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| Christopher Hansen, co-author THE MAGICIAN'S WORKSHOP Volumes 1 and 2 |
Christopher Hansen and J.R. Fehr bring us THE MAGICIAN’S WORKSHOP, volumes 1 and 2, described by one reviewer as “Whoo whoo whoosh! A mega magical experience!---- A wonderfully written story of a world where everyone has magic and can do magic, the authors take it one step further into the world of augmented reality.” Both authors value their characters and even learn from them, have an appreciation for the rules of world-building and magic, and combine approaches of “reflecting” images or feelings along with “echoes” of real life.
Although they live 1,000 miles apart in different countries, they collaborated on all parts of the two volumes. They plan to continue to write together. Christopher Hansen enjoys spending time with his family and exploring with his three children. J.R. Fehr has a day job working with people with disabilities but also finds time for an active social life in Vancouver, British Columbia.
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| J.R. Fehr, co-author THE MAGICIAN'S WORKSHOP Volumes 1 and 2 |
Q: What led you to write THE MAGICIAN’S WORKSHOP? Are you a fan of
fantasy stories? Do either or both of you have a favorite fantasy author?
Christopher Hansen: Yup I’m a fan of
fantasy. But I’m not a fan boy; I don’t have a real sword hanging on my wall
and I don’t have the slightest clue how to speak elvish. I have plenty of
fantasy authors I enjoy, but there is one I think is way-WAY-way above all the
rest. This may seem nutty, but it’s whoever made all of the fantastic stuff we
see here on earth.
Take geckos for example. They are so cool. I once
spent the night in a rundown wooden hut in Hawaii. It was awful. But there was
a gecko climbing around on the walls chirping all night long. And somehow, it
transformed this nightmarish hut into something wonderful.
Or take volcanoes. Think of lava exploding up into
the air or rivers of hot red, liquid rock. Who could have thought up something
like that? It’s absolutely crazy. And then don’t get me started about all the
photos the Hubble telescope has taken of the stars. Geesh, if I could invent a
fantasy story one billionth as fantastical as that I’d be happy.
J.R. Fehr: When I was younger, I was a big fan of The Wheel of Time, but
I’d have to say my favorite fantasy author is C.S. Lewis (and not just Narnia
either). I took a class on his fiction in university and loved every second of
it. His final novel, Till We Have Faces, was one of the biggest
influences on my first novel, Skyblind.
As to the bigger question, what led me to write THE MAGICIAN’S WORKSHOP . . . well, that is a bit of a story. It all started when
Chris Hansen, my co-writer and friend, was up visiting me at my home in
Vancouver, Canada. One day, we decided to meet with another artistic friend of
mine who had just completed a new project. And, much to his dismay, the initial
reception was not great. This friend was deeply discouraged and was on the
brink of giving up his art altogether.
This encounter left a lasting impression on Chris
and myself. Without saying too much about it, this experience ended up being
one of the key pieces in the formation for the original idea of THE MAGICIAN’S WORKSHOP.
Q: Who are the target readers for THE MAGICIAN’S WORKSHOP? Young adults? Would you also characterize it as a
“coming-of-age” story?
J.R. Fehr: It is definitely a “Coming of Age” story, and the target audience
would fall to teens, but I wouldn’t want to limit it to just them. I feel like
the themes discussed here are relevant to all ages, and that this story is full
of characters that (hopefully) anyone can relate with. Most of the characters
are 16, but there’s a few point of view characters who are older.
Q: Did you create “rules” for the magic of your characters? Do these
rules help to offer a sense of credibility?
Christopher Hansen: Did we create
rules? Wow. That’s like asking if presidents create executive orders or if
Texans like BBQ. (Texans generally do, by the way.)
Yup, we spent a lot of time creating rules. We did
this primarily because we, as authors, needed to stand on solid ground when we
were writing the story. We needed to know what could happen and what could not
in this world.
J.R. Fehr: Oh yes. We spent a significant amount of time working out the rules
for the magic, as well as the rules for everything else. This was part of a
“world building” phase that we were in. I’d estimate that we spent about 5-6
months working steadily on this, as the “magic” in our story is quite different
than traditional magic.
Q: Are there heroes and villains in THE MAGICIAN’S WORKSHOP? What are
the characteristics of a compelling villain?
Christopher Hansen: Yes there are.
But the heroes and villains might be difficult for some people to see. I wanted
the characters in the book to reflect ordinary people in our world. So there
aren’t Super-heroes or Super-villains. There are people who have aspects of
themselves that are heroic as well as aspects that are villainous. We had fun
taking characters and flipping our understanding of them upside down and then
upside down again. In one chapter a character will act heroic, but then later
on they will be a real stinker, only to later on do something marvelous.
This said, there is one primary villain in the
series of books. He/She/It is very hidden. But he/she/it is hard at work, doing
diabolical, villainous stuff. Muwah ha, ha. Cackle. Hiss.
Q: How do you engage your readers to care about your characters? How
will we relate to characters who make magic?
Christopher Hansen: For me, THE MAGICIAN’S WORKSHOP is all about the characters. Writing it was such a joy,
primarily because I fell in love with the characters. I spent a tremendous
amount of time listening to them (which, I’m sure must sound utterly strange
and maybe preposterous) and getting to know them.
I never know if readers will relate to my
characters. But people really have connected to the characters in these books.
I have no idea how this happens.
Practically what I do is rather straightforward. I
assume no one will care about my characters unless I care about them. I figure
if I can relate to them, others might also. I also think it’s important for
characters to feel real, or believable. This is especially true with characters
who have magical powers. So we spent a lot of time working out the rules of the
magic so that what the characters did with magic felt “real.”
J.R. Fehr: The simplest explanation is just giving the characters time to be real
people. Both Chris and I try to let the characters speak to us out of their own
characteristics, rather than force them to say or do things to advance a plot.
As a result, this is a story full of rich characters.
As to relating to
characters who make magic . . . all fiction echoes real life. It is my hope
that when people read the things I write, that they’ll get a sense of
themselves. Readers can think “What would I do in that situation?” or “How
would I act if I faced those obstacles?” Everyone can’t cast out magical
projections in our world, but we can do other things that are similar. I
encourage any readers to ponder that, and consider what the equivalent of
making magical projections would be in our world. We may not be able to make a
magical blue wallaroo appear, but we can certainly create other things with our
talents.
Q: Is THE MAGICIAN’S WORKSHOP primarily for entertainment or did you
embed a few messages along the way?
Christopher Hansen: Can I say,
“Neither”? I sure hope people find the books entertaining. I love fun stories
and I love to write things that interest me and make me laugh. As a result
there are many silly, fun things in the books. And I also hope some readers
find some message in the books that helps them in life. However, neither of
these things was a goal.
Instead the objective was for the books to reflect
something. Think of a painting. A painter takes something they see and then
attempts to reflect that something onto a canvas with paint. It may be
something they can see with their eyes, like a waterfall, a buffalo, or their
daughter. Or it might be something imaginary, say a dragon or a person they’ve
never seen. It can also be something abstract, say a feeling or an idea.
Before I set out to write a book I generally want
to know what it is a reflection of. Sometimes I don’t know what this is until
I’ve written an entire first draft of the book. On occasion it may take even
longer. Other times, like with THE MAGICIAN’S WORKSHOP, it was clear in my mind
right from the beginning. For me this isn’t a message. It’s something that
exists in reality. To give you an example, it may be childhood friendship. You
know those relationships that you have before puberty, hormones, and dating
seem to scramble our brains and change what friendships are. That’s not the
theme of THE MAGICIAN’S WORKSHOP,
by the way. I’m just giving an example.
It’s generally wise for an author to keep the
specific thing a book is reflecting a secret. This is because the thing it
reflects is often killed when the author reveals it. It’s like taking a living
frog and dissecting it. While this does have value to help people understand
frogs, it does end the frog's life. After you look at the heart, lungs, and
gall bladder of the frog, it’s not going to get up, start hopping around the
table, or make its cute croaking sound. I as an author desire to create living
things, but I’m happy for others to dissect the books I write. Thus, I’ll leave
it to you to open up THE MAGICIAN’S WORKSHOP and see what reflection of reality
you find inside.
J.R. Fehr: Just as I said “all fiction echoes real life” I’d also say that
fiction is very rarely (if ever) purely entertainment. I believe that every
story has some meaning and is filled with messages—even if the readers (or
authors) don’t recognize them.
Q: How do you use your settings or worlds to propel the story?
Christopher Hansen: For me stories
consist of a world, the characters that exist in that world, the actions the
characters take in that world, and finally the way the world changes because of
those character’s actions. Thus, I need to know a lot about the setting/world
and characters before I can begin to craft a story.
Put another way: Stories are propelled by
characters. But those characters exist in a world that has rules, history,
geography, weather, and all kinds of things that affect those characters. The
more solid the world, the more solid your characters can be. And if you have
solid characters who have clear dramatic desires the story usually flows pretty
easily.
Q: How do the two of you work together as authors? Do you divide
chapters or character development between you?
Christopher Hansen: We have loved
working together; co-writing has been the best experience.
The short answer is that we did everything
together. This was easier than we expected even though we live in different
countries, about a thousand miles apart. But it took a lot of time, about three
to four times as long as it would take writing a book alone. Most of our work
was done over the phone. We must have racked up thousands of hours. Pity the
cell phone company that sold me an unlimited international calling plan for $5
a month.
J.R. Fehr: Ah, yes. Co-writing is quite the interesting endeavour. It was really
easy in the beginning. It was just a matter of brainstorming ideas and coming
to agreement on things. When we actually started writing, we divided up pieces
of the plot and assigned certain characters to each-other to work on. We’d
write an initial “1.0” pass on a chapter, then share that with the other
person, who’d go through and improve it with a “2.0,” which they’d then send
back. We’d go back and forth like this, editing each-other’s work and improving
areas where one might be weaker. Honestly, it was so much fun. I’ve been
writing all my life, but I definitely think co-writing is my favorite. It’s so
nice to have someone else to bounce ideas off of and to help me out when I get
stuck.
Q: What’s next? Will you continue to work together?
J.R. Fehr: That’s the plan! I’m mega excited to share the rest of the story with
you!
Q: What do you both like to do when you’re not writing?
J.R. Fehr: I have a day job working with people with disabilities, which—when
combined with writing—takes up most of my week. I’m pretty active in my
community here in Vancouver, and I have a rich social life. I don’t have any
hobbies that are anything that exciting, but I do enjoy board games, hiking,
movies, and traveling.
Christopher Hansen: I spend most of
my free time with my family. I have three kids and we do all kinds of things
together. One of our favorites is to be out in nature. Just last weekend my son
and I went on a nighttime snowshoe hike. We trekked in the dark up to the top
of a mountain where the wind was blowing at forty miles an hour. It was so
strong it was constantly knocking us over. Bits of snow were flying through the
air and stinging our nearly frozen faces. We were hungry. Our hands were damp
and numb.
But despite all this it was absolutely incredible.
A huge wall of clouds covered the full moon. Every so often the wind would blow
the clouds in a way that allowed the moon to peek out. Whenever this happened
the moon was so bright that it was able to light up everything, almost like it
was day. By its light, a nearby mountain range would appear. The valley below
us would light up. The snow covering the grove of trees behind us would glow.
It was an utterly inhospitable place for humans, yet there we were, witnessing
something incredible.
We stood, fighting against the wind, watching the
world blink in and out of existence, like someone was switching the light
switch on and off in their bedroom. One moment we would be standing in nothing
but darkness, then the moon would break free and the world would light up. This
only lasted for a brief moment before a new patch of clouds would rush in and
cover over the moon once again, thrusting everything into darkness once again.
Back and forth it went, like some cosmic battle. But all along, the moon kept
on rising. Bit by bit, it traveled higher in the sky. Eventually, it was well
above the clouds, and there was no fear of it being covered again. Everything
remained lit up.
And in this light we hiked down the mountain. It
was easy to see; there was no fear of getting lost. The whole experience was
magical.
About Christopher Hansen
The first glimmering Chris Hansen had that there was far more to
reality than he had ever imagined occurred six days after his ninth birthday. “Christopher!”
cried a wise, old sage. “Life is full of deep magic. Miraculous things happen
all the time and all around us, if you know where to look for them.” Full of
expectation and childlike optimism, Chris began searching for this magic,
prepared to be surprised and amazed by it. And he was: he found Wonder! Now he’s
chosen to write stories about it.
When J.R. Fehr popped out of the womb, he knew there was more to the
world than the four boring hospital walls that he was seeing. “Zango!” his
newborn mind exclaimed as he saw people appear and disappear through a
mysterious portal in the wall. As a child he found life wowtazzling, but as he
grew older the cold water of reality hit him, and the magic he once knew
vanished. After spending some wet and shivering years lost in a joyless
wasteland, he once again began to see magic in the world. He writes because the
Wonder of true life is far grander than anything he ever thought possible.
About THE MAGICIAN’S WORKSHOP: Volume
1
Everyone in the
islands of O’Ceea has a magical ability: whatever they imagine can be brought
into existence. Whoever becomes a master over these powers is granted the title
of magician and is given fame, power, riches, and glory. This volume of books
follows the journey of a group of kids as they strive to rise to the top and
become members of the Magician’s Workshop.
Layauna
desperately wants to create beautiful things with her magical powers, but all
she can seem to do is make horrible, savage monsters. For years she has tried
to hide her creations, but when her power is at last discovered by a great
magician, she realizes that what she’s tried to hide might actually be of
tremendous value.
Kai just wants to
use his powers to have fun and play with his friends. Unfortunately, nearly
everyone on his island sees him as a bad influence, so he’s forced to meet them
in secret. When one of the creatures they create gets out of control and starts
flinging fireballs at their town, Kai is tempted to believe that he is as
Follow the
adventures of Kai, Layauna, and a boatload of other characters as they struggle
to grow up well in this fantastical world.
Return to the world of THE
MAGICIAN’S WORKSHOP: WHERE DREAMS BEOCME REALITY.
In Volume Two, the Festival of Stars has finally arrived, and the Color
Ceremony is about to commence. As children from all over the islands gather to
stand before a puller, one question remains: who will have a Color, and who
will be found void?
Rejoin your favorite characters as they step forward and receive a label
that will have the power to dramatically alter the course of their lives
forever.
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