Interview with Jonathon Lively
Author of
The Oreniah Codex
Please tell me a little about your current work in progress.
I am working on the sequel of my first book, The Last Soul. I
am working on the sequel following book two as well. In fact, I am writing them
as one book, a continuous story, and then finding a good breaking point to
split it into two novels. Also, I am writing a side story to my trilogy
and I am considering turning it into a podcast. We’ll see. It’s still in the
works and not my main focus at the moment.
Where did you get the idea for this book or series?
Oof. I spent three months combing through a
multitude of documents collected since I was in middle school. Most of the
documents were character designs because I originally wanted to be a graphic
designer. I parsed literally hundreds of pages down to an outline that was
about thirty-three pages long. From all the inspiration, I ended up with my
story. It wasn’t a story that I planned, but one that just sort of, happened.
Which, I am perfectly okay with!
Do you write in more than one genre?
Not yet. However, my current WIP, has a horror
subtheme. Which has been really fun to combine with fantasy aspects. I have
been listening to a lot of horror podcasts of late to get inspired.
Tell me about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of attention.
My story is definitely unique. Every person that I
have spoken with about my book or who has read my book, has commented that my
premise is different. A lot of magical systems that I have read or learned
about, are really cool. My story takes place in the afterlife. So, to have an
interesting magical system, I decided to base it around a reincarnation system,
souls that decided to imbue their spirit into relics, and abilities related to
Pillars that make up the universe. The Pillars of my universe are similar to
Infinity Stones from Marvel. If you draw a cube on a piece of paper, its two
squares that are connected by four lines. If you count every single line that
makes up a cube, you’ll end up with twelve lines. Each line of said cube is a
Pillar in my story. The cube itself is the universe. So, twelves Pillars, each
representing some aspect that makes up the universe, are holding up the
universe. When they are out of balance or break, the universe ceases to
function properly. That is the basic premise of my story, the twelve Pillars
that make up my universe are distorting, cracking, breaking, and falling apart.
Is there anything about your personal history or personality that manifests strongly in your writing?
Absolutely. I have lived in several states and
many towns and cities in between. I was also homeless, literally on the street,
for the better part of a year as well. I have experienced and learned things
that a lot of people never consider. I lived a life with no purpose for a long
time, just aimlessly wandering. I didn’t know what I wanted to do most of the
time but because of that, I was always chasing a new way to live. This has
helped my writing a lot because I am more easily able to put myself into a
different character’s shoes. What manifests the most prevalently, is probably
characters coming up from bad situations when they were younger. Which to be
fair, I didn’t have a bad life when I was young. Sure, there were things that
weren’t good but compared to a lot of others, it could have been a lot worse.
What put me in the situations I lived through as a young adult were my own
decisions, very poor decisions.
What else would be helpful for readers to know about you?
Helpful? I don’t know about helpful… But here is
an interesting fact, I love woodworking. I recently built our families home. A
lot of help was forthcoming from my in-laws but I picked up a lot of skills and
hobbies in the process. So now, I do some amateur woodworking. It’s a nice
break from typing to go and work with my hands. I am even considering trying to
make crafts or small furniture to help fund my book expenses!
Excluding your own work, what underrated author or book would you recommend that more people read? Why?
Hmm, I would probably say either Brian Staveley
and/or Alan Campbell. I don’t think that Brian Staveley will remain an
underrated author for long though.
Which of your books do you most highly recommend? Why?
I only have one so, The Last Soul! I am really
excited to release more books though and I have three in the works. All sequels
of some sort.
Which break, event, decision, or fortuitous circumstance has helped you or your writing career the most?
Meeting and speaking with Dakota Krout. I
expressed a very mild interest in writing help when I was living in Grand
Forks. I was part of the 701 Coworking Space there and the Executive Director
at the time, Collin Hanson, put me in touch with Dakota. He was a mentor for me
in writing my first book. Dakota helped me push past barriers as or before I
got to them. I’ll be grateful for his help and guidance for years to come.
What question do you wish you would get asked more often?
I wish people would ask me about my characters and
their abilities more. Those are the bread and butter of my writing. I’ve spent
most of my outlining on character descriptions and abilities and how they
relate to the story. Some of the abilities in my published book seem simple on
the surface but I promise you, there is significant relation to the story as a
whole and the depth of their skills. I am heavily inspired by manga and anime,
that should tell you how I view my character powers.
Do you have a catch-phrase or quote that you like? What is it? And why do you choose it?
My phrase for the book, The Last Soul, isn’t well
known. Its something I decided on but never pushed in marketing. I plan to do
more with it in future installments but for now, it’s generally unknown. The
phrase, “Live Soulfully” is meant to imply that people should live according to
their soul’s purpose. In the afterlife that I wrote, souls merge with their
physical bodies and live eternal lives on Oreniah, the heaven of my universe. These
souls merging with their bodies cause a balance that manifests physical
abilities in their reality. To reach Oreniah, you must climb your way up a
cycle of rebirth and reincarnation. The more you live your life according to
your soul’s purpose, the higher you’ll climb. Until eventually, you arrive on
Oreniah and bond with your soul in a physical way.
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