by Jim Zoetewey
September 14, 2008

I (Jim Zoetewey) recently interviewed E. J. Spurrell, author of Children of the Halo.  I asked him about the origin of the novel and his plans for the future of the series.

Jim: I’m currently on chapter 11 of Children of the Halo and am enjoying it.  Tell me a little about yourself.  What do you do outside of writing?

EJ: I’m a student of the world.  No, seriously.  I love studying ancient cultures and discovering alternative ways of thinking and deciphering the world around me.  When I’m not being a dork, however, I play the guitar and try to keep social, which is hard enough when you work the graveyard shift.

Jim: I’ve never worked third shift.  I have worked second shift.  That did make it hard to see people.  What specific cultures have you studied?  Have they had an influence on your writing so far?

EJ: Ancient Sumerian, Norse, Celtic.  I’d say the Sumerian culture has affected my writing the most.  I’ve done some name-dropping here and there within Children of the Halo.  I think readers will find as the second book rolls around that there are a lot of influences from Sumerian mythology.

Jim: That’s interesting.  I hadn’t noticed the references so much, but it may be that I’m not far enough in.  So, about Children of the Halo, how would you describe the story to someone who hadn’t heard of it before?

EJ: You wouldn’t have noticed the influences quite yet besides a name or two here and there.  The influences get stronger as more of the history is revealed.

As for Children of the Halo, it’s a fun-filled romp about a small Canadian town that suddenly finds themselves in a fantasy world, and how they deal with the problems they face when they get there.  Most notably, the looming threat of invasion from a hostile, yet medieval army.

Jim: So how did you happen to have this particular idea?  What was the process that led to it?  Did it come all at once or did you add to it/change it over the course of a few years?

EJ: A little of both, actually.  I’d had the idea behind the Pactlands and several of the characters floating around for years in different states and stages of development.  Nalya’s character, for instance was originally a lady-in-waiting in the Halish court.  Obviously that’s been changed.

The Dunsmith aspect of the story, however, is fairly fresh.  The idea came to me after reading Eric Flint’s 1632, which was about a small American town that ends up in the middle of Europe during the Thirty Years War.  I couldn’t shake the idea.  The inspiration finally struck me in a way I couldn’t ignore.  I set to work combining the two elements, integrating the original fantasy tale of the Pactlands with a Canadian town.  I wrote the first chapter about a eighteen months ago and sat on it.  By this February, I was writing full-tilt at three chapters a week.  I had the first draft finished in May.

Jim: So how many drafts did you go through before publishing it online?  Also, did you always intend to publish it online?  Or did you consider other possibilities?

EJ: I started posting it on my website after two revisions to the original draft.  I think in a way I’d always intended to publish it online, especially after having taken first publishing rights for myself.  (I had posted the entire first draft on deviantArt as I wrote it.)  I’d always intended on self-publishing it, however.  I equate the hard-print industry as akin to winning the lottery.  I prefer to take my own fate into my own hands.

Jim: As I was reading, I noticed that you had a lot of characters that are actually viewpoint characters.  I didn’t find the number of characters confusing, but handling that many can be a challenge.  Did you ever consider taking one character and more or less sticking with them?

EJ: It was a bit of a challenge.  In the original draft, there were a few more characters that I either removed or merged with other characters in the revisions.  I agree that there are a lot of characters in Children of the Halo, but I’m hesitant to remove any more of them.  The way I look at it is that the town of Dunsmith has a population of just over eight thousand people, and I really wanted to relate that point.  I’ve also been a longtime fan of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, which has more characters than I care to count.  I figured if he could pull it off, so could I.  Rest assured, the second book in the Engines of Creation series will focus more upon specific characters, while I expand upon lesser characters through one-shot side-stories and Destined Paths, a free-form role playing game based in the same universe that’ll be starting up come October.

Jim: Wow.  That’s a lot of stuff to be involved in and prompts a few different questions.  How many novels do you plan to have in the series?  As for the short stories, are they going to appear as bonus stories, between books in the series, or as the mood strikes you?

EJ: That question is very much in the air right now.  I could have it finished in three novels, or it might take six.  As for the short stories, they’ll be posted between the novels as the end of Children of the Halo approaches, leading up to The Liar’s Law.  I’m also going to open up the universe, so to speak, and allow other writers to dabble in the town for the short stories, helping to promote both the authors and their sites.

Jim: As for the role playing game, is this something that you plan to run online or in person?  Or are you planning to release some sort of book for other people to play their own games?  Also, as something of a gamer myself, I’m curious if you’re aware of the indie gaming movement.  If not, you might check it out.

EJ: It’s a forum-based Play-by-Post Role=Playing Game.  Basically, you take on the persona of a character and act him/her out through prose.  As for releasing a campaign book based on the universe, it’s funny you mention that.  That is one thing I’d been seriously considering.  It’s just something I’d have to make serious time for.  Perhaps in the near future. . . . 

Jim: I think that that’s pretty much the interview, but I do have one final question.  Is there anything that you think I should have asked, but haven’t?  To put it another way, is there something you wanted to talk about in the course of this interview, but hasn’t come up so far?

EJ: I’m pretty sure we covered everything I wanted to talk about, so as far as I’m concerned, we’re good to go.  I appreciate your taking the time out to read the novel and do this interview.  Thanks.

E. J. Spurrell writes Children of the Halo. Take a look at it and review it. He’ll be interested in learning what you think.