A Young Wolf Faces His Enemies and His Destiny in Coltrane Seesequasis' Thrilling Debut

Feeling a profound sense of inspiration to write stories since high school, Coltrane Seesequasis has arrived with his debut work, Secrets of Stone (Kegedonce Press). It's a fascinating and fully immersive novel from a fantasy author with a bright future in the form.

In this, the first of four books in the A Wolf in the Sun series, the reader is plunged into a story where sentient animals now rule, long besting humans and reclaiming the natural world from them. Amidst all of this, a young wolf named Silversong strives to rise in his pack and prove himself. With the special ability to manipulate wind and air, he yearns to show his worth and use his powerful talents.

That opportunity comes in earnest when an exiled Heretic and his outcast wolves escape captivity and begin to attack Silversong's pack. Relentless and vicious, the Heretic is a monstrous wolf who must be stopped. But, when Silversong takes up the charge to challenge and contain this enemy, he learns that these rogue wolves and their leader may not be the truly evil beasts that he was told they were, and that there may been far greater dangers lying in wait.

Let out a mighty howl as you read this Long Story Interview with the author, which we're thrilled to share with Open Book readers. And keep an eye out for Secrets of Stone as it lands in bookstores later this week!

Open Book:

Do you remember how you first started this novel or the very first bit of writing you did for it?

Coltrane Seesequasis:

The themes of this novel have been in my head since I was in High School, and that’s when I first started writing the backstory for the setting in which the story takes place. A lot has changed since then from the world to the characters, but a few fundamental details have stayed the same from the very beginning. I began taking my writing seriously after I got familiar with the history of my fantasy world and the overall plot of the series. 

I’m a writer who likes to have everything prepared and planned out before I put pen to paper (or in this case, fingers to keyboard). Like many writers, I’ve had this story bubbling in my head for a long time. Eventually I just knew it had to come out.

OB:

How did you choose the setting of your novel? What connection, if any, did you have to the setting when you began writing?

CS:

It’s interesting how the setting evolved over time. It began in your typical fantasy world of kingdoms, empires, swords and magic inspired by the timeless classics. But as I got older and more disillusioned with the state of the world, I decided to scrap the original idea and move the setting far into the future after the humans have gone extinct. This meant I also had to change the perspective of the characters from humans to the sentient animals who now rule the earth. It was a jarring shift, and it took some time getting used to writing from the perspective of an animal (a wolf, to be specific), but it presented the perfect opportunity for me to tell the story I wanted to tell.

OB:

Did the ending of your novel change at all through your drafts? If so, how? 

CS:

The ending of each novel in the series is planted firmly in my head, but the journey toward those endings are always subject to change. This is exactly what happened with the first novel. I had to go through multiple drafts until I wrote a journey that I found satisfying enough to earn the ending I envisioned. I always dread hitting that wall where I realize that I’ll have to rewrite entire chapters to fix the pacing or plot points which I find unsatisfying, but that’s all part of the writing process, after all.

OB:

Did you find yourself having a "favourite" amongst your characters? If so, who was it and why?

CS:

My favourite characters in novels tend to be anti-heroes or morally grey rascals who often act unpredictably, so it’s no surprise that one of my favourite characters to explore in this series is Rime, the mean exile who often straddles the line between being misunderstood and being evil. This deeply flawed character was a joy to bring to life because despite his villainous actions, he is surprisingly vulnerable and sensitive behind his angry demeanor. If his circumstances had been better, he might have even been a hero instead of an antagonist.

OB:

Did you do any specific research for this novel? Tell us a bit about that process.

CS:

I researched wolf anatomy and behaviour upon deciding to write from their perspective. Obviously we’re dealing with highly sapient wolves here with complex societies and customs, but their mannerisms and body language remain an integral part of how they communicate and react to different events throughout the story.

OB:

What if, anything, did you learn from writing this novel?

CS:

I feel like every author might have a different answer to this question. For me it was learning about the different personalities and motivations of the characters. While I have the important plot elements figured out beforehand, I don’t flesh out the characters until I actually start writing them, and then their dialogue and quirks just come naturally most of the time. It’s fair to say that some of the characters surprised me with how they reacted to different events in the story which sounds a bit crazy now that I think of it. I definitely have a greater understanding of these sentient wolves now than I did when I first started writing the novel.

On the more technical side, I also learned a lot about the writing craft including how to improve pacing and how to leave the reader wanting more after every chapter. Something I struggled with at the start was exposition and giving away vital information to the reader in a natural manner, and I think that during my later drafts I fixed those little issues.

I’ve come to realize that writing is a mountain without a summit. No matter how high you go, there’s always higher to climb, and when you look down and see how far you came, you’re encouraged to keep going.

____________________________________________

Coltrane Seesequasis is a young fantasy writer of Indigenous heritage who grew up in Gatineau, Quebec. He first began his writing journey on long bus rides to school where he would alleviate the boredom by daydreaming of fantastical worlds, noble heroes, and unwavering villains. Eventually, he put those ideas to paper and started writing stories of his own with the hopes that they would one day morph into something more than just a passion. His debut novel, Secrets of Stone, is the first book of a planned series that follows a young wolf called Silversong, in a fantasy world similar to our own. Inspired by a love of nature as well as myths and folklore that challenge the limits of creativity, Coltrane joins a new generation of writers, adding his voice to the immersive genre of fantasy.