Creating Immersive Stories Through Passion, Discipline, and Imagination
Canadian fantasy author James McLean discusses his creative process, early writing influences, and how his diverse interests inspire his characters, themes, and world-building across his growing body of work.
James McLean’s journey into the literary world began with horror tales designed to spook school friends—an early glimpse into the imaginative force he would become. A Canadian-born writer with a flair for fantasy, James blends the discipline of martial arts, the depth of tabletop role-playing, and the narrative richness of gaming into the worlds he creates. With a writing style that favours believable characters, layered villains, and fresh takes on familiar tropes, he’s determined to keep his stories as compelling for his readers as they are for himself. Now with over forty novels planned, James speaks to Reader’s House about the creative spark that keeps him writing, the importance of community, and how the many facets of his life—from the dojo to the dungeon master’s chair—inspire the ever-expanding universe of his fiction.
James McLean crafts fresh, immersive fantasy worlds that captivate readers with depth, creativity, and a striking blend of life experience and imagination.
As a Canadian-born writer who began crafting horror short stories during your school years, how has your early writing influenced your current work?
It was good practice for pacing and what works to create a creepy horror story. I don’t remember many of my short stories. Still, one stands out to me: Its theme and atmosphere may have influenced my second Valenfaar book and could be considered the very first iteration of that book’s antagonists.
You mentioned writing a novel in grade twelve that you considered a “total mess and a disaster.” What lessons did you learn from that experience, and how have they shaped your subsequent writing projects?
I learned a lot of lessons from that. First, know your characters. At one point, I unknowingly swapped two characters. It was a nightmare to rewrite. If I had taken more time to know my characters that mistake would have been avoided.
The second lesson I learned was to not rush things. It was done in a few months. It wasn’t good and was the product of a bored 17-year-old. I rushed it, and even though some internet strangers enjoyed it, I’ll never approach a book the same way.
Balancing roles as a semi-retired martial artist, kickboxing coach, and dedicated Dungeon Master, how do these diverse interests influence the themes and characters in your novels?
My martial arts background is something I include if it makes sense. In my fantasy series, Valenfaar, a character grew up participating in ritual fights. This was an opportunity for me to involve martial arts. It allowed me to add a layer to the book that is accurate. Not everyone is going to recognize it, but for my readers who have a martial arts background, it’ll stand out as another reason to love the book.
As for being a dungeon master. After Valenfaar, I want to write another series. I’m doing my world-building as time goes on and I want that world to have an expansive history. A part of that history will be played in the form of a game like Dungeons and Dragons. I started a homebrew campaign that will influence the books. Whatever my players do will carry over to the novels in the form of oral/written history and a character or two may pop up in the manuscripts.
With over forty novels planned, what motivates you to maintain such a prolific writing schedule, and how do you manage to keep each story fresh and engaging?
Discipline and motivation. I’m a driven person and the discipline that marital arts instilled in me has helped. I’ve restructured my life to pursue authoring. Working part-time instead of full-time, learning more DIY, etc. It’s been a joy to pursue.
As for keeping everything fresh and engaging, I write things that I enjoy. I like believable characters, I love a good villain who is both wrong and right in their motivations, and I don’t like to use the same tropes in every story. I don’t avoid all tropes, but I always try to take at least one and flip it on its head. I want my work to feel refreshing for both me and my readers.
As an avid gamer and reader, how do these hobbies inform your storytelling techniques and world-building processes?
A lot of studying. Both reading and playing video games are great ways to experience a story. Some games I play solely for the tales they weave. The best would be Mass Effect and Tales of Arise. They have amazing characters that all have an important part to play.
Not all games have good stories though, so I pick out the parts I like and the parts I don’t before studying them and how I can use the good parts to influence my craft.
Your active involvement in an online gaming group suggests a strong sense of community. How has this engagement impacted your writing, particularly in developing group dynamics within your stories?
I stole some friends’ online aliases as names for characters (with their permission, of course)! I also look at the people around me and find a part of them that I understand and then apply that to a character. One character, in Valenfaar, is based on a very close friend of mine. According to that friend, I’m spot on. I try not to take more than one thing from one person though, else I fall victim to making the same person again and again.
Considering your diverse background and interests, what challenges have you faced in the publishing industry, and how have you overcome them
The biggest was finding time to write and pursue authoring as a career. I got lucky with an amazing part-time job that affords me the time and money to pursue this endeavour. I’ve been fortunate to have great role models too. The hardest part of writing isn’t just writing the book – which is very hard – but also the marketing. I took tips from my old grandmaster, from my martial arts days, and applied them to my marketing. Within a year, I was on a panel at an expo, featured in the newspaper, on the radio, and was invited on a talk show. Much of my growing success has come from the network of amazing people around me. Without them, none of the opportunities I’ve mentioned here would have been possible.
