Ethan Fox Books | Author Interviews and Insights

Dive into the captivating world of author interviews and insights with E. L. Seer, the mastermind behind the Ethan Fox Books series. In this exclusive interview conducted by Ashley Jordan on behalf of The Ridge Publishing Group, discover the fascinating journey of E. L. Seer, the author of “Ethan Fox and the Eyes of the Desert Sand.” From the genesis of the series to the intricate details behind character creation and storytelling, each question unveils a wealth of knowledge and inspiration. Join us as we explore the secrets behind the Ethan Fox Books series and gain valuable insights into the mind of a visionary storyteller.

THE RIDGE PUBLISHING GROUP

Ethan Fox and the Eyes of the Desert Sand by E. L. Seer Interview

The Ridge Publishing Group’s Ashley Jordan reports

by Ridge Publishing Group Online

March 5, 2021 – 3:30 pm PST

This is (Ashley Jordan) on assignment for The Ridge Publishing Group.  Thank you all for tuning in for today’s interview.  Joining us from The Ethan Fox Books Company is none other than E. L. Seer, author of the Ethan Fox Books series with his debut novel, Ethan Fox and the Eyes of the Desert Sand, coming out March 31, 2021.

Even if you haven’t read his book, chances are you’ve been hearing a lot about E. L. Seer. Not only has he garnered the attention of publishers around the world, but early on he caught the eyes of none other than WARNER BROS.’ Barry Meyer, chairman of the board and chief executive officer, who personally submitted Seer’s manuscript to Courtenay Valenti – coincidence or something else? Her executive credits include Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) – just to mention a few.

It’s no secret, for the past 10 years, publishers and Hollywood have been clamoring to fill the void left by the Harry Potter franchise. And publishers are offering big advances for debut novels that promise to lure middle grade, young adults, and adults alike and reach fans of literary and commercial fiction. Although E. L. Seer’s debut – young adult fantasy adventure with epic, coming of age, and science fiction elements – novel, Ethan Fox and the Eyes of the Desert Sand, faces fierce competition in the industry’s ongoing search for the next big crossover fantasy book series, it may be the next great phenomena.

Is he the next big thing or is he a marketing expert?  Literary gifted or a flash in the pan?  We weren’t sure what to expect when we caught up with him in the final weeks before his debut novel launched.

 (AJ)                        So what should I call you?  Do I call you E. L.?  Do I call you Mr. Seer?

(ELS)                       No, call me Eric Moeszinger.

(AJ)                        Does anyone call you Eric?

(ELS)                       Yes.

(AJ)                        Your writing, what perhaps could be a 10 book series, which is significant. Do you take days off, or do you feel you are in this whirlwind and you have to keep writing?

(ELS)                       When I was working full-time, I outlined the series and wrote quite a bit of the back-story, at home on weekends — often while out for cocktails with my wife — and at any opportunity I could muster over the period of about a year. Once the story for the first book came totally into focus, I then outlined it, before finally sitting down to write Ethan Fox and the Eyes of the Desert Sand.

(AJ)                        From what I understand, you were coincidently laid off for several weeks, which was when you revamped the first several chapters and nearly finished the book — before receiving another job offer you couldn’t refuse. During your down time, how many hours a day did you spend writing?

(ELS)                       When I am writing the actual book content, I spend 8 to 10 hours a day, maybe more at times. But during the process my mind is almost always absorbed in the story in one way or another.

(AJ)                        What was your motive for writing the Ethan Fox Books series?

(ELS)                       My taletaddler (my wife) told me to write it.

To understand how E. L. Seer came to write the Ethan Fox Books series, you have to start with his wife. After much coaxing from her, she finally convinced him to write a fantasy novel. She told him that the story would come to him in a dream and much to his amazement, within a few weeks, he had such a dream. And he began outlining the Ethan Fox Books series that evening.

A few months later, he had written the first few chapters of book one, Ethan Fox and the Eyes of the Desert Sand — although those few pages, have very little resemblance to anything in the finished book.

Early on, he and his wife sent out query letters and a brief synopsis of his manuscript to publishers and agents. Some returned them so fast; they must have been sent back the same day they arrived. But one of the publishers (HarperCollins) wrote back and asked to see the first 5 chapters. It was by far, the best letter he had ever received in his life, and it was only three sentences long.

Over the next year and a half, his swelling manuscript and outline was growing in all sorts of strange directions.

(AJ)                        Some say that the Ethan Fox Books series is sure to draw comparisons to the Harry Potter series, how so?

(ELS)                       I think, because it is a magical and compelling story with a similar flavor. While the story itself is very different, it is a very intricate story that unravels around a delightful cast of characters that people want to root for.

(AJ)                        How is the book series, Ethan Fox Books, like a butterfly chrysalis?

(ELS)                       In the book, it is like a protective encasing for planet Earth. Think of the Chrysalis as a meta-physical barrier of life force. It surrounds and protects Earth as the human race evolves — in much the same way a chrysalis protects a caterpillar as it evolves into a butterfly.

(AJ)                        In the book, the main story seems to surround two young teens (Ethan and Hayley). How did you imagine Ethan Fox?

(ELS)                       I didn’t. He imagined me. I just think back to when I was a child. He is pretty much my younger self. I used to love to play at the creek and catch frogs and lizards. Those stories from the book are based in fact from my childhood.

(AJ)                        Is Ethan and Hayley’s relationship the beginning of a boy meets girl love story?

(ELS)                       I don’t think I’ve kept it much of a secret that Ethan and Hayley share a history. What that history is and how it came to be will play out over the course of the series. You will have to wait and see.

(AJ)                        What is the significance of the symbols that glow from Ethan’s hands?

(ELS)                       There are actually four symbols, which form the “Creators’ crest” — they represent the four elemental worlds of the Chrysalis. It is the same symbols that Ethan and Hayley uncover in the “Lair of the Spider Gecko” chapter, in book one, Ethan Fox and the Eyes of the Desert Sand. The symbols that glow from Ethan’s hands are the Creator, Stravis’ symbol — one of four.

(AJ)                        What is the next book in the series going to be about?

(ELS)                       Also a bit premature to answer . . . But Ethan and friends will uncover more and more secrets and mysteries about the Grimleavers and what they are up to . . .

Three months, early on, after distributing more than 500 Advance Reader’s Copies for early reads and to create pre-publication buzz, advance comments were in — in the form of review testimonials, which can be found on the Ethan Fox Books website. Advance comments led to some burning questions.

(AJ)                        Will George’s video game, “Lords and Dragons of the Dark Realm,” play a role in the series?  And if so, will the comic book series that it spun off (in the story) do the same?

(ELS)                       I think it’s the other way around. What role did the Caretakers play in George creating the video game series?  Remember . . . the book . . . Ethan saw in the Study . . .

(AJ)                        Are the books in the Study filled with stories that will become their own books?

(ELS)                       I think the possibilities are endless, but for now, there is much story left to tell with the main series that I have no such plans at the moment.

(AJ)                        Where do you get the names for your characters?

(ELS)                       It is very strange actually. Sometimes I can’t come up with one to save my life. Then at other times, they come to me in bunches, at the strangest times. When that happens, I always make sure to email them to myself, even if I have no character in mind. Other times, they sound so familiar to me, I have to do internet searches on them to keep myself honest — and make sure I did not hear the name somewhere in the past or something.

(AJ)                        Who is your favorite character and why?

(ELS)                       Gruggins is my favorite character because he came to me in a very vivid dream — a dream that launched the whole book series. A dream my wife somehow knew I was going to have.

(AJ)                        If you could bring one Ethan Fox Books character to life, other than Ethan, who would it be?

(ELS)                       Gruggins, he would be a great pal to tote around in your pocket — and he could sniff out all that leprechaun gold as a bonus. In return, I’d feed him all the fish gut and snails he could eat, since I don’t know where to find four leaf clovers.

(AJ)                        If you were to have dinner with any five characters from any of your books, who would you invite, and why would they be on your list?

(ELS)                       First, I’d invite Irvin so he could cook and Jordanna because my wife just loves her. Then Damien, Azron, and Nicholas.

(AJ)                         Did you have an imaginary friend when you were a child?

(ELS)                       No, but I remember meeting a young girl at a neighbor’s house that did. She would talk to it as if it were right there next to her. She explained to me that her friend was a small black and pink poodle that walked upright. I thought she was nuts!

(AJ)                        There doesn’t seem to be any pets mentioned in the first book, will pets be introduced in future books?

(ELS)                       Malik is a pet, if a brutehound could be called a pet. Other than that, I have not given that much thought. Besides, who needs pets when you have grumplings, firelytes, hydromorphs, and all of the other creatures that were introduced in book one, Ethan Fox and the Eyes of the Desert Sand.

E. L. Seer doesn’t consider himself as just a writer, he sees himself as a storyteller, a living work of imagination in print — and hopes to see his books in film and television one day.

(AJ)                        If your series could be made into movies, who would you want to produce it?

(ELS)                       Warner Bros. was my publisher’s first choice; hence, a query letter was sent to Barry Meyer. I thought the action was premature at first, until my publisher informed me that Warner Bros. was requesting an advance reading copy.

(AJ)                        Anyone else come to mind?

(ELS)                       I can think of several names, but many of them are probably too busy with other projects. This is a huge wish list . . . James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, George Lucas, Jerry Bruckheimer, J. J. Abrams or Tim Burton. I could probably come up with a few more but that’s all I can think of at the moment.

He grew up in a small rural neighborhood in Sacramento, California with his mother, father and sister. He attended Encina High School from 1978 to 1981. As kids so often do, he would sometimes blow off some of his assigned chores around the house (most notably mowing their huge lawn). On one such occasion, he left his mother a note, a cute little limerick letting her down easy to the fact, he was shirking his duty.

(AJ)                        So do you remember the poem you wrote your mother?

(ELS)                       Yes.

(AJ)                        Can you repeat it?

(ELS)                       Roses are red, violets are blue; the wind is a howlin, the water is too. You want the pool cleaned; I know it’s the pits, and I know it ain’t done, so you think it’s the shits. I’m very sorry, but you don’t have a clue; if you ask where I am, I’m out with the crew.

(AJ)                        So what happened after she got the poem?

(ELS)                       She thought it was so funny, she couldn’t get mad. She covered for me with my dad — and kept the note and gave it back to me some 30 years later.

It became well known among his friends that he was pretty nifty at writing limericks. So, when a friend of his was writing songs for his rock band, his friend decided to ask him to write the lyrics. His friend had discovered some cool sounds he could make with the new foot petal he had bought for his electric guitar. He wanted something where a flying saucer was landing at the beginning and taking off at the end. They weren’t exactly McCartney and Lennon, but that is when E. L. Seer wrote The Eyes of the Desert Sand poem.

(AJ)                        What did it feel like when you added the poem to your first novel?

(ELS)                       I’ve finally done the words proud.

In addition to toiling in rock music, and doing all sorts of crazy things kids do — his friends and he often hung out at the house. During those summer days, for some unknown reason, his friends and he took to talking gibberish. It was not like a secret language; in fact, the more nonsense you could talk, the better you were at it. He of course became the master, that’s when he came up with “shnickyrooners and things like that,” as his opening line.

In the series, he tries to re-enact some of the gibberish talking they did those days with the character, Irvin McGuillicutty . . . Which of course, happens to actually be the name one of his friends used to call him back then. As it turns out, it was the same friend who asked him to write the lyrics to the song.

He graduated from high school in 1981 and went on to study at the University of California, Davis where he received a bachelor’s degree in engineering and later continued on to Sacramento State University for his master’s. After graduation, he moved to Silicon Valley where he would work as an engineer. He would finally meet his wife at age 40 in 2002 and in 2004 married her. Through the years, while discussing past times in their lives, it has often boggled their minds how many times their paths had crossed over the years leading up to their union.

His life began to change (after meeting his wife) and his writing career took off after he adopted the name E. L. Seer. (E. L. Seer is a pen name. The E is for Eric and the L is for Lori and the Seer is for obvious reasons.) The new name freed him, he says, to become one of the greatest storytellers he was meant to be.

(AJ)                        So was the name E. L. Seer your first choice?

(ELS)                       Funny story, really. We did have another name in mind. We did a Google search and found that it shared the name of an adult entertainer that we thought completely inappropriate.

(AJ)                        Will you use some of your fan’s ideas in the next Ethan Fox Books, volumes?

(ELS)                       If I find something odd and challenging enough, I may very well incorporate it. While writing Ethan Fox and the Eyes of the Desert Sand, I asked my twelve-year-old stepson to come up with something strange and silly to challenge me. He looked at me and asked, “Why don’t apples wear wedding dresses?” At the time I thought that he was being way too silly, so I gave up on trying to ask him for ideas. But then one day I had an idea . . . Hence, the uniting of Alicia the apple tree and Percy the pear tree.

The story, however, is not in the first book and may not even make it in the series. But I am planning to spin off some of the main characters, writing short story chapter books throughout the series and parsing them out in between books — to keep my fans satisfied. So that story will definitely appear in the book I write about Mrs. Moongarden . . .

(AJ)                        What is the one question your fans have never asked you, but should have?

(ELS)                       What does “shnickyrooners and things like that . . .” mean?

(AJ)                        What does it mean?

(ELS)                       Again, you will have to wait until the story unfolds . . .

(AJ)                        What are you going to write after the Ethan Fox Books series?

(ELS)                       That is probably a few years away still, so it is probably a bit premature to even answer . . . But I have some ideas for some more mainstream fiction, like mystery, psychological thrillers, and conspiracy types of books.

His debut novel, Ethan Fox and the Eyes of the Desert Sand is coming out at the end of March and his publisher, The Ridge Publishing Group believes he is poised for success.

(AJ)                        You know, when people hear I did an interview with you, everybody asked me the same question, what is he really like?

(ELS)                       Well, this is me. I wrote the Ethan Fox Books series. My birthday is on the 1st of March. I am a major San Francisco 49ers football fan and San Jose Sharks hockey fan. What you see is what you get.

In the end, what E. L. Seer says he cares about most is his storytelling and becoming the next big crossover fantasy book series writer. The Night Circus claims they have it. Legends says they have it. The Age of Miracles hopes to have it. But none of these are pitched squarely to young adults.

Even other recent fantasy franchises, pitched more squarely at young adults, have been touted as more-promising heirs to Harry Potter. The list includes Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rich Riordan have more than 20 million copies in print. The Inheritance Cycle series by Christopher Paolini has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage has been optioned by Warner Bros. to produce a movie based on the first book.

Author Interviews and Insights: Unveiling the World of Ethan Fox Books

A visually stunning read, set within a hidden universe with Earth at its center, Ethan Fox and the Eyes of the Desert Sand tells the story of two young teens, Ethan and Hayley, who are mysteriously drawn together to solve the story’s biggest puzzle and unlock the door to the four portals — portals to the four elemental worlds of the Chrysalis.

It is chock-full of characters, creatures, situations, and complications. But what makes it all work is that you just love Ethan, Hayley, Gruggins, and many of the other protagonists while viewing the antagonists, Victor, Daavic, the Grimleavers, and others of the story with equivalent distain. Everything works because everything is built around them — Ethan and Hayley’s situation, their fears, their strengths, and their mistakes. The new worlds, the new beings, the new ideas are wonderful creations but without those characters, they mean nothing. Romance, rivalry and plenty of suspense ensue.

The Ethan Fox Books series has the key features that will help make these books a major franchise. Like the Harry Potter franchise taught publishers how to make event publishing resemble event-film releases, the Ethan Fox Books series publisher, The Ridge Publishing Group, are becoming a presence that cannot be ignored either.

Their aggressive marketing plan includes (1) numerous licensing deals, (2) an extensive interactive website developed for children and young adults resulting in an enhanced reading and entertainment experience, (3) a quarterly newspaper (The Residential Daily Star), (4) a quarterly Caretaker World Newsletter, (5) a free to join KidsStagramCLUB focusing on educations in Pre-K thru 12th grade, (6) Ethan Fox Shops: Shop Bookstore, Shop KidsStagramCLUB, Shop by Worlds, (7) Ethan Fox Books KidsStagram blog written by Nicholas Knight, character — as so many other pieces of the website are written and managed by various characters in the series. (8) So much so, the Ethan Fox Books characters each have their own public email addresses, which of course are managed by Bella Wentworth (another character in the series).

(9) Ethan Fox Books original series (Ethan Fox and . . .), (10) Ethan Fox Books companion series (Wordly Pagemore’s Early Worm Activities & Games), (11) Ethan Fox Illustrated Chapter Books (e.g., Mayhem in the Moongarden). (12) The Ethan Fox Books KidsStagram Imagine Magazine — sections include (a) cover story feature, (b) Educations in Pre-K thru 12th grade section, (c) Young Adult section, (d) Teens and Tweens section, (e) Children’s section, (f) Parent’s section, (g) Teacher’s section, and (h) Extra Credit, Classifieds/Want Ads, Advertising, etc. (13) Social media platforms, e.g., Facebook.com/EthanFoxBooks fan base, Twitter.com@EthanFoxBooks, etc. (14) Philanthropy work (donating books) within children’s hospitals making a difference, and (15) much, much more!

Excitement continues to build, and predictions are that high level excitement will continue to ensue.

As I conclude this captivating interview, I depart with a profound appreciation for the depth of creativity and passion that fuels E. L. Seer’s storytelling journey. Through his candid insights and reflections, I’ve embarked on a remarkable voyage into the heart of the Ethan Fox Books series, witnessing the fusion of imagination and dedication that brings worlds to life. As I bid farewell, I eagerly anticipate the unfolding chapters of future author interviews and insights, where the magic of storytelling continues to illuminate paths.

Thank you for tuning in . . . Ashley Jordan on assignment for The Ridge Publishing Group.

END

Related Entries:

E. L. Seer Author Profile: Journey Through Words

Meet the Leadership: Inspirations Behind Ethan Fox Books

Discover the Magical World of Free Ethan Fox Wallpapers

Related Topics:

Visit The Ethan Fox Books Official Blog at KidsStagram.com for additional stories.