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Our guest this week is wolf-whisperer, Chaaya Chandra. Canines, wolves in particular, have had a tumultuous relationship with humans for a long time, from spiritual companions to competitive rivals, and I think Chaaya\u2019s work is steeped in the essence of this relationship. Chaaya is a veteran whose home is in south Utah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is worth mentioning that Chaaya\u2019s book covers are some of the best I\u2019ve seen out of this crop of authors. Please enjoy this fascinating interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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I’m guessing you’re a dog person. Describe your experience writing canine characters.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Interestingly enough, I\u2019m not a dog person. I used to be, but now prefer to just like them from a distance. When I was in college studying conservation biology, I studied wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone and the things I learned there color my writing. The story that landed me the contract with RP Games references wolf number 9, from that real life program. I received permission to post it. It\u2019s not that good and was never finished, but it\u2019s available here<\/a>. The story of the wolf people of the books (which I didn\u2019t write. It\u2019s in a game world) is they\u2019re humans that turned into wolf people, so the culture is mostly human, but I throw in wolf culture when I can. They don\u2019t have a very strong national government and there are some times when their society is downright aggressive. If a human is caught stealing in their country, it\u2019s perfectly acceptable to kill him on the spot. They also make use of the concept of dominance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you for your service. How has your time in the army colored your writing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n My service in the US Army was as a chaplain\u2019s assistant. In garrison, the job is pretty boring, mostly janitorial. In combat, I turned into a bodyguard. In Faux Scent<\/em>, the character Annalace is a result of that. She\u2019s a paladin with PTSD who acts as the queen\u2019s bodyguard. I wouldn\u2019t say I put myself in the story with that character, but some things that happen to her were painful to write and I found myself sobbing over my keyboard. I choke up just thinking of some of the scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My military service also affected some of the concepts in the books. The story for the game is a technologically advanced society invades a world that\u2019s in the steam age. I didn\u2019t leave the Army as a tactician or anything close to that, but there are some story concepts I don\u2019t control that drive me crazy. The enemy has jet planes. This whole war thing should have been really short. I do put in some explanations that explain why it wasn\u2019t, but it still drives me nuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tell us about the Vykati.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n About 2500 years before the books take place, two nations (Rhidayar and Jzianrhune) went to war and met in what is now the Vykar Forest. The night before the battle a deep sleep fell over them and they awoke as wolf people. The two groups rushed to their home nations, hoping to find a cure, but instead were greeted with superstition and distrust. They returned to the site of the battle and came to terms with each other and their new forms. The animosity of their home nations continues to the current time, but they\u2019ve developed their own country and embraced their wolf appearance. They play a very important literary role in the books. I see a lot of \u201csteampunk\u201d books that are missing the \u201cpunk\u201d element. There\u2019s supposed to be a counter culture\u2014something that doesn\u2019t go with the flow of society and Vykati fill that role nicely. They aren\u2019t the only example of a counter-culture in the world, but since the books are mostly about them, I don\u2019t worry about the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I see you live in Utah, which looks like a beautiful state. Acting as a travel agent, please sell us a visit there. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Utah is its own kind of beauty. Most people drive right up I-15 and all they\u2019ll see is brown. I\u2019m fine with that. Leave the really pretty places to the locals. I\u2019m in south Utah and so Bryce Canyon and Zion\u2019s National Parks aren\u2019t that far of a drive for me. I\u2019m too old to hike it now, but the Narrows is a great hike. You walk right up the stream with walls of red sandstone to either side and there are places you end up rappelling down. The local photographer Fatali<\/a> captures some great images of that. If I mention it though, I feel obligated to say: get permission from the park to go there. Flash floods are a real thing there and not a year goes by when I don\u2019t read about someone skipping the permit and forgetting that just because it isn\u2019t raining in the valley doesn\u2019t mean it isn\u2019t raining in the mountains. The Parawan petroglyphs are also nice to see and a little off the beaten path. I take my kids there every now and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What do you have in store for the future?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Right now I\u2019m hard at work on\u00a0What Once Was Eden<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Benayle\u2019s Gambit<\/em>\u2014the last two books of the\u00a0Ship Called Hope<\/em>\u00a0trilogy. Those are supposed to be done by August 2021. When I\u2019m finished with those, I\u2019ll work on what\u2019s called internally\u00a0Sajani Tails 4<\/em>. I\u2019ve got a spoiler<\/a> on that.\u00a0I\u2019m medically retired, so other than my writing, I don\u2019t have a lot of aspirations. I enjoy a quiet life with my family and am pretty content with that. I\u2019d like to eventually rewrite and finish the\u00a0Cici and Number Nine<\/em>\u00a0book I linked and see about getting a big house publisher to look at it. I\u2019d have to remember who the murderer was. I\u2019ve forgotten. I just know who it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For more on Chaaya, visit her Amazon author<\/a> page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n