About the Author

If this were a real show, you would be hearing theme music right now instead of reading this on a screen. I am Charles Mandrake. Most days I am supposed to be doing homework or logging readings in the observatory. Today I am doing something different. I am hosting an interview with the person who wrote all of this down.

On my left is Anna Ko, who keeps us from breaking anything expensive. On my right is Todd Baskerville, who touches things anyway. Together we have a special guest for this page, not in the studio, not on a call, just on the other side of the words. The author gets the hot seat. We get to ask the questions. You, if you are still reading, get to listen in… Well, read, as it were.

Charles: So, let us start. First question, Who are you?

The first thing that I want people to realize is that this isn’t about me. Charles, you and Anna and Todd write my stories and live them in your day to day lives, noting your adventures in your Journals on the regular. I am merely conveying the stories out to the world.

I really wish to not be named.

Yes, I’m staying anonymous for now. If some people know who I am, fine, but I’m not putting myself as the focus. The story is so much better when characters like you three live and breathe along side us in our minds and in places that we can’t go to.

Charles: When you think about who you are outside this story, what should readers know about you that does not fit in a normal author bio box?

Well, first that I’m a pretty normal kind of person that would never really be noticed in a supermarket if you passed me. I have a family, I work a 9-5. But for a long time, I’ve lived in Skelderheim in my mind. Only recently did I take the leap to make the dreams a story. If you met me, you’d never know I’m a writer. I’m most like Todd in many ways, and not someone that you’d look at and say, “there’s a writer!”

Todd: At what point did you realize I was going to be the one flipping breakers and cracking jokes instead of the calm main character?

All of you are based on my four kids. Not one to one per se, but there are parts of them in all of you. There’s also some of myself, my wife, and the people I know that show up in the book and the extra chapters as well. For example, Ira Finch of Dockside Salvage is one of my uncles when I imagine him.

Charles: When you think about who you are outside this story, what should readers know about you that does not fit in a normal author bio box?

Well, first that I’m a pretty normal kind of person that would never really be noticed in a supermarket if you passed me. I have a family, I work a 9-5. I’m most like Todd in many ways, and not someone that you’d look at and say, “there’s a writer!”

Charles: Why did you choose an old observatory in a small Maine town as the starting point instead of a louder, bigger setting?

Maine for me has always had a calling. My best friend in Junior High School moved to Boothbay Harbor, and I mourned the loss of that friendship for a long time. Since then, it’s popped up in wierd ways. I have a tourist’s book from one of the towns that just randomly appeared. One of my cousins took photos there, and they became the inspiration for East Bay, and it’s just always been there, in the background, not asking for attention until I paid attention.

Anna: Why did you decide to use journals and side stories around the main book instead of keeping everything in one straight line?

When I read a great book that I really get in to, I want to know more. What else happened? I decided to write the extras, Chapters between Chapters to add the details that didn’t make it into the book. It gives the story depth and breadth that most books don’t have. If you really love a book, then the characters live with you while you read, but when the book ends, there’s always that awkward moment when you keep going but you have to leave them behind. Not with this book, not with this story, not with Skelderheim. It comes with you by design.

Todd: If you could sit with us in the observatory for one evening, no writing, no deadlines, what would you want to do?

It would be a normal night. Going through bins at Dockside. A warm fire in the potbelly. Coffee. Maybe Uno. Definately dinner at Mel’s.

Charles: When you wrote me, what part of yourself did you put into the way I pay attention to the room?

Like I said above, you, Anna, and Todd were inspired by my own children.

Todd: You give some chapters away for free and keep others for members. How do you decide which moments belong in which pile?

The free chapters are stand-alones. After reading the main book, you can read any chapter and it’s its own story. The members stories are multi-chapter for the most part, where the story is carried across two to four chapters on average. The members do get to read the free chapters first in an early preview as well, but free is free, and a couple weeks later, they’re published on the site for no cost to download. The point wasn’t to make money. It is to support the art, the idea, and a way to keep the story going.

Anna: What kind of reader were you imagining when you built all the rules around the observatory, the array, and Skelderheim?

One like me – a person that seeks order in the chaos, but in figuring all this out, finds themselves on an unexpected adventure they may or may not have chosen: Life.

Anna: That is all the questions we had written down, which is probably a good thing, because Todd keeps trying to add more. Thank you for reading the whole way through this instead of skimming. The author can stay unnamed, but you know the important pieces now. Someone with a normal life chose to spend free time building rules around an observatory so that we could exist in it. That feels like enough of an introduction.

Todd: Yeah, and for the record, I am fine with them hiding in the background. That means we get the top billing on this page. You know who we are, you know there is a real person on the other side of all these chapters, and you know they would still rather talk about firewood and card games than fame. That sort of matches how the observatory works. Quiet on the outside, a lot going on once you step in.

Charles: This is where we hand the page back to you. Somewhere out there, the author is doing the 9 to 5, then coming home to sort through our notes, your late nights, and the next set of pages. Somewhere closer, in your hands or on your screen, is the book that came out of all of that. If you keep reading, we will keep doing our part and logging what happens.

Anna: I will be in the journals, trying to keep the records straight and filling in the parts that you cannot see from the main chapters.

Todd: I will be in the observatory, trying not to break anything important and making sure the coffee does not run out.

Charles: And I will be right between them, in East Bay and in Skelderheim, paying attention and writing things down. Thanks for stopping by the interview. When you are ready, we will meet you back in the story.

Actually from me, the Author:

To be clear, Charles, Anna, and Todd are fictious characters that represent very real parts of life. They weren’t imagined up as much as they were already a part of me that needed a story. It wasn’t something that I planned on doing either. It just happened one day that I wrote. East Bay wasn’t East Bay then, but Skelderheim came like lightning. The names fell in place, and the world evolved.

One unexpected thing that happened during the creation of the book was that it started addressing very real things that every human faces in this world: Choices, Consequences, Work, and our Values. Through that, parts of the books delve into Morality, Faith and Beliefs that we hold to ourselves. Like I said, it was unexpected, but just came through in the chapters. There is also an underlying theme of Work. Life is work. Friendship is work. Anything worthwhile is work. It’s a constant, ever-present truth, and it is as much a driving force in the chapters as it is in our lives.

I write chapters on a Young Adult, Fantasy Story level. I’m not a writer really, but love a good story. You will probably find grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and maybe even small plot inconsistencies. Yes, I work a 9-5 job and I have a family. I go to Skelderheim during the night hours when the house is sleeping, and the book is my “portal”.

The point is that I write at the YA level to make it accessible, fun, but a worthy read. Just because it’s YA-Fantasy doesn’t mean a 40-year old wouldn’t love the story. It can be read to just about anyone that’s willing to listen. My dad used to read bedtime stories to me all the way up to 11 or 12, and honestly, it’s one of the best memories I have growing up.

I choose to stay anonymous for the most part because when I read books, I never really wonder about the author, I want to know the characters. I want to know if they exist somewhere in parallel. What do they do between the books? How about not inside the main story beats? That’s the main thought behind writing extra chapters. If this story is good enough that you put the book down, and wish there was more, there is. I have been there. I answered the call.

Last, I’m not here to make money as a driving force. When I started, part of the ethos behind the Charles Mandrake stories was that it was art. Yes, I do ask for a little bit to keep things going in exchange for things, but it’s completely optional and never required to enjoy the stories, so much so, if you truly can’t afford to make the purchase, and still want a (PDF) copy, email me and let me know. I’d rather you enjoy a good story than make $0.48 from a book. Maybe we can discuss it later.

Thanks for joining me on this adventure.