Author INTERVIEW: John B. Crye

What inspired you to write in the fantasy/sci-fi genre, and how does that inspiration reflect in your stories?

Some of my earliest memories are of my older brother reading “The Hobbit” aloud to me, and my grandfather telling me stories from Bullfinch’s Mythology. Of course, I also cannot deny the impact of 1977’s “Star Wars” on my 8 year-old self’s imagination. Easily the greatest influence on me as a storyteller, however, was DMing games of “Dungeons & Dragons,” which I’ve done since 1982. There’s nothing like improvising a story for a small, close audience for learning what excites them and holds their interest, and what simply doesn’t work. I also developed a taste for serialized storytelling around that same time, falling in love with the short, sharp cliffhanger thrills of “Doctor Who” and Marvel Comics. That’s why “The Elect Stories” is published as a series of novellas, each with its own “penny dreadful”-style double-title, such as “Purpose, or, The Swordbearer’s Lament”. Beyond those influences, I think I’ve always considered Fantasy to be the best genre for talking about grand scale concepts and doing so in a way that isn’t dry or academic. Fantasy embraces operatic emotion. With “The Elect Stories,” I was keen to work through my thoughts on faith, religion, grief and responsibility. Fantasy allows those deeply human topics to be explored with stories that can be thoughtful but also exciting and entertaining.

Why did you choose the indie author route to publication?

For 12 years, I was the creative voice of Newmarket Films, acquiring, developing and distributing films like “Memento,” “The Prestige,” “Donnie Darko,” “Whale Rider,” and “The Mexican.” I have dedicated over 25 years of my life to independent film, which is all about subverting the studio system and getting stories told through sheer force of will and ample elbow grease. The idea of submitting my work to the traditional publishing system barely even occurred to me. The idea of remaining independent really took hold, however, when I spoke with friends who are traditionally published authors and discovered how little the publishing houses actually do to support authors these days, and the cut that they take for their nominal efforts. That sealed the deal.

Can you share a bit about the world-building process in your series or novel? How do you balance creativity with consistency?

Again, I have to credit the consistency of the more fantastical elements of my writing to years of playing D&D for my world-building. I play-tested the world of “The Elect Stories” for decades before I ever wrote a word of the stories. The less fantastical elements tend to track because I am a history buff and based my fictional story world on America of 1780 – 1800, which I find fascinating. That was an era of enormous upheaval in practically every aspect of life. The creativity really comes into play in determining what would have been different in that time if magic – even the limited forms of magic that I write about – had existed. What technologies would have emerged later in that world due to magic already satisfying certain needs? My stories are character-driven and don’t dwell much on global events, but thought experiments like that engage my creativity while keeping the “reality” of the world consistent.

What unique challenges do you face as an indie author in the fantasy/sci-fi genre, and how do you overcome them?

Reaching an audience and building trust is a challenge. Maybe that isn’t entirely unique to Fantasy or Sci-Fi writers, but our genre – and my work in it – does favour long books and series. It can be daunting for a reader to commit to reading work of that kind if they don’t know the author and have no faith that the work is ultimately going to be rewarding. It is already difficult to reach an audience, but that additional hurdle is quite a challenge and I have not overcome it yet. What little ground I have gained in growing my audience has been through persistence and the blessing of positive word-of-mouth.

Who are your favorite fantasy/sci-fi authors or works, and in what ways have they influenced your writing?

I love Tolkein and Leiber and Burroughs and LeGuin, who set the standards for us all. I also love Ellison and Gaiman and King, though I don’t think I write like any of them, as much as I wish that I did. I find Kate DiCamillo’s prose beautiful and I love the deceptive simplicity of her stories, which are aimed at a much younger audience than mine. I actually read more history and non-fiction than Fantasy, and I am probably more influenced by the works of Russell Shorto and Candice Millard than my Fantasy heroes. All of these authors inspire me with the clarity of their writing, which enables them to deliver imagination-expanding work that remains energetic, always staying on the balls of its feet.

How do you develop your characters, and who is your favorite character from your works? Why?

My degree is in performance – a BFA from Emerson College in Boston – and I approach character development for my writing much as I would when I was acting, albeit without the benefit of existing text as a foundation. I try to put myself in the character’s shoes and genuinely react to the circumstances of the story as they would. My imagination is often aided by basing characters on people that I know well and whose actions or reactions I can clearly see in my mind. One of my favorites is Gelgarth Arbekka, a laconic retired lawman who is based on my grandfather, who was an Arkansas state trooper. A number of readers have said that he is their favourite, too, and I think that is a response to the empathetic depiction that grew out of thinking of him in the same terms as my grandfather.

Could you discuss the role of magic/science or fantastical/sci-fi elements in your stories? How do you create rules and limitations for them?

I have always preferred “low magic” worlds, where magic is relatively rare and considered impressive / terrifying in any amount. I really don’t enjoy a world that is dressed in Medieval drag but which may as well be present day because every modern convenience has been replicated using magic instead of technology. As mentioned, my setting is based on the turn of the 19th century, on the cusp between the Enlightenment and the Industrial Era, and magic is treated like folk knowledge and “the old ways” that technology is rapidly supplanting, It is still distinctly late 18th to early 19th century levels of technology, however, making the world both quaint and exotic.

I intentionally did not design or even much think about my magic system before I started writing. I didn’t want to write to a system, which would feel to me like I was writing the novelization of a non-existent game. I wanted to do the exact opposite, where I would avoid including any kind of magic unless it was truly necessitated by the story, and then I’d reverse engineer the rules. In working that way, I landed on a very organic kind of magic that some characters are able to manipulate naturally and others study academically, the way one would quantum physics. Like quantum physics in our world, magic in my story world is known to be real, but few understand it or knowingly interact with it on a daily basis.

How do you approach the plotting and planning of your series or novels? Do you prefer to map everything out beforehand or let the story evolve as you write?

I am a firm believer in treatments. Having spent decades in screenplay development, the appreciation of a solid story structure is deeply ingrained in me. I know some writers who resist this, saying that they want their story to unfold as it will, but I see that organic process as happening in the treatment stage. The story “unfolds as it will” in my roughly sketched treatment. Then, when I sit down to write a scene, I already know what is required and my writing can be more focused. I always leave room to interpret my intentions differently on the actual day of writing, and sometimes what I write “on the day” will alter the structure that I had previously laid out, but I find that knowing where the story wants to go before I jump into scene work makes for clearer, more active writing. The same cannot be achieved without a treatment, of course, but requires far deeper editing later. I prefer ideation to editing.

What is a theme or message you hope readers take away from your work?

When I first set out writing “The Elect Stories,” I wanted to explore themes of faith and religion, specifically deconstructing the “prophesied hero” trope so frequently explored in Fantasy, particularly modern YA stuff. I grew up in a Bible-centric church, and the differences between scripture and dogma, and faith and religion have always intrigued me. My beta readers, however, identified themes that I had included subconsciously: grief, regret, the responsibilities of parenthood, the challenges of aging, and the changing bonds of lifelong relationships. As I edited the work, I leaned into those themes.

In what ways do you connect with your readers, and how has their feedback influenced your writing?

I dearly wish that I had more contact with my readers. I read my reviews and I do occasionally get messages via social media, but more feedback would surely be appreciated. I took every word of feedback from my beta readers to heart, including some rather deep revisions that changed two central characters from male to female. As far as general reader feedback goes, I can only say that it has encouraged me to keep going.

As an indie author, what advice would you give to aspiring writers wanting to publish in the fantasy/sci-fi genre?

Raise or save up money to fund marketing and advertising. You can have the most wonderful book ever, but that won’t matter if nobody knows it exists. Whether you publish using Amazon’s KDP system or otherwise, you’ll need to promote the book yourself and every avenue of doing so costs money.

What are the biggest challenges you face as an indie author?

See my last answer: promotion is the one and only bugbear haunting the process. Finding where the audience hangs out and getting the work in front of them is a challenge in the internet / social media age. Yes, technology allows us to reach audiences directly in ways we’ve never experienced before, but the open playing field created by the lack of curators and gatekeepers is also a crowded playing field. Finding a way to draw attention to your work is tough.

Add any Links here –

The Elect Stories website

https://www.theelectstories.com/

Amazon’s page for the series

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TC9MT29

The Elect Stories on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/theelectstories/

The Elect Stories on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/TheElectStories

Thank you!