297: How to Bring a Fantasy Series to a Close — Interview with E.J. Wenstrom

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hey there word nerds! Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing E.J. Wenstrom</span></p> <ol> <li><span style="font-weight: 400;">J. Wenstrom believes in complicated heroes, horrifying monsters, purple hair dye and standing to the right on escalators so the left side can walk. Her award-winning fantasy series Chronicles of the Third Realm War (City Owl Press) features a peculiar mashup of Greek mythology, Judeo-Christian folklore, and an extra dash of her own special brand of chaos.</span></li> </ol> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The series includes Florida Writers Association’s 2016 Book of the Year</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Mud</span></em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">,</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Rain</span></em> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">(which is the prequel),</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Tides</span></em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">, and—most recently—</span><em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Sparks</span></em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">, which concludes the series.</span></p> <h3><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this episode E.J. and I discuss:</span></h3> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How an internship led E.J. to discover a love of writing</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How research on monsters became the inspiration for finding Adem’s voice</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Finding hope in the midst of a seemingly hopeless story</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Setting up a satisfying series ending</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How E.J. uses an “ugly draft” to facilitate writing a book a year</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The benefits of publishing with a small press</span></li> </ul> <h4><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Plus, her #1 tip for