Lance described his journey, from his early love of reading to how his parents encouraged him to turn that love of reading into writing. In an interview with i'mBiking, he talked about his book, Guardian, its protagonist, and how he came up with the traits. I can sum it up by saying that he enjoys role-playing games where players create characters.
He tells us the tale of a woman who spent 800 years traveling the globe. Born and raised in the small Ontario town of Chatham-Kent, where he practically lived in the children's library's classics section, Lance Meredith, also known as JL Meredith, started penning stories of adventure and bravery when he was in the fourth grade. An old soul, he tries to sing, and dance, and play, a little each day. He has degrees in political science and psychology.
Please elaborate on your upbringing, way of life, birthplace, and how your interest in writing first arose.
I was born in the rural community of Chatham-Kent in Ontario, Canada. My parents encouraged my love of reading; that, and a vivid imagination, led to my interest in writing.
While writing "Guardian," how did you choose your protagonist, and what are his characteristics?
I created the Guardian in 1986. I enjoyed playing roleplaying games, a type of game where the players create a character and, acting as a team, go on adventures narrated and refereed by a game master. I had two superhero roleplaying games and made a lot of characters with complete backgrounds, powers, and appearances. Guardian was one of those characters.
In June of 2015, I had some time and wrote the first ten pages of an outline. In August, I began writing her story, completing the first draft in January 2016.
The character has a big heart. My readers describe her as strong, sassy, and smart.
What is the concept of superheroes in your novel and why did she roam the earth for 800 years?
Guardian assumes her superhero name during a television interview in the first chapters of the novel. She’s an entity that arrived on earth in the year 1194 while exploring the universe--she’s an infant by her kind’s standards. She happened upon a young mother who died during childbirth in the English countryside and assumed the mother’s form to care for the newborn and save the child’s life. Experiencing humanity first hand, she fell in love and chose to remain. She does not age, so she moves on every few years to avoid difficult questions.
Other newly super-powered heroes (and villains) appear after the inciting incident, the asteroid’s appearance.
What do you want to tell the readers through this novel?
The novel is first and foremost an entertaining read, I wrote it to be a fun, page-turner--a beach-read. There are underlying themes, such as being your true self, and living in harmony with those who are different—which is all of us. One of the great paradoxes of being a human being is that we are all unique and yet, so very much the same.
Before figuring out about the character, Elizabeth, did you have any optional characters who were replaced by Elizabeth? Or, it was just the first and final one.
She was the one constant character in the book. All of the others were in flux until the book went to my editor. Some characters were cut, some were amalgamated. The character, Jennifer, Guardian’s new best friend and the brilliant scientist that helps her through the book, took some time to come into focus. Some characters I can find their voice quite quickly, others I really have to stop and listen and hope they talk to me.
Do you only enjoy writing science fiction, or do you also have other books in other genres in the works?
The first story I recall writing was a fantasy. I was nine at the time. I have written fantasy, science fiction, horror, and superheroes. Presently, I’m writing two stories; one of them is another Guardian story, and a paranormal detective story.
When did you begin writing, how did you do it, and what gave you the inspiration to do it? Moreover, did you write short stories before this novel?
I read a lot growing up. My first recollection of a story that I wrote was a fantasy story involving a marauding dragon that had to be slain. It was only one page long, and I used up my red pencil crayon drawing the dragon and the battle described in the story. I wrote many more stories after that, particularly between grade ten and the end of my second year of university, after that the writing workload for school became so intense that writing became a burden.
What is your favourite quote that always reminds you and forces you to write and write more? the total number of books you have both written and read.
Shannon Hale provides an excellent quote: “I'm writing a first draft and reminding myself that I'm simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.”
Louis L'Amour: “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”
Guardian Into the Light of Day is my first novel.
Furthermore, tell us about the most powerful books you have read yet and would like to recommend to your readers and writers.
Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain is an excellent text for fiction writers.
Mahtab Narsimhan is an award-winning author with numerous critically acclaimed books, nominated for several awards, including “The Third Eye” which won the Silver Birch Fiction Award.
She is inspired by the desire to make sense of the world through stories and is deeply committed to representing diversity in her books. Please visit www.mahtabnarsimhan.com for more information.
Her definition on bringing perfection in writing is not different, however, common points which we commonly do not concentrate upon. She believes to practice writing every day. It is a process of continuous learning and for that matter, you have to keep your tools sharp and focus on the techniques of learning on your chosen genre. To help yourself is to read your favorite writers and write and rewrite.
