Cassidy’s Comments (group member since Jul 04, 2012)

Cassidy’s comments from the Q&A with Cassidy Cornblatt group.

Ncornblatt wrote: "In what ways do you feel you have been influenced by the books that you have read? Are there any authors that stand out in particular that you find yourself emulating?"

Welcome to the discussion Ncornblatt! Writers are always influenced by the books they read. I view every book as a chance to synthesize writing techniques. Every author has something good to offer, and my goal is for my own writing style to include the best elements of the books I have read. When I am actually writing, however, it is typically the most recent book that has the most effect. At one point while I was writing A Broken World, I had just finished reading The Hobbit. For the next several weeks, I found myself structuring certain sentences in a Tolkien-esque style. I feel it is important for writers to learn from each other. This is why reading is almost as essential as writing when it comes to practicing a writer's craft.

I chose the title Discordant Tones because the novel focuses on a group of musicasters, which are people who can cast spells using music. Since this is the first book in a planned trilogy and there are obviously problems to tackle, I hope that the title shows that things are not quite right. Musical tones should not typically be discordant. I am thinking of playing off musical terms for the titles of the other two books in the trilogy, but I have not settled on those names as of yet.

Willy wrote: "Where did you get the idea for all the jokatone and quantonof stuff, what were your thoughts going through with your literary work?"

Well, originally I only wanted to write about a young spellcaster who learned his craft amidst a war, but this eventually developed into a much larger story. Jokatone and Quantoff are the names of the kingdoms at war. I thought it would be interesting to consider how a military based society would operate, and I got some of my ideas from Athens of Ancient Greece, where hoplite service was compulsory for everyone.

Willy wrote: "how did you get the urge to start your book?"

First of all, welcome to the discussion! In answer to your question, I have always been writing the beginnings of books. Whenever I get an idea for a book, I jot it down just in case I might want to write about it later. Before I was writing larger works, I took the time to write at least a few pages each time an idea struck. This resulted in a fair number of unfinished stories. Eventually, my parents pushed me to actually finish one, and so I took the time and did it.

Any questions about writing should be posted here. I would be glad to share any information that I can.

If anyone has any questions regarding my current work in progress, I would be glad to respond as best as I am able.

Please post any questions or comments regarding A Broken World here. I will respond to all posts as quickly as possible.

Hi, I'd like to welcome everyone to this discussion. I look forward to hearing from you all. Please introduce yourself here.