Meet Ash Corvida, fellow Para Kindred author

A big welcome to Ash Corvida, who's also one of the contributing authors in the Immanion Press Para Kindred anthology, and who's here today to share a little bit in a Q&A. So, Ash, what do you love about Wraeththu Mythos?

Storm's writing style and the imagery she creates around Wraeththu are so deliciously rich and conjure such an intoxicating blend of thought and emotions, that I was instantly hooked. Also her world populated by a species of hermaphrodites, who have grown from human stock but developed far beyond human shortcomings and whose dream it is to evolve and explore the limits of their abilities resonated deeply within me. I feel that she takes a rather accurate account on where the world might go if we don't get a grip, but then she turns this rather dreary scenario into something new and wondrous with Wraeththu rising like a phoenix from the ashes of humanity.

The books offer an inspiration to start thinking on new paths and to search for new options within each individual. Who knows, maybe there is a har hiding deep within us, a beautiful and powerful creature, who can awaken us to our full potential?

Everyone’s story will have that spark that set the wheels spinning? What was yours?

Actually I was going to write a completely different story, something dark and deeply disturbing about some stray Teraghasts. But because I had not been writing for a long time I started out on a practice piece. It was supposed to be just a quick and short one of course. But soon enough I was pulled into the green depth of the jungle sharing the adventure and wondrous discoveries with my protagonists, while the idea for the other story went back to sleep. I might still write that one at a later point though.

Without giving any spoilers, can you share a bit about your story?

Torghyn and Marach are young hara of a hunter tribe, living on the edge of the rainforest. Their leaders believe that the only way to survive is a primitive life abandoning all technological and spiritual advancement and they use the decline of humanity as proof of their convictions. They also claim that there are demons stalking the jungle, fearsome creatures of fire living in the nearby volcano, who will punish any har overstepping their rules. Thorgyn and Marach doubt the truth of those legends and dreaming of a better life one day set out into the jungle to venture far beyond the allowed hunting grounds, where they make some very intriguing discoveries.

Are there any underlying themes you visited?

One I guess is that no matter how great your inborn talent or abilities are, fear and the need for control can reduce any person to either a power hungry tyrant or a little wheel in his machinery.
Also I always wonder about technologies which work with nature instead of against it and like to explore the possibilities.

Then, a little bit about yourself and your influences.

A loner as a child I spent much time outside in nature daydreaming myself into a world of my own peopled with demon-angels and other strange creatures of my imagination. There also was a great urge to capture the impressions of those worlds in art, sculpting, painting, composing and playing music or writing poetry and stories.  Over the years I kept up the dreaming when almost everybody around me "grew up" and lost interest in such fantastic worlds. Later a deep interest in spirituality provided a new layer to the kaleidoscope of inner impressions and discoveries and I found new inspiration in myth and legend.

And of course I was a fan of science fiction and fantasy, from way back in the old days, when in Germany besides the first seasons of Star Trek on the TV, The Lord of the Rings and some books by authors like Heinlein or Asimov, stories of that genre were still mostly sold in dime novels, a kind of literature which I was not allowed to read. But nothing could keep me from it for long, after a friend loaned me her stack of Perry Rhodan and Atlan dime novels, which I read in secret at her house, I was corrupted. I was also deeply inspired by those few fantasy novels which were among the first to be translated in to German, especially Michael Moorcock's Elric and Tanith Lee's Vazkor cycles. These will stay with me forever I think.

Maybe somewhat surprisingly I grew into a rather rational person anyway, currently working in programming and web design. My many interests reach from science and technology to psychology, history, foreign cultures and philosophy.  This part of me is the sceptic, who keeps my feet on the ground and food on the table.

But actually no matter what I do, I am always on the hunt for more inspiration, because art in any form is the core of my life.

More Art and writing by Ash Corvida.
Also see my experimental writing blog.