Short Stories, Fiction
Date Published: January 20, 2017
The Windless Echo is a collection of stories that delve into the minds and feelings of characters as they struggle to resolve, understand, and uncover the realities of their experiences.
Joy and emptiness, rest and effort, meaning and madness - these and other themes weave their way into the tales and the problems these characters seek to unravel.
Contents: 18 Short stories, 178 6''x9'' pages, ~62k words.
Preview on Amazon contains the first story, "The Ashen Heart", and 3/4 of the second, "The Woodchopper's Son".
Two of the stories, "The Woodchopper's Son" and "The Prisoner of the Ashen Lake", have been put into audio form, read by the author, and can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw9MjSFObAc2D1Jwi-JOIZ7ZiJtzZ6iUl
Interview
What is the hardest part of writing your books?
Probably the experience of working through what the characters go through. Depending on what I’m writing, on some level I’m putting my own experiences into the story, or at least trying to embody them as I write, so that the writing’s authentic to life and my experiences within it. Sometimes, I write with no concept of where I’m going with it, and just feel my way through, which can be any type of experience. Sometimes, what I’m expressing in words can be something difficult, or, maybe it’s something light. In the story “The Prisoner of the Ashen Lake” for instance, the things the main character went through - these experiences of confusion, scattered consciousness, anger, tiredness, pain - these were all things I was going through too, in the moment as I wrote it, and so the process of feeling these things and working through them goes into the end product of the story. It can be very rewarding, since it can help me understand and work through things in a unique way, or just help me craft something deeply authentic and real to me. But at the same time, the experience itself can be difficult at times, even if what I’m doing is helping me through it.
Probably the experience of working through what the characters go through. Depending on what I’m writing, on some level I’m putting my own experiences into the story, or at least trying to embody them as I write, so that the writing’s authentic to life and my experiences within it. Sometimes, I write with no concept of where I’m going with it, and just feel my way through, which can be any type of experience. Sometimes, what I’m expressing in words can be something difficult, or, maybe it’s something light. In the story “The Prisoner of the Ashen Lake” for instance, the things the main character went through - these experiences of confusion, scattered consciousness, anger, tiredness, pain - these were all things I was going through too, in the moment as I wrote it, and so the process of feeling these things and working through them goes into the end product of the story. It can be very rewarding, since it can help me understand and work through things in a unique way, or just help me craft something deeply authentic and real to me. But at the same time, the experience itself can be difficult at times, even if what I’m doing is helping me through it.
What songs are most played on your iPod?
I don’t have an iPod, however, I do like music from Final Fantasy, Legend of Zelda and other games, as well as relaxing music in general. Sometimes I like more upbeat music as well, or things that really move me or that I connect with in some way. It varies.
Do you have critique partners or beta readers?
No one in particular, no. Sometimes I share my stories with friends or family, and they might give me feedback. There’s also a community I keep in touch with on the writingprompts subreddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/writingprompts/), and sometimes I share my stories in the chatroom there.
What book are you reading now?
Nerilka’s Story, one of the books from The Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. The series was recommended by a friend and I’ve been getting into them, though I’m not too far into this one. I really like the nuanced handling of interactions both between and within humans, and between dragons and their riders. The stories, from my view and experience so far, are maturely and patiently crafted and told.
How did you start your writing career?
My first major project was an epic fantasy adventure called Delucion, which I started back in highschool. That’s a story that’s still being written, with plans to publish more extensively probably pretty soon (the first seven chapters are available at http://www.delucion.com). Even before then, I wrote, often for classes, and enjoyed crafting unique stories, or poems that expressed something I found important. My short stories, however, I got into more extensively near the end of college, when I started experimenting with flow writing techniques while working on stories for a writing class. I found how fun it could be to write in an uninhibited style, and later also began to uncover how it could be helpful, too, for bringing out deeper or more subtle things from the subconscious mind, and enable me to give them voice. I found this could help me work through these deeper things through the very expression of them and the flow of the writing. And then the sheer act of writing these stories, whenever I felt like it, produced a lot of content. And given that I had this reserve, I felt like it might be worthwhile to release a number of them as a book, which is what became The Windless Echo.
Tell us about your next release.
I don’t know what my next release will be, but I imagine it might be one of two things. Either it might be Delucion, which I might start releasing in volumes, instead of by chapter. Or, it might be a new collection of short stories, given that I have more than enough for one or maybe two more books. Either way, you can stay updated through my website or any of my social media.
About the Author
Oliver Kaufman is an author and the founder of theworldwithin.org, a website dedicated to self-awareness, self-healing, growth, and the exploration of one’s own inner, conscious world. He currently lives in Redmond, Washington, in the US.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting me and my book, and for the interview, EverLeigh.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone has any more questions for me, just let me know with a reply here in the comments. Be glad to answer