Ian Robert Ross
Categories: Male Authors - Anglophone Authors - Novelists - Authors of Non-Fiction - Miramichi River
Source: Author / auteur
Biography
Ian Robert Ross spent most of his childhood on the Miramichi, with family roots in the community of Napan. He attended James M. Hill Memorial High School in Chatham and later received a degree in English from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, before embarking on a twenty-year career in newspaper and magazine publishing. Ross served as editor and publisher of several community and trade publications from local to international, having launched two titles of his own which included a community monthly in Miramichi. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Kanata, Ontario. His first full-length work of fiction is an epic fantasy novel entitled Crown of Caphedra, which was published in the fall of 2021, for which he is currently working on a sequel.
How has New Brunswick influenced your work?
Growing up in New Brunswick as an only child in the countryside especially allowed me to slow down and absorb the natural world around me, which I feel flavours my descriptive writing. Furthermore, it bred a sense of independence that, I feel, continues to run through the characters I create. To their credit, New Brunswickers have a hands-on determination in finding ways to get the job done, and when I reflect on many of those whom I have known back home, it has inspired my own work ethic and helped me find the self-discipline to always see a project through.
What is your favourite New Brunswick book, and why?
I have a strong appreciation for storytellers who can portray real-to-life characters that are unapologetically gritty, rough around the edges, and react to what they perceived as inescapable challenges in their environments. David Adams Richards’ The Friends of Meager Fortune is one book from a local author that I really enjoyed that captures this, but I've always been amazed at how my hometown of Miramichi could produce so many notable authors in this regard. Though I write in a different genre, these honest interpretations influenced how I implant such flaws in my own characters when I write, and how I try to capture the strain they feel from their own burdens.
What do you consider to be the highlight of your career so far?
Making the transition to undertaking more imaginative endeavours in fantasy and science fiction was something that I had wanted to do for a long time. Despite being involved in print media for twenty years, my creative repertoire was best described as a lifetime of false starts. Sitting down to write Crown of Caphedra was a different experience from the start, however. I spent months worldbuilding, filling out backstories, and sandboxing battles which hooked me on the story I had to tell and gave me the conviction to dedicate three years to its writing. When I published the novel, those efforts came to fruition. Knowing how many people continue to pick up and enjoy the book has made it ever-increasingly worthwhile.
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Featured Publication |
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Crown of Caphedra (2021) |
Excerpt: The temple was the only building in Caphedra that was taller than the castle's citadel. Its lower levels held blocky buildings encased in close-fitting, white-washed brick, punctuated by wrought iron window frames. From immense, impenetrable pedestals rose the temple's four symbolic namesake pillars, together supporting yet another untouchable platform higher up. Towering over the streets from each of the temple's corners, these columns established the boundaries of the Faith's most revered sanctuary and upon each, carvings professed exaltation for the four greater virtues of the Faith: Progeny, Resiliency, Wisdom, and Heritage. |
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Source(s): Author.
