Meet the Author: Elias Vale

Get to know our newest author, Elias Vale. He wrote The Legends. Hear about his life, writing, and journey to publishing!

Tell us a little bit about yourself!

My name is Elias Vale. I was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and I'm the writer of The Legends (among other unpublished things). I love to read and write (obviously!!), and I'm a story maker through and through; it's my biggest passion.

What inspired you to write your book? Well, when I was a kid, I never wanted to go to bed, so instead, I would imagine stories of mythical heroes fighting dragons and monsters, and eventually I just had to put it into words. That's how The Legends came to be.

Who is your favorite character and why?

That's a tough question, it's like choosing between your children (because you built them and shaped them from the ground up), but if I HAD to pick I’d probably choose Ash. I really had to use some deep emotions to create her and her backstory, so I am really glad she has such depth. She was probably my first character like that, so she has a special place in my heart.

How did you come up with your characters’ names?

I have a pretty good backstory for all of these. I remember specifically when I was first working on the book, I was visiting my mother for a little while and that day I decided to get the names down so I turned to my mother and asked her, “What do YOU want her to be named?” And she turned back to me and said, “I like the name Aurora.” and that was that.

For Peter we originally had a different name it was-no joke-Rocky. Later I changed it because there was no shot of me keeping that! Jake's name was because I was watching a show and the main character's name was Lake and I thought, “that be an amazing name but it's too... Obvious.” (funny how I thought that was too obvious, but didn't think ROCKY was) So I did Jake instead.

For Ash, I was trying to think of names connected to fire, but none of the names were working. I asked my mom for help. “Ash would be PERFECT if it wasn't a guys name,” I told her... I was thinking of Ash Ketchum and Ash Williams at the time. But she told me: “Ash is a gender neutral name.” So that's how Ash was born. I’m glad I was able to share that with her and get that feedback.

Were any of your characters inspired by real people?

I tried to create people entirely new, so I could craft them without having any guidelines I had to follow. Obviously, Jake's reactions to things I based partially on how I would react to things, but I tried to create them all new.

What would Jake Caspian say if he met you? What would you say to him?

Given that I don't reveal his whole life is a book, and he has a whole existential crisis like in Stranger than Fiction. I'd bet we’d get along just fine. I wouldn't put it past Jake to write some fanfic about his favorite media, so I think we're pretty similar in that sense. 

Do you have any regrets about a character?

I really loved the ways my characters turned out. If I were to change anything, I would probably mention more about Peter's family. I'd also probably expand on Mechanicon's sadness for his family, but again, maybe I'm just saving it.

What challenges temporarily stumped you when you were working out unique world building elements?

Obviously, with so many elemental shows and books, it was a struggle to make mine feel unique. I don't necessarily think my version is the most creative, but I tried really hard, and that was definitely a struggle

How would you have reacted differently than your character if you found yourself in their shoes? 

I’d probably react like a mix of Ash and Peter: total confusion, but trying to make jokes and feel light-hearted to remain sane.

What was the easiest and most difficult part of publishing? 

The easiest part is all the writing and finishing up edits so it's perfect and really digging in deep to find some things you need to fix. But the hardest part? I could probably say is the same for every author... is feeling like you're never really done. You feel like there's just something that's off, or something you need to fix when in reality you've just got to let go. Especially for a project that takes a long time, you're still in the mindset that you've got to work on it constantly. 

Did you always want to write a book? If not, why now?

Yes, I feel like if someone put me on this earth to do anything, it would be to write a book, but I did it now because now I feel like I'm truly ready to reveal a project like this to the public and to all who read it.

Do you think you'd ever write another book?

Yeah, I want to write a lot of books. I have a list of book ideas saved that I want to create. I've got at least 7 different books that I could just pull out and spend a full week locked in my room writing like a real author.

Do you have a piece of advice for someone who wants to write a book?

You probably already heard this from someone if your looking for advice but my biggest suggestion is to not stress about the small things. You may want to focus on the one little detail that's bugging you sooo bad, but finish the big picture before fixing those little things. A good base is what you need to start, then rework it like CRAZY. The first draft is never the perfect draft.

What have been some of your favorite books to read? 

I'm a big Percy Jackson fan, and I like Harry Potter (though I don't share the same views as JK Rowling on some things). I think it's a great book regardless and they influenced my book a lot. 

Is there anything else you’d like to share? 

I hope you read and preorder the book, and if you read this far in my Q&A, that's just incredible to me, and I hope you enjoy the book. It's still really weird saying MY book, honestly.

Where can people find your book? 

My favorite spot that sells my book is definitely Watershed Books in Brookville, PA. They are a great non-profit and are wonderful. I'm also doing my book launch there on November 30th! If you decide to come, that's great!!

Thank you, Elias Vale, for sharing your time and insights with us!

The Legends is also available online at Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, Walmart, and Waterstones.

You can order his book here: The Legends by Elias Vale

Available everywhere November 21st, 2025!