Well, it’s the last of our interviews with authors from Iron Walls tonight, everyone! I have with me Amanda Wrights, the author of “Defiant Flame”. Welcome to Atlas’s Island, Amanda. We’re thrilled to have you! Amanda is a first time author, so “Defiant Flame” is her debut into the author world, and I certainly hope we’ll see more from her in the future. Let’s dive right into the interview.
To start with, can you tell us a bit about why you chose to participate in this dystopian anthology?
Originally, I wasn’t sure I would even have time. But when I heard the group was still looking for authors, I remembered a story I had tucked away in the back of my mind to write later, and realized that the overall theme of that story would fit the dystopian theme of the anthology. Since I wanted to write it anyway, I figured I would take advantage of the opportunity to both write the story and publish it, and I made time to work on it.
I think quite a few of the authors in the group felt that way, so you’re not alone. I think both James and I learned we needed to allow more time for authors to join before closing our call for chapters! Now, I think everyone is eager to hear about the story, but before we get into the themes and philosophical messaging of your story, would you share with my readers what your story is about to offer some context for the rest of the discussion?
So, this story takes place in a world that is about half a century past what was nearly a world ending event. The population has been drastically cut down and people are struggling to get by. In the wake of all this, a tyrannical group of people have taken advantage of the situation and stolen power. The main character of the story is a man named Nathaniel, who is acting as a leader within a rebel group looking to take power away from these tyrants. In the process, he and his group meet a young girl that this government is looking to train and use as a weapon against their enemies. The story follows Nate and this girl as he tries to rescue her from the government and get her to a safe place where she can lead a more normal life.
It sounds like you picked some interesting characters to focus on. Now that everyone knows the basic premise of the story, let’s dive into the rest of the interview! What is the overarching theme or message of your story?
The overarching theme behind the story is the question of how far someone would go to protect their home and the people they care about.
An excellent question. I’m not sure most of us have thought much about that, but hopefully by the end of your story, people will. Can you tell us why you chose that theme or message?
I don’t typically go through an extensive planning process to pick themes or messages for my stories. This one just kind of happened as I built up the story and struggles that the characters had to go through to get to the end of the main character’s story. I believe it’s very important to the story itself, though. When you’re writing any character with a cause like Nathaniel’s, it’s impossible for them to continue to fight for that cause without first knowing exactly how much they believe in it and what lengths they will go to in order to succeed.
All excellent points. It’s obvious you thought through the motivations of the characters, and that shows in a theme that grows out of their motivations and desires. Moving past the theme, though, can you share with us the philosophical message behind your story?
Yeah. So the underlying philosophical message here is really just a simple question. How far will you go to fight for what you believe in?
Okay, so the theme is an extension of the philosophical ideal behind the story. It seems like you really did a good job of integrating the two together. So how does the story’s message extend from your own philosophy, and why do you feel it’s so important to share with the reader? In other words, what is it you want people to learn from this or hope they will reconsider about their own worldview/philosophy?
I hope that the readers who see this message will be able to consider their beliefs and ideals in life, and through that consideration come to a better understanding of how committed they are to those beliefs. I’ve learned more recently in my life that one of the most important things about any philosophy a person has is that they understand two things about it. The first is why they believe that thing. But the second is the one that I have connected to this story, because I believe that while many people understand why they believe something, they may not necessarily understand how strong those beliefs are. Often we go through life without having our philosophical lens challenged, and it makes for a significant event in our lives when something tries to crack it and we’re unprepared. My hope is that people will ask themselves “would I be willing to stake my life on something I believed in?” and perhaps begin to understand themselves a little more through that.
Yeah, knowing why we believe what we do is certainly an important aspect of life. I don’t think most of us take the time to think about it nearly as much as we should, so it’s good to see reminders to do so in fiction. The characters’ fight for what they truly believe and their understanding of why they’re fighting are a real inspiration to us to carry that admirable trait over into our own lives. Speaking of characters, can you share some of the points or scenes that were your favorites because of how they highlighted that philosophical message or aim in your story?
I think my favorite part of the story is the end, because when Nate and the little girl are trying to escape, the other rebels cover them. Though the story doesn’t say one way or the other if they lived or not, this battle was different from some of the others they would have faced, because they were caught off guard and weren’t able to go into it with odds in their favor. But despite that, they stood their ground to ensure the government couldn’t turn a child into a deadly weapon and gain even more power.
It was certainly an emotional ending! It closed out a chapter for these characters while opening a new one, and it really left a sense both of hopeful looking to the future and determination not to abandon the fight. I thought it was a very natural ending for the story. Now before you go, if you could ensure readers learned just one thing from your story, what would it be?
That no matter how insignificant a belief might seem, you should never compromise it for something else without very careful consideration. Our philosophical lens defines how we see the world, and while change to that can be good, it shouldn’t come on a whim. We should always be sure that we understand what we believe and how strongly we believe it before we decide to change those beliefs.
An excellent note to end on! Thank you so much for joining me tonight, and I wish you the best with future writing and publication endeavors. Readers, if you haven’t already purchased a copy of Iron Walls, head over to Amazon to do that and give Amanda’s story a read. I’ve read it myself, and it was a solid story. The characterization was well integrated with the plot, the characters themselves were natural and admirable, and the theme of family and homeland was really the core of the story. I particularly appreciated the contrast between the orphaned girl they rescue from the government at the beginning of the story and Nate, who has family and has experienced that close bond, which he’s fighting to protect. It was the perfect way to demonstrate the importance of connection with family and the need for home and community we all have. If you like stories that remain on track with everything revolving around one key idea and strong, admirable characters, you’ll probably enjoy Amanda’s story “Defiant Flame”. That’s it for now, everyone!
