Jeffrey Overstreet is the author of Through a Screen Darkly, a memoir and travelogue of “dangerous moviegoing,” and Auralia’s Colors, the first volume in a four-book fantasy series called The Auralia Thread. Both are available in bookstores everywhere. The second story in The Auralia Thread, Cyndere’s Midnight, arrived in bookstores in September 2008.

I (Jake Chism) recently caught up with the author to pick his brain about how he got his start in writing, his newest title, the genre of Christian fantasy, and his work as a film critic.

TCM: Can you give our readers a little background on how you became a writer?

JO:  May I start with “Once upon a time…”?

Okay, then! Once upon a time, Steven Spielberg’s movie Jaws opened in theaters across America.

I was five years old. I saw an ad for Jaws in the paper. You know the ad—that famous image of the swimmer, and the beast rising up from underneath. That picture still scares me. It made quite an impression on my five-year-old imagination. And for the first time, I coped with my fear by writing a story about it. It was called “The Sea Monster,” 9 or 10 pages of green paper with felt-tip pen drawings, stapled together. I have it in a file somewhere. It was just a story in drawings, but I turned it into an epic battle between a swimmer and a thing with massive jaws. I just had to resolve that tension, that closing gap between the woman and the monster.

My parents and I spent a lot of time at the library, and I brought home piles of books. All kinds of books. I wanted to read every story, and make stories of my own. But the stories that made the biggest impression were fairy tales. I loved fantasy of all kinds, from Pooh Bear toPeter Pan to Mr. Popper’s Penguins. But the stories about monsters drew me to the edge of my seat.

So fantasy is the genre where I felt most comfortable. Before I was 9, I’d read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and I was writing my first fantasy series—which was like “A Bug’s Life in Middle Earth.” Instead of orcs, my monsters were giant wasps. Instead of hobbits, my heroes were vulnerable ants.

Now, Cyndere’s Midnight is in bookstores—and what is it? Well, on one level, it’s a story about a beautiful woman and a monster with big teeth… and that scary space between them.

I have to thank the teachers who gave me so much encouragement along the way. My 4th-grade teacher, my 5th-grade teacher… I remember both of them telling me I’d grow up to be a novelist. Rose Reynoldson, my college writing instructor, gave me the last 20 minutes of each class period to read my work to the other students. I kept expecting somebody to file a complaint that I was wasting valuable class time. Maybe somebody will someday. But that kind of encouragement is powerful. And I want these books to serve as a big “thank you” to those teachers who gave me permission to express myself through fairy tales and stories about monsters.

TCM: Your fans have anxiously been awaiting your new book, Cyndere’s Midnight, which is the second book in The Auralia Thread fantasy series. Where did you get the idea for the series and what is the second volume about?

JO: Auralia’s Colors was born in the trees beside Flathead Lake, in Montana. In 1996, I went hiking there with my girlfriend, Anne. She likes fairy tales as much or more than I do. She said something there that inspired me. “It seems like most people reach an age where they give up on make-believe, and stuff their imaginations in the closet.” Right away, I started imagining a story about a society that folds up its colorful and creative expression, and buries it away. I wondered what might happen if an artist walked into that fractured kingdom and unleashed color and imagination. So I wrote Auralia’s Colors. And I married Anne.

Now… the two words I hate most, in storytelling, are “THE END.” When one story ends, I immediately start wondering about all of the unrealized potential of characters and their environment. When I wrote Auralia’s Colors, I became intrigued with the beastmen—these half-men/half-beasts that lurked in the forests of Auralia’s world. I wanted to know how they became such monsters.

I’ve always been interested in monsters. Especially those like Gollum and Darth Vader or Blade Runner’s Roy Batty—monsters with misgivings, monsters with souls. Similarly, I’ve always been fascinated with the flawed Bible heroes I discovered in Sunday School—the Apostle Paul, a monstrous mass-murderer who was transformed into a pioneering evangelist; and King David, “a man after God’s own heart,” who lusted after a beautiful woman and sent a married man to his death. Such monstrous behavior, and yet these men struggled against their sinful nature.

After Auralia’s Colors, I wanted to explore what might happen if a beastman came into contact with the same mysterious beauty that Auralia unleashed upon the world. Right away, I realized that this story was a strange variation on “Beauty and the Beast.” But in my version, “beauty” meant something different. Here was a woman broken by grief, and a man broken by a curse. Both were drawn to the same magical, beautiful place. Their shared experience of that beauty became the core of the story.

TCM: What makes this series different than other fantasy series?

