Actor, educator, and author Donn Swaby brings all his passions together in his debut middle-grade adventure, Corey Crumbly and the Lost Amulet.
In this exclusive Q&A, we chat with Donn about the inspirations behind the story, the personal connections to his Jamaican heritage, and why Corey Crumbly is an underdog hero readers will want to root for.
From his love of Indiana Jones and Star Wars to his deep interest in archaeology, mythology, and world cultures, Donn shares how these lifelong obsessions shaped Corey’s quest. For fans curious about the creative process behind Corey Crumbly, Donn Swaby reveals the emotional threads and life experiences that power this action-packed yet heartfelt story.
Corey Crumbly and the Lost Amulet is available to order now from Amazon (UK), Amazon (USA), Waterstones and Bookshop.org.
What sparked the idea for Corey Crumbly and the Lost Amulet? Was there a specific moment or memory that planted the seed for you?
Interestingly, I remember writing the first draft way back in 2009! The first scene was this kid named Corey who was being bullied by the shortest boy in his grade. That’s where it started, with a boy who just wanted to get through his school day without being picked on. In that draft, he had a crush on a girl he liked, only to have a horrific wardrobe malfunction at the girl’s birthday party taking place at the local roller rink. This draft was nowhere near the story it ended up becoming.
After revising that draft, putting it away for a bit, then taking it back out again, I began to re-envision it as more of an adventure story. Initially, Corey had found the ancient amulet in a shoe box in his grandmother’s closet! In fact, it was his grandmother who’d just passed, and one of the early chapters of that version saw Corey and his mom at the funeral. It wasn’t until somewhere around 2010 when I realized I hadn’t written Corey’s father into the story, nor had I explained his absence. Then it was like a voice inside me told me it wasn’t Corey’s grandmother that passed, it was his dad. That changed a lot of the story.
I developed the idea so that it would be through his relationship with his dad that Corey became a fan of Indiana Jones, archaeology and classic arcade games. As I continued down this path, it slowly dawned on me that I was giving Corey a real Indiana Jones-type of adventure story, even with the undercurrent of loss and residual grief.
Corey finds the Amulet in Jamaica, and his adventure continues at home in New York — how important was it for you to incorporate both places in the story?
Well, I’m first generation American with both sides of my family hailing from Jamaica. Since I wanted my story to mirror classic adventure movies, I also wanted to feature real-world mythology and some kind of archaeological object that could be placed in history. I knew of the Taino indigenous people who are the original inhabitants of the Caribbean islands (my Aunt Peggy believes we have Taino ancestry, though it hasn’t been officially confirmed), so I started there in my research.
I wanted Corey to find the amulet somewhere in Jamaica since it was a lost Taino amulet. I have him smuggling it back home to Queens, New York, because that’s also where I was born and raised. I wanted to show how the amulet and its mysterious power disrupt his life in unexpected ways.
There’s a deep thread of heritage, mythology, and ancient power woven into the plot. How much did your own background and upbringing influence how you approached that?
As I’d previously mentioned, I may or may not have actual Taino ancestry, but I’d certainly learned about them growing up. In fact, Jamaicans refer to them as “Arawaks”. Although, this term actually refers to their language base, which is shared with indigenous tribes throughout the Caribbean islands and beyond, going all the way to tribes in the Amazon in South America. This language-based connection actually factors into the story’s plot.
Although my novel is fiction, I wanted to give it a real historical context, again, like the Indiana Jones film series. Thus, Corey learns that the amulet was made during the height of the Spanish Invasion, perhaps decades after Columbus first arrived, with tensions rising between the colonisers and the natives. I wanted dialogue between Taino characters to reflect actual history as it happened and also include actual Taino mythology as well as the mythology of the indigenous tribes in the Amazon, which is also represented in my story.
You’ve mentioned a love for stories like Indiana Jones and Star Wars—how did those shape your sense of adventure or storytelling?
The influence of both film series is seen in several projects: My love for mythology, stoked by the Indiana Jones series, has become evident in a sci-fi TV drama series I’ve been developing, also rooted in archaeology and real-world Hindu mythology of ancient India. I also have a modern mystery-suspense feature script influenced by the Greek mythological story of Orpheus.
In addition, I have created both Star Wars and Indiana Jones fan films with my filmmaker buddy, Anu Gunn, titled (respectively) Star Wars: The Mission” and “The Two Professors.”
You’re an actor, educator, and author—how do those roles influence one another in your creative life?
I tell people, “If you have friends who are writers, be nice to them, because you just may end up in something they write!”
Seriously though, my life informs my art totally. I draw all of my inspiration from my life experiences, and it all filters through my art. As an actor, I think of and connect with all of my life experiences that may help me more readily relate to a character I am portraying. As a writer, I unconsciously draw from my life, the people I’ve met and the places I’ve seen.
It’s usually after the fact, when I look back at something I’ve created and then see what the direct inspiration was. I have written characters I’ve realised afterwards were directly inspired by someone I knew.
The amulet grants Corey incredible power, but at a cost. What made you want to explore that kind of power and its consequences in a middle-grade story?
In the same way, I find Smeagle (aka Gollum), to be one of the most fascinating characters in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Or truly, all of the characters (Frodo, Bilbo, etc) in that story who each struggled internally and vainly to stop the power of the ring from corrupting their souls. I wanted to capture a bit of that struggle in my story. Each time Corey uses the amulet, he finds his personality changing, as he’s being influenced by an unseen force that later reveals itself to him. Internal struggle makes for good drama!
Equally, how did you strike a balance between real-life challenges and fantasy elements?
Via many, many revisions! It wasn’t easy; I wanted the residual grief Corey is still grappling with regarding the loss of his dad to come off as grounded in genuine emotion, but then balance that with action/fantasy/adventure aspects of the story.
I really wanted an aspect of the story to also be humorous in the midst of the drama, which helps to mitigate the heaviness of the more emotional moments in the novel. So, on one side, you have scenes where Corey is being confronted by his mom, his school principal, his teