Featured Interview With Jason W. Blair
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Well, I was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania. And I currently reside in the small town of Bellefonte, located fifty miles north of there. I was born on October 2, 1981 to Herbert Wayne Blair and Ruth Anna Blair. My father is an engineer for Penn State and my mother is a homemaker.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I grew up in a family of readers; so naturally, I became one myself. I learned how to read by the time I was four years old. And when I reached twelve years old, I was evaluated at a college sophomore comprehension level. But my fascination with writing began shortly after I began attending school. In fact, the first story I can ever remember writing was at the young age of nine. It was a thirteen page short story entitled, “There’s an Angel in my Backpack”.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love to read, but haven’t had much time lately to do so. During my schooling, I was captivated with the writings of Lynn Reid Banks (who is most notable for her “The Indian in the Cupboard” series). But today, I read a lot of Michael Crichton, Charles Dickens, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien.
Keeping with the list of my favorite authors, I would have to say that my favorite genre is fantasy/Adventure stories. Don’t get me wrong, I do love suspense and mystery as well. But I find comfort in reading adventure books for the plain reason that they don’t necessarily follow the rules of ordinary life. And what I mean by this, simply put, is that quite a bit of fiction attempts to mirror ordinary, everyday events. But make them exciting.
Now, while there is nothing wrong with that at all, I am more of a dreamer. I like to imagine that some people can secretly fly, that there are secret worlds beyond the edge of a forest, or perhaps that some mystical creature could come and grant me the desires of my heart. I love adventure…and I love a fantastic, magical, journey.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is entitled, “The Garden of Ages”. It took me five months to write and edit the manuscript. And although it was a shorter length of time than my last book, this one proved to be a bit more difficult. You see, The Garden of Ages follows a fifty year old man named Walter Baines. Walter is a fairly good man. He has made his share of mistakes in life…but haven’t we all? However, Walter has been diagnosed with a heart condition. And it is that very condition that overtakes him. One morning, while jogging, Walter suffers a heart attack.
When he awakens, he half expects to find himself in a hospital; or maybe he would awaken on Heaven’s golden shore, but that isn’t the case. Walter awakens in a whole new world. A world where the rules and regulations, the constraints and boundaries of this present planet are no longer valid. He is in a beautiful garden, where he meets the first of many keepers.
Walter is ushered from the garden, to a pathway nearby. And as he surveys the vastness of the world around him, he notices just how long this path really is. He is sent on that path, knowing only that he would encounter seven memories from his life. And with those seven memories, there would be seven riddles. At the conclusion of his journey, Walter will need to solve those seven riddles. But it won’t be easy. Not many travelers have succeeded in this quest.
There are wolves, a dragon, an earthquake, fire, flood, and countless other perils along his journey. If he can muster the strength, courage, and wisdom to finish this long and exhausting quest, Walter will be afforded the opportunity to return home to his family. But if he fails, he will become a wandering spirit, tirelessly waiting for his misery to end.
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