Book Nook: The Gates of Avalon - Path of the Ghost Warrior

Books unlock a whole world of imagination. They also teach. Karl R. Krueger believes books uncap limitless amounts of imagination and learning. He describes books as the greatest form of escapism. This led him to pen his first book, The Gates of Avalon: Path of the Ghost Warrior. It is a fantasy book that also teaches history.  You can learn more in this interview

1.) Why did you decide to write this book?
I have always enjoyed writing. I did a lot of it when I was in college many years ago. Over the years I continued to dabble with short little tales about friends or funny incidents in life, but I never had enough time or energy to tackle a novel. The years went by, the kids grew up and the demands of my career disappeared when I retired (I was a Deputy Sheriff.) I have always enjoyed reading fantasy and history books. I remember as a child the wonders the world held when all the mythical creatures actually existed for me. The most obvious examples are Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, but who didn't wonder about the Little People of Irish history, or Dragons and Unicorns. The world was filled with tales of mythical creatures and magical events. Over the years one by one the myths and legends of my youth became tall tales. There wasn't room in the real world for things like Dragons. Now, later in life when I look back, there is a certain regret that those creatures are not real in the adult mind.

I still had the desire to write and with the thought of using science as a foundation I began to think of ways to create a world where magic and myth could be real. One evening sitting at the computer I opened a new file in word and just started to write a short story. I was amazed at how much easier it was than the old typewriter I had in college. I had a friend who read the chapters as I wrote them. He loved the short stories and demanded more. It was out of those few short stories that the idea of a book developed. I flushed out my story line and began to added a rough frame work of characters and events that fit with the concept of making the myths and legends from around our world real. I enjoyed the creative process so much that I was pumping out a chapter ever few weeks and before you knew it I had a story, The Gates of Avalon: The Path of the Ghost Warrior.

2) What was it like to weave together history and fantasy?
I have always loved history. I read and study it to this day. When I was in grade school I was constantly getting into trouble because I couldn't stand reading the little story books I was assigned. I much preferred to read history books from the library. One of my majors at the University of Wisconsin was history. With this background I found that it was very satisfying to create historical settings and insert my imaginary characters. In the case of The Gates of Avalon: Path of the Ghost Warrior it is the Wyoming Territory of the 1860's. One of the main characters in the story is a man named Buh Roc. He has come to Wyoming to escape the world of Avalon where an evil force has been released and is consuming that world. Buh Roc grows up in the mountains of Wyoming. It is his trials and tribulations that gain him the title Ghost Warrior. I had to research information on the Indian nations of the Wyoming Territory of the period. I utilized the long standing feud between the Cheyenne nation and their allies the Arapaho with the Crow nation. It was a brutal raid that started the transformation of Buh Roc and started him on a path back to Avalon. By utilizing history and historical characters I believe it creates a more believable story line. Plus it has the added bonus of allowing the reader to understand a little bit of the period the story takes place in.

3) Tell me what the Gates of Avalon is about.
The Gates of Avalon: The Path of the Ghost Warrior is a story written as a chronicle of events experienced by an old man named Theodore Schmidt. As a boy growing up in Wyoming in the 1950's he is told stories by his father at a Boy Scout camping trip. Over the years he forgets the tall tales. Now an old man he has just lost his wife. The effects of childhood Polio are crippling him. Weary of life he has fallen into a dark depression. Teddy receives a call from his mother. His father has had a stroke and lies in a coma. He flies from his home in Wisconsin back to Wyoming. He discovers more than a medical emergency when he arrives. Shortly after arriving back in Green River, the Schmidt family is plunged into a life and death struggle. Teddy's father is murdered and the town of Green River is destroyed by creatures out of a night mare. Teddy discovers hand written notes from his father and discovers the tall tales told around a campfire so many years ago are real. Teddy embarks on a quest to find the Ghost Warrior and the gate to the world of Avalon. He will enlist the help of an old friend from his Boy Scout days. The trail they follow will also help them rediscover the importance and wonder of life.