Every author or writer's first draft is messy, you just have to come back to your draft again with freshly open eyes. Therefore, see your script new and get another better ideas about your book, plot and many other things. Moreover, don't try to make yourself fool by making you your critic. Mahtab well explained that why you should need a group of critic to get you an honest feedback on your authorship.
LU: What makes one a better writer
MN: Practise writing every day and honing your craft by always learning better techniques of writing. Furthermore, reading books on writing as well as taking relevant courses within your genre. Therefore, reading other writers and reading extensively. By this, I mean reading within and outside of your genre. Every book teaches you something: either how to write well, or how not to write. Polishing your work to the best of your ability, having a trusted critique group who will review your work and provide honest feedback. For this, I suggest that you do not approach family members or close friends. Their opinion might be biased based on the closeness of your relationship.
What you need is someone who will give you honest feedback to help make your manuscript stronger. Above all, keep an open mind towards improving your craft and taking constructive feedback in a positive manner. If you only want praise and not criticism, you may never get to the next level.
LU: What is your secret of writing
MN: I honestly do not have a secret to writing. I’ve always been an avid reader since childhood. I devoured books and was always thirsting for more. My favourite genre was (and still is) fantasy and science fiction. Enid Blyton, C.S. Lewis, Roald Dahl and Kenneth Grahame were some of my favourite authors.
I started writing late in life and without any prior knowledge of how stories worked. All I started with was a desire to include India’s rich culture and mythology in a fantasy story.
My first book, THE THIRD EYE was four years in the making. It was rejected by over a hundred publishers and only one in all those said yes to publication. It went on to win a prestigious award in Ontario.
Since then, I have published 14 books and contributed to many anthologies and articles. A common theme in the writing of these books is hard work, constant revising, and getting the first draft down as soon as possible, while you are inspired by a shiny new idea.
Hard work: I write early in the morning and try and put in at least 2 hours/about 1500 words on a new draft. I also have a day job which takes up most of the day. In the evenings I tend to take care of the business side of writing, answer emails, plan/research other stories or critique my friends’ work.
Constant Revising: Writing is mostly rewriting. My first draft is usually a big mess. That is fine. It’s usually for my eyes only. I try and get the initial idea down on paper as soon as I can (while the passion for that idea is still strong — the longer you wait, the harder it is to complete the story). I put the draft away for about a month while I work on something else. Then I come back with fresh eyes and start revising. Usually, after about 2-3 revisions, I’m ready to share it with a critique partner. Then comes some more revising before I send the manuscript to my agent.
Get the idea down asap: Writers are always fascinated by ideas. New ones are especially fun because research, creating a new world, characters, plot threads etc. is very exciting. Then comes the hard part of actually writing. This is where many wanna-be writers fail. It takes discipline to put this all down on paper, and you have to stick with it day after day. Or like so many millions, you will always want to write a book, but will never write one.
LU: What is your best timing of Shining (writing, developing your ideas)?
MN: I’m most productive early in the morning. I work from about 5.30 am to 7.30am. I also like to know that the “hardest” part of my day is behind me, and then I can focus on the other activities. On the days that I do not write, I get anxious and irritable. Writing every day is a habit which took years to form. I’m happy that it serves me very well now and provides the discipline I need to keep creating.
LU: What is your Message to aspiring writers along with your Opinion and why?
MN: Writing is hard. If there is anything else you’d rather do, do it. But if writing brings you joy, then that is what you must do. Read a lot. You cannot be equipped to write unless you have the ideas and vocabulary (the tools) to write. Even then, you have to practice writing as often as possible (ideally every day) to become a good writer.
LU: What is your favourite quote?
“Everything you want is on the other side of fear.”
George Addair
LU: Why You have chosen only children niche, and what keeps you inspiring?
MN: At heart, I’m still a 12-year-old. I love writing for this age group because this is when children are becoming aware of the world, learning to be independent, and making friends. This age group is curious and excited to learn new things. I’ve found that you can deal with any topic (death, illness, abuse, loss, bullying among others), no matter how difficult, as long as age-appropriate terminology is used.
I love that writing for children forces me to write a tight plot with no meandering because kids, unlike adults, have short attention spans. If you do not hook them with your first line and pace the story well, you’ll lose them. Last, I love that stories for children have a hopeful (not always happy) ending. I’m not an advocate of lived-happily-ever-after stories. Kids need to know that the world is not always a kind place and bad things can happen. But that, with courage, ordinary people can rise to extraordinary challenges. I hope that my characters can inspire my readers to look within for strength and rise to the challenges life may throw at them.
