Growing up in Connecticut, Greg Slomba read "The Phantom Tollbooth," "The Chronicles of Narnia," and "The Lord of the Rings" and nurtured a dream of writing his own children's books one day. Mission accomplished.
The third book in his Deliverers fantasy series for young adults, "The Golden Dragon of Ang," was released last month, with more in the works.
Slomba spent 20 years as a banker and, when he's not writing adventure-filled novels, designs and writes training courses for bankers. He lives with his wife and children in New Fairfield. Here, he shares the background on his series, process, and the writing life and one more question I didn't think to ask but am glad he did.
Please tell us a little about your Deliverers series.
The Deliverers series is about a boy named Eric Scott who meets a talking owl named Stig. Stig takes Eric to a place called the Hallway of Worlds where he meets the Gatekeeper. They enter the Hallway of Worlds through a door located in a drainpipe under his driveway. Eric, Stig, a girl named Kate Endria and a dwarf named Hallo Tosis are the Deliverers. The Gatekeeper sends them on Assignments—missions to other worlds that are experiencing difficulties. It's up to them to sort things out. If they fail, worlds could end.
What inspired you to write it, and where do you get your ideas?
The idea for the series started with Stig. He was a character who had appeared in a number of short stories I'd written over the years. In those, he was called "the owl," and he would show up to help people who were experiencing problems and help them. I had always wanted to know more about him—what his name was and where he came from—so I decided to write a book that would answer those questions. I'd always been fascinated by the idea that there might be other worlds out there and that visiting them could be as easy as walking through a door. "The Chronicles of Narnia" and "The Phantom Tollbooth" were a big influence there.
I get my ideas from lots of different places and experiences. The idea for the latest book in the series, "The Golden Dragon of Ang," from a Chinese dragon statuette that sits on my bookcase. I was looking at it, and suddenly this rhyme popped into my head. That rhyme turned out to be the center of the entire premise of the book. Along the way I added some things I'd seen in China when my wife and I visited to adopt our daughter in 2005. Another piece fell into place when I was at my son's bowling league. I was sketching out some location ideas and was doodling a map. I had an idea to make the location mirror its name—The Dragon Islands. In a few minutes, I'd sketched a chain of five islands that together looked like a dragon.
I've learned that ideas can come from anywhere at any time. I carry a journal and a pen wherever I go so that I can jot down ideas whenever the muse strikes. It's really cool when something just hits you out of the blue. Then of course there are times the characters do something unexpected as I'm writing. They have minds of their own sometimes. When they take over, it usually adds a whole new dimension to the story.
I'm really a part time author, although I'm mulling things over in my mind 24/7. I set a goal of 2,000 words a week. It's modest by some standards, but it's challenging for me when I factor in work, yard work, and being a husband and father. My family is really understanding. I could not write anything without their love and support. I've been lucky in that I've had a pretty easy time coming up with story ideas and general plot outlines. When I'm writing, though, I do encounter sticky bits where I'm not sure what's going to happen next or how a situation will play out. When that happens, I stop and let the scene play out in my head overnight or over the next couple of days. Once I've been able to think it through, I sit down and write it out. That usually does the trick. That also works when I've written something, but I'm not entirely satisfied with it. It's very tough to move on to the next section—I can't write. That's a good indicator that I need to go back and rewrite that last bit before moving forward.
If you could meet three authors, who would you choose and why?
Let's see—I'd have to say J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and James Herriot. All three are dead, unfortunately, but they all are writers that I really admire for their pure storytelling abilities. I'd love to be able to sit down with them and find out more about how they created their books and developed their stories.
Where is your favorite place to write?
I write in my bedroom with a laptop balanced on my knees. I sit at a desk a good part of my workday, so when I get home I sit in a comfy chair, prop my feet up on an ottoman, and type. Usually, there's some music playing softly on the laptop as well—generally the soundtracks from "The Lord of the Rings," "Harry Potter," or "Kung Fu Panda."
What are you working on at the moment?
I'm currently writing the fourth book in the Deliverers series. In this one Eric and the gang are sent back in time by the Gatekeeper to the American Revolution. Something or someone that has been disrupting things in other worlds has gone back to Eric's hometown in 1777 for some unknown reason. They Deliverers have to stop him before he changes history and destroys our world and perhaps the universe.
Ask and answer one question you wish I'd asked.
All right. Let's see. Hmmm. Oh, okay, here's one:
Who does your covers, maps and chapter illustrations?
I'm very lucky, because I have a friend, Ana Vogel, who is a layout artist and graphic designer. She lays out the book for me. Her son Daniel Vogel does all of the covers, maps, and chapter illustrations. Dan is only 16, but he does a fantastic job. It's great experience for him, and I get the benefit of great artwork and professional layout for a fraction of what it would cost normally. It's a win-win all the way around.
Click here to visit the Deliverers on Facebook and here for Greg Slomba's author page.