Tag: Stone of Asylum

As I said a bit ago, Johnson participated in my Q&A series about writing in Idaho and now she’s back to talk about Stone of Asylum and writing in general. In case you’re interested, I gave my take on that novel a little bit ago. I hope you enjoy this Q&A, and I do expect to bring you more from Johnson soon, so stay tuned!

We’ve gone over your writer’s bio before, but I wanted to follow up on a couple of things. First, could you talk about your path to publication and what sparked your desire to write in the first place?
I wish I had known that writing could be a career choice, I might have finished school instead of this long journey: I was a young mama with time to read, and my grandma passed all her Christian historical romance books through the family. They always ended with a kiss at the altar…I started to feel like the only significant point of life for a girl was to fall in love and get married. Therefore, there was nothing left for me at the age of 20. I was happy in my marriage, but disgruntled that I had nothing significant left to look forward to in life. I had no idea there were other genres in Christian fiction.

One day while my 6 month fell asleep nursing, I daydreamed a complete story arc about a white missionary who rescues a baby from a village just before he was killed by his dad. They raise him up, until they are martyred, and he eventually returns to the his father’s village with the gospel of reconciliation. It was told from the two mother’s perspectives.

I jumped up and scribbled the outline down. It took me ten years to type out the first draft of that story. It was 50,000 words. I thought I was called to the mission field until I finished writing that book.

When finished, I was confident enough to consider myself a “wannabe writer,” and I got a job in publications. I got mentors, I published in local newspapers. I became the assistant editor. I spent five years writing my second book. (Neither are published.) Then, in 2005, I went to my first writer’s conference and started the path to publication. I wrote Sovereign Ground in a year and it became a finalist in contests before it was published. The editors and agents who liked it told me that the subject was too edgy for the current Christian fiction crisis and economic downturn. So I self-published.

Authors have dozens of ideas percolating at once (if not more), what was it about the idea that became Stone of Asylum that made you decide it was the one you wanted to focus on for a few months? Can you remember what nugget started that book? It’s pretty different from your first two books in terms of genre and tone (at least from what I can tell), was it a conscious choice to look for something different?
I heard once that artists are not satisfied replicating—they desire to create and they need to stretch themselves. My first book was about a dancer and lots of people thought it was my story, because you are supposed to “write what you know.” I was in a tight-knit critique group and they asked my why I didn’t write about martial arts (more about that in question 5). Also, I knew romance would never be the genre I wanted to spend all my time in. I love fantasy.

Was this always intended as part of a series or was it a stand-alone that couldn’t be restrained? How do you go about mapping out the overall arc of a series and what parts of that arc go into an individual book.
I intentionally planned the main story arc to spread over three smaller story arcs. It is intended to be one story told in three parts. I was going for a balance of unfinished but satisfying. It was fun and complicated. I think that was part of stretching myself to build a story differently than I ever had. My critique group helped in the initial brainstorming session. Many of the finer details about the magic and consequences were deliberated with my oldest son—an avid reader, nearly as irresponsible as you.

I like him already 🙂

Talk to me about the research you did for this—you’ve got two immigrant-Asian cultures in the nineteenth century. Immigration to the Western US during that period. Idaho history/mining history…and so much more. Was any of this “old hat” to you or did you have to start at the ground floor entirely?
It was all research. I do not have personal inside knowledge. I read fiction and non fiction written from Chinese Immigrant POV to start to understand motivation and perspective. I visited the Chinese historical museum in San Francisco. And another museum in Coeur d’Alene. It is one of the things I like about being a reader and a writer—trying to feel what someone else would feel while setting aside your own experience (which can make you unable to empathize).

You’ve got some pretty convincing fight scenes in the book, too. How do you compose one of those? I’ve heard of writers using action figures or something to map enact them first, for example. Also—what kind of martial arts background did you have going in—or was this even more research?
Thank you. It was mostly done in my head. But I did have the ability to act out some of the flow. I started practicing a Korean martial art called Tang Soo Do with my dad when I was 7. I met my future husband when we tested for our blackbelts at age 17. When I wrote the Dance of the Crane Series, I was working toward a Master Belt and had a school in Meridian, Idaho. It has been half a dozen years since I stopped practicing/training in martial arts.

What is it about storytelling/writing that keeps it fresh for you? Is this a compulsion to keep going, or is it more pleasure? Along those lines, are there genres you are still hoping to try, or are you sticking in the lanes you’ve picked? Are there genres you don’t see ever trying?
I think for me, it’s learning. I like new. I have a few stories in my head, but they don’t spin like they used to. I feel satisfied for now. I have been spending most of my writing energy on non-fiction. For storytelling, I’m starting to narrate other author’s books.

We should absolutely chat about that sometime.

What’s next for Hilarey Johnson, author?
I hope to continue my blog, Intimacy with God for the Over-Churched >. I’m contributing regularly to IdaHopeChristianWriters.org. And, I would like to set aside a few months to rewrite a non fiction I wrote, and then decide what to do with it.

Thanks for your time—and thanks for Stone of Asylum—I’ll be back for more of The Dance of the Crane soon, I have to know what’s next.
Thank you! That is every writer’s hope.

A Few Quick Questions

Stone of Asylum by Hilarey Johnson: A Clash of Cultures and Reshaping of Destinies

By HCNewton

On August 24, 2023

In Fantasy, Fiction, Literary Locals

Earlier this year, Johnson participated in my Q&A series about writing in Idaho and later this afternoon, she’ll be back to talk about her own writing and this book in particular. Be sure to come back for that!

