P.J. Flie Interview - Legacy of Seven: A Guardian Rises ~ JeanBookNerd

Photo Content from P. J. Flie

P. J. Flie is an author and educator passionate about working with the next generation of artists. He holds a BFA in theatre, and works in all aspects of theatre production from acting coach to director, set builder, lighting designer, and stage manager. He started writing at the age of 10, focusing on honing this craft throughout school and at college. Hailing from Canada, where he currently resides, he continues to create stories.

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.
Seeing my book up for presale is a huge milestone. There’s a point as an artist where you decide to share your work with the world, or not. Now that it’s up for sale, there’s no turning back. That evokes feelings of excitement and anticipation. I’m looking forward to holding my book in my hands for the first time. It’s wonderful to see the results of all that hard work.

What are some of your current and future projects that you can share with us?
Current projects: The next two books in the Legacy of Seven series. Book two finally sees many of our heroes coming together and meeting for the first time. Just when things are looking brighter, a few twists of fate send our heroes on a tougher path, hence the title: Darkness Falls. There are some epic battle scenes in book three, The North Stands, the threat of which loom in the first two books. Books two and three are works in progress. I also need to revisit a stand-alone novel that’s about the afterlife, a subject that lends itself to many different beliefs and explanations as to what happens after death. Fantasy and Science Fiction lend themselves to exploring the idea of possibilities, to know the unknown: driving factors throughout my writing.

Why is storytelling so important for all of us?
Put simply and stated in many different ways by others, storytelling is our way to learn more about ourselves and to make sense of the world we live in. From the earliest myths that explained the natural world, often with cosmic beings that control our fates, we’ve always had the curiosity and desire to know more about existence and our place within it. Also, for many people, stories are a way to take a break from our daily reality and delve into new worlds, a way to be captivated by compelling narratives. When good stories are told well, seeing the character’s journey can inspire us to take the next step on our own paths in life.

Can you tell us when you started A GUARDIAN RISES, how that came about?
Art is a reflection of reality. Throughout history, and even today, we’ve struggled with the balance between belief and fact, science and religion. A Guardian Rises started with that theme, exploring it with extremes, a society steeped in superstition while still containing highly advanced technology. From there, I developed characters with strong needs and traits; it’s from them that the world takes shape and crystalizes into one with clear rules of its own.

What do you hope for readers to be thinking when they read your novel?
Most of all, I hope readers are pulled in by the characters, reacting to them as if they were real people, deciding who they want to see succeed by the end of the book. Once they’re done reading, if the experience gets them thinking about some of the deeper themes, such as ones around freedom, rights, and beliefs. That would be wonderful.

What part of your characters did you enjoy writing the most?
I focus on creating characters that feel realistic. Then I let my characters guide me. Sometimes they take me in new and surprising directions, that’s when my writing takes off, and the part I do enjoy the most: the idea of discovery brings that world to life.

If you could introduce one of your characters to any character from another book, who would it be and why?
I would love to see CD-45 meet Marvin, the paranoid robot from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I always loved Marvin when I first read that book at the age of ten. He made me laugh, much in the way CD-45 does. It’s the situations in which they find themselves, and the humorous ways they respond that would make that meeting a great one.

Tell me about a favorite event of your childhood.
My twelfth birthday party - We had reservations for Tour of the Universe, a motion simulator ride, and very popular for the time. When they lost the reservation, I was heartbroken. But my parents wouldn’t let it go, not until they got free tickets for my friends and me, and still on my birthday. Loved that day.

What is something you think everyone should do at least once in their lives?
Conquer at least one of your fears. I used to be terrified to ride rollercoasters. I got tricked into riding one that was not as easy as I was lead to believe. Full of twists and turns, sometimes the whole world went upside-down, exhilarating, scary, and left me feeling a little sick and dizzy. But after it was over, I couldn’t stop laughing. I have never been scared of them since.

Best date you've ever had?
Meeting the love of my life after a huge snowstorm; the first time I ever tried sushi, and on a dare too, a memorable day, to say the least.

What was the first job you had?
Delivering fliers for a pharmacy. Picture it: me wearing my bright yellow Walkman, listening to my mix (cassette) tape as I get my steps in (by the way, not a thing at the time, we simply called it walking back then), soaking in some sun while I lugged around stacks of cheap print paper to houses and apartments.

What did you do for your last birthday?
I don’t make a big deal of birthdays these days, a quiet one where we ordered takeout and shared it with loved ones.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I’ve always been fascinated with Japanese society since I studied history in university. If I could immerse myself in that culture for several months, that would be ideal. That way, I could learn at least some Japanese. My goal would be to become fluent. Then after, I would love to learn more languages.

