Writer of Pirates and Witches and Other Obsessions Talks About Characters: From Real Person to Fictional Character to Real Person

The story behind my book is as layered and unexpected as the story itself. It began with a casual conversation with a friend, who offhandedly suggested I turn his life into a fantasy novel. We dove into the idea together and wrote a first draft, but when we stepped back to evaluate it, we realized it felt too much like his actual life, and he wasn't entirely comfortable with that level of exposure. After some thought, we shelved it.

Years later, the story lingered in my mind but without a clear direction. It wasn’t until I discovered the steampunk genre that a spark reignited my excitement for the project. The genre offered a fresh, immersive world where I could mix fantasy, mystery, and retro-futuristic technology. This transformed the foundation of the book, opening up a world of imagination and style that felt less personal and more universal.

As I fleshed out character backstories in this new world, I found myself captivated by the lives of my protagonist's parents. Their story felt so powerful that I almost abandoned my protagonist’s tale entirely to write theirs instead. My friend, who had been part of the journey from the start, even admitted, “I want to read their story.” That was the turning point. I realized my protagonist needed more depth; his story deserved the same dedication.

Returning to him with fresh inspiration, I found an angle that reshaped everything: my protagonist as a young person driven by a deep need to know the parents he’d only heard about through vague, scattered stories. I asked myself: what lengths would someone go to uncover the truth about parents they never truly knew? This shifted his entire journey and ultimately brought the plot together.

In a twist of fate, the element of time travel entered the narrative almost as a joke. The more I developed my protagonist’s relentless curiosity, the more it seemed he’d need a way to directly connect with a past he never experienced. Time travel became the tool through which he could confront his parents' untold story firsthand. It was the final piece to make this story feel like it truly belonged in a world of steampunk skies, hidden secrets, and anachronistic wonder.

The end result is a story that began with real life, transformed into a fantastical adventure, and evolved into something more profound. It’s a journey of discovery, mystery, and the limits one will reach to understand their origins. I hope it captures readers as much as it has captivated me.