Wayne was nice enough to let me pick his brain. I discovered a great guy, and caught a bit of his vision. Here’s a peek into our conversation...
 

I always find it fascinating to talk with authors about their work and their journey of writing; especially those that write in the Speculative market. It’s a field full of amazing people and vivid imaginations. They create worlds and see things of wonder in the mundane. Wayne Thomas Batson is such an author. In his book, The Door Within, a new vision comes to life, an amazing journey begins, and we learn a few things about ourselves.

Wayne was nice enough to let me pick his brain. I discovered a great guy, and caught a bit of his vision. Here’s a peek into our conversation:

What was your favorite book as a kid?

As a kid, The Hobbit was by far my favorite—The Lord of the Rings too. Tolkien’s books brought me into the world of fantasy—and reading in general. I couldn’t get over how I could be transported emotionally and physically into another world—just by reading two-dimensional words on a page! My family used to drive 28 hours from Maryland to Florida every summer, and I just brought Tolkien with me. I was there in the back seat physically, but otherwise…I was gone! Tromping around Middle Earth with my friends, Frodo and Sam.

What sort of adventure did you go through to finally get your books out of the slush pile and onto the shelf?

A thirteen-year adventure! Ha! Really, it took that long just to craft a book worthy of being looked at seriously. That’s not to say I didn’t send it to publishers prior. I did, several times, and collected many rejections.

The concept of The Door Within books was there from the beginning. It was a story worthy to be told, but honestly, my craft wasn’t there. I needed years of reading, practice, and instruction to catch up.

Getting an agent opened a lot of doors (NPI), and going to a publisher’s conference was HUGE. Meeting face to face with editors is so much better than anonymous manuscripts in the mail.

What made you decide to write YA rather than adult? And why fantasy? I’ve gotten many strange looks from publishers when I’ve told them I write in that vein.

I’m a middle school reading teacher. Over 16 years of rubbing elbows with them, I really developed a love and understanding of those interesting kids--Tweens and teens, really. By God’s grace I have NOT forgotten what it was like when I clawed my way through the 11-17 corridor. And as a teacher, I am reminded of it everyday. Once kids enter middle school, it’s like they leave the kind world behind and enter a place that is full of danger and cruelty—much of it self-inflicted. We adults sometimes forget the enormity of what they experience, the level of emotion, and the intellect.

How did you come up with the idea of The Realm?

Ever since becoming a Christian in 1991, I have been awestruck at how naïve and arrogant I had been—thinking that all there is to life was what we see before our eyes. So much of creation points to the reality of another plane, another realm of existence outside of time. Peretti did a masterful job shining the spotlight on the spirit world in his “Darkness” books. I wanted to paint a picture of this reality but in an allegorical, more tangible way. There are things going on in the spiritual world that affect us. And there are things that we do that affect the spiritual world. That’s where The Realm of Glimpses came from.

I love how you make Paragal the bright knight of the realm and how he becomes unsatisfied and turns on the king. The story of Lucifer’s fall has always interested me, and you make it very understandable to a kid who may read your book. What things in your stories of The Realm do you think are the most important hidden little glimpses into God’s Kingdom?

#1 The nature of faith: it begins with persuasion. You recognize something as true. You accept its basis in fact. “You believe the bridge is strong.” But in faith there is also an element of risk that MUST be involved or you’ll never know how real it is. “You have to step on out there. Walk across the bridge. Trust that it will support you.” Not saying that God makes us take a physical risk in order to let us into heaven. But you will never live the Christian life to its fullest without taking risks on God.

#2 God can make use of failures. Aidan is no hero in the classic sense, but King Eliam uses him mightily.

#3 Putting God off, or refusing to decide whether you believe or not is, in reality, choosing not to believe. The Glimpses with eyes that glint green. In the end, there is only faith or no faith.

#4 The reality of adventures to come in Heaven. I won’t give away too much here, but that is one message I hope readers will take to heart. When we die, the adventure has just begun. We will not be sitting around in heaven playing harps like in the cartoons. God the creator of all things will have plenty of surprises for us. I imagine each of us will spend a thousand years just saying, “COOL!!” over and over and over…

I find many Christians think fantasy anything from childish to evil. As you stated this world is only a small piece of this great creation. I have been on a tangent about this lately and I'm curious: What role do you see fantasy literature playing in the Christian walk?