Very simply put—life experience. You can be the most reclusive of hermits and still write wonderful fiction. But the inspiration will run dry unless you keep giving your mind something to think about. What are your greatest strengths? This could be going out into the world and trying new things; going to new places, or meeting new people.
However, it can also mean taking the time to learn a new skill or read up on a favorite niche topic. Really, anything that keeps the brain thinking about things will work its way into your creative life. Usually, it’s in the most unexpected ways. Also, keeping muses around, that is, people who inspire you or whom you can bounce ideas off, is really helpful eventually.
No matter how rampant that stereotype is, writing doesn’t have to be a miserable hobby for a solitary individual. Besides that, the most important thing is to let go of perfection and just let whatever is coming through do so without judgement. Not everything you write will be a bestseller, and some of the things you come up with might be. So bad they end up in the trash pile, but if you allow yourself to be paralyzed by perfection, you’ll never write at all and whatever gems you are capable of will die before they’re even born.
I was a very creative since my childhood
I was always a very creative child. I loved to tell stories and jokes to the other kids, but I never really wrote anything because my spelling was terrible at the time. I had this belief that being able to grasp proper grammar and spelling was what writing was about, so I didn’t feel like I was good enough to try my hand at it, even when I had several teachers disagree with me. The thing that changed all this was my sixteenth birthday. It was a really depressing event. I’d been out of school for two years (due to illness) and I invited all my school friends over, who I hadn’t seen in all that time. I was so excited. It was going to be the biggest, happiest party of my life.
But then the only people who showed up were my best friend and two boys who had a crush on me. I was devastated. Apparently, my school chums meant a lot more to me than I did to them. I didn’t know where to take my heartbreak, so I sat down and started to write. In doing so I didn’t wallow in my pain but instead rewrote the narrative to make the whole scenario funny — the sort of thing a stand-up comedian might do. And when I did that, I not only felt better about the whole thing, but I also spread a little joy in the form of laughter from the people who did read it. It wasn’t long before I was writing about other events in the same fashion and getting all sorts of positive attention.
People from all over were telling me my life was interesting, and although I had a hard time believing them, I kept on writing. Over the years, I perfected my art until I was able to cross the final threshold into fiction. Now I was free from the restrictions of reality and lived experiences. I could write about anything and anyone. In my adulthood, I have found this just as cathartic. And there’s something so life affirming about spreading joy, or hope, or little glimpses of wisdom. It’s really that fulfilment that keeps bringing me back despite all the other difficulties in my life.
This hardship does not let me sleep
I hate to admit this, but the best time to write is usually in the dead of night, when no one else is awake to disturb the creative flow. Plus, there’s something a bit magical about being up when no one else is. You get a whole new perspective on things when everything is quiet, people are asleep, and there isn’t anything but you and the relative silence around you. It makes it a lot easier to reflect, be one with yourself, and hopefully touch the creative source that inspires you. With that being said, it’s also a terrible schedule to be on if you want to get anything else at all done in your life.
So even a night owl like me had to eventually learn how to just operate on a more normal schedule. Currently, I try to do most of my writing whenever my brain is at full capacity — which is after I’ve eaten breakfast and dealt with anything that might distract my thoughts. It might be as late as dinner before I sit down and focus. It’s less about the timing and more about forcing me to write and hit my daily goals. As long as I have that daily goal lingering in the background, I will not be able to go to sleep that night without accomplishing it. For me, this is what has worked better than anything else. I even write on days when I feel like I have nothing worth writing — just to stay in the habit. And when I do take little breaks, I always find it hard to get back into the routine.
In my opinion, young writers is a need of today
Young writers are very much needed these days, our world is changing so fast that it’s really hard to keep up, and someone needs to be taking note of these changes. When I was rowing up, I had to read all the classics — the vast majority of which were written by affluent older white men — the same stories that had been taught to my parents and grandparents. Therefore, this was somewhat OK for the time because so little had changed in society that they were still relatable, but there was also a lot missing in these narratives. There was such a large chunk of earth’s population that just did not see themselves in these stories, and that’s important.
Not just for the people who are longing for representation, but also for everyone else who is losing out on the opportunity to learn about people unlike themselves. And if there is anyone out there that is writing about these big issues of culture, gender, race, and identity, it’s going to be the younger generations. I hate to say it, but older authors have all been at least somewhat beaten down by life. Each one of us can point to a time when we’ve been silenced or dismissed, and this ongoing struggle can really make us a lot meeker than we used to be.
