The Dreamwielder Chronicles by Garrett Calcaterra
Q&A with Garrett Calcaterra
Q: In the YA world, many leading characters are just that, young adults. What were your reasons behind making Makarria a young teenager?
A: Good question. You know, it’s just how the story worked out. Makarria’s journey begins when her power awakens and Guderian’s minions come after her. For various reasons, her power awakens as a young teenager, so that’s where the first book had to start. I probably should have given more thought to marketing and target audience when I started writing the series, but I just focused on the story that was there, not thinking that it would be marketed as YA. Luckily, the story has two older young adult characters, Caile and Taera, and I’ve found that many YA readers identify with them more than Makarria. At least in the first book. In book 2, Makarria is forced to grow up really fast and goes through experiences that are probably more relatable to older teens and adults.
Q: With so many interesting characters within this series, whose storyline, besides Makarria’s, did you enjoy writing the most?
A: Ooh, I’m not sure if I could just pick one, but if I had to, I’d pick Natarios Rhodas. In addition to being the viewpoint character who hangs out with all the baddies, he has a droll wit and amoral viewpoint that makes it fun to write his scenes. Having said that, I’m probably most proud of writing Fina’s character. Writing her big scene in book 2, Souldrifter, where she faces the body thief was really emotional for me. Hopefully that comes through to readers as a powerful moment.
Q: Souldrifter was an amazing sequel to Dreamwielder, can we expect any more books within this series in the future?
A: Well, thank you, and yes! Makarria, Caile, and Taera have unfinished business still. I have the concept for book 3 worked out, and I anticipate it’ll be the final book in the series. In book 3, Makarria will get a glimpse of her nation’s past, and how it wasn’t as glorious as she was led to believe. She’ll face her most difficult foe, yet, of course, and readers can expect that she’ll begin to mend her relationship with Caile into something…well, something more. I’m currently finishing work on an unrelated fantasy novel, but once I’m done with that, I’ll be diving into writing the third Dreamwielder book.
Q: What was your inspiration for The Dreamwielder Series?
A: Believe it or not, it was an actual dream my mother had. I was home visiting for the holidays several years back, and she told me she’d had a dream that she thought would make a good story. I said sure, mostly just to appease her (because authors are always hearing from family and friends, “I’ve got a great idea you should write!”), but once I heard about my mom’s dream, I realized it really was a perfect starting point for a novel. That dream was essentially the first scene of the book, where Makarria’s power as a dreamwielder awakens.
Q: What is your go-to book or author and has the book/author influenced you in your own writing?
A: Hmm, that’s a tough one. I credit tons of authors as influences, but as far as a go-to author or book? Well, for book, it’d have to be Lord of the Rings, and I’m gonna cheat and say someone different for author: George R.R. Martin. I started reading the A Song of Ice and Fire (aka A Game of Thrones) series when I was a young adult, and since then have enjoyed going back and discovering his earlier works like Fevre Dream and all the award winning short fiction he wrote before he ever dreamt up A Game of Thrones.
Q: I love quotes, I’m a little obsessed really. If you could pick a favourite quote, literary or otherwise, what would it be?
A: Don’t hate me, but I’m actually not much of a quote guy. If anything, I’d say this verse from Pink Floyd’s song “Time” has stuck with me ever since I first heard it in high school:
“And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking/Racing around to come up behind you again/The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older/Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.”
For whatever reason, it’s always resonated with me, and been a reminder to take advantage of the time I have and not “fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way.”
Q: When reading/writing, do you prefer good and evil to be very clear cut or do you prefer more complex characters that are not wholly good or bad?
A: My answer to that is yes! Ha, but seriously, it depends on the story. For the Dreamwielder books, it started out as a more clear cut, “Here are your good guys, and here’s your evil baddie.” Even with book one, though, the antagonists have their own motives and mindsets that are perfectly reasonable from their perspectives. In book two, and most of my other work, I think readers will find that the difference between good and evil is murkier and the storylines a bit more nuanced.
Q: Do you read your book reviews and if so, how do you deal/respond with good or bad comments?
