What
inspired you to become an author?
I’d been an avid reader all my life and had dabbled
in creative writing before, but it wasn’t until my son approached me a few
years ago and asked me to write him a book that I really began to take the idea
of becoming an author seriously. I decided that writing a novel would be a cool
thing to do for him and for myself as well, so I set out to create something
along the lines of all the other young adult sci-fi/fantasy books that my son
and I both enjoyed.
Do
you have a specific writing style?
Having been a songwriter for a long time, I like to
pay extra attention to the rhythm and pacing of sentences and paragraphs. Also,
I try to keep things visual, fast-paced, and fun to read.
Is
there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
The protagonist of my novel, Joel Suzuki, is a boy
with Asperger’s Syndrome who struggles with the usual sources of teen angst as
well as the challenges that his Asperger’s presents. He’s also a brilliant
guitarist and songwriter, and he thinks that if he can become a rock star, that
all of his problems will be solved and he’ll be happy. He gets what seems to be
his big chance when his rock star idol shows up one day and tells Joel that the
secret to success lies in an alternate world called Spectraland – but once Joel
arrives there, he finds that things are not quite what he expected. Basically,
the main message is that happiness is something that comes from within, not
from external sources.
Is
the book, characters, or any scenes based on a true life experience, someone
you know, or events in your own life?
Joel is kind of a combination of my son, who has
Asperger’s Syndrome, and me, a lifelong musician. While I was writing the book,
whenever Joel was faced with a decision that he had to make, I would often
consider how my son would react, and I would base Joel’s actions on that.
What
books/authors have influenced your life?
So many to choose from…when I was a kid, I devoured
fantasy of all types – Tolkein, Piers Anthony, David Eddings, Katherine Kurtz,
on and on. The books that had the most direct influence on Secret of the Songshell were the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson
series, since those were the books my son was into at the time.
What
book are you reading now?
I usually read several books at a time, so right now
I’m in the middle of Asperkids by
Jennifer Cook O’Toole, The Kitchen
Daughter by Jael McHenry, Slip by
Tanya Savko, The Help (yes, I’m finally
getting around to that one), and Wildwood
by Colin Meloy.
What
is your current “work in progress” or upcoming projects?
I’m currently hard at work on the follow-up to Secret of the Songshell. Both books are
part of a planned series of seven books called The Spectraland Saga. My goal is
to release the follow-up in the fall of 2013, but we’ll see how that turns out.
People are already asking me “where’s the second book?” so the pressure is on.
Can
you share a little of your current work with us?
Here’s a short excerpt from Chapter 2 of Songshell:
WEEEoooWEEEoooWEEEooo
Joel winced as the weird
sound blared painfully in his ears once again. “Um, did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Art asked as he
tried to piece together two sections of Joel’s broken guitar.
“Uh — nothing,” Joel said.
That was the fourth time today, and Joel was getting worried. He started a
search for “hearing loss symptoms” on the computer when suddenly, out of the
corner of his eye, he thought he saw movement on the far wall of the store. He
looked around. His eyes gravitated towards an old Biledriver poster that showed
all of the band members in full scowl. He blinked several times. Did Marshall
just . . . smile?
Two minutes passed. Joel
took another bite out of his sandwich as he continued staring at the poster. He
could have sworn that he saw Marshall smile for a fraction of a second. But that’s crazy, right? It’s just a poster.
. . .
Do
you have any advice for other writers?
If you’re starting out on your first book, I would
recommend turning off your inner critic/editor and just write. When I was
writing Songshell, I told myself that
I would write 400 words a day, no matter what, even if they were total garbage.
The plan was just to get the words down and then go back and clean them up
later. I was able to finish the first draft in four months this way, and then I
spent a year doing edits and rewrites. It helped that I had created an outline
beforehand, which functioned as a road map of sorts.
Do
you have a song or playlist (book soundtrack) that you think represents this
book?
I envision a mix of epic orchestral music like
“Incantation and Dance” by John Barnes Chance and anthemic rock songs like “We
Sing in Time” by The Lonely Forest (as well as some of my own tunes!)
January 7 Guest blog
Michelle @ Mom With A Kindle
January 7 Promo and review
January 8 Interview
Fang-tastic Books
January 9 Interview
Roxanne’s Realm
January 10 Promo
January 11 Guest blog
The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom
January 12 Interview and review
Marked By Books
January 12 Interview
Books, Books The Magical Fruit
January 13 Guest blog
Monique Morgan
January 14 Guest blog and review
Moosubi Reviews!
Secret of the Songshell was just named a finalist in the 2012 USA Best Book Awards for fantasy fiction
Secret of the Songshell
The Spectraland Saga, Book One
Brian Tashima
Brian Tashima
Genre: YA sci-fi/fantasy
Publisher: Prism Valley Press
ISBN: 978-0615648156
ASIN: 0615648150
Number of pages: 318
Word Count: 79000
Cover Artist: Purnima Prasad
Book Description:
Joel Suzuki is a gifted teenage guitarist with Asperger's Syndrome who gets transported to a world where his unique brain waves can be combined with the sound waves of music to create magical effects. Once there, he must use his newfound abilities to locate the Songshell, a powerful artifact that will help him stop a mysterious evil entity from destroying the alternate world as well as the Earth.
About the Author:
Brian Tashima was born and raised in Hawaii and has been a resident of Vancouver, Washington since 2000. In addition to being an author, he is a singer, songwriter and guitarist who has won a Hoku award (Hawaii’s version of the Grammys) and has had his music featured in short films, international compilations, and numerous other forms of media. He is currently a member of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators), Willamette Writers, Northwest Independent Writers Association, and three Vancouver/Portland-based rock bands.
Website: www.thespectralandsaga.com
Author Blog: www.briantashima.blogspot.com
Twitter: @SpectralandSaga
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheSpectralandSaga
1 comment:
thank you for creating a book like this
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