In anticipation of the upcoming Blue Metropolis international literary festival running from the 25th of April to the 27th, I sat down with Coltrane Seesequasis, one of the authors invited to speak as part of their “Romance, Fantasy, et Autres Imaginaires” events. With his first novel, Secrets of the Stone, debuting last September and an entire series planned, he’s an up-and-coming author worth watching. We got the chance to chat about his plans for the A Wolf in the Sun series, his perspective on writing nonhuman characters, what he’s looking forward to most at this year’s Blue Met, and even some insight into a short story he wrote for them.
ImaginAtlas: For our readers who may be unfamiliar with your work, how would you describe Secrets of the Stone and the A Wolf in the Sun series as a whole?
Coltrane Seesequasis: It’s a four-part series that takes place in an alternate universe in which there was a massive war between the forces of nature and humanity, and humanity ended up losing that battle. They gave control of the planet to the animals, and over the centuries [since], these animals grew more sentient and split off into their own societies.
A Wolf in the Sun follows the society of wolves from the point of view of Silversong, a young wolf who’s eager to prove himself and blissfully unaware of the terrible threat looming over him and his pack in the first book. In high school, I wrote the backstory of this world from the humans’ perspective. Over the years, I changed it to the animals’ perspective, which is a whole other can of worms.
Speaking of high school, when did your love of fantasy start and who were some of the works that shaped that love?
Seesequasis: It began from a really young age. I was probably three—maybe four years old. I started watching The Lord of the Rings, [beginning with] the third movie. I saw all of these epic fantasy battles and my mind was blown. I was also pretty big into video games at that point, and the first real game I played was Warcraft 3. I was stunned by the storytelling in that game, even though it was quite mature for a four-year-old’s mind to handle.
To get into my inspirations, there’s definitely Rick Riordan with the Percy Jackson series. That’s how I got into reading in the first place. I would also say Erin Hunter’s Warriors series is an inspiration for how I ultimately decided to write from an animal’s perspective. Then there’s Robert Jordan with The Wheel of Time, a classic, and also Patrick Rothfuss. The Name of the Wind is what got me into reading adult fantasy.
You’ve been working on this series for some years now. What is the most rewarding part of the writing and publishing process for you?
Seesequasis: The most rewarding part would definitely be finishing the actual book. Getting to the end, you finally get to take a breath. I recently finished writing the first draft of the third book [of A Wolf in the Sun], and it’s very rewarding to see “The End” on the Microsoft Word doc, and at that point, I’m thinking, “I have something here, I just need to polish it up.” That feeling is the first step in the revision process, which is usually the part I look forward to the most.
I also understand that you took inspiration from folklore elements for Secrets of the Stone. What drew you to these particular folklore stories and concepts? What made them so compelling?
Seesequasis: The human aspect. It’s not just folklore; our ancestors [truly believed] these things. At one point, I went through a phase where I was reading up on Norse mythology, Indigenous folklore, and Egyptian mythology. I try to put myself into the minds of the people who came up with this stuff. For my series, I took all these different mythologies, put them in a blender, and it spawned this whole world. The process of taking something from history is, in one word, inspiring.
What made you decide to set A Wolf in the Sun in the far future, instead of in a fantasy world completely removed from our own?
Seesequasis: When I was in my older teens or early twenties, I was in a state where I was disillusioned with the world. Everything around me was horrible. I had this story outlined; it was from the perspective of the humans. But I was getting tired of all this and just said, forget it, I’ll write the story 500 years in the future, from the point of view of the animals.
I find it very interesting that you describe this book as a fantasy novel, when many far-future dystopias are referred to as science fiction. What do you find makes this book more fantasy than science fiction? What do you think separates the two genres, especially since they’re so porous?
Seesequasis: I don’t typically draw a distinction between sci-fi and fantasy. To me, they’re something layered on top of one another like a sandwich. The thing is, you can have a science fiction book and have it also be fantasy. I don’t think the two are necessarily separate. I think Star Wars is a fantasy story instead of a sci-fi one, just because of the force element, but it can also be a sci-fi. Secrets of the Stone is mostly a fantasy because while you see some technological advancements from the point of view of the wolves, they describe them very differently. The plot is mostly centred around the wolves and their elemental magic system, and that’s more typically in line with fantasy, regardless of any science-fiction elements in my book as well.
You also mentioned that the series will have only four books. Is that a hard limit? Do you have other potential books or series in mind?
