Shea Oliver
Author Interview - Shea Oliver
Author I draw inspiration from: As a boy, I discovered The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I was captivated by Middle Earth and the world that J. R. R. Tolkien created. When my sons became old enough, we read those books together. For me, they have enduring creativity and inspire me to continue to create new stories.
Author Interview - Shea Oliver
Favorite place to read a book: For years, I would have said in bed on my way to sleep. However, last year, I purchase a teardrop trailer, and now my favorite place to read is whatever off-the-beaten-path, deep-in-the-wildness location that we wander into while seeking tranquility and the beauty of nature.
Book character I'd like to be stuck in an elevator with: I can only imagine that being stuck in an elevator would be relatively boring. So, I certainly would want someone who could do one of two things - tell lots of interesting stories or get us out of the elevator. Even better would be someone who might be able to do both, such as Harry Keogh from Brian Lumley's writings. I'm sure that he'd have many exciting tales to tell of his own adventures and of the countless dead people with whom he conversed. And while I don't know if I could travel using the "Mobius continuum" as he did, perhaps he could grab us a cup of coffee and pastry for our discussion.
Author Interview - Shea Oliver
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: My first real inkling of wanting to write began in college. Unfortunately, until college, I never had a good English teacher. I spent countless hours in my English 101 professor's office, working diligently to make up for my dreadful grammar. By my junior year, I realized that I enjoyed the creative process and began writing my first book.
As often happens, "real life" got in the way, the book was lost in a filing cabinet, and the decades passed. Then during a rough point in life, I was sitting alone atop a mountain peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. That long, dormant dream of becoming an author came rushing back, and the next day, I started on what would become my first novel.
Hardback, paperback, ebook, or audiobook: I'm good with either paperback or ebooks. As I am often reading more than one book at a time, it's much easier to stuff my iPad into my backpack than a stack of physical books.
The last book I read: I recently finished Madeleine Roux's Asylum. I found the idea of weaving a story from old photographs of mental asylum to be a compelling and creative idea.
Author Interview - Shea Oliver
Pen & paper or computer: While I began writing my first novel in a spiral notebook, my handwriting is atrocious. Nowadays, without spellcheck and Grammarly, I'd likely create nothing but illegible and incomprehensible nonsense. Writing on the computer is my only option!
Book character I think I'd be best friends with: I believe that Samwise Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings and I would be friends. Beyond being a down-to-earth character, I can see us sitting around drinking beer and eating fish and chips, which I would, of course, be honored to allow him to cook for me.
Author Interview - Shea Oliver
If I wasn't an author, I'd be a: Having fallen in love with our National Parks, I would probably be a Park Ranger.
Favorite decade in fashion history: Any decade that lets me wear t-shirts with jeans or shorts.
Place I'd most like to travel: In about two years, I'm planning on selling or storing the majority of my possessions and becoming a digital nomad. I'm planning at least two significant excursions in my teardrop trailer - a big loop through Alaska and another through Baja California.
My signature drink: Having spent the last three decades in Colorado, I'll have to say any microbrewed beer, especially darker malty brews or saisons.
Favorite artist: In high school, while studying the reformation, I found the works of Albrecht Dürer. In addition to being one of the most influential artists of the Northern Renaissance and working in multiple mediums, he wrote several books in German using common vernacular, rather than Latin, just as Martin Luther had done with the Bible.
Number one on my bucket list: Sail around the world. For a boy who grew up in Kansas and moved to Colorado, the idea of being in a sailboat, crossing oceans, and visiting distant lands is a neverending dream.
Who is your favorite character from this book? Why? I enjoyed working on all of the characters, but the title character, Kadamba Vohoor, is probably my personal favorite. I've always enjoyed the genuinely human story of redemption arcs. We too often want unchanging, perfect people in our lives. I wanted to create someone who struggled with who they were and what they have done. No matter what perspective you look at Ka from, he's flawed. He's made a terrible mistake that can't be undone, the people around him condemn him, and then those who truly get to know him also struggle with how to feel about him.
Find more from Shea Oliver, here:
https://www.facebook.com/shea.oliver.author/
https://twitter.com/sheaoliver
and my website
https://sheaoliver.com
Author Interview - Shea Oliver
