What inspires you to write?
As I looked at all the different problems of the world I thought I should add my voice to the solution. I didn’t initially think of writing a novel, but more writing essays, but when I sat down to do that the “advice” seemed too simple – don’t do bad stuff. So I started thinking of other ways of approaching writing.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I started writing almost 40 years ago, but I only did a bit here and there. I started really being serious about it maybe 15 years ago. Even then I wasn’t really a writer, but I wrote anyway. What turned me into a writer was working with editors. They would take apart what I wrote and help me understand the deficiencies in my writing style. I began to understand my weaknesses and strengths. It was like a master class in writing. When I got to the end of the first two books (they were originally written as one book) and read it over and decided I liked it, that’s when I considered myself a writer.
Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre?
I thought of writing fiction and putting my characters in different situations and see how they react. I decided on fantasy because first, I was familiar with the genre and the conventions, and second because I get to create the world so I had fewer constraints. I always felt fantasy was an under used genre for addressing the issues we face in the world.
What is the biggest thing that people think they know about your genre?
That there must be magic in a fantasy. That was a genre convention I wanted to bust. There are powers that the wizards have in my book, but I wouldn’t call it magic – and there are others who have or can achieve the same powers. What makes the wizards special is not their magic but their knowledge. And that’s one of the things that makes my book different from the traditional fantasy book.
What are some day jobs you have held, and how have they influenced your writing?
I had a whole career before I started writing. I worked in international finance for most of my career, and I even had my own financial training company where I traveled all over the world teaching international finance. That influenced my writing in a couple of ways. First, I got to see the world from a bigger perspective. I was able to interact with people from all over the world and different cultures. While much of what I did was in the developed world (the global north), I also worked in microfinance, which is primarily small banks giving loans to people making under $1 a day. Many of the moral lessons I learned came from seeing the disparities in incomes and how good people are trying to deal with this. In addition, because of the training I was doing I had to write a lot. It was business writing rather than fiction, but it gave me confidence that I could write.
What role does research play in your writing?
I don’t do much research in the books as I create my own world so I can make the rules. I do research place names and character names. We are used to certain sounds creating certain emotions. So, a name starting with Mal, for example, will typically be for a bad character. It has roots in Latin. So, I will usually have an idea for a character’s personality and then look up that English word in Latin and then alter it in some way for a character/place name. In the third book, rather than Latin I used Greek as the base.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
For aspiring authors I would say you really have to love what you are working on. Writing is a terrible process, but having written is great!
Can you share a little bit about your latest book?
The book is about relationships, but not just interpersonal ones, it’s about the big issues we face in society. How we interact with each other. More specifically, the book is about two lands, Bracat and Ognita. Bracat has changed since the Moment—the collective joining of minds—opened up new possibilities of peace for its people. Even the rogue wizard Malzus is seeking forgiveness for his past sins. But this new feeling of unity is tentative, and the future is never certain.
In the midst of this change, gem cutter Theb discovers something curious: it looks like an ordinary stone, but he knows it is something extraordinary. A crystal that exists in two realms at once, but only Theb can see how unique it is.
Then Theb begins to have dreams of a woman, calling for help from a deserted island far away from Bracat. An impenetrable fog is threatening the island, and the strange crystal seems to be the only answer.
There are others who hear the woman’s call. To find the source, Theb joins with a reformed wizard, a former thief, and an old enemy. Together, they vow to find the voice, braving the turbulent ocean to discover what is hidden behind the fog.
What is your next project?
I have one book almost finished that is in the same world as the first three. It revisits one of the previous main characters and completes her journey. I have also outlines book four on the Wanderer series and I have ideas for a three-part series based also in the same lands.
Want to learn more about J.D. Rasch?
Waking Writer 
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