Portrait of the artist as a VERY young man: Owen Evison, son of acclaimed novelist Jonathan Evison, talks about writing his first novel

Proud Papa and genius-in-the-making son

The young artist at work

Every once in a blue moon, we hear the word wunderkind, which of course, means a young prodigy, a person so masterful in his craft, that he inspires everyone. Such a young writer is Owen Evison.  And what makes Owen Particularly interesting is that he’s the son of famed and acclaimed novelist Jonathan Evison.

Owen's novel is still being written, but there is an exciting excerpt at the end of this interview. And famous writers, you may want to blurb this opus, as well as buy many copies when it is ready!

I’m thrilled to host Owen here to talk about his life as a writer. Thank you so much, Owen!

I’m always curious about how stories and writers get started. What made you want to write?  What was easy about it? What was hard—and did you mind that it was hard?

OWEN: Minecraft made me want to write, because it captures my imagination, and my mom and dad only let me play a half hour a day, so writing a book about it was a way to have more Minecraft in my life. The easiest part was the typing—because Dad does it all. The hard part was thinking of what to write. Also, it was hard finding some of the pictures.

What kind of writer are you? Do you think about the story and then write it, or does it just fly out from you? 

OWEN: I make things up as I go along. Sometimes Dad helps me think of creative ways to say things, so that the reader gets blown away. I like writing the action scenes best, but now we are working on character development. Dad calls me Action Jackson.

What would you like readers to say about your work after they’ve read and loved it?

OWEN: It was awesome.

What’s it like learning about writing from your dad?  What’s the best thing he’s taught you?

OWEN: It’s fun. The best thing I’ve learned is not getting frustrated when you have to throw your whole novel away, because you’re always learning. I learned this from Leggos too, since my little sister sometimes breaks what I make. It’s the building part that matters.

So, do you have to have certain things around you to write? Like candy bars, or special music? And what kind of music do you like?

OWEN: My chewy, so I don’t chew on my shirt when I’m thinking. Some of my favorite music is Queen and Mudhoney and Motorhead.

What do you want to do next?

OWEN: I want to bring my book to life in minecraft. And write a book with my sister, Emma, who is four.

An excerpt from “The City at Night.”

I rushed to my chest and grabbed my bow, and quickly joined the villagers in mounting a wall. I had shot twenty ice creepers, when a fleet of zombies assaulted us, some with shovels, and some with swords. I jumped off the wall and bull rushed a gang of zombies, fists flying. One of the zombies got ahold of me and began pounding my head with a shovel. I managed to squirm lose from the zombie’s grip, and backpedal. I reached for my sword and charged the zombies, waving my sword wildly. I beheaded three of them.

By now, night had fallen, and the villagers had both the zombies and the ice creepers contained. I took the opportunity to eat some rotten zombie flesh for dinner, before returning home to catch some zs.