Meet The Authors Showcase Edition #1 (1 of 3)

A showcase with @juniormint94, Air born

1 what inspired the idea of your story?

I've always been in love with the idea of creating a magical world of my own. I'm a naturally curious person, and I thought, how cool would it be if there was a secret country that modeled those medieval fantasy worlds we see in stories, but had a modern twist?

 2 what is something you struggled constructing with your story? 

I think it took a while to figure out what exactly the plot would be. I had my characters and the setting down, but the challenges I wanted my protagonist to face took me a while to map out. By a while, I mean a year!

3 what did you enjoy writing most of your story? 

The world building for sure! I was so excited to get this magical world I had in my head down on paper.

4 what's the overall response of your story from your readers? 

So far, I've gotten an overwhelming amount of positive feedback. Many people tell me the same things – they love the world I created and how I've taken a new and exciting twist on many tropes we see in fantasy novels today.

5 is your story a stand alone novel or a piece of a series ?

I'm planning on making it a series. Right now, it's ongoing, but be on the lookout for a sequel!

6 what would you like your readers to take away from your story? 

There will be characteristics we don't like about ourselves, but there is plenty about us that we should love. We're all stronger than we think when faced in adversity.

7 what advice would you provide to fellow writers, when it comes to focusing on their own story? 

Stay true to your writing, but also learn to take criticism. Navigate between who's coming from a place of hate verses places of love. People who want you to do will offer advice for improvement, but will never shoot you down as an artist. Swallow your pride, but also stand up for what you believe in. Contradictory, I know, but it's all a balancing act!

8 does your main character share any similarities to yourself? 

Most definitely. I feel like as writers we can't help but to put our own characteristics into our characters. Orion (Air Born's protagonist) struggles with the feeling of being alone. There was a time in my life that I felt like I couldn't relate to people my age. But it was learning to love who I was and taking chances to find the right community and learning to find the people who accept me for who I am. Orion also has a combative mouth, which I can proudly and unproudly say, so do I. Although I'm quiet and reserved, I will stand up to injustices. It's my biggest peeve.

9 what is something about your story you believe would draw in new readers? 

I feel like the world I've created is a lot different from the ones we see in fantasy stories today. It's old fashioned, but modern. Vintage, but chique (or at least I'm hoping I'm capturing that lol!). My story, although contemporary fantasy, is also classified as fantasy mystery, something I feel is scarce in the genre as well. I like "whodunit" plots more so than action-driven stories. So if you like a little mystery and deception, Air Born might be worth your while!

10 do you have any future projects?

100%. I'm planning on making Air Born a series, and I have other ideas that would take place in Isoria. Different characters, a completely different plot!