The Seal of Thomerion follows a veteran dwarf on a quest to save his friend, who is suffering from a deadly and mysterious curse. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I drew inspiration for this and other books from my experiences with Dungeons & Dragons; specifically with running campaigns for them. I created many quests and obstacles for my players to overcome, and one of them who entered the group late (as a dwarven warrior) needed a personal-investment hook, so I made it so that he was seeking the cure to a mysterious disease/curse. For those who don’t know, Dungeons & Dragons is a highly imagination-based tabletop roleplaying game with a core set of rules, which Dungeonmasters like me build around using our own ideas (homebrew.)

I find the world you created in this novel brimming with possibilities. Where did the inspiration for the setting come from, how did it change as you were writing, and how did you keep track of all the different paths readers can take?

The setting became a conglomeration of different adventure climates, terrains and scenarios, some of which I had read in other fantasy books with complicated maps and deeply-thought-out cityscapes. In comparison, I decided to keep my world a little simpler than many, which just a handful of major cities and geographical landmarks, all of which have played important roles in the stories. The paths I send my readers down changed primarily as I came up with choice junctures, and I’ve used Microsoft Word and a carefully organized linking system to keep track of the “tree” shape the pathways form.

The Seal of Thomerion begins in a traditional way but then takes a turn that defies traditional fantasy storytelling, putting readers in charge of where the story goes next. What made you decide to write your novel in this format?

I am a huge fan of board games and of creating well-rounded experiences for consumers. Interactive fiction fits that bill because, as a consumer myself of the Choose Your Own Adventure series as a child, I became deeply engaged in each decision. Memorably, I could always turn back to where I kept my thumb in place, should the ending turn out to be less than ideal. So, there’s a bit of nostalgia behind my compositions, even as I upgrade the CYOA format for a more adult audience.

I hope the series continues in other books. If so, where will the story take readers?

There are two more books in the series also available, entitled The Gate to Thomerion and the Wrath of Thomerion. In GtT, the cleric who serves as the primary ally in The Seal of Thomerion, Bartleby, takes a turn as the protagonist (even though in all cases, the books are written in second-person “you”-centric perspective). Bartleby struggles to keep a secret relationship from coming to light within his church, just as he is also questing to stop Thomerion, the god of destruction, from entering the human realm via a mysterious portal. In the Wrath of Thomerion, Titania Vermouth, the leader of the coastal town of Sungaze, spearheads a quest to rid Bartleby’s body of demonic possession. All sorts of new friends are met along the way, including a teetotaling orcblood, a loyal fortune-teller and Christof, Bartleby’s superior within the church of the sun.

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