Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Theoden Humphrey. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Theoden, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

It’s hard not to say that my first book, “The Dreamer Wakes,” was my most meaningful book; that was when I realized what path I was going to take as a writer. I had tried writing short stories, and at least one or two poems, before that; I had also recognized that I am quite a good essayist. But it was in the process of writing my first novel that I recognized that I am most comfortable in that format. But also, my first book is not my best book, not the book I have done the most work on; compared to my other fantasy books, it’s gotten the least attention, because I walked away from the series after that first book was finished, and I have left it hanging for almost twenty years now (Please don’t make any George R. R. Martin jokes.) By comparison, my vampire fiction novel has an almost completed sequel and plans for several others, and my time=traveling pirate series is now complete. So the pirate series might be the most meaningful: because that’s the story I’ve finished, and I am so very pleased with how it ended — and also, I love pirates and I love time travel as a genre.

But honestly, though this is like choosing a favorite child, I think my most meaningful project is the other fully realized one: my one stand-alone novel, my one piece of serious mainstream non-fantasy fiction, and the one novel my wife cannot read, because she said the character was too close to me, and his story was too sad for her to finish. It is my unpublished novel “Lesson,” which is about a teacher — who is me — who commits an atrocity — which is not something I could or would ever do. It was my clearest inspiration, one of my best ideas, and maybe the easiest book to write. And I’ll probably never be able to publish it, because I am a full-time teacher, and I don’t think that novel would reflect well on me in my day job. So it is the work that is probably my best, and most effective: and the one done for the most personal reasons, because really, it’s only for me.

Theoden, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Theoden: from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, which my father was reading while my mother was pregnant with me. Clearly I was born to write fantasy books. As a dedicated nerd from my earliest days, I always knew it had to be fantasy; as a lover of words for just about as long, I knew it had to be writing. I’ve shifted my other plans at different times — I was going to be a rock star in high school, but then I decided to go to college instead; then I was a janitor; then I became a teacher — but throughout, I have always been a writer, and I have always wanted to write fantasy.

Once I reached an age where I was willing to learn about the real world in addition to the invented worlds I have always loved, I recognized that I wanted to try to solve problems in the real world, as well as in my fantasy worlds; and I already knew that it would be with words and stories that I did my best to achieve that goal, too. So I have become an essayist and blogger, and over the years, a reviewer, primarily of other people’s books. I do also try to do this work as a teacher, but I know that my writing has a potentially greater reach, if a smaller individual impact in some cases. But teaching also keeps the problems of the world right in front of my face: and so that has become one of my primary purposes as a non-fiction essayist and blogger.

Honestly, I am proud of all of it. All of it has been hard, and all of it has been rewarding; for decades now, I have kept writing, even though it is always easier to just sit around and play video games. I’m proud that I’ve never given up on my craft, no matter what other obligations and obstacles arose in my path.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I want to make the world a better place. It’s deeply cliche, I know; but I am the child of hippies, after all — I mean, my parents literally lived in San Francisco in ’69, so it’s all the way down in my bones. My mother is a nurse and a caretaker, and she taught me to do my best to make people’s lives easier in every way I could; over the years, my father has taught me to try to make my life the best that I could, while also teaching me that perhaps the best way to do that is to make a good life for the people who are most important to you. All of which goes to say that I want to do what I can for myself, my loved ones, my friends, and also my world. And for both the innermost circle of myself, and the outermost circle of the world, the best thing I can do to make things better is make my art. I am proudest of my writing, and it is my most defining accomplishment; my greatest potential impact on the world is also through words. I would be intensely happy if my fantasy novels gave people the escape that they needed, and ecstatic if they inspired someone to dream of a better world, a better life, a better self. I can’t really think of anything better than inspiring someone with my art as my art inspires me.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

This may be somewhat influenced (Or entirely shaped, really) by the fact that I’ve been a public school teacher for 24 years; but the single best thing the world can do to support artists is to promote education. No, I take that back: the single best thing society can do is end income inequality and the worst excesses of the capitalist system; more people with more security and more leisure time would promote the creation and appreciation of more art. But the second best thing people can do is promote education, which broadens minds and exposes those broadened minds to different forms of art, and to history and civilizations and human achievement and communication (All of which are connected to if not directly forms of art). The more we think, the more we think about ourselves and our world and our lives, the more art we want and the more art we will create.

Contact Info:

• Website: theodenhumphrey.wordpress.com
• Instagram: @theodenhumphrey
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/DamnationKane
• Twitter: @TheodenHumphrey