The Gatekeeper’s Son by C.R. Fladmark
(The Gatekeeper’s Son #1)Publication date: October 1st 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Goodreads: Click
Junya’s grandfather is a billionaire who keeps the secret to his success hidden in a heavily guarded safe.
His mother is a martial artist who wields a razor-sharp katana—and seems to read his mind.
And a mysterious girl in a Japanese school uniform can knock him over—literally—with just a look.
What do they know that he doesn’t?
Junya’s life takes a dangerous turn on his sixteenth birthday, when someone sets out to destroy not only the family’s business empire—the one that he’s set to inherit—but Junya himself. He’s fighting for his life, and doesn’t know who to trust.
What has his family been keeping from him?
Junya’s journey takes him from the narrow streets of San Francisco to Japan, and through hidden portals to the top of the ancient Japanese Izumo Shinto shrine, to places where death and violence are a way of life. And in a mystical world he’s never imagined, he finds his true destiny.
Author Q&A
Many authors were avid readers during their childhood. What were you favorite books while growing up?
I read like crazy! I can’t really remember specific books but I
know there a lot of mysteries and comic books. In my teens, I read a
wide variety of novels but westerns were my mainstay.
When you aren’t writing, what do you like to do?
Sleep? No, there are many beaches near my home and we try to get
to them as much as we can, rain or shine. And of course, reading is
one of my favorite things to do.
I know it's a boring answer but you need to
write, write, write. We get better by doing. As we say in martial
arts, 10,000 times to master something, a lifetime to perfect it. You
need to read a lot too; you can't write if you don't. And read a
broad range of genres, not just the type you want to write about.
Inspiration for a space fantasy story could come from a Jane Austin
novel.
Why did you decide to write Young Adult books
instead of Adult books?
I think there’s something really exciting
about the teenage years. Sure, a lot of things sucked too but it’s
a time when you have your whole life ahead of you and anything is
possible. I find that YA has a more optimistic outlook than adult
books where people are usually ‘set’ in a restricted set of
circumstances. Also, I found many YA books I read were somewhat
condescending to the readers. Teens are a smart group and there isn’t
any topic/subject that needs to be ‘dumbed down’ for them and I
wanted to write for them. And lastly, I write the books I would’ve
liked to read when I was a teenager.
Where did the ideas come from for The Gatekeeper's Son?
Any book has innumerable sources of inspiration but the event that
first made the idea 'click' was on one of my first trips to Japan. My
father-in-law took me to an archeological site where may un-before
seen ancient artifacts were discovered. The story was, a work-crew
cutting a new road through a bamboo forest noticed something bronze
and shiny poking up through the soil. When archaeologists began to
dig, they discovered hundreds of bronze swords, laying in rows. There
was no doubt they were buried long ago but why? The archaeologists
couldn't find any obvious reason--it was the first finding of such a
thing. My first reaction when I saw them was, maybe they weren't
buried for use on This Side. Maybe they were left for others in
another dimension -The Other Side.
When did you first start writing?
I started in high school.
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
You’re asking the first one I remember? It was for
socials 11. We were reading Macbeth and we had to write a modern
version. I'd just finished reading The Godfather and I wrote the
Macbeth saga as a gangster story. I got an A+ and the teacher read it
to the class!
What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
I love seeing what my characters will do next. It's way more fun
than watching TV or movies.
What motivated you to become an indie author?
The current model of traditional publishing is irrelevant to
today's market. They want what's already successful––another
vampire book is safer than a new idea because they know vampire books
sell. I had a story to tell and the best way to get it to you was to
start my own publishing company.
What is your writing process?
I try to plan ahead with a storyboard and I also use an outline.
As I write, I update the outline with a short summary of each chapter
to keep myself on-track. However, the creative process can’t be
re-planned too much. I let the story evolve organically within the
structure and change things as I need to.
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