Protect - Paul J. Watson (with Interview)

Terra’s twin moons reflect dimly in the night sky, silently watching the Devastator and his Dekaloth ravage the land. Every four hundred years, the Devastator comes forth to battle the people of the planet of Terra, but the people are not left defenseless. For with every Devastator comes a Protector. Relm is that Protector.

Relm is heir to a sword given to his family by a descendant of the Satorens, an ancient and now dead Terran race. When he wields the sword, it glows brightly and gives him the power to literally vaporize his enemies. As the forces of Darkness grow greater, Relm is forced to accept his destiny as the Protector and find a way to unite the countries of Terra and save them from the hands of the Devastator.

Protect is a can’t-put-down, must-get-more fantasy, as Watson weaves his tale of the battle for Terra. In order to have a chance at defeating the Devastator, Relm must unite the three countries and main races of Terra: Ondoria, the land of Humans; Volero, home to the fox-like Velopens; and Legartha, the country of the big green Legarthans. As Relm sets about his task, he finds among each one of Terra’s races.

Satoren prophecy predicts the Protector will fall. Relm must pray that his fate is not so determined.

In his debut novel, Watson has emerged with an in-depth fantasy, managing to flesh out an entire world in one novel, and leaving the reader begging to know more. Part allegory, the astute reader will discover that beyond the skin of the novel lies a deeper and more profound truth. Good storytelling combined with unexpected twists makes Protect a thoroughly engaging and enjoyable read. Watson is absolutely astounding, creating a compelling story with a meaningful message.

One of the more unique things of this book is the varying font system used to portray the different races of Terra. The Velopens are an elegant people, and their speech patterns reflect it. The legarthans are rough and live in mountains. The speech of Dekaloth reflects their ancient evil. This results in a visual delight, letting the reader mentally see the characters that are talking. It’s an ingenious device that really works well in the novel.

Overall, don’t miss out on Protect. This is one you want to read. As an added bonus, it comes with a free audio edition on mp3 available for download on the publisher’s website. Check it out now at Amazon!

And now for a Christian Critic exclusive! Author Paul J. Watson was kind enough to take time out of his busy life to answer a few of my questions regarding the novel. Paul is a North Carolina native who is currently working on his master of arts in communication at Liberty University.

TCC: Before I talk about your novel, Protect, I want to focus on you as a writer first and how the novel came to be. Let me start with a litany of questions. First of all, you wrote this novel as an undergrad at Liberty. Can you talk about how you balanced normal college life while writing a novel? Were you originally thinking of trying to publish the novel, or was it done more so for the experience of writing?

Paul: Yes; for nearly the entire process of writing it, I did it as a hobby. I wrote when I felt like writing, which kept it fun. I also would write other stories during the process, so that helped keep writing fresh for me. I still had friends, went to class, did homework, etc., but, like I said, this was my hobby. Basically, some guys play "Halo," I write fiction.

TCC: I’d definitely choose writing over Halo any day. So you finished the manuscript and deciding to try to publish it. How did you break into the world of publishing? I hear that Dr. Towns (Liberty University co-founder) had some influence there.

Paul: When I finished the first draft of Protect, I went and talked to the co-founder of Liberty University, Dr. Elmer Towns. He in turn introduced me to his friend Leslie Stobbe, who just happened to be a leader in the Christian Writer’s Guild with decades of experience. I’d hit gold. Both of them have and still mentor me in writing, teaching me how to write a proposal, giving me advice on the publishing world, etc. So, long story short, Les sent out my novel’s proposal to several different publishers, and Tate offered me a contract. And here I am today.

TCC: What all was involved, once you had a publisher, in getting the book published?

Paul: The whole process from signing the contract to when it was released was around a year. The process is pretty extensive, but let’s just say there was a lot of editing that needed to be done, which meant working a lot with my editors. Then there’s working with a graphic designer to produce a cover, an illustrator for the map, the layout designer, the audio book reader and producer, and finally working with my marketing representative. Tate Publishing wasn’t a self-publisher (I'd call them more of a partnership publisher), so that appealed to me.

TCC: Well, I’m certainly glad you got it out there! The whole design is awesome, cover and everything is stellar. I haven’t listened to the audio book yet, but I certainly plan on it. Moving on to the actual novel, you do some interesting things with different fonts. What inspired that?

Paul: The font thing was fun. It was inspired by two things: the first was an old RPG making video game software program I was working with in which a character spoke with different capitalization (HeRe'S aN eXaMpLe). As you can see, that doesn’t read well and takes forever to do. So this is where the second inspiration came in. In earlier drafts, Relm wrote a note at the beginning of the story, which I thought would look more authentic if it looked like it was actually hand written, so I made the note to be written in a different font. I'm a visual person, so I thought that since I couldn't do the weird capitalization speech, I could have different creatures speaking in different fonts. It took a while to do that, but as a visual person, I think it worked really well.

TCC: I think so too. Really made the words leap off the page. Past the fonts, you do an excellent job in the story of fleshing out the world of Terra. How did you conjure up an entire world in order to write about it in Protect? What was the inspiration?

Paul: Remember that video game software? Well, some of the characters you could pick from the program inspired my creations. For instance, there was a lizard-like creature in the game and a wolf-like creature. As for the other creatures, the question "Would it be cool if...?" came to mind before creating them. 

TCC: Ok, last question. Protect left me wanting MORE. It speaks of an ancient race called the Satorens, and attributes the arrival of humans upon earth as something the Terrans call American Astronauts. Please tell me you’re planning on fleshing out this back story. Do your readers get to see more of Terra?

Paul: Right now I'm writing a prequel that has Talgamare, Benyok, and some new characters searching for a series of journals from one of the first astronauts that outline their arrival to Terra and their interaction with the Satoren people. It'll likely be shorter than Protect, but let's just say there's still plenty of action, drama, and unique characters. Plus I take characters away from Ondoria and out onto the ocean. And there’s an evil secret organization. I love those. Unfortunately, I'm trying to get through graduate school, so writing it is taking some time. I'll keep people posted about it on my Web site, www.ProtectNovel.com.

TCC: Awesome! I can’t wait to read more. Thanks for taking the time out to talk with me. I wish you luck in all your future writing endeavors. And for you readers who are wondering who or what Talgamare and Benyok are…what can I say? Read the book.

Protect - Paul J. Watson (with Interview)