the trapper Redbeard takes Telyn into the woods and explains how this is done. That’s why I don’t delve into too many hours of research on any one topic; it might not even make the final cut!
What was the most challenging aspect of writing this story?
Sitting down day-after-day and putting words on ‘paper.’ Self-discipline is by far my biggest obstacle. As far as individual scenes, any sort of “meeting” where three or more people dialog is a challenge. How do you make it interesting? How do you make sure it is clear who is talking? How do you give each character a unique voice and unique goals? Two people talking to each other is far easier to write than three or more.
What was the easiest aspect of writing this story?
I love the wilds, the mountains, the forests, the feeling of being lost, the sense of discovery. Therefore, the scenes where the heroes plunge into the forest in a desperate attempt to rescue their friend from slavery came easiest. It felt like I toiled alongside the heroes as they waded through the drifts of fallen snow and warmed their hands over the crackling campfire. Many readers have cited these chapters as their favorites, so my passion must have shown through.
How did you incorporate Christian themes into your story?
As a Christian author, I believe that to some extent my beliefs will show through in my writing as a natural extension of my characters. Much fantasy fiction deals with ‘good versus evil.’ That is a fine theme. The world doesn’t want us to even admit that evil exists; everything is relative; anything can be justified if you have enough grievances…
I wanted to make the Chronicles of the Ever-Guise unique, so I varied the theme into ‘truth versus lies.’ Clearly, the Bible is very concerned about this. My first goal with Chaos Woods is to entertain. The world is a difficult place. Reading should be fun. If I can get people to realize the importance of truth—fantastic. If they investigate this to any depth, they will discover that the only Truth with a capital T comes from God’s Word. That’s how I hope to introduce Biblical themes to the reader.
Is the genre of this story a new one for you to write in or do you have experience with this genre?
Fantasy is my bread and butter. It’s funny, when I write short stories, I usually end up writing science fiction. It is a fun way to experiment with something different—except that when people read them, say in a magazine, they get the wrong expectation of what I write. They might go to Amazon and be surprised and disappointed not to find any science fiction novels there.
I have also written and published historical nonfiction. Again, that has led me to develop a nonfiction fan base that has little or no interest in fantasy. Sigh.
7. What do you like about the genre you write in?
Fantasy gives you tremendous freedom. The setting can be anywhere and any when. Characters can be human, beast, fairy, or anything, really. If you want to write about a cognizant, rolling meatball, you can! (When I introduced my daughter to Dungeons and Dragons at a very young age, she wanted to play a rolling meatball. Of course, her sister wanted to play an eagle—and attacked…).
In writing this story, did you plan it out in detail or were there parts of the plot that came to you unexpectedly?
A little of both. I tried to outline the whole story and failed. I got about halfway through and couldn’t advance the outline any further. But I discovered that when I wrote a few chapters and got to know the characters, setting, and conflict better, then I could advance the outline. That is how I work now: I outline as far as I can, then I begin writing. Then, after a couple of chapters, I review the outline and see if I can advance it, or if it needs to be changed. It was comforting to read the books by Christopher Tolkien about his father’s work, for J.R.R. Tolkien wrote Lord of the Rings in a similar way.
What character did you find yourself connecting with the most?
My favorite character is Rayvn. She is a distracted, cat-like magic user. Picture Luna Lovegood with fangs and claws. She gets her own point-of-view chapters in book two, Chaos Empire.
What is the significance of the setting you chose for the story?
In this world, all the “races” (think the bar scene in Star Wars) have magic except for humans. In most parts of the world, humans are second class or slaves. But the forest around the mountain town of Harlech alters magic in unpredictable ways, putting humans on an equal footing to other races. Slavery does not exist, there.
I didn’t specifically write the forest as a symbol, but I do believe that with hard and smart work, anyone in a free society can accomplish just about whatever they choose to. I think the forest and its leveling effect has something to do with that idea, although it would take a psychologist to explain it.
Giveaway: Scott is giving away a $50 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book. Please click the below link to enter:
https://gleam.io/E1JY7/chaos-woods-celebration-tour-giveaway
Nice interview. The book sounds interesting.
This sounds like a great book! Ty for sharing!