JO: I’ve read a lot of fantasy books, but I’m always drawn back to a select few—The Lord of the Rings, Watership Down, Dune, The Once and Future King, The Book of Atrix Wolf, and Winter’s Tale.

And here’s why: Those stories take place in lush, imaginative worlds that are so beautiful and strange, I want to return again and again.

Many of the writers inspired by Tolkien failed to learn what made Middle Earth so memorable, and they just keep writing stories about orcs, overlords, dragons, swords, battles, and talismans. I’m really bored with that. I’m certainly no Tolkien, but I want to write stories so that I have the opportunity to discover new environments, new histories, new wonders. I want to find a world that other people will want to visit… and revisit.

And what’s more, I want that spine-tingling sense that all of this imagination really means something… something profound, something that matters.

It’s up to readers to decide if I’m anywhere close to accomplishing that, but that’s what drives me.

TCM: Your writing is characterized by such rich detail and prose. Your books actually make me want to slow down and enjoy the story, where often times I fund myself trying to fly through a novel. Was this writing style all part of your master plan when you created this series? Or is this more of a natural result of your writing?

JO: I grew up reading stories by writers who understood that language is musical. I loved listening to those “Read Along with the Record” sets. You know, the vinyl recordings of fairy tales, usually coinciding with some Disney movie. I learned to love distinct voices and prose that had rhythms and rhymes. I’m sure that influenced my style, and when I’m revising, I’m reading the chapters out loud to make sure they pass my “Sounds Good” test.

Now, Cyndere’s Midnight is a much more action-oriented story than Auralia’s Colors, so it’s faster-paced, and not quite so descriptive. But I think it still has some passages that sound musical, at least to me.

TCM: Not only do we get some great fantasy elements in these stories, but there are also several mysteries that effectively carry the story along. Some of those questions have been answered, while many more are still lingering. Without giving too much away, what can you tell us about the direction of the rest of the series?

JO: Cyndere’s Midnight is a very separate story from Auralia’s Colors. You’ll see some familiar faces, but the story focuses on new characters. In the third and fourth book, the characters from Auralia’s Colors and Cyndere’s Midnight will merge in many ways, and a few of them will head off together for a story of their own.

Some people may worry that Auralia’s importance is diminishing, because she’s not directly involved in this story very much. But she is still the most important character in the series. Her story is far from over. We just need this chapter in order to understand the rest of that story.

And yes, I’ve presented a lot of questions that need answering. That’s what Scharr ben Fray, the mage, is up to. In most fantasies, the wizard is the one with the answers. My wizard is the one with the questions. He’s out there, lurking around the edges of things, trying to figure out what’s really going on in the Expanse. Where did Auralia come from? And how does it fit into the differing accounts of the history of the Expanse?

TCM: When can we expect the next book?

JO: I hope to finish it by Spring 2010, but I wouldn’t want to rush anything—that wouldn’t be fair to people who actually spend money and time on these stories. And frankly, I know I won’t be satisfied with a book if I write it hastily.

TCM: Some of your readers have concluded that the mysterious Keeper in your novels is in fact a representation of God. In a previous interview, you stated those fans would indeed be surprised later on in the series. Can you give us any more hints about who or what The Keeper is?

JO: The hints are all over the story. And there are plenty more to come. I’m not just being stubborn. As I write, I continue to learn about the Keeper, so it’s just too early for me to present any kind of “study.” Still, I have readers who express impatience that I won’t just come out and admit, “Okay, sure, the Keeper is God.”

I can understand that impulse. When I read The Hobbit, I was pretty sure Gandalf was God. Then I read the rest of the stories, and the more I revisited and contemplated the stories, the more I began to see glimmers of the gospel throughout Tolkien’s world.

It’s not my job to interpret the story for people. It’s my job to discover the best story I can, and tell it with whatever art I can muster. If I do that, I’ll leave it to others to decide what it all means. Focusing on what it all represents… that will distract me from storytelling, and even hinder it.

TCM: You have been very open about not wanting your novels placed only in the Christian Fiction section in bookstores, rather you would prefer to see them in the fantasy/sci-fi section. You’ve even admitted that this series wasn’t written for Christians. Talk to us a little about your thoughts on the “Christian Fiction label” and how you see your role as a writer who is a Christian.

JO: I don’t see a Christian Cookbook section, or a Christian Sports section, or a Christian Photography section in the bookstore. Why would I want to be boxed into a Christian Fantasy section? Bookstores will do what bookstores will do. But a “Christian Fiction” section doesn’t make much sense to me.

