A Door into Evermoor

An interview with the author of this YA Fantatsy book, while being enthralled in the world he created, also provided insight. I too had no one that inspired me outside of Stephen King. It was just a passion I held within myself much like Kent Wayne, author of A Door into Evermore.

During my interview I asked questiions that would not only dive into his psyche when writing and creating this world, but also things that like myself, would help when we didn’t take those creative classes like everyone else, it was just within us to write.

Kent Wayne’s story for A Door into Evermoor, Vol. 1 of the Unbound Realm, as he stated, “Comes from my younger self’s desire to avoid adulting”. His character Jon, is in a somewhat similar situation. Kent stated that he had purposefully created him as a well-off, first-worlder, that was a blank slate in terms of being a person.

The simplest thing for this character to do is finish college, get a job, get married, etc., etc. This man has nothing to complain about, but he can’t articulate why he isn’t content, all he can do is complain about his prospects because they don’t bring him joy.

How many of us have ever felt this way?I for one have. So Kent Wayne created a world in which this character has a chance meeting with a military recruiter. For lack of a better phrase, this recruiter turns out to be a supernatural entity, that is also a protagonist in some of Wayne’s other books. This is where Jon will entera fantasy world where he is told he is the chosen one. Inside this book there are wonderous creatures and cultures. Despite the fact that this character is blown away by all its novely, he is still trying to escape responsibility and the problems in the fantasy world, which mirrors the ones on Earth.

Wayne states that this is why he called the realm, Evermoor. It is a play on words as in, “More of the same”.

I enjoyed what he had to say as far as the philosophical aspect. He based his series on the concept of the Eternal Realm. In a speech by Alan Watts, he puts forth the premise of “What would you do if you had the power within one night to dream a lifetime as you wished?

Wayne’s idea for this book is credited toward Kings’ book, Drawing of the Three, specifically where the character Roland drinks Pepsi and is blown away by the sweetness of the soda. The other credit is to Alan Watts’ speech and question he posed.

Waayne states, ” Much like how a lot of cool stuff reslults from Roland’s (Stephen King’s character in the Drawing of the Three), interactions with Earth. I wanted to describe the wonders Job feels when he encounters the magic of Evermoor. When takes the inhabitants of Evermoor back with him to Earth. I wanted to channel the same thing, only in reverse.”

Not understanding psychology well enough to understand how motives become follow-on-actions,or how to turn a premise into a story, he had dabbled in writing in his teens and his early twenties. In his thirties he took a deep dive into his writing.

I absolutely love this man’s honesty. He states, ” What drives me each day is I’m not afraid to suck. My first drafts are clunky, filled with unnecessary repitition, and painful to read. All I’m looking for in the first draft is what triggers a sense of excitement or potential from me. Later, during the editing processs, I edit to death, around thirty drafts or so, and cut more than half of my original manuscript. I refine that potential and excitement into what I think will be enjoyable to other people.”

Wayne says that once he started studying himself more, writers block was the opposite for him. He promotes these questions:

• Why am I motivated to do the things I do?
• How do I see a problem through from start to finish, and why”?
• What did each step symbolize for me?

Wayne states that, “Those would be good places to start, in my opinion, if you want to vanquish writer’s block. ” Wayne asks, ” Why do characters see themselves the way they do, and how do I express that in a series of events? Then amp it up as much as possible; use your imagination to push that expression right up to theedge of absurdity, but don’t cross over, unless you’re a comedian.”

I dove into Kent Wayne’s own psych amd asked him about music and where his ideas for his characters came from. Here is what he had to say:

“I usually listen to cheerful, poppy music, even when I’m writing horrible stuff. like giant cyborgs pulling spinal vertebrea out from the little kids…….. (Apex in Echo 4). Taylor Swift, K-Pop, nineties soft rock…”

“My ideas for characters come from different angles. A lot of the time, I need to express certain philosophies or viewpoint to contrast with others. I try to build characters around these viewpoints, and try to sneak in a flavor into everything they do- into what they say, their history, and, of course, their behavior.”

Much like myself, Wayne stated that he had attended writing circles, but felt they were generally negative. It was a place where others judge each others’ writing- strictly against their own writing standards.

I enjoyed the writing advice he had to offer: ” As a writer, I would pay attention to rythm. Most of the other stuff-structure, psychology, etc- is covered in classed or texts. Rythm is probably the most fluid elemnt in writing, since it changes with culture and time…By rythm, I mean the cadence of words, much like the rhythm in dance or music. You want to use repetition to draw the reader in, but not too much , unless you’re trying to make a deliberate point with it. “

Kent Wayne uses the word “and” as an example. He says that the word flattens the rhythm.

He compares rhythm with chapters in a book. He doesn’t like it when he is reading a book, it’s fast paced, and it abruptly switches to a slow-paced scene. It throws things off for him. He says that this is why he edits his stories over and over. He suggest paying attention to rhythm, because it draws your reader in on a subconscious level.

Kent Wayne says his upcoming books will be volumes 2 and 3 of the Unbound Realm. I urge you to purchase his book” Door into Evermoor” on Amazon or wherever your purchase your books.

As an Amazon affilliat I am going to provide you with the link to purchase his book.

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