A: I probably shouldn’t, but yeah I do. If I get a particularly good or in-depth review, I always try to share it on social media, since it helps promote the book without me tooting my own horn too much. On the flipside, if it’s a negative review, I treat it like any other writing criticism—I try to detach myself from it emotionally and determine whether there’s anything I can take from the critique to help me become a better writer. I’ll absolutely never respond or comment toward a negative review, though. To do so is petty and horribly unprofessional. When it comes down to it, reading is a super personal thing, and if someone hates one of my books with a passion, then hey, that’s their right.
Q: What do you find the hardest thing about writing and if you could go back and give your younger self advice while writing your first book, what would it be?
A: For me now, the hardest part of writing is carving out the time I need to really be productive. I don’t make nearly enough money from book royalties to live off of, so I rely on freelance writing and editing work to pay the bills. And then I have a wonderful wife and a new baby that I want to spend as much time with as possible, so that doesn’t give me the time I’d really like to work on my own writing. Having said that, if I could go give the younger me some advice, it’d be something entirely different: to not devote all my time after writing my first novel toward finding an agent and publisher. That ended up being a fruitless quest, and while it was fine pursuing publication of that first book, I should have jumped right into writing the next one.
Q: And lastly, I see you used to teach creative writing, what pitfalls should aspiring writers stay away from?
A: I’d give three key pieces of advice, and two of them don’t involve writing at all!
First, don’t quit reading for fun. In fact, make sure you’re reading a lot of stuff from authors you admire. Reading gives you an innate sense of how sentences flow, scenes unfold, and so on, so the more you read, the more instinctual those things will be. Plus, reading is inspiring.
Second, make sure to go out and live a full life. Ultimately, good stories are about people, their struggles, and their emotions. It’s hard to write about that stuff if you’re cloistered up in your writing office and never interact with people and experience those things for yourself.
Third, write a lot, and make sure to actually finish the projects you start. Aspiring writers tend to want to make the opening scene or the first chapter perfect before moving on, but that gets you nowhere. More often than not, you end up getting frustrated or bored with the piece and move on to something new, leaving you with dozens of half-finished pieces. Stay away from this trap. Completing a project and then going back and revising it is infinitely more effective at honing your craft. I’ve found this to be true both when I was first starting as well as with my writing students over the years.
And that’s it! Thanks so much for having me. It’s been great.
My Review
Dreamwielder is a tale of a young girl forbidden to dream for what she dreams
becomes reality and in her world, magic is dangerous for whoever wields it. Makarria is a girl in her early teenage years, seemingly a farmers daughter but with a special gift. It doesn't take long to realise she is in danger nor that her powers are strong, when she brings back a loved one from death, she is forced to run with her grampy whom is also more than he seems. She meets a princess, Taera, and together they must face danger and destiny. Making friends along the way this young girl must face the truth of her powers and her destiny. To destroy Guderian and all he has built. Taera and Caile, siblings and royalty add another element to this story. On different paths for most of the tale they both play vital roles. Taera a Seer who helps Makarria and protects her from those who wish to use her for their own gain while Caile, the younger sibling, finds himself in the midst of his enemies with rebellion brewing all around him. It is a thrilling tale, well written, elegant and rich with detail. Jumping from story lines it never leaves you bored but also, so well written is this tale, that you are never left confused with which character you are following.
This is a tale of adventure, forbidden magic and politics and though there is no love story, which I was expecting, it truly kept me hooked. Reminiscent of Game of Thrones, Dreamwielder is a refreshing and intelligent addition to the YA world.
Souldrifter is an amazing sequel to Dreamwielder, following our favourite characters from the first novel. This story is again rife with magic, politics and the threat of war with the a hint of romance. We follow Makarria, a year in the life of a Queen but without the full support of her people and the threat of the Old World looming it is more important then ever she trusts those closest to her. But with a Pthisicis- corporis, or body thief, sowing mayhem and inhabiting the bodies of those closest to her, she is left with very few options and in using her magic to try and contain said body thief the consequences of her actions are life changing. I thoroughly enjoyed Soulfinder, it was as Dreamwielder was, such an amazing story. The politics did not bore but rather enhanced the story and it was very interesting to see the plots and ploys of those in charge, in some cases these ploys flourished and in the case of others, failed. It's such a well written, intelligent story it truly keeps you turning the page and I was saddened when there were no more pages to turn... Thankfully, we can look forward to another book in the series in the future.
A big thank you to Garrett Calcaterra for taking the time to answer my questions and I hope you all enjoyed my latest post on A Tale or Two Reviews.
Jasmine