Madeleine L’Engle was a Christian and a fantasy writer. But she didn’t write “Christian fiction.” She wrote fantasy and science fiction. Period. The stories conveyed truth through imagination and beauty. She didn’t write to preach a message, but to show us something that would kindle questions in our minds and hearts.

Likewise, J.R.R. Tolkien was a Christian and a fantasy writer. He dreamed up wild stories, and those stories move and inspire us because they reflect powerful spiritual truths. But they’re not at all preachy, nor are they anything like a Biblical allegory.

Whether we’re talking about Shakespeare or Salman Rushdie, Cormac McCarthy or Leif Enger, Marilynne Robinson or Michael Chabon, Robin McKinley or Patricia McKillip, if an author’s work is characterized by anything true, anything beautiful, anything worthy of praise… they’re pointing to something greater than themselves. That’s good for everybody. And when I catch glimpses of God, or marvel at the art in a work by a professing atheist, that only encourages my faith all the more.

Christ told marvelous, mysterious stories that are difficult to interpret even to this day. He told stories that teased listeners into contemplation. All kinds of listeners. I think he’d be dismayed to find his stories tucked away in some section marked “Disciples Only.”

When I see all of the resources and energy being poured into entertaining Christians with alternative books, music, movies, and art, I wonder what might be accomplished if we turned all of those resources toward revealing beauty and wonder to the rest of the world… or if we opened ourselves to how God is revealing himself throughout the world.

TCM: Besides being a novelist you also make a living as a film critic. How have your experiences as a film critic shaped you as a storyteller? What is your favorite film of all time?

JO:  I sure do wish I made a living as a film critic! I actually pay the bills with a full-time job as a magazine editor at Seattle Pacific University. That helps me support the “habits” of reviewing movies and writing stories.

My favorite film? Depends on which day you ask me. It’s either Wings of Desire, a film by German director Wim Wenders, or Blue, by the late Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski, part of his Three Colors trilogy. They’re poetic, completely original, and full of unforgettable moments of light, shadow, and color. Those are my two clear favorites.

Runners up would include Babette’s Feast, A Room With a View, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The New World, The Fellowship of the Ring, Blade Runner, Apocalypse Now, The Empire Strikes Back, Code Unknown, Raising Arizona, Au Hazard Balthazar…Oh, you only asked for one, didn’t you?

I love poetry and I love adventure stories, and I want to write stories that do both. As a critic, I’m always asking myself, “How did the film achieve what it did? Was anything gratuitous or unnecessary? Was it sentimental, or subtle?” Most movies—and most fantasy novels—leave very little to the reader’s imagination. I want to write scenes that draw readers into asking questions. And I want to develop characters and environments that readers will believe. Most of my favorite movies do that very well.

TCM: Obviously you see a lot of movies every year. What films did you enjoy the most this past year? What were the worst films of the past year in your opinion?

JO: I saw a remarkable film called Munyrangabo, about two young boys walking together through Rwanda. The farther they travel, the more we begin to worry that they will end up as divided as their country. It’s not available on DVD yet, and it only played at festivals. But hopefully it’ll find a distributor soon. It’s the most moving thing I’ve seen all year.

Now, on the list of movies people have actually seen, I give a one-man standing ovation to WALL-E. Anything Pixar does is amazing, but I think this is right up there with their finest works—Finding Nemo and Toy Story 2.

TCM: Where can our readers go online to find out more about you, your novels, and your film reviews?

JO: The best place to start is lookingcloser.org. That’s the home page for my own little family of web pages. You’ll find more at ChristianityTodayMovies.com, and Image (imagejournal.org). A few years back, I was writing about movies for Paste (pastemagazine.com) as well.

TCM: Any final thoughts?

JO: My favorite band, Over the Rhine, has a song that starts with this line: “I don’t want to waste your time with music you don’t need.”

That’s how I feel about my writing. I have been blessed with a surprising opportunity to share my stories with the world, so I feel a tremendous responsibility to make those stories worthwhile. I’m grateful for the chance, and I’m especially grateful for those readers who respond to me (joverstreet@gmail.com) and let me know what they think of the story. I’ve learned a lot from people who read closely.

VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS INTERVIEW DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS AND BELIEFS OF THECHRISTIANMANIFESTO.COM. QUESTIONS ASKED AND ANSWERS PROVIDED SHOULD NOT ASSUME A POSITIONAL STATEMENT OR THEOLOGICAL COMMITMENT ON THE PART OF THIS WEBSITE, ITS WRITERS, OR ITS ADMINISTRATORS.