C.S. Elston

Worshipper, Husband, Author, Screenwriter, Home Cook, Fan

The Inspiration Behind “The Four Corners” Trilogy

By 

By
C.S. Elston

Admittedly, I’ve told this story before. But it answers a question I get asked a lot and, with the recent release of “The Four Corners of Darkness,” I thought it would be appropriate to, once again, share the inspiration behind the series.

I was driving down the 101 freeway just north of Los Angeles, California, somewhere between Studio City and Sherman Oaks about fifteen or sixteen years ago. Looking out the side window of my Jeep Wrangler as I passed by a sea of houses and apartment complexes, I don’t know why I was thinking about this but, all of the unhappy home environments that exist all around us entered my mind. I thought about the fact that a lot of people who feel unloved, really are in fact loved. They are just in an environment where the people who love them either don’t know how to say it or show it, or they’re too wrapped up in their own problems to recognize the ones they’re causing in the lives of the people they love by simply not expressing the love they really do have deep down. Sometimes, we just overcrowd that love with so much self-created, negative clutter, that no one can see it because it’s like a wonderful gift hidden in the back of the closet where no one will ever have the opportunity to enjoy it.

That got me thinking about how quickly someone’s attitude could change if they were faced with losing the person or people they love. Somehow, that translated into this fantasy world called Kadosh, which is a Hebrew word that means “set apart for a Holy purpose.” In the books, people are being yanked out of the real world and separated onto islands, presumably, for eternity. So, while God intends for these people to love one another, the fact that they are not doing that in the real world gives the demon ruler of this fantasy world the ability to pull them into his realm where he can keep them apart from one another.

Absence truly does make the heart grow fonder. And, in an extreme situation like that, the aforementioned gift is going to find itself through the clutter in a hurry. Then what do you do? When love and regret overwhelm you like that, you can’t keep it inside. You must let the people you have those feelings for know about it. In the case of the Snyder family in “The Four Corners,” that means an incredible journey lies ahead. Ultimately, the risk is worth the potential reward.

The sequel, “The Four Corners of Darkness” is inspired, at least in part, by a one-act play I acted in while attending college at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon. I think it was called “Doors” but, I can’t remember for sure and, I have no idea who wrote it. But the play was about a bunch of people who seemed permanently trapped in a house. The doors were locked and couldn’t be opened, and the windows had bars on them. It was an allegory about sin and salvation. Ultimately, someone from the outside, who had been there before and been shown the way out, had to go back inside and pay it forward. In the same way, while the Snyders and a bunch of others find their way back home at the end of the first book, their youngest child, Kinsey, recognized the responsibility that came with that accomplishment. He knew they would have to go back and show those who didn’t take the journey with them the first time, that there is, indeed, a way to get out and go back home. Now that the second book is out, I guess I’d better get to work wrapping this story up with the final installment of “The Four Corners” trilogy. . .

My Intended Audience

By

 

I have slowly been rolling out my answers to questions I received in an interview I did on Twitter back in November for #MounceChat / #HealthyFaith. This post is a continuation of that rollout.

A little over half way through the interview, a participant named Rachael Colby asked me, “Who is your audience? What age? Are they written for the Christian market, secular or both?” Here is how I responded:

I’d say “The Four Corners” series is written for kids older than eight. My wife is a teacher and she helped me put together a literary unit for schools which is a free download on the publisher’s website. We wrote a group Bible Study for families for that one, as well, which is also a free download. And, for the record, I know that a lot of adults have enjoyed the book, too.

Similarly, “The Gift of the Elements” series is written for teenagers and above but, I’ve had adults tell me that “The Gift of Tyler” is their favorite book. Hopefully, they feel the same way about “The Gift of Rio” and the others that haven’t come out yet.

The next series I’m planning (which is several books away) will be mostly for adults but,

I do like writing for a younger audience. Also, my hope (carried over from the earlier questions about faith and defining Christian novels) is that my books can be enjoyed by both Christian and secular audiences but, my faith is so much of who I am that I have reached a point in my life and my walk that I refuse to hide it and I’m sure some people will be turned off by that while others will identify with and appreciate it.

At this point in the interview, a participant called @mim526 joined in and asked, “I noticed in the description of The Gift of Rio that it’s chronologically book 1. For someone new to your books, do you recommend reading it first or after the Gift of Tyler?” Here is how I responded to their follow up:

The first four “The Gift of the Elements” books are stand-alone stories that are all connected but can be read in any order. “The Gift of Tyler” was the first book but the events in it technically happen fourth. You’re good either way.

I hope those questions and answers clear things up for people. More (from both the Twitter interview and elsewhere) to come!

The Kind of Stories I Most Enjoy Telling

By

 

 

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I did a #MounceChat interview on Twitter back in November and a participant, Racheal Colby, suggested I turn some of the questions and answers into blog posts. This is the second time I am taking her advice. The second question I was asked was, “What kind of stories do you most like to tell?” Here was my response:

I’ve always had a wide array of tastes. I like music from just about every genre (as is evident in a number of my blog posts) and the same is true of books and movies that I read and watch. So, of course, that greatly influences what I write.

As a screenwriter, I had the opportunity to try my hand at just about every genre out there. I hope that the same can be said when I’ve written all of the books I’m going to write. However, so far, with only three books under my belt, I have pretty much stayed in the fantasy lane. Not Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones type of fantasy – although I am a big LOTR fan – but fantasy nonetheless.

My first book, The Four Corners, I’ve always put in the same category as the Narnia books. Others have compared it to Bridge to Terabithia and A Wrinkle in Time. I hadn’t read either of those when I wrote it but, I’ve read the latter since and I can see why that comparison has been made.

The Four Corners starts with a family that is falling apart at the seams. The parents have essentially fallen out of love with one another and the oldest child, their daughter, is practically raising her younger brother on her own. When the young boy, Kinsey, hears the word “divorce” finally uttered in the midst of a screaming match, the emotions he has been bottling for years finally explode out of him and open a door that transports him to another world. When his sister and his parents go looking for him, they are transported to that world as well.

In this strange place, controlled by a demon named Raum, they are all separated onto different islands where they meet other people in their own gender and age categories who are also separated from their respective families. This gives them the opportunity to realize how much they love and miss one another and it becomes a story of finding their way back to one another.

My 2nd and 3rd books are a little trickier when it comes to finding comparisons. They are each part of the same series and I haven’t found too many novels that I think are accurate comparisons. They blend elements from stories in other media forms that I think work better. An example would be the 1995 movie Powder and even some comic books like Spider-Man, Superman and the X-Men.

In a nutshell, each of the first four books in the series are stand-alone stories about one person per book who begins to develop the ability to control an element. The first two are Tyler, who controls earth, and Rio, who controls water. Next will be Mattias who controls fire and then Amanda who controls the wind. It’s their journey in discovering who they are and why they were created. Their purpose is to show this fallen world that miracles still happen and that God, who gave them these abilities, still loves us.

But, I also have books I plan to write that are nowhere near the fantasy genre. I just haven’t gotten to any of them yet. I’m a planner by nature so, I already know the next 5 books I’m planning to write and one of them does happen to be one of those from outside of the fantasy genre.

Stay tuned . . .

My Favorite Thing About Being A Writer

By

October 20, 2017

By

C.S. Elston

 

 

One of the many questions that I’ve been asked repeatedly is, “What’s your favorite thing about being a writer?” Surprisingly, it’s not an easy one to answer. Perhaps that’s because, on any given day, my answer changes depending on my mood, my latest project or for countless other reasons. However, a handful of answers do seem to come up a lot.

I love that writing gives me a voice. People can express themselves in many ways. That’s one of the numerous things that makes any kind of art so great. For me, it’s through writing. Everyone has something to say and I have the privilege of saying it through writing.

I love that writing lasts. We don’t have videos of events that happened thousands of years ago but, we do have written accounts. Homer and Dante didn’t make movies but they did write The Odyssey and Inferno. The written word is a timeless tradition that I am very proud and honored to join on any level that I can.

I love that writing takes me and others on adventures. As I flesh out a story, I get to go on the adventure with the characters. When I write in “The Four Corners” series, I get to go to a fictional world called Kadosh. “The Gift of the Elements” series has taken me as far away as Japan and will eventually take me to both Chile and Finland. Then, when I finally finish and send the story out into the world, others get to go on those same adventures. I, for one, think that’s awesome!

Perhaps more than anything else and, therefore, the answer I give the most often and would probably pick as the number one reason if forced to narrow it to only one, is that I love that writing means I get to create something new. I love to create. It’s also why I enjoy cooking so much. In both cases, you start with nothing but an idea and wind up with something you hope is wonderful when it’s all over. And, in both cases, you can bet someone will let you know how wonderful (or, conversely, awful) either way.

Granted, the building blocks you use aren’t completely original to just you. With cooking, the ingredients come from somewhere. Even if they come from your own garden, you must thank God for sending the sun and the rain. And, with writing, the same is true. You’re building off your life experiences and the things that have inspired you. After all, as creators, we’re all actually imitators when it comes right down to it. In fiction, we’re imitating real life. In non-fiction, we’re documenting real life. And, the truth is, we’re all just imitating the original creator anyway.

The process can be a minor taste of hell at times but, in the end, we all hope it’s worth it. And, for me, so far, it always has been.

 

(BACK TO LIFE OF ELSTON)