Why don't you tell
us about your latest work?
The book Nadia’s
Heart, is from a series of books called the Evergreen series, and it’s really a
stand alone story in itself. It’s the
fourth book, but the events happen further in the past. It’s about a girl who perceives that her
heart is missing. The story is an
allegory about what the heart symbolises beyond the limits of romantic love,
how evil can overtake it, and what happens when our heart becomes joined to
something greater.
What inspired
it?
I was inspired by a
few things. It’s unfortunate that in our
world, children are not exempt from suffering.
I saw this image of a young girl under the weight of immense suffering. It sadded me, because we think of children’s
hearts as in such a pure state, uncorrupted by and protected from the
world. It also fascinated me: there was a glimpse of Nadia in that, and
that was all that was needed. I had to ask who was I seeing, and the answer
just tumbled out: that it was a girl
named Nadia who thought she had been born without a heart. In many ways, it’s as if these characters
already exist and just need an invitation to step out.
For Georgeonus, I
was exploring the idea of characters from different realms and how they
interact. Nadia and Georgeonus are young, but they are destined to meet, so in
many ways they are star crossed because they are from different worlds. He has characteristics that we would
typically associate with angelic: glowing eyes and communicating
telepathically. Georgeonus has a lineage
- he is the prince of The Land of Silence and has a responsibility to his
people. Nadia takes on the role of
servant girl, but as we get deeper into the story we realize she has been sent
to the Land of Silence and has higher origins of her own.
Writing, like
inventions and music, comes from different places. Inspirations can trigger
something dormant in you, or that you are tapping into from the
collective. In a way it is the same
source, and you are always churning it through the machine that is you: through
your experiences.
Is there something
you are currently working on?
I’m working on the
second part of Nadia’s Heart, and another book that comes after that, which
goes deeper into the history of Nadia’s origins.
At the beginning of
Nadia’s Heart, there is a quote from a poem called ‘The Demon’. It speaks to Nadia’s longing for, and
eventual alienation from, her sense of home.
Once she gains her memory back, she only has more questions about where
she comes from, and the answers speak to the fleeting nature of the things we
are tied to on earth. Even the place we
call home on earth is temporary.
When did you finally
feel like you could call yourself an author?
From a very young
age I had an inner knowing that I was a writer.
I wrote and assembled books when I was little. In my late twenties, I dedicated myself more
to writing and started to produce a body of work. That led to a commitment to learn the craft
of writing and its structural elements, to finish works, to get feedback, and
to employ the services of editors. So
those committments were an essential part of the process, but the knowing of
being a writer was always there.
Other than writing,
what are your favorite things to do?
I love stop motion
animation - particularly the sets and puppet making, so I have been learning
the process and the many, many hats involved.
I love animals, and have two rescue cats that are a happy—and at times
entertaining—distraction. I do a lot of
walking, too. It seems to go hand in
hand with writing; it clears the head and gives you some distance on things. What is that expression? Solvitur ambulando. It is solved by walking. Walking can help you
to problem solve.
Are there any
websites where readers can connect with you?
On Twitter,
@SirTwoSays, and on Instagram: waltshuler.
