Soar a Burning Sky follows a group of warriors from Earth who are tasked with saving Earth and its counterpart, Eonthera, who have a symbiotic relationship. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I’m taken with two stories. The first is, of course, the ultimate ensemble in fantasy, The Lord of the Rings. Simply put, it states the needs of the many can be solved by the very few IF those very few bear the right heart. The second tale I was inspired by is more woeful, primarily given its urgency: An Inconvenient Truth. There’s nothing to add towards its application. We’re in dire straits, and we need to be honest about that.

If you take to heart the challenges these two books present, and you combine the simple yet powerful nature of their champions, you land somewhere near my conceit. From there, I simply extrapolated along the lines of the epiphany I had, which became the foundation of this story: “what happens to the body affects the soul.”

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

Culpability, primarily. Responsibility second. Accounting, third. Duplicity is in there too. Then there’s the awareness that Nature has a voice as well—that was at the top of my list. Let’s hear from Nature for once.

My goal has always been to search, if not find, the simplest way to a solution. Words can glorify a point of view, but they can also obscure it. I wanted my readers to not only recognize themselves as part of the problem, but more importantly, to also see themselves as the ultimate solution. If Nature’s point of view, regardless of the fantasy, can help with that realization, then more power to the conceit.

Did you plan the tone and direction of the novel before writing, or did it come out organically as you were writing?

I tend to write from the character’s point of view, which could be inferred as being organic (if I was schizophrenic). All kidding aside, I need my characters to recognize their worth in the conversation and have to position their POVs accordingly. Ultimately, I need their words to sound authentic to who and what they are, and why they’d say the things they would. I guess that takes some thinking. Unfortunately, that doesn’t come organically with me.

When will book two be available? Can you give us an idea of where that book will take readers?

This is but the first book of four. All are outlined, but given publication issues this is the only one written. You have to understand I have a bit of a conundrum on my hands. My concept extols the need to be more aware of this big blue jewel we call Earth. It is our home, our ONLY home, and sooner or later our bill will come due regarding the toll it’s taken—which we’ve caused. That said, if I were to follow the traditional route of printing on basic paper stock (like EVERYONE else), I’d reek of hypocrisy. That, in turn, would nullify the power of Soar‘s message. My challenge is to find a way to print my manuscript on 100% recycled paper, and yes, if I can, include a sapling, a tree, to go along with it.

My goal is simple…when you’re done reading the first book, simply go plant it somewhere. Three more books will come in time. Come back in five years and voila, you’ve got a beautiful tree on your hands. Do this four times, and you’ve started your very own forest. You can’t say that every day. And yes, that’s where I want to take my readers—to their very own woods. There they will find the voice of Nature just waiting to chat. Until then, I plan to release a large portion of my saga digitally, where its carbon footprint will remain minuscule and always within my control.