Hey Readers,
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And now, the interview…
I’m excited about having writing team Travis Perry and Mike Lynch with us today. Their fantasy novel The Crystal Portal releases this month.
Welcome to The Literary Mama Travis & Mike. Tell our readers a little about yourselves.
Travis: I’m an Army Reserve officer currently deployed to Afghanistan. Tammie, my wife of over twenty-two years, and I are from Montana, but we’ve lived in North Texas with our six kids for almost ten years now. I’ve never had a job where my primary duty was speaking a foreign language, but for some reason I’ve picked up more languages than I have children…as a profession I’ve worked as a biomedical maintenance technician, but I sincerely hope to become a professional writer one day.
Mike: I currently reside in the San Francisco Bay Area with my wife and two children. I graduated with a degree in history from San Jose State in 1986, and from San Jose Christian College in 1994. I have been writing off and on since 1981, publishing my first novel, When the Sky Fell, in 2009. Since then, I have since co-authored three more more novels, American Midnight, After the Cross and my latest, The Crystal Portal. I have also published a number of short stories. When I’m not writing I enjoy pursuing my interests in movies, history, and politics.
What is The Crystal Portal about?
Travis: The Crystal Portal poses the principle that God created multiple universes and that there are portals that pass through space and time between these different universes. 9.06, a robot from a future Earth, Zachariah, a boy from first-century Nazareth, and Lehkahn, an elf from a world of swords and magic become allies against Sargon Balal, a ruthless dictator from Lehkahn’s world who has escaped his due judgment through a portal. These characters all pass through a crystal portal into the crystal universe, where the princess Agata comes to their aid in their struggle against Sargon.
Mike: I think Travis pretty well summed up the story. I really have nothing to add.
Who are your favorite characters in this story and why?
Travis: I’m really fond of all four of the main characters—Zachariah, Lehkahn, 9.06, and Agata, though if I were forced pick favorites among them, I’d probably rank them in the order I just listed. “Zachariah” is the name of one of my sons and I’ve tried to weave some of my son’s sweetness and kindness into the character, which is probably why he’s my favorite. Though in regard to the Zachariah’s constant curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, the character is more like how I was as a child than my son.
Mike: For me, I would have to say 9.06 is my favorite character. Drawn on some of the great robot models from movies and TV, like C-3PO in Star Wars, or the Robot in Lost in Space, Nine (as he is often referred to in the story), has a distinct personality with a very strong view of right and wrong. He can also be quite humorous at times, much of it based on his inability to understand human logic and failings he experiences on a regular basis. I think Nine’s most endearing quality is loyalty. He was programmed to serve humans to the best of his abilities, which he does when he first meets Zachariah. A 10-year-old boy from another time, Nine recognizes that he needs protecting, and so goes after him through the crystal portal, even though they barely knew each other at that time. As the story unfolds, Nine rescues Zachariah again and again. I think our lives would be a whole lot better if we had people in our lives who helped us undue the messes we made of our own doing.
How do you weave faith into this story?
Travis: All the main characters believe in one God. Jesus (Yeshua) is someone Zachariah knows personally. Zachariah has limited understanding of who Jesus is, but accepts in the story that He must at least be a prophet. Sargon, by contrast, acknowledges the existence of God but calls himself “the almighty” and attempts to substitute himself for God, making him an Antichrist figure. The story shows a distinctly Christian version of the struggle between Good and Evil.
Mike: I believe God created in all of us the ability to believe in something greater than ourselves. In Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, that is a belief in a single God that we can know. For people of other faiths, different forms of God. There are, of course, people who do not have a belief in a personal God, but that hasn’t stopped them from looking to something else to give them identity. It can be their job, the government, an entertainer, a sports team, a movement of some kind. We all have an inherent desire to be a part of something bigger than us that defines us in some way. I believe this is the way God created us. That basic character trait comes through very strongly in The Crystal Portal. It is also the source of great tension in the story. You have people from different walks of life, and different dimensions for that matter, spending a lot of time together. It is only natural that they start talking about what they believe and why after a while. In many cases, it is those beliefs that form the foundation of that identity. It made for some very interesting interactions between the different characters, especially when they didn’t always agree with each other about their view of who God is.
What sparked your interest in writing fiction?
Travis: I’ve always imagined other worlds, even before I can remember being exposed to much fiction myself. Of course, being exposed to fiction, as I read Science Fiction and Fantasy as a teenager, stimulated my imagination, making me think about other worlds even more. I finally reached a point in my 30s where I realized that my imagination is actually a gift from God which has the intended purpose of helping and encouraging other people. That’s when I started writing fiction.
Mike: It was kind of an accident for me. I wasn’t much of a reader growing up. Because I am a visual learner, I have always been much more interested in watching TV or going to movies. However, I was also born a story teller. It is just in my nature to sink my teeth into a really good story. When you spend your life studying characters and plots in different genres while growing up, it is only natural that they start coming out of you after a while. It started off writing little short stories for myself; I had no intention of ever publishing them. Usually, an interesting story would come to me, and then I created a plot for it and typed it out on my typewriter (this was before personal computers came into being). After a while, I graduated to novels, and have been writing both ever since. Fortunately for me, I have had the good fortune to get them published.
Do you have any other books coming up in the future?
Travis: I have at least twenty book ideas floating around in my head. But the most important thing to mention here is that I plan to have a series of Portal books. The next one I’d like to call The Dragon Portal, which I intend to have more dinosaurs than actual dragons.
Mike: I actually have another novel coming out this year, co-authored with Brandon Barr. It is entitled After the Cross. This is an adventure story in which an 800-year-old letter is discovered in an archeological dig in Istanbul. When the letter is translated, it makes the astonishing claim that the Cross Jesus was crucified on still exists, and has been safely hidden away. The chase is on as to who will get to it first, those who will do everything in their power to make sure it never sees the light of day, or those who are trying to retrieve it all costs.
How can readers get in touch with you?
Travis: I’m on Facebook and don’t mind getting emails from people: tt_perry@hotmail.com.
Mike: People can find out more about me and my novels on my website (www.mikelynchbooks.com), or e-mail me directly at: lynchm@esuhsd.org.
Thanks for stopping by to visit Travis and Mike!
Travis & Mike: Thank you for giving us this chance to share about The Crystal Portal with your readers.
You can purchase Travis & Mike’s novel The Crystal Portal by clicking on one of the following links:
Leave a comment with your email address on this or any other blog posted between now until May 31st and get entered to win five inspirational novels! To avoid trollers from tracking your email leave it in this format: yourname(at)youremail(dot)com
The more comments you post, the more chances you have to win!
If you don’t want to leave your email address here, send me an email at preslaysa(dot)c(dot)williams(at)gmail(dot)com. Winner announced on June 7th.
Sounds like a book my teenage son and daughter would enjoy?
Yes Pam. This is a great teen novel!