A lot less likely to blast our personal truths for the world to see. But young people… they have yet to be broken and if the world is ever going to change for the better it’s going to be because they are screaming as an entire generation for progress. And I can’t tell you how much it warms my heart to see this happening — this upcoming generation knowing that their story is just as important as some old white dude and telling it like it is! Will they make mistakes? Of course, we all do! Will they at times be a little too much? Always. But all that means is we, the older generations of authors, should be guiding them and helping them become even better. They really are our future.
My inspiration is not limited. It is for all the niches
Oh goodness, I don’t have a single niche. I write everything I feel compelled to — personal stories, travel blog entries, satirical takes on history, more scientific articles for laymen, and fiction that runs the gamut of genres. I will never be able to stick to one thing, and that’s
OK, because I can find a use for all of them. I think many writers encourage other writers to focus on one genre because it is far easier to market yourself if you have a singular voice. I won’t argue that point, but I just don’t think it works for me and my ADHD addled mind.
Furthermore, I go wherever the creative spirit takes me, and I don’t complain simultaneously! In fact, the whole process has been a wonderful avenue to learn and to practice catharsis. Whenever I come across, something that really bothers me. I find it helpful to write my characters into a different scenario, a better scenario. For instance, I got fed up with super dysfunctional (or downright abusive) relationships being shown as romantic, so now whenever I have love interests I try to write them as healthy, respectful, and loving. You might think this would make for a passive and boring read, but no! There are still lots of action and drama, it’s just not coming from the characters, it’s coming from the outside world they live in. It’s been a beautiful process and one that, I think, has over time made me a more kind and forgiving person.
My favorite book, “Achilles in Heels”
Wouldn’t that be nice to have a book that was genuinely popular! I’m afraid I haven’t gotten there yet, though I am certainly trying! Even so, I do harbor an intense affection for the last book I published: Achilles in Heels. It’s a modern retelling of the unusual teenage years of Achilles. Long before he was a Trojan war hero, his mother Thetis thought she’d protect him from his fated death in battle by dressing him up as a girl and hiding him in a harem of princesses. From here the book is about a very action-oriented Achilles dealing with all the usual trivialities of his teenage years but with the added complication of his secret identity. The simplest of things get twisted wildly out of control as he tries desperately to keep face. At his side is his closest friend Deidamia, a sharp-tongued and adventure prone princess who spends all her free time trying to thwart any possible marriage proposals thrown her way.
She provides a cynical yet endearingly funny perspective to every situation and sitting across from her, often in competition for Achilles’ attention, is his childhood best friend Patroclus. Patroclus can’t compete with the cutting with of his companions, but what he lacks in mental prowess, he makes up for in heart. He pulls this unlikely ragtag bunch together in a soft and loving way, smoothing out issues that need a gentle touch. Together, they face the world with courage and audacity, learning all of life’s greatest lessons in one adventure after another. All three of these vibrant characters lived in my mind for about twenty years before I committed them to a book. And now they’re ready to be loved by the world just as much as they were loved by myself.
Reading the first chapter from the book, “Achilles in Heels”
My strength and the source of inspiration is Jack Kerouac
… I shambled after [them] as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me. Because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time. The ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles…
Jack Kerouac
I read this quote when I was still a teenager, and it was only theoretical to me. I dreamed about a life where I would find fellow misfits and freaks. It would be a few years before I started meeting individuals who burned with the same intensity that is noted in this quote, and it took on a much greater significance to me. From there, I realized that there are a handful of individuals out there who are so completely their own person that literally everything else doesn’t matter. These have been my greatest muses, my deepest friends, my most beloved of romantic companions. They have inspired me just by existing and being themselves.
There’s a sort of chaotic, beautiful energy that comes from the excitement of reading them, whatever I am working on. It’s these people, the ones who get me, that are my most loyal of cheerleaders. They believe in my talent and vision even when I am at my lowest and just want to hide in the dark and pretend I don’t exist. And I hope I have, in return, encouraged them to be their best as well in whatever endeavors they chose. They have taught me that if I don’t fit in somewhere, or am unhappy with something, all I have to do is find others like me that can help me change the narrative. It’s been a remarkable journey this life of mine, and I am so grateful I have been able to express this in my writing.
Furthermore, read Ethan on his writing and daily habits
