INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Tell us about yourself:
   1. Where do you live? I live in Colorado Springs.
   2. How long have you lived there? I’ve lived in the Colorado Springs area (mostly Palmer Lake) since 1996. I moved to the Springs in 2010, after graduating college. Before moving to Colorado, my family and I lived in California, where I was born.
   3. Are you married? Yes, I am, and my wife makes me happier than I’ve ever been in my life. We’ve been married just over three years now.
   4. Kids? None yet, but we’re hopeful.
   5. Full time job? I have a part-time position with a law firm which is expected to go full-time in about a month.
   6. Education? I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in History, and am certified as a paralegal.
2. Who is your favorite author and book? Martin the Warrior by Brian Jacques.
3. What is your preferred genre? Definitely fantasy. I’ve tried to write in the science fiction, mystery, steam punk, and crime drama genres before, but none of those really had the flair I was looking for.
4. How did you start this journey to become a writer? When I was six years old we had a lot of big family gatherings, and they were a bit chaotic. I had ADD, so it was a nightmare at times for me to keep track of everything that was happening, so I focused my attention instead on drawing pictures and coming up with stories based on those pictures. That was when I first started writing stories, as a way to focus in on one thing.
5. What have you written so far? I have written four novels in a high fantasy series called Tales of Erets, as well as one political intrigue fantasy called The Whispered War, which I wrote with my wife. I have also just recently released a children’s fantasy novel called The Charm Fable: Mousey and the Golden Book. That one has a special place in my heart, because the main character is the first character I ever came up with, back when I was six years old.
6. Tell us about your current book. The book I’m writing right now is the sequel to Mousey and the Golden Book. It continues the story where the previous one left off, and the primary theme of it is making peace with your enemies. I feel that’s a good lesson for kids to learn. The book features talking, anthropomorphic animals as the main characters, and the hero is a mouse wizard.
7. What is the inspiration for your current book? Mostly the stories I came up with when I was six years old, but there is also inspiration pulled from the Redwall book series, as well as a little from Narnia, Charlotte’s Web, and Animal Farm. Yes, I know, one of these things is not like the others.
8. Who was your favorite character to write and why? Ooh, that’s a hard one. In the Tales of Erets series I really liked writing Deidra, the Soothsayer. It was fun to write her because she had a truly different way of looking at the world. At times she was totally childlike and innocent, then at other times she was insane and incoherent. In The Whispered War I enjoyed writing Duke Lucien Renart. He’s just the right level of ruthless to be shocking, but at the same time he really cares about his family, and what he does is dedicated to a good cause. In Mousey and the Golden Book, I think the most fun character to write was Sir Ranae, the frog knight. He was so full of bluster, and fully-earned pride. It was also fun writing about his odd mannerisms, such as licking his own eyeball.
9. Is there anything of you in that character? Out of those three, I think the most of myself I’ve put into any of them was into Duke Lucien Renart. I think if I were in his situation I might make a lot of the same choices.
10. What sets your book apart? I’ll just answer this one for the Mousey books, I guess. A lot of my early childhood was unpleasant, but I got through it with the power of imagination and a bit of faith. I feel that the Mousey novels are my opportunity to pass that along to future generations. Children are in a rough position because they are smaller than most of the population. The world is so big to them and can be scary sometimes. This is why Mousey is a good hero for a children’s book; he too knows what it means to be small and afraid, and he overcomes that fear to do extraordinary things.
11. What’s your favorite part in the book?In Mousey and the Golden Book, our hero finds the Golden Book mentioned in the title. The book is magical, and has a life of its own. My favorite part is the first time Mousey sees the spirit which dwells within that book.

“Sopher’s form had the shape of a mouse in a long, white dress. The folds and ribbons of her gown were rolling sheets of paper, covered in the most elegant calligraphy. Her tail was a long, red ribbon; just like the book’s attached book-mark. Her face and paws were made of golden light, and her eyes were like splatters of blue ink.”

1. What was the most difficult part to write? There is a part of the story in which Mousey must retrieve a serpent’s fang because the venom inside will help save his sister who has been turned to stone. I didn’t want Mousey to take the fang violently, so I had to think of a different way that he could get it. This was difficult to come up with, but I’m glad I did it, because it teaches that there are other ways to solve problems than with violence.
2. What was your favorite book to write? That’s a close tie between Mousey and the Golden Book and The Whispered War. The first one I loved because I was keeping a promise to my child self. The second I loved because I wrote it with my wife.
3. How do you write? Do you have a set time or place? How many hours a day? I typically put on headphones and listen to music or ambient sounds appropriate to what I’m writing. I try to write at least ten hours a week, but sometimes life gets in the way, of course. I have no specific set time, just whenever my other responsibilities have been taken care of.
4. Why did you want to be a writer? Quite simply, because I have so many ideas for stories that I had to experiment with them. My mind is constantly filling with story ideas, and I think if I didn’t write some of them I’d go a little crazy.
5. How do you get your ideas? A few different ways, actually. First, they can come from other stories I’ve read, watched, listened to, played, or otherwise experienced. I think about the elements of the stories, and then ask, “Well, what if you did this instead?” and then a new idea forms. Other times I get story ideas from something I’m learning. Maybe I’ll read up on something from Medieval or Renaissance history. I also get inspiration from the hard times of my life. I wrote Mousey and the Golden Book while reflecting on aspects of my childhood that I’d just realized were unpleasant, even traumatizing. The pain from back then became real again, so I dealt with it the same way I had when I was a child.
6. What do you have planned next? I need to finish the sequel to Mousey and the Golden Book. I also plan to complete a sequel to The Whispered War. My wife and I have entitled that sequel Rings of Rebellion.
7. What advice would you give new writers? Finish something. Make that your first priority. Finish a story. Once you’ve finished a story, you can start worrying about all the things which could have made it better, and then you can make it better. Don’t get too wrapped up in your thoughts about whether or not it’s going to be good enough. Get it done. Make sure you’ve written at least four to six pages a week.
8. How can readers get in touch with you? I have an author page on Facebook. You can find it with a search for “Nicholas S. Casale.” If it comes up with a book cover as the profile picture that’s probably me. They can also email me at nicobones@outlook.com. However, for religious reasons I won’t answer emails on Friday nights or Saturdays before sundown.