Christopher Kaufman is an author,
composer, presenter, illustrative artist and performer. He started
imaginative fantasy books with illustrative art at the age of nine.
During high school years he found music and attended The New Orleans
Center for The Creative Arts and went on to major in music composition
in college. He finished his schooling – earning his DMA in music
composition at Cornell University where he studied with Pulitzer Prize
Winning composers who prize his abilities as a composer.
Christopher is the type of person who
needs imaginative fantasy scenarios to get to sleep. Therefore, he
emerged from Cornell, not only with his degrees in music, but with the
full event structure for his classic epic fantasy series Tales Of The
Ocean City in his mind.
He began writing the story down in the
early 2000’s, but it did not really come to life until he developed his
home music ‘laboratory’ and started creating the music and text at the
same time. Thus books one and two of TOC came about simultaneously as
both graphically illustrated pages and effulgent audio albums filled
with cinematic epic symphonic music.
They exist now as physical books and
audio albums (that go together) and the new Video Book version. He
performs live tours with the music pouring through speakers, live
narration and the colorful pages streaming on screen – a true immersive
multi-media experience.
He also maintains his career as a
composer for the concert stage with a full body of work, from solo works
thru orchestral. He specializes as well in ‘environmental works’ which
feature soundscapes crafted from hundreds of natural sounds, live
musicians (from soloists, chamber groups and to full orchestra), videos
filled with both natural and artistic images and readings from the works
of John Muir and others.
His home page is – soundartus.com.
His author page is talesoftheoceancity.com.
His you-tube channel is SOUNDARTUS.
Visit him at Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/talesoftheoceancity.
Christopher believes in the transformative power of imagination.
“Live with imagination!”
Hi, nice to speak with you! Tales Of The Ocean City is my main
focus right now. It is at the heart of my work as a storyteller. I have
others, of course, but TOC was the first of my books with audio albums.
The music element is very important.
I started writing fantasy books with illustrations when I was nine years old. Later, I discovered music and lived the life of a composer for many years. But my stories never left me. In fact, I am the type of person who needs some kind of active imaginative scenario to get myself to sleep. I emerged from my schooling phase with a Doctorate in music composition (Cornell) and the complete event structure for Tales Of The Ocean City in my head.
I first began writing down the Tales Of The Ocean City stories in the early 2000’s, but it was only when I initiated my home music ‘lab’ and began creating the text, music and narration at the same time that I found my voice as a storyteller. After two Audio Albums (TOC books 1-2), and then adding the element of the graphically illustrated pages filled with art and color, the style for these works was established.
Can you give us a series blurb so others will know what it’s about?
Happy to.
Tales Of The Ocean City tells the tale of a young civilization turning the corner into the future. The city as a whole must do this by facing a terrible enemy from the deepest past, The Vorm - with whom they co-evolved in ages past on their ancestral isle. The main characters are young Harl’ut and his lifelong companion, Vispushin - who is a perianth (a kind of telepathic pegasus). They are very close, like family. They speak to each other mind-to-mind.
Harl’ut too must face the past. At the end of book two he undergoes an initiation adventure where he descends into the volcanic mountain, Pla’than’taa - from the belly of which The Ocean City was delved. There, he interacts with personifications of past god-like figures and battles a terrific monster. Later, he leads a cadre of young warriors into the Vorm Hive on a vital mission.
Can you tell us a little about the main characters in your series?
Well, I mentioned the main characters above - Harl’ut and Vispushin. The perianth race is based on my animal family, thus the close-knit relationship between them. In book one, Harl’ut and Vispushin meet up with the Princess Bryn’lynn and her perianth-bond Zhii’gla. Together the four of them engage in desperate battle with evil Vorm warriors over the southern plain. Later in the story, we meet the ancient warrior Verden, who is bonded with the King of Perianthus, Zhi’ga’fra - a giant silver-maned stallion. We also meet, in book one, King Bro’whynn and the Sister Twain, Alessia and Alaxa who are the Captains of the guard.
In book two we meet Harl’ut’s friend Elá, an enigmatic bard-like figure and Maia, the woman who becomes co-leader of the band of young warriors, called The Kra’, whom they later lead on a special mission into the heart of the Vorm Hive in books four and five - The Vorm War. In these volumes, the heroes of The Ocean City wage epic battle with The Vorm on the ancient Isle where they originally evolved.
They say all books of fiction have at least one pivotal point where the reader just can’t put the book down. What is one of the pivotal points in one of your books in this series?
My experience has been that at the end of the introduction, and the sky battle is engaged, folks are well-hooked. The engaging playful scenes at the outset certainly intrigue readers; the feelings of flight and the color and energy contained in the first page are intoxicating.
This is true especially if they include the Audio Albums with the physical book or ePub versions - as the cinematic symphonic music conveys the powerful emotions of the story. People enjoy immersing themselves the first five-book series and then continue with the next follow-on series, The Green World. I will be continuing TOC for many years to come.
Does your series carry a message?
All of my works celebrate the transformative power of imagination. I believe in that power as demonstrated in the fine arts and, especially, great fantasy stories. Much of my work is about feeding and growing imagination in one way or another. I hope people experience my work and then feel differently about how they experience the world around them. Imagination is the highest function of the human mind - it gives us art, music and scientific theories…and helps us envision a better future for ourselves and our civilization. It has been damaged in many ways in our modern lives. Fantasy can help cure this.
What's your next project?
Well, I am finishing up series two of TOS, The Green World - where , in book six, Harl’ut and Vispushin explore the underworld, meet all kinds of fantastical creatures and discover ancient civilizations. In book seven they travel to planet Orshellia and battle The Stranger and in book eight, which I am completing now, engage a danger which threatens all life in their entire solar system. In the next series, the citizens of The Ocean City will explore The Star Kingdom. The series will continue to grow and expand. I have plans for additional related series’ - and back stories from the times before Harl’ut and Vispushin’s lifetimes.
Where can we pick up copies of Tales of the Ocean City?
Is there anything you’d like to tell your readers and fans?
I would like to thank and acknowledge the writers that have informed my work and imaginative life and to whom I am eternally grateful; Tolkien, Lovecraft, McCaffrey, Moorcock, Burroughs, Le Guin, Dunsany, Lewis and Lloyd Alexander - who spoke about writing for adults for many years and enjoying it, yet, when he started writing for young people, the emotions became deeper and more powerful, not less so.
I’d also like to talk a bit more about the music in the audio albums. My work as a composer has informed my writing style. In musical harmony you have chords with great tension that resolve (cadence) into more consonant ones. In TOC there are situations of conflict that resolve, such as the visceral battle scene of book one that ends with a heightened and inspiring resolution. Music has given me a strong sense of pacing. I know when to write short, direct sentences to move the action at a terrific pace, and when to take time and paint a glorious picture. Let me know what you think.
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read this interview. I would love to get you know you better as well. Hopefully, we can converse in the comments here and onward into the future. At kaufmantales.com these works, and my others, are available as physical books, audio albums, Epubs, kindle books and the new Video Book.
I look forward to hearing how my stories may have helped you live with imagination!
All best,
Christopher Kaufman
Pick up your copies of Tales of the Ocean City at https://kaufmantales.com/.
