Once again, it’s time to hear from another awesome writer! Today we’ll be hearing from the one, the only, A.L. Lorensen!
A.L. is the author of two novels, an anthology, and a serialized story, all set in the universe of Alchilon. She also has an audiobook narrated by somebody awesome you may have heard of.
Let’s meet A.L. Lorensen!
Q: Ashley, you’ve had a whirlwind couple of years! Your debut novel, “For Evergreens and Aspen Trees”, came out in 2022, a solo anthology and the sequel, “Of Starlit Blades and Hallowed Flames”, in 2023. Tell us about the experience of being a debut author today. What has been your favorite thing so far, and would you change anything if you could?
A: Oh my goodness, it has been a WILD ride, but also such a dream come true. I have wanted to be an author ever since I was teeny-tiny, and to finally be able to hold my books in my hands is such a joy.
My favorite thing by far about being an author has been getting to interact with readers. I’ve gone to several live events, as well as interacted with readers online, and that feeling of spending years creating something, and then having someone love and appreciate what you put out into the world is unmatched. It makes me want to cry every time, but only in the best ways.
If I could change anything, I think it would be the stress and pressure I put on myself to be perfect and “big” all at once. Building businesses and readership takes time, and it’s okay to take baby steps to get there. I am learning that small, positive, sustainable growth will get me so much farther than big pushes all at once, and I wish that the me of two years ago knew that so she could have slowed down and enjoyed the journey more.
Q: One of the things I love about the “Songs of Loralan” books is how they tackle the themes of identity and self-worth. Every character is going through some form identity crisis. Whether it’s Tristan searching for the truth about his past and his lost memories, General Laire fighting to reclaim a life he never imagined he could lose, or Aspen grappling with what her mistakes say about her as a person. The change each character experiences is rooted, somehow, in how they view themselves and how they perceive the world to view them. What drew you to identity and self-worth as the themes you wanted to explore in your characters? What challenges does tackling these subjects present in the writing?
A: I’m not sure I purposefully sought out to explore those themes. I think they came about as a natural part of my growth as a writer and human in general. I started writing these books when I was eleven years old, right when I really started learning who I was as a person. As I grew up, the characters grew up with me and all turned into their own sort of people. They definitely still have echoes of the different parts of me, though, and when I read through the stories again, I often am surprised by how much of myself unintentionally worked its way into these characters, especially the parts where I was still just figuring myself out.
The challenge with having these characters being so closely tied to my own development as a person is that I have to be on my emotional a-game when I sit down to write. I never know what emotional baggage or personal situations are going to manifest themselves, and that can be incredibly draining. I feel like it pays off, because I have so many people that are able to connect with these character’s struggles with self-worth, grief, identity, love, compassion, etc., and I want these characters to feel like real people with real problems. It just comes at the price of me having to sit down and face my own emotions, which sometimes I’m not ready to do. It all comes together in the end, though, and I’m able to present something that I feel is beautiful and meaningful, and I’m also able to work through and get closure for those parts of me.
Q: How many books do you intend to write in the Loralan universe? Can fans expect to see works set in other worlds from you in the future?
A: Loralan is only a single country in my world of Alchilon. I have five books planned for Loralan, and then other series of indeterminate length planned for adjacent kingdoms/countries that will eventually all intersect. I’ve been building this world for 16 years, so there’s a lot of ground to cover.
As for works set in other worlds, my entire goal as an author/storyteller is to never run out of stories to tell, so there are definitely other worlds I plan to write about. I have some brewing as background projects already, and others that may make an appearance under a different pen name. So, I guess, long answer short (sorry, constant author’s dilemma), yes, there will be more worlds from me in the future.
Q: Last year you also began a serial story, “Songs of Ash”, set in the world of Loralan. What excites you the most about this story, and what inspired you to tackle it alongside your main novels? How has the process of writing a serial challenged you as compared to writing long fiction?
A: I love Song of Ash because it follows some of the deep, early lore of Alchilon and Loralan, and I am a giant nerd for lore and world-building. It also has some of my favorite characters. One of my favorite things about writing in general, too, is lacing in very subtle foreshadowing and things that have deeper meaning when you understand not only the context of the moment, but the world’s historical context as well. This serial story is like a giant treat for me, because almost all my foreshadowing and backshadowing and everything in between in Songs of Loralan relates back in some way to Song of Ash, and I adore tying up loose ends.
This serial story actually started out as a NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) project back in 2017, and it’s been sitting in my computer ever since. When I get burned out on my main projects, I pick up side projects to change my headspace and keep me writing, so I picked Song of Ash up as that refresh. It also helped that I had a good chunk of it written already, and all I needed to do was edit it. It’s been incredibly rewarding to polish it up and finally have it available for people to read.
There have been three big challenges of writing this as a serial work. The first one is that I’ve realized I am completely, 100% allergic to writing things in chronological order. I have no idea why, but it’s just one of the quirks of my brain. Writing things in order to stay on top of a publishing schedule has been a learning experience, but has helped me grow into just knuckling down and writing what needs to be written.
The second challenge has been creating snappy “short stories”, essentially, for every episode published. In novels, not all chapters have to be self-contained stories with a clear beginning, middle, and end. It’s expected that they lead into other chapters, and readers aren’t upset by this because they have the rest of the book to read. For serial works, every episode has to stand on its own until the next one releases. Otherwise, you lose readership. This has made me take a deeper look at my pacing in my novels, and has helped liven up the writing to make sure that no space is wasted.
The last challenge has been finding platforms to publish a serial work. Amazon has built a beautiful platform for it, but has made it impossible for people to find or to market to in general. Because of that, I’ve stopped publishing the chapters on Amazon until I find a better platform for the work.
Q: You aren’t just an author, but a really great person, too! Are there any events where an intrepid reader with the fortitude to chance the unknown of the road might get to meet you in person this year?
A: Aw! Thank you! Right back at you. 😊 I’m always looking for new events to go to! Meeting readers is one of my favorite things about being an author. This year, I will be making my regular yearly appearance at FanX in Salt Lake City September 26-28th with several other incredible authors, and will share another booth at the Salt Lake Family Christmas Gift Show November 14th-16th. I’m hoping to fit more events in as other opportunities arise, but those are currently the ones on my schedule.
Q: What are you most excited for in 2024? Where do you see yourself as an author a year from now?
A: I’m excited for a lot of things this year! Definitely what I am most excited for, though, is working through this third book and (hopefully) getting it published this year. That will get me past the halfway mark in my first ever series, and I can’t believe I would ever get to say that.
By this time next year, I plan on being well on my way to having four books published, and having more events on my calendar to meet other incredible readers and writers. I will always say that I hope to eventually be an author full-time, but it will take several more baby steps before I get to that point. So, really, I just hope that I’m still enjoying the journey in 2025.
