Mystical Force Volume 5 takes readers on a captivating journey as Detective Shinjo and Shi-Ria battle crime and unravel prophecies amidst the looming rise of Kage Dai Yokai. What was one thing that got you excited to write this book?

It would have to be the introduction of the character of Chiyoko. The first four books were more of world building. While they introduce plot elements which will play a part later on in the series, this was really the part where the actual story really starts getting moving in my opinion. What’s really great about it is that it allows me to really start to explain things that I’ve been hinting at in the previous books. That’s really the hard part in writing a series, you don’t want to give away too much information right at the beginning. They always say you should leave your audience wanting more.

How do you strike a balance between delivering action-packed sequences and exploring diverse points of view in your writing?

That’s a very good question! I wish I had a very good answer for you (HA HA)! Honestly, I don’t really think about it. When I write an action sequence I tend to think more along the line of “how do I get from point A to point B, then C, then D…” and so on. As far as exploring diverse points of view, I always remember the words of my late screen writing teacher Mr. Michael Monty when I studied film and television at Seneca College. He always said that what makes a story work are interesting characters. If you don’t have engaging characters, then no amount of action, sex, violence (or in the case of film/television) impressive visual effects can save your story. I tend to favour the character scenes more, since in my opinion/observation, when it comes to speculative fiction, the focus tends to be more on the characters powers. “What can they do? Can they fly? Can they shoot lasers from their eyes? Can they move things with there minds?” It seems to me (though this is just my opinion – and I don’t watch a lot of movies/TV – so I may be wrong) that a lot of times people tend to create characters with powers simply to have cool things happen to them. For me personally, I’d rather go into the character’s head, find out what makes them tick. So I guess the short answer is I focus more on the characters and exploring their “diverse points of view”, then use the “action-packed sequences” to move the plot along.

Can you tell us more about the process of crafting individual narratives for each character in the book and how they contribute to the overall tapestry of the series?

Another good question! And again, I wish I had a very good answer for you! I don’t really think about it at least not on a conscience level. I guess I tend to either put my views into the characters or have them serve as counterpoints to my views just to debate the matter. I remember a while back reading an article, something about “signs you march to the beat of your own drum”. One of the signs was that you look at both sides of an issue. I’ve always been the type of guy to step back and look at the bigger picture. All too often it seems society encourages us to (as I call it) “think in binary”. To look at the world in black and white. It’s either all or nothing, black or white, one or zero. As for “how they contribute to the overall tapestry”? Mystical Force is really a story of learning to overcome the binary thinking. Specifically the idea of fate and free will being polar opposites. Society in general seems to have this idea that either we have free will or God set some divine plan for us that we must blindly follow without question, whether we want to or not. I don’t agree with that personally. I personally see fate as God/the universe (whatever you choose to call it) giving us the means to follow the decisions we would have already chosen in life. I use my characters individual narratives to show the kind of people that they are, why their lives are the way they are, why they made their individual choices. To go back to my earlier point about ‘fate/free will’, most people tend make their life choices unconsciously, then when things don’t work out the way they expected they claim fate dealt them a bad hand in life. The truth is it’s our thoughts and actions that determine our lot in life, now there are things in life that we can’t control, but we can control how we view/deal with them. That’s how I weave it into the tapestry of the series. Characters like Mystic, Noonien and Shi-ria, trying to show Sister Rose, Chiyoko and Scarlet Knightwalker how to choose their own fate consciously, rather than unconsciously choosing what they don’t want then blaming it on fate.

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?

I’m currently in the process of editing Liberator vol. 2. I just got the first draft back from my editor, so that one should be out sometime in the fall. While at the same time I’m also writing Mystical Force vol. 6. That’s how I work, whichever series is currently being published by Tellwell, I write the manuscript for the other series. Once that book is out I submit the manuscript for the next one. In this case, I’ll be writing Mystical Force vol. 6 while Tellwell edits and prepares Liberator vol. 2 for publication. After Liberator 2 is out, the manuscript for Mystical Force 6 should be ready to be submitted for publication.

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