The Gatekeeper's Son by C.R. Fladmark on October 1st 2014
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Synopsis
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.
Q&A
Q: Like most writers, I noticed on your website that you also work a full-time job. (Yes, we all need to eat and pay bills.) Do you have any secrets for juggling both at once?
Finding time is a constant struggle. With a busy family and a job, writing often ends up at the bottom of a long to-do list. I keep my laptop with me and when I’m waiting for my kids at music class or sports practice, I write. Then, of course, there is the late-night writing sessions that leave me bleary-eyed at work the next day. That’s all I can do until this becomes a full-time gig.
Q: What is your favorite part about writing?
I love it when I lose myself in a scene and become so engrossed that my fingers can’t keep up with the story. It’s also fascinating how my characters surprise me by doing something unexpected. They take on a life of their own.
Q: And what would you rather eat worms than do?
I would happily chomp worms to avoid anything involving heights. “Want to bungee jump or go skydiving?” Chomp, chomp.
Q: 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.
Q: What’s your advice for aspiring writers?
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.
Q: What’s the best thing about being a writer?
I get paid to daydream.
Q: 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.
Q: 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.
Q: When did you first start writing?
I started in high school.
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Giveaway
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About C.R. Fladmark
Award winning author, C.R. Fladmark lives in a small, historic town in British Columbia and travels often to Japan, where he researches his novels among the ancient sites in Shimane Prefecture. To learn more, and read a way longer bio of his life and see FAQ, visit www.crfladmark.com or find him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/crfladmark.
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