It is not an easy task for an author building a new world through the power of his imagination and writing talent, but Jamison Stone has skillfully succeeded with his debut novel, Rune of the Apprentice. I recently interviewed Jamison Stone. Read what he had to say below.

Congrats on your book, Rune of the Apprentice. How did you conceive of this book?

As a professional writer I had been working on this novel for many years but due to the massive undertaking of creating an entire world, I never had enough time to actually finish it! It was not until my wife (Active Duty Army) was away during Basic Training—and then again during Advanced Individual Training, and again, and again during her many tours, that I finally completed this epic work.

In addition to my regular letters to her, I would send her chapters and excerpts of the book to keep her spirits up, brighten her day, and to provide inspiration for her military duties. All the while, I was also simultaneously trying to have Rune of the Apprentice address the needs of our current millennial population—more specifically, addressing their lack of real mythic resonance which relate to their daily lives, and their deep psychological need for a relevant mythology.

While your imagination and writing talent clearly contribute to the engaging story you set forth in Rune of the Apprentice, what kind of research did you undertake in fleshing out this story?

I am a “Top Down” writer, which means that I create the rough outline of the world first before I dive into the actual story. Because of this, the characters are very much shaped by this world, but during my “meta” world planning process, the world is also shaped by how I want the main characters’ stories (character arcs) to unfold, too. It’s a give and take (interconnected) process. Despite this, it all begins with the world first, making the importance of world building paramount in my particular storytelling method.

Creating a massive world is a profoundly interact undertaking and requires a lot of planning before one can even begin writing the first word. As an example, in Rune of the Apprentice I used C.G. Jung’s psychology of archetypes and the collective unconscious to adapt Joseph Campbell’s theory of the Monomyth to create the foundations of a contemporary “Modern Myth.”

As I wrote the actually story, however, I needed to constantly reshape and mold my “Hero’s Journey” adaptation to fit with the specific character arcs of Rune of the Apprentice’s hero and heroine, respectively. In short: In Rune of the Apprentice, these two aspects of the story—World and Character Arc—are intimately intertwined and constantly evolving together. Just that alone is very difficult to pull off well, and has nothing to do with the actual word craft of writing!

Epic fantasy/sci fiction audiences will embrace Rune of the Apprentice. But why should readers who aren’t as well versed in the epic fantasy/sci fiction genre read this book?

Although Rune of the Apprentice is exciting and adventurous, a large section of the story is framed by a deep yearning romance between the two main characters. One is a conflicted young hero named Aleksi, and the other is a young female heroine named Saiya. Most importantly, Saiya is not only powerful in her community, but also a very influential leader.

After being forced into a very dangerous situation, these two characters are able to communicate while they sleep by sharing their potent emotions through dreamlike messages. Despite this ability, they are unable to speak directly. This experience was directly born out of my longing for my wife while she was away on tour as I wrote daily letters to her.

Yes, Rune of the Apprentice resonates with traditional Fantasy and action-oriented fans because the story is filled with, magic, swords fights, heroism, and most of all, excitement! But for those of us who also need deeper emotional content and connection, the novel dives deeply into the sadness of separation, and the longing each and every spouse or lover feels during long periods of separation. It is these deeper themes, along with the massive socio-politically conflicted world upon which the whole story takes place, which allows all types of readers to enjoy Rune of the Apprentice.
What advice would you give to authors seeking to write novels where world building is a big component?

Write, write, and keep writing! Then get expert feedback on that writing, and learn how you can evolve your writing style to be an even better writer. You need expert feedback to be able to evolve, however, so you MUST NOT write in a silo! The best way to get this feedback (in my experience) is volunteer your time at a newspaper, blog, editorial service, or any place that will have you create original written content, and then give you critical feedback on that content—on a near daily basis. Practice makes perfect, and you need to get out there and DO IT!

The world building aspect of your question is a bit trickier. My advice is that you must be able to actually “live” in that created in your mind. It must be as real for you as when in a dream. You need to be able to walk down the streets, speak to its people, and most importantly, care about their plights. In truth you must let the world permeate you—and you the world. If, through dream, inspiration, and imagination, your mythic world can become as familiar as your waking one, you are on the right path.
Without giving away any book spoilers, how would you describe your central protagonist, Aleksi?

