Author Interview: Almon Chu - The Last Three

I'm happy to have author Almon Chu here today. I recently reviewed his short novel, The Last Three. He was willing to answer a few questions that I had for him about his novel and about writing in general. Here we go!

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My Tower of Books: I was sad to see this book end. Why a short novel?

Almon: I never really planned on the length of the story. I generally just plan out a basic frame, fill the setting, and let the characters do the rest. The characters just happened to push things into a short novel length, as corny as that sounds.

MToB: The plot of The Last Three had a surreal kind of feeling to it, but felt very real at the same time. How much of the story is fiction versus non-fiction?

Almon: Overall it was a blend of non-fictional events and people laced together with fiction to produce a cohesive story. I could go on forever about what was based off of what. Though I must admit that it was a tad strange to write as the real-life events had occurred so long ago. It was kind of like a window into my past self.

MToB: In the story Jon kind of self-destructed, but I also felt like his friends let him down. Was there anything they could have done differently to reach out to him?

Almon: In the story I feel like it wasn't so much that Jon's friends let him down but that Jon refused to seek their help. Though I was actually tinkering with the idea of fleshing out the characters a little bit more, and letting Jon attempt to redeem himself through Rean. This would have created a longer story, probably closer to novel length. However I felt that it would dampen the story as a whole. I wanted Jon to be the sole reason for his self-destruction.

MToB: What kind of things inspire you to write? Do you see something special in the mundane?

Almon: I take inspiration from my day-to-day, just small things that spur random epiphany. I find the best stories to be grounded within the mundane, gives them a sort of relatable realism.

MToB: When you aren't creating stories, are there any other creative outlets that you enjoy?

Almon: Gaming and kick boxing are my main outlets, though I'm not entirely sure how creative you could deem them. Gaming is definitely the more dominant of the two. I dream of writing a story for a game one day.

MToB: What are you working on next?

Almon: I'm currently planning the spiritual sequel to The Last Three. I say spiritual because it won't feature (most) of the characters from The Last Three and the main character will be completely different. Overall I'm leaning more towards dark humour in this upcoming story, though that can all change when I actually start writing it.

Also in March I'm planning on working with a friend on a graphic novel with a zombie related story, though I assure you that the zombies will not be portrayed in any way that has already been done.

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Thanks again to Almon for taking the time to answer some questions. I look forward to your future projects!