Seesequasis: The door’s always open. I’ve extensively outlined Silversong’s story from book one to book four. I know how all the different stories end and begin, but I’ve considered going into what happens afterwards because I also have some pretty hard outlined thoughts about what happens next. Those [future books] will definitely have to be epic fantasy as opposed to YA, because there’s so much to get into. If I were to describe the world of A Wolf in the Sun, 10% is what you get in the first four books, and the other 90% is what you don’t know. But anything new wouldn’t be from the main character’s perspective. It would follow other creatures with different protagonists and antagonists.
I saw online that you did some book signings last fall. Have you been to other conventions before as an author?
Seesequasis: I’ve been to a few writers’ festivals. There was one in Perth [Ontario] not too long ago. I got to meet other Canadian authors, and we got interviewed in front of an audience. I also went to a festival on Manitoulin Island. There, I met new authors and spoke to aspiring writers.
When did you first hear about the Blue Metropolis festival? Have you ever visited before this year?
Seesequasis: No, I haven’t. I’m still pretty new to the literary scene, so my publisher first made me aware of Blue Metropolis. I had a look at it and thought it may be good for meeting new authors and writers and getting to know people.
What has the experience of being an invited author been so far?
Seesequasis: It’s been eye-opening. There’s no correct way to describe it, but it’s like a whole different world. If you told my teenage self I would be invited to these massive festivals, I would be like, “there’s no way, you’re joking.” But it’s real, and it’s been overwhelming in the best of ways.
What part of the Blue Metropolis are you most looking forward to? Is there an author you look forward to meeting or a work you want to learn more about?
Seesequasis: This relates to the earlier question, but the thing I’m most looking forward to is getting to meet other authors and asking them questions about how they got into writing. That’s something I’m particularly eager to learn about. I want to meet authors who’ve been in the industry for a while and get their perspectives on how they grew as writers, as well as aspiring writers.
I find talking to [new writers] hugely inspiring because it reminds me of how I got into this, and I want to encourage them as much as possible. That’s the highlight for me: getting to see the industry through their eyes. It’s such a malleable process, but talking about it helps people know what they can do.
I noticed that you also wrote a short story for the “Planète, Mon Amour” event for the Blue Met. Was it also a writing contest for the invited authors, or was that only for students?
Seesequasis: It wasn’t pitched to me as a contest, more [like] writing a story so the people who were actually participating in the contest could draw inspiration from it. It was interesting to write something new for a change. The short story I wrote isn’t something I extensively outlined. If I had the time, I would have done more outlining. This story is my first foray into discovery writing; I just wrote what came to mind at that specific time. I got lost at one point, and it got too long, so I had to condense it for better or worse, but it was good.
How did it feel to change to writing from a semi-human perspective after focusing on animals for so long?
Seesequasis: It was different. I have this whole vocabulary in my head, and [the wolves] have their own way of describing things. I had to completely shift into a more modern, more futuristic perspective. It was difficult at the start, but once you get into your character’s head, it comes a lot more naturally. When I first started writing A Wolf in the Sun, it was very difficult to write from the perspective of wolves with their own vocabulary. If a wolf were to describe a sword or a gun, you can’t just say those words, but instead say something like “a long stick that makes loud banging sounds” or a “long fang of metal.”
Does your short story reflect some of your hopes or fears for the future of humanity?
Seesequasis: Yeah, definitely. I’m very much pessimistic about the future of humanity; I don’t think we’ll ultimately win against our own greedy nature. We’re on a course for destruction, and human nature will triumph in the end. I think there’s some amount of hope, but not enough for us to change on a larger scale, [though] I hope to be proven wrong on that.
Can you give us any hints about when your second book may be coming out?
Seesequasis: We’re hoping to release it around September 2025, depending on how the edits go, but [it will] definitely [happen] this year. I’m very curious about the readers’ thoughts about what happens; not to spoil it too much, but there’s a pretty big shift in tone. I’m very excited to hear people’s thoughts about it.
For readers who want to meet you or learn more, where can we catch you?
Seesequasis: I’ve been invited to a couple of schools to talk about how I got published, which is exciting and also nerve-wracking. I’m also participating in FOLD this year, the Festival of Literary Diversity, where I’ll be doing an interview that’s going to be amazing. You can also catch me on Instagram, though usually I’m not very big on social media.
If you want to see Coltrane Seesequasis read from his novel and talk about the series more in person, he will be doing a solo interview and a group panel on Saturday April 26th at the Blue Metropolis literary festival.