Aleksi, the book’s youthful hero, abandons his tutelage at the Master’s Academy, a monastic school dedicated to the arts of magic, warfare, and philosophy and sets out on a quest to find Rudra, his missing Master; one of the only few remaining able to teach him the ancient and clandestine art of casting Runes. An art, which depending on the user’s will and intention, can be used for peace, protection, and salvation, or enslavement, pain and destruction.

While searching across a world torn apart by implacable sorcerers, Aleksi discovers that Rudra may be the last person alive who can teach him how to harness his deadly power. Sadly, all logic also suggests that Rudra is not only Aleksi’s parents’ killer but infinitely more sinister than Aleksi could ever have imagined.

During his exploration of the world of Terra, Aleksi experiences dangers his training could never have prepared him for, initiating him into a gray world where the contrast of morality and ethics collide. A collision in which he finds unexpected love, recruits allies, and is humbled by the numinous forces of both light and darkness.

What would you say are some of the themes in Rune of the Apprentice?

Told upon the backdrop of an exciting adventure novel, the complicated themes of personal honor, duty, gender roles, and committed relationship dynamics are the foundation of the main characters’ relationship. Additionally, there are sociopolitical themes of distribution of power, wealth, and governmental representation; and the personal themes of free will, destiny, and purpose. And at the heart of it all is the struggle of love vs. fear/anger. In short, this book resonates so well because these are actual, real-life themes every individual, citizen, leader, or lover deals with on a day to day basis.
What other authors do you enjoy?

I have a great love for many authors and genres (fiction and non-fiction) but within Fantasy I deeply appreciate the unified character and world arcs of The Sandman/Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman; the large scale impact of magic upon political machinations of The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jorden; the historic vibrancy of Game of Thrones by George. R. R. Martin; the poetic character development of Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss; and lastly, the magic systems and epicenes of story and world building of The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.

Are there any other current projects that you are working on that you are able to share with us?

Yes! In addition to the main books of the Rune of the Apprentice, there are many supplementary written works, too. A perfect example is my first award winning novelette entitled Shadow of the Moon which was featured in The Too Many Controllers Anthology being published by Inkshares and awarded by Nerdist as their top pick for their 2016 Video Game writing contest. Shadow of the Moon, although a story told through the medium of written word, is a wonderful example of the video game story crossovers I wish to tell in the future. I am currently working on the game’s script and design document and am so very excited for the day my vision is able to come to life in a way which others can see, and experience directly on screen. Although Shadow of the Moon is rooted in the classic gameplay of videogame platformers, it is a modern evolution of the genre which not only evolves upon the successful themes of adventure games, but pioneers new ground within the still growing field of “rouge-like” action oriented Role Playing Games.

The story of Shadow of the Moon—both the novelette and the video game—follows Zera, a young warrioress who is trapped in nightly recurring dreams where she desperately tries to rescue her kidnapped sister who is being held prisoner in the dark and deadly Tetragar Castle. Zera’s dreams feel far more real, and painful, than the waking world around her and with each subsequent “death” she learns the skills and abilities necessary to defeat the castle’s minions and rescue her sister. As Zera’s dreams train her how to fight in clandestine martial arts and shed light on her family’s mysterious past, it becomes clear that Zera’s dreams are controlled by omnipotent hands who not only possess mysterious powers and motives, but will stop at nothing in achieving their own Machiavellian goals.

Grounded in a foundation of combat centered room clearing and innovative skill and equipment upgrade systems, Shadow of the Moon is a fast paced adventure which breaks traditional story telling mediums by featuring characters set within Rune of the Apprentice’s fantasy/sci-fi world. Although no experience with Rune of the Apprentice is needed to read or play Shadow of the Moon, this story weaves seamlessly into the larger framework of Rune of the Apprentice and its sequel, Oath of the Apprentice. Serving as an interlude between the two larger works, this novelette both supplements the overall story and characters arcs, while also itself gaining unparalleled world, and character depth.