Behind Into the Nanten
Written by the illustrious Jay Swanson
Into the Nanten – the Record of My Exile is the journal of Marceles na Tetrarch, a man who has been exiled to the world’s most hostile jungle in search of the one man he hates most: Brin Salisir. Salisir was the first person Marceles had ever heard of to be exiled from the Tetrarch, and it was the greatest joy of his young life to see Salisir sent off to his death. Until the same fate befell Marceles twenty years later.
His journal will be released in real time on intothenanten.com beginning on September 9th. That means it’s launching in less than two weeks! But behind Into the Nanten were a number of conversations, books, and experiences that all led to one epiphany.
More Than a Story – Behind Into the Nanten
What makes Into the Nanten special for me is how it gathers a selection of my creative joys together while also satisfying some very pragmatic needs (at least I hope it satisfies them). I’d like to share with you where the idea came from, and how I see it coming together in the next few weeks and months.
I’ve always wanted to write a first-hand account of an adventure
My own journey into the ‘jungles’ of Africa has left me with a lot to process, and a lot to share
There is a question that has plagued me for a decade: how do I build an audience on my own?
Perhaps none of these three things seem all that well related, and for the longest time I didn’t see the connection between them either. But then I picked up a book, Blood River, and within a matter of sentences into the introduction it all came crashing together.
Eaters of the Dead
Michael Chrighton was one of my favorite authors as a kid and into my early adult life (which I’m told is still happening). One of his books, Eaters of the Dead (later adapted into the film The 13th Warrior) stuck with me in a different way than the rest. The book is Chrighton’s fictionalized account of the events that led to the tale of Baeowolf, as told through the historic character Ibn Fadlan, a traveler hijacked into the whole ordeal by a bunch of blood-thirsty vikings.
The mix of history and fiction blurred the lines of reality, even to Chrighton. At the back of the book, he recounted digging to find a source he had cited only to give up hours later after deciding he must have made it up. This fascinated me. I wanted my own creations to be so lifelike that I would feel like it had to be real, and I loved the idea of capturing historic moments for what they were before they grew into legends of their own. I wanted to tell someone’s story as they saw it.
Secret Societies in Sierra Leone
There are few things scarier than the unknown, but one is when the unknown comes for you. When I was in Freetown, Sierra Leone, we were warned that there were people who belonged to “Secret Societies” in the city and beyond. The leaders of these societies would don masks and costumes. They would dance through the streets with mobs of followers. They were violent, we were warned. If you looked them in the eye, they were liable to attack you. If you didn’t pay them when they demanded money, they were likely to take from you what they wanted.
One day the streets emptied suddenly. Cars refused to go the route we were trying to take, and as we drew closer we realized there was a forced detour, and when we saw why we immediately took it. Down the road we had hoped to take was a mob of people, and at its center were men dancing in masks and costumes I can best describe here as “terrifying.” We were able to avoid them entirely, but the intensity of that moment, the fear of it all, it stuck with me for a long time.
There are a lot of unknowns in the countries I’ve lived in, not to mention the greater continent of Africa. There are a lot of beautiful and fascinating things as well, customs and colors you didn’t know existed until they simply appeared before you. It’s that mystery that draws outsiders in. I have a lot I want to share, and a lot to think through. I’m finding that fiction can be a release for that.
Finding an Audience
The great challenge of “becoming” a fantasy author, someone who can live off their writing, seems to be finding readers. I’m working hard on the craft and growing with each new book I write. I’m reaching out to the right talent to bring my world to life. I’m building something that I believe (and truly hope) is worth immersing one’s self in. But how do you bring people into your world if they don’t even know it exists?
Over a decade ago one of my dad’s friends, Dan, began pushing me to start writing my books and release them one chapter at a time online. This was before blogs were the cornerstone of the online community that they are today, but it was also before I was truly ready to write and release anything of worth. As the years went on this idea came up again and again.
My friend Mark suggested I release my history of magic in my world one section at a time. Then I thought about releasing the fables that I’ve written in a serialized format. But everything seemed too much or too little. A book, one chapter at a time, was too limited and simultaneously too much per sitting for me. Fables were far too little, and not nearly compelling enough to bring people back regularly. And while nerds like Mark and I love reading the history of a world’s magic, it’s not something to reach a broad audience (and I’m not ready to show you all of my cards on that front anyways).
And then I picked up Blood River, and everything came crashing together.
The Terrifying Journey
Blood River: The Terrifying Journey Through The World’s Most Dangerous Country is the story of Tim Butcher, a journalist whose obsession with Stanley’s original discovery of the Congo River leads him to recreate it in the modern Democratic Republic of Congo. It was stupid of him at best, suicidal at most realistic. I had been within sight of the country only a week before, and was looking to better understand it when I picked up Butcher’s book. It only took a few lines before epiphany struck.
He starts off by describing just how stupid his mission is, to recreate Stanley’s route along the Congo River. How there is no safe way into that part of the country, and his every attempt to enter it before had been thwarted by government officials, rebels, or both. War, disease, and a complete regression of civilization along the river made it beyond hostile for the people living there. It could only be worse for an outsider.
And here he was, about to plunge recklessly ahead to satisfy some deep need that even he struggled to properly take measure of.
Then it hit me. This is everything I’m looking to write right now – the story of a man who is about to enter the world’s most hostile jungle, festering over the remains of a failed state. Riddled by bandits, cannibals, and worse. But rather than risking his life for a selfish desire, he would be sent there. Forced there by his own order, he would be expected to find someone else (much like Stanley sought Livingston), someone he didn’t know would be dead or alive, someone he hated.
Why was he exiled? Why did he hate this other man? Why did this nation fail and how could its people survive in the aftermath? These were all questions that started to bombard me as I stared at a book I was no longer reading. I had my story. Now it was time to discover it.
Come September 9th, 2014, you will get a chance to explore the Nanten with me. Marceles’ journal will update in real time from that point on, with his words and his illustrations. He doesn’t believe his condemnation is just, but he also knows no way to avoid it without betraying everything he is. Follow along to find out why.
That’s what’s behind Into the Nanten. Aside from the blog, there are a number of unique ways you can follow Marceles on his journey. You can read select thoughts over the course of each day by following him @MTetrarch on Twitter. If you’re on Tumblr or Instagram, you can get previews of his artwork and quotes through either of those two mediums. But each day’s entry will only be told in full on intothenanten.com.
Join my mailing list on this site for a sneak peak of the site in September, and to get any up-to-the-minute news that you won’t want to miss.
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