I think Christian Fantasy is both a tool and an expression. It's a tool because it can be used as a vehicle to communicate truth. Fantasy allows us to suspend judgment, pull away from stumbling blocks, and just think about things. We might read a fantasy about hobbits bickering over who gets to pick mushrooms, and suddenly see how strident we ourselves have become at home.

And like anything a Christian puts his/her hand to, Fantasy Fiction is an artistic expression. Just as someone could craft a unique piece of furniture or a beautiful painting, writers can write fantasy. I know some Christians get bunged up about the use of magic in fantasy, and I agree that some stories out there get into occult practices that aren't healthy for believers (or anyone, really). But when you craft a fantasy story, you build a world, you create the rules, the races, the laws that govern what is possible. We yearn to create because we are made in HIS image. So when we make a world, I don't see problems with endowing our inhabitants with what we might call “magic”. Y'know, if you think about it, some could very easily look at the feats of God and call them magic as well. Water into wine. Parting the Red Sea, healing, casting out demons, raising the dead. Hmmm...

How necessary do you think it is for writers like you to keep pushing the envelope of our imaginations?

Thanks for saying that I am pushing the envelope. But really, if I didn't, I'd crack up. I was designed by God to create. If I don't, I get really cranky.

I'm quite certain that life here is good, but isn't even close to the spectacular-nature of what we'll experience some day. God says it'll be beyond our imagination, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.  I see my imagination as a form of praise--much like an athlete praises God with feats of strength and agility. I think writers are duty bound to challenge the imaginations of our readers. I think when people get too bound up with the hum-drum, daily routines, and begin to lose their creative inspiration, they stop really living.

Adults tend to pass over Young Adult books, thinking they are too simplistic in nature to be satisfying. Personally, I have found many of my most profound reads in this genre. What do you think adults can learn from Young Adult literature?

Grrrr…you hit upon a sore point for me. The same folks who think YA literature is simplistic are the same characters who underestimate the capabilities and intellect of our kids. Kids are far more perceptive and intelligent than most would believe—and the books they read deal with REAL issues, issues that matter to them with a passion that is hard to imagine.

I think that adults can gain a lot from YA literature. Especially, they can regain their youth, their creativity, their dreams. To quote Gandalf when he spoke about the Ents, the tree people who had become stiff and too tree-ish: “they [parents] will awaken and find that they are strong.”

Tell us about your next adventure now that The Door Within is wrapping up.

I have an adventure on the high seas planned for release in Spring of 2007. This pirate tale is called Isle of Swords, and begins with a lad awakening on an island. He is bruised, scarred, beaten within an inch of his life, and yet he has no memory of what happened to him…he had no memory of how he came to this island, and he has no memory of his own identity. All he has to go on is a leather pouch containing a priceless green jewel, a lock of red hair, and a rusty iron cross. The journey of discovering who he is will bring the lad between two of the Caribbean’s most notorious pirates: Declan Ross and Bartholomew Thorne.

What advice would you give to those aspiring writers out there?

1. Your creativity is already there—you can think up a story as good as Tolkien, Rowling, or I ever could. But your craft is probably not there yet. Read like a crazy person—especially in the genre you think you want to write. But don’t just read to be entertained. Learn what the author’s are up to. Remember that part that thrilled you? What made it thrill you? And, I know as a teacher, I’m biased, but listen to your teachers. They will teach you the ingredients of good writing. It may not seem exciting—in the same way that drills at football practice or practicing scales on an instrument seem tiresome. Everyone wants the glory of the big game or the rock concert, but few are willing to invest the work needed to get there. Writing is work. Creating is work.

2. It can be done.

If any of you haven’t picked up one of Wayne’s books in The Door Within Trilogy I highly recommend it. All three books are out now, so you won’t have to wait to see what happens, you can consume them all, one after the other. No matter what your age, it will speak to your heart, and grow in you a new understanding of the Kingdom of God.

Plus, it’s really exciting.