4) Do you plan more books?
I originally had planned that Gates of Avalon story would be a trilogy. I think I'm having to much fun writing it because the story line has created a world where there is so much to explore. I am almost finished with the second book and as I look at my frame work of the story line, there is no way it can be completed in three. The short answer is that I plan on writing until I finish the story, however long it takes. In the second book The Gates of Avalon: The Lost Army, the characters have just arrived on Avalon. I thought the experience of writing the first book was fun, now I have a whole new world filled with the creatures of our worlds myths and legends. You are exposed to some of the creatures in book one, now you will see them as they exist with cultures and languages unique to their race, five Faery tribes ( they refer to themselves as Fenn), Three Dwarven clans, the mysterious and secretive Gnomes and Humans. That is just the Empire of the Four Realms. There are five nations that control gates on Avalon. The gates are used to open portals to other dimensions. Asgaard, Olympus, Shangri La
and Kaii are the other powers controlling gates. So you see there is a lot of territory to cover. I'm really looking forward to the book that will expose the reader to the Kaii and many of the Asian myths.

5) What do you find the most difficult aspect of writing the book?
Writing the book is by far the most enjoyable and easiest part of the process of bringing a book to life. I have never written or published a novel. Finding a professional editor is the first hurdle. For first time writers do not waste a lot of time looking for an agent. I found out after many hours of work that your chances of being picked up by an agent falls somewhere in the realm of slim and none. Unless you know one our spend a lot of time traveling to book events and pitching your story in person (assuming
you can even meet an agent face to face,) you have little chance of picking up an agent. I wrote dozens and dozens of query letters. I changed my approach several times. Some how there seems to be a disconnect. I have heard back from almost fifty people that have read my story and every single one tells me the first book is one of the best fantasy stories they have ever read. They describe strong dialog, great characters, scenes that elicited strong emotions and unbelievable action sequences. Many of these people I don't know so it's not like I'm being patronized by friends. With out an agent, the author is forced to either self-publish or shelve the project. All this takes time and energy and it pulls the author away from what they love doing-WRITING.

6) Did you always want to be a writer?
As I stated before I have always enjoyed writing, but to be honest I never thought about becoming a writer. I have been blessed with a wonderful life filled with satisfying work and a great family. My time was filled from morning to night. It wasn't until later in life that I began to write for fun and after receiving a lot of encouragement I decided to take the plunge and become a published author. Now I am anxious to see where this path will lead.

7) How can books get kids more engaged in learning about history and reading?
That is a great question. I think it is a shame that kids are so drawn to computers and have become enamored with the machines. They don't want to learn about history they want to google it. Looking up facts on a computer is not the same as learning history. Some one once said that if you don't know your history, you are condemned to repeat it. That adage is so true. Alexander the Great fought his way across Afghanistan and realized it was easier to pay tribute to local tribal leaders than lose his army fighting them. The British fought two wars in that region and lost both of them. In modern times the Russian military was bled dry fighting in Afghanistan and that war ultimately helped bring down the Soviet government. It's a shame our own leaders did not learn anything from history. By reading, a child is actually engaging their brain and exercising their imagination. A strong imagination is a wonderful tool to carry with you through life. It allows you to imagine a better world and ways to create that world. History can and should be apart of that. Understanding history should be about the people and what challenges they faced in the period they lived in. I find it very depressing that today during our current atmosphere of pandemics and racial tension people have so little understanding. They are quick to dismiss great men and women of the past by measuring them by todays standards. I think it safe to assume that most of the loudest voices today would be much quieter if they even walked one mile in the shoes of those they so readily attack. It is very easy to utilize hind sight to judge. My story is not written for the young. There is some harsh language and brutal events that are intended for mature and adult readers. Having said that I believe every child should read. I don't care if it is a comic book or a kids novel. It is important to exercise that reading muscle.