This May 14th marks the release of Chad Corrie’s newest novel: As the Sparrow Flies, the first novel in the YA dystopian Sojourners’ Saga series. Before he got too busy with the upcoming tour, we asked if he’d be able to talk some about the title and the exciting new world in which it takes place.
As the Sparrow Flies is the first of a new series—Sojourners’ Saga. What is the series about?
At it’s heart Sojourners’ Saga is about a young wanderer who’s lost her people and decides to reluctantly join forces with another young man who just happens to be a crusading zealot beginning to question his previous fervency. In the process they’ll pit themselves against fanatical factions, apocalyptic environments, and their own internal crises of faith, as they forge a path across a dying world that ultimately leads to the greatest truth and hope each could ever envision.
Where did you get the idea for this series?
I don’t really remember any more when the official idea struck, but it was at least several years ago. I’ve been playing around with doing something different than what I’ve written before, which had been more traditional fantasy, and somehow got to thinking something more post apocalyptic/dystopian would be a nice chance of pace.
The story constantly morphed and developed in the early planning stages and even into some of the first drafts as I wasn’t entirely sure which direction it should take. Finally, I came to understand it would be better suited as a YA title with more of a focus on the two main protagonists. After that just about everything else fell right into place.
How long did it take to write?
Too long it seemed some days. I think it holds the record of being the longest I’ve yet taken to write something—from start to finish. I even had to put it aside a few times to get a fresh perspective on things until I knew what was missing and where I had to do some more world building to finish and smooth things out. While I don’t have the actual final tally in how long it took (as at some point I just stop counting) it was easily years—at least five or more that I can recall…
How is the series different than your other works?
Well, as I’ve said, it’s my first YA tale and is a departure from what I normally have written before. This is a human-centric dystopian/apocalyptic world and really is pretty sparse on the fantastical elements. There aren’t any elves or wizards or that sort of thing, making it more grounded, and perhaps grittier as well. The younger protagonists are also something different as is some of how it was constructed and paced, etc., which readers will be able to discover soon enough…
Do you have any other plans for this series beyond this trilogy?
No. This is only going to be three books—which, thus far, is sort of an outlier for me. Usually when I get into a new world I end up doing more than just the initial storyline but not this time…Nor do I plan on going back into earlier parts of the world’s history and expanding on things there. And it was because of this focused storyline that appendices have been included in each book which delve deeper into some of the peoples, lore, history, and other aspects of the world.
What was it like writing something YA rather than adult?
In many ways it was the same. Story is still story no matter what genre it falls into. You’re always going to have a beginning, middle, and end to things. How you go about presenting said story, however, is where it takes on changes.
Having the two main protagonists be younger than most of the rest of the characters also allows for some interesting observations and interactions that might not have been possible with older characters. And as a writer that was rather interesting to explore at times—really trying to see and understand what they saw and understood at various parts of the story, etc.
What was the greatest joy you found in the process? The greatest challenge?
I think the “greatest joy” would be in finishing the entire series. As I said, I didn’t know if that was going to be the case early on until I was shown the best path forward. So getting to see everything finish and fall into place was rewarding.
As to the biggest challenge, probably getting it finished. It’s one of those things that cuts both ways. That and stretching to write something outside my normal comfort zone. Both ultimately helped sharpen my abilities and hone my knowledge base on crafting tales, but it was still a slog at times working my way through the process and story to boot.
Thanks, for sharing your time and answers, Chad!
You can check out where Chad will be showing up at his forthcoming tour by heading to his website: chadcorrie.com as well as following him on social media: @creatorchad.