First Heartbreak?
Grade 11. Young love. I even tried to switch schools, set everything up at the Guidance office. Then a group of people invited me out to a comedy club that weekend. One of them, I’ll call her Red, for her hair, asked me why I was so upset. When I told her what I was planning to do, she responded with, “No, you’re not.” That’s when I realized I had a group of friends. We had some amazing times together, memories I still cherish. Funny how life works out sometimes and I never did change schools because I had my people, and they made all the difference.

Which would you choose, true love with a guarantee of a heart break or have never loved before?
As Alfred, Lord Tennyson said, “Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” I always thought those words were very wise.

TEN FACTS ABOUT A GUARDIAN RISES

1. It takes place in approximately 4500 A.D.
2. A shield protects the planet from an alien race that is determined to wipe out humanity.
3. There are wands used by wizards who use them to rule over their kingdoms.
4. It’s a medieval society that has risen from the ashes of a highly advanced human civilization.
5. Many of the details of the medieval society came from my European vacation, where I experienced a lot of historical architecture.
6. Ondreeal, the strong female lead, is based on the impressive women I have had the good fortune to have in my life.
7. The religion in Legacy of Seven, is based on my upbringing in the Christian church, but is also influenced by many other religions from around the world.
8. The main story takes place in the area we would know as the Southern States and Northern Mexico, but in a very different climate, and far in the future.
9. I originally considered the name of Oz for the main antagonist, Zairoc. But reconsidered because of the set of assumptions that come with a wizard named Oz.
10. CD-45 is like a child, in many ways, which adds a great deal of illogic and emotion into his choices. It creates a great deal of humor in his thoughts and actions.

Meet the Characters
ONDREEAL – She is the heart and soul of the story. Even though several chapters focus on other characters and their own journeys, she is the one who is experiencing this world for the first time, just as the reader does. Ondreeal is 18 years old, with big dreams, has lived a sheltered life on a farm with her adoptive father, who is cold and distant. That’s left her with her own thoughts, imagination, and a growing desire to see the world. She looks like her mother, who’s long dead, and that puts her in the position of seeing her mother’s face in her own reflection. Beyond this, she doesn’t think about how beautiful she’s become in her own right. She’s had to be emotionally strong to survive living with her father. Ondreeal is well-muscled from a lifetime of working the farm. When she finally experiences the world, often a brutal and callous place, she doesn’t shrink from it; she fights for as long as she draws breath.

Quote: “She took a deep breath and raised her head so that she could meet the monster’s condescending stare. Something deep within her mind wouldn’t let her lie down and die.”

SIR FRANCIS – Imagine the picture of every good old wizard that might come to mind, and that’s what Sir Francis looks like. A long, snowy beard, crisp white robes, he embodies the image of righteousness. As the story progresses, we get hints of the regrets and failures he’s had over his many years,; his fears and hopes for the future cause him to make mistakes with Ondreeal. We learn about what haunts his waking mind, which manifests in his nightmares. Like any figure that’s up on a pedestal, there’s a very real and fallible human being in there, simply trying to do the best they can.

Quote: “Everyone around wizards died, including magistrates and Beacons, but wizards went on—all of them did. Although others called them wizards, to Sir Francis they were just people.”

CD-45 – A Construction droid with an emotional side. He’s very much like a kid, experiencing and reacting to the world for the first time. In this way, he’s very much like Ondreeal. They both go through plenty of growing pains, learning the rules of a strange, new land. However, CD-45 is a bridge into our world. He is the observer, often understanding his experiences from a perspective that we can relate to. His thoughts explain the world in a way we can understand.

Quote 1: “Certainly, no one would ever understand such frustration, because the only being in existence that had ever experienced this turmoil was CD-45.”

Quote 2: “What did he expect, though? After all the centuries on the orbital platforms, pop culture had inevitably changed. Probability of finding someone who understood what pop culture meant: 1.5 percent.”

A world filled with magic, wizards and, enchanted beings—or the ashes of a highly advanced civilization? The truth is much more complicated.

Ondreeal has lived her whole life on the farm with her callous adoptive father. She longs to see the world and witness for herself the magical wonders that fill it—and she’ll soon get her wish, thrust into an adventure that carries her to heights she never dreamed possible, and to the depths of despair and loneliness. Ondreeal can never become the hero the world wants her to be.

But will she become the hero it needs?

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