Zacharias O’Bryan

Hello Zacharias, thank you for taking time to chat with me. The scotch is in the cabinet to the left.

Zacharias O’Bryan: Ha! Regarding Scotch, I assume you refer to my remarks in the recent Micro-fiction contest. A friend in my music group had just introduced me to Ardbeg, an Isle of Islay product. If doubt ever existed that the crafting of malt whisky is an art form, I’d say the evidence is in, and the answer is Yes.

Seriously, Nila, thanks for inviting me for an interview. I’ll add that the conversation grew out of your taking the time to help me solve a technical issue I was having with a forum post. Thanks for that, too.

SFFWorld: Glad I could help! That’s what I’m here for. Back to the interview…What’s your SFFWorld.com’s forum alias and why did you pick it?

O’Bryan: On the forum, I go by Window Bar. The name derives from my preference in literature. Tales that manage to set my mind on fire also ignite the heart. They open a Window into greater dimensions of Being and Civilization. While entertaining me, they also inspire.

Okay, that’s the Window half. The Bar half refers to the barriers, both emotional and rational, that limit creative access to the truths and tales within us. The craft of the writer is to penetrate those Bars, to break them away. Otherwise, the window cannot be opened.

SFFWorld: Interesting way of looking at the world! I never thought of it that way, but that’s very accurate. How did you discover SFFWorld.com and why did you decide to join?

O’Bryan/Window Bar: After thirty-six years running a small-town pension firm, I retired to finish a young adult novel titled Spirit Thorn, a parable of betrayal, sacrifice and forgiveness. My creative writing degree, earned way back in the typewriter era, makes great wallpaper but that’s all. So there I was, a beginner intending to publish an e-book, and I needed to offset my ignorance with a dose of how-to information. Casting about on the internet, I found the forum.

SFFWorld: How long have you been a member and what keeps you coming back?

O’Bryan/Window Bar: It will be six years this November. During that time, I have rarely gone a week without checking in—usually with the Writers’ Discussion Forum. Helpful information continues to flow, of course; and I hope that by now I’ve given as much as I’ve taken. But it’s more than a quest for information. Writing is a lonely profession. The community and friendship of SFFWorld provide an online home.

SFFWorld: What’s your favorite book?

O’Bryan/Window Bar: Okay… tough question. As with many others here, I was delighted to learn Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings was named by several institutions as the best or most-influential book of the Twentieth Century. Because I’ve read it eight times, I guess I don’t disagree.

SFFWorld: Who’s your favorite author?

O’Bryan/Window Bar: I have just as much reluctance in choosing one author as one book, but for his entire body of work, Hermann Hesse (German/Swiss magic realist, mid-20^th Century) comes to mind.

SFFWorld: What’s your favorite genre (science fiction, fantasy, horror, steampunk, etc)?

O’Bryan/Window Bar: I’ll say fantasy, but my answer derives from what I mentioned about choosing my forum handle. Fiction that affects me profoundly is almost always presented as a fantasy, at least in the broad sense, because it portrays a person/world/society as it could be, not as it is. I have little use for naturalistic fiction that regurgitates the ugliness of daily headlines. That’s what newspapers—both print and digital—are for.

SFFWorld: Where’s your favorite place to read?

O’Bryan/Window Bar: Did you ever come across Mark Twain’s The Diary of Adam and Eve? Toward the end of the story, Adam is looking back over his life (including exile from Eden). Life has been a mix of good and bad—but out of it he has gained an insight. Regarding Eve, he says, “Wheresoever she was, there was Eden.”

My wife Diane is a reader. In wintertime, we love reading in bed, sometimes aloud to one another. In summer, it can be on a blanket in the shade—or wherever. The who is more important than the where.

SFFWorld: That is so sweet! I agree that a book shared is much better than just a book. Got a favorite con (convention)?

O’Bryan/Window Bar: Put me down as undecided. I’ve not yet attended one.

SFFWorld: What do you do when you are not reading or messing around on SFFWorld.com?

O’Bryan/Window Bar: I’m an amateur musician and songwriter, and I love getting together with musician friends. No day at our house passes without music. Also, I’m a husband, father and grandfather. Among my extended crew, there are constant surprises.

SFFWorld: Thanks for taking the time to talk to me, Zach. Anything else you’d like to add?

O’Bryan/Window Bar: Writing leads us to its own brand of surprises. My current WIP, The Cyclops’ Eye, quickly morphed from a single piece into a trilogy, and is now on route to becoming a quintet. Five whole years have elapsed, and it grows. It won’t be published until all segments are done, because I want to be certain they are well integrated.

The earlier book, Spirit Thorn, was downloaded 40,000 times (including lots of freebies) as a self-published e-book. It won sufficient notice to get picked up by small publishers: both an e-book publisher and a paper-and-ink outfit. But as others have discovered, it takes plenty of author involvement to keep books moving—and I was unwilling to maintain the marketing pace I’d been following: Two hours per day, every day. For now, I’ve told publishers and outlets to pull the book, though for some reason the Amazon page remains live. In revised form, the tale will eventually appear as book #6 within my current series.

Still, if anyone wishes to sample my early work, here’s a free download code for SFFWorld participants: MU42F. It’s usable only at Smashwords.com, for downloads in all formats, and must be used by October 7, 2015. Likewise, anyone can read the novel for free online. Go to spiritthorn.com. I’m always grateful to learn readers’ reactions. The negative reactions are, in fact, quite helpful.

Once again, Nila, thanks for all you do. And thanks to the forum members for the many discussions and the welcome fellowship.