Tell us about yourself!

I’ve always been a storyteller, even from a young age. When my mom asked me how my day at school was, I would tend to embellish things to make my day sound more interesting. As a teenager, I’d sit in my grandparents back yard and tell stories to my siblings and cousins. I also loved playing Dungeons & Dragons not just to fight monsters but as a Dungeon Master is gave me vehicle to tell stories. Some of my early novels are based on those adventures. Stories inspire us remember the past and preserve information in ways that make it more memorable. I grew up in Silicon Valley as a kid and have always had an interest in the tech industry. I worked for Intel for 21 years before I was able to retire early and write full-time. It’s not a coincidence that my publisher (Amazon) is a tech company.

What does NobleBright fantasy mean to you? Why is it important?

Before I’d even heard the term, I believed it was a needed force in the market. For the last few decades it has felt that fantasy has become darker and darker, where anti-heroes became the norm. I wondered if I would need to write stories like Game of Thrones in order to get published, but I didn’t want to. So years ago I made a decision that I would only write stories with true heroes, ones that get knocked around and beaten up, but in the end, they stay true to the values which have always inspired me. After listening to a Simon Sinek talk about finding your “why”, I wrote an essay called “A Manifesto on Virtue” as the reason for why I wrote stories and how the old notion of Virtus that used to be a central theme of fantasy had fallen by the wayside. So yes, after decades of grimdark, I think we were overdue for more NobleBright.

How did you start writing?

Many of my readers know this story already, but I was bitten by the writing bug in middle school. I remember when it happened: reading one of Terry Brooks’ Shannara books (the second one actually—Elfstones—I didn’t know he’d written one before it). It had so many Virtus themes in it and was one of the first books that made me cry and kept me reading to all hours of the night. After that book, I felt something powerful. Like a match had been struck. I wanted to write stories that made other people feel the way I was feeling. Granted, it took many, many years of practice. Terry Brooks once said in a writing class I attended that it takes a million words of practice to learn the writer’s craft. It turns out that it was prophetic in my case, and why I named my own writing memoir, Your First Million Words. I’ve written thirty-two books since taking that class. It was a magical moment for me.

What are some of your favorite books/authors? Why?

I’ve already mentioned the role Terry Brooks has had on my writing and how he inspired me. Also, I’ve been a huge fan of Sharon Kay Penman’s historical novels, especially the Welsh Princes Trilogy and The Sunne in Splendour which sparked a life-long passion for the War of the Roses. History is messy and rarely ends in the way we’d predict. My writing has a lot of twists and turns. I became friends with Sharon years ago, and she was another terrific mentor. I still remember when she told me she lost the original manuscript for Sunne in Splendour after it was stolen from her car. It was 900-pages long and totally devastating to lose it. This was before computers were widely available, so there weren’t any back-up copies. Can you imagine that? It took her years to overcome this setback, but she eventually re-wrote the entire novel and it was her first to be published. I’m also a huge fan of JK Rowling—love the entire Harry Potter universe. Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain novels also inspired me when I was younger. But the authors who have taught me the most about tugging on heart-strings are Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and Frances Hodgson Burnett. There are reasons their novels have stood the test of time.

Please tell us about your world and your characters.

When I decided I wanted to become a full-time author, I didn’t want to be known for just one series. I’m grateful to have a publisher that has encouraged risk taking and trying out new ideas. The world of the Grave Kingdom was inspired by two trips I took with my family. One was a cruise to Alaska. The geography of the Pacific Northwest was so enchanting. It felt like a fantasy world and the glaciers, inland rivers, waterfalls, and fauna were so intriguing that I knew I had to use it in a fantasy novel. When we visited Mendenhall glacier, I imagined ancient ruins of a city trapped beneath it, covered by the ice for centuries, but slowly thawing and revealing the secrets of a people destroyed. That was how the story started in my mind. But it was another trip, to China, that really brought the novel and its characters to life. I was invited to speak at a writer’s conference in Beijing and given the opportunity to stay there for a month. Because my kids had two weeks off school at the same time, I brought my family with me for the first part of the trip and we did a lot of sight-seeing in the area. I visited the famous “scorpion alley” in Beijing and even tried fried scorpions. The food, culture, and iconography were so inspiring as were our hikes along the Great Wall and other celebrated sights. That’s when the idea came to combine the two ideas—a setting like Alaska and a culture founded on ancient China. Phoenixes are symbols of power, equal to dragons.

I began to form the cast of characters after reading some wuxia novels during the trip and created bands of ensigns—basically mercenary martial artists who are hired for their skills. I also threw in an orphaned fisherman—Quion—into the story because I didn’t want it just to be about mighty warriors. Sometimes someone who can tie knots can be invaluable. And the magic of the world is cursed and no one knows why. When an artifact is activated, it summons a deadly fog that kills all living things. But the heroine, Bingmei, has a special skill which to her is a curse and so she keeps it secret. She can smell the emotions of others, so she knows whether someone is honest, devious, or dangerous. I didn’t invent this trait. My niece has this particular form of synesthesia. I’ve never written a story like this before. When a character can literally smell the motives of others, it changes the way an author needs to write about it. It also made her the perfect heroine to stop the evil overlord Echion.

Do you have any works in progress? Tell us about them!

Yes, I’m working on my next series which will come out in 2021. It is based on my world of Kingfountain and is called The First Argentines. So far, my editors and early readers have fallen in love with the story. It comes back to my medieval roots and while it is set in a familiar world to my readers, the story is new and it has so many twists. It’s based on an actual historical character, which I won’t name until the series is done, but it’s been so fun to write each book. I’m getting ready to finish it up (the original writing) and keeping my box of tissue handy. It’s going to be brutal, but hopefully inspiring as my books tend to be. I’m also excited to be working with a studio and showrunner right now to adapt my Kingfountain series into a family-friendly TV show. I was impressed with how Disney did that with the Mandalorian and was thrilled to be approached by a studio who wanted to have a fantasy franchise that would be appropriate for all ages. 

Where can we find you online?

Many people find me on my website (www.jeff-wheeler.com) where I have a brief intro video that shows the themes of the stories I like to write and how they aim to increase hope in the world. In designing the website, I have a section for each of the different worlds that I’ve invented (Muirwood, Harbinger, Kingfountain, Grave Kingdom, etc) where readers can learn about each one and the kind of people, places, and magic from each. I’m also very visible on social media through my author Facebook page, my Twitter account. Recently I’ve opened an Instagram account. You’ll find most of my handles @muirwoodwheeler in honor of the Muirwood books which put me on the map and enabled me to leave Intel and write full-time.