Jasper Vandoo

Writing the Dead Path Chronicles: Red Dawn Rising has been gratifying in many ways. It’s my first novel, and having spent seven years writing it, I realize that with a lot of hard work and determination I can achieve whatever I set out to accomplish. In the beginning, I just had few vague thoughts. But as time went on, a story grew out of them. Months turned into years, and I found myself not just telling a simple story but creating an epic with numerous complicated story lines, something of cinematic scope proportion, that would thrust readers into an all-encompassing fantasy/horror world. Having the opportunity to create a world peopled with dynamic characters that come into conflict with one another and ultimately cause this world to erupt into chaos has been a great privilege for me. I enjoy having that sort of control, as if I get the chance to play God for a moment and decide others’ destinies. All in all, the whole experience has been a giant roller coaster ride, and it has been a lot of fun.

There were times when the development and writing process went pretty slowly. It often seemed kind of tedious as I wouldn’t accomplish anything for days. But the ideas would always eventually work themselves through and I’d get back into the groove of writing. This is all part of the writing process. Very few writers can pull off a whole manuscript in six months. Even successful writers can spend years working on a book. Ultimately there are no short cuts; the story will come out in its right time. You have to put in many hours of hard work. I learned to take it all in stride.