Stone of Asylum

by Hilarey Johnson

DETAILS:
Series: Dance of the Crane, Part 1
Publication Date: March 17, 2017
Format: eBook
Length: 218 pg.
Read Date: August 2, 2023

What’s the Setting for Stone of Asylum?

While we spend a little time in California, this takes place largely in the Idaho territory (in what would now be considered North Central Idaho…I think) during the Civil War.

There are characters with strong sympathies toward both sides of the War, but it doesn’t come up much, really. Mostly I mention that because it helps locate the story. We do get to see a lot of the racism faced by Chinese workers (Asians in general, although they’re all considered Chinese) in the mines (and other places), as well as other kinds of bigotry and mistreatment of others.

It’s not a kind or forgiving world that Johnson gives us in these pages, but it’s one that seems pretty realistic. At least until you get to the man who can turn into animals. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Yi Bae

Yi Bae is a Korean warrior who has made his way to San Francisco looking for his sister—they’d been separated sometime before as they traveled through China. He needs to find her to fulfill his mission in life—he is to protect her at all costs. Together they are the last two Watchers in the world—a duty his family has to protect a particular type of garnet with magical abilities.

His search for his sister brings him into conflict with a Chinese businessman/criminal in San Francisco. He then learns some things that convince him to look for his sister in Idaho, which is in the midst of mining booms of various types. He finds that same businessman—who Yi Bae is convinced has something to do with his sister’s disappearance. He also finds himself in the employ, however temporarily, of some less-than-decent people, but is doing what he has to do to track down the other Watcher.

Not only is Yi Bae very capable when it comes to hand-to-hand combat (and those scenes are a lot of fun to read), but that thing I said before about changing into animals? Well, he can do that, too. He’s more like DC’s Garfield Logan (Beast Boy/Changeling) or Jane Yellowrock than your typical lycanthrope, because he can change into various animals.

Eldora

Our other protagonist is Eldora—a young woman whose father is an employee of a wealthy family. Eldora is old enough to begin working as a servant on their ranch. Her primary duty is to be a companion to the family’s daughter. The reader understands quickly that Eldora thinks the relationship is closer than the daughter does—and far closer than the ranch’s owners do. Despite living in a part of the territory that is already fading from prominence in favor of other locales where the mining is better, they’re trying to cling to Southern gentility’s pretensions of position and class.

She is happy (naively so) and well-loved. Which is no small thing. If you can read about Eldora and not almost immediately like her, there’s something wrong with you. Sadly, you know that this happiness and (perhaps) loving environment isn’t going to last long.

I’ll skip over some nasty classist business that reeks of Austen/Brontë-esque villains to the turning point—she has some sort of seizure and is taken from the ranch almost immediately—without her father’s involvement. She’s placed in an asylum, which is exactly as pleasant an experience as you can imagine given the time and location. It might actually be worse. Now we get to find out exactly what Eldora’s made of.

A Chance Encounter

Eldora and Yi Bae do eventually (as we all expected) cross paths with each other—on her way from the ranch. This was my favorite part of the book and I was eager to see what would happen in that eventuality. Sadly, it didn’t last that long—but it did change things for both of them (sadly, only the readers really understand that, for now).

It was kind of a let-down when they didn’t spend too much time around each other, but that’s what future books in the series are for—and what we got was enough to make me want more. A lot more. Which is odd because it wasn’t like they struck up a friendship, or even had a really good conversation. But there was something about them in the same scenes that really worked for me.

The Part that Really Bugged Me

I’m not crazy about the way that Johnson ended this book. It was a bit too abrupt—it felt like she hit a word-limit or page-count and said, “Okay, that’s enough,” and just stopped.

That’s not at all what she intended (I trust)—but that’s what it felt like to me. The last chapter was likely to have been a cliffhanger ending to bring people back for book 2. And that’s fair—I’m not the world’s biggest fan of cliffhangers, but I can appreciate a good one (and can begrudgingly accept them). This wasn’t a good one. I think if she’d left the last couple of pages off and just resolved the arcs for this novel, the ending would’ve been more satisfying. Also, the closing pages and implied threat to one protagonist would’ve been a great hook to start the second novel. I was interested in seeing what happened next to both main characters and knew things weren’t that great for both of them already—I didn’t need the threat to carry me along.

That’s just me—I might be wrong and your results will almost certainly vary.

So, what did I think about Stone of Asylum?

This is a deceptively fast read—there’s a lot more to be mined* from this book if you stop and soak it in—Johnson makes that tough and you can easily just sail along with the current. This is a perfectly fine and enjoyable way to read the book, but you’ll be happier if you catch everything she’s doing.

* Sorry. Had to.

Her fight scenes are great—particularly the way she works in Yi Bae’s supernatural abilities and martial arts skills together. Even if I didn’t care about anything else, I’d probably give the book 3 stars just for these fight scenes.

Yes, I wasn’t happy with the last couple of pages, but the rest were an intriguing mix of family drama, action, fantasy, and cultures mixing (and/or trying not to mix). This blend is a great idea and I’m really looking forward to seeing how Johnson develops this and brings our heroes (and several other characters) through it. I’m also really looking forward to seeing some characters get their just desserts (I’m pretty sure Johnson’s going to be that kind of author) and our heroes figuring out everything they missed or misunderstood here.

In short—this is a solid first entry to a trilogy that I’m eager to see played out over the next two books. I think you will be, too.

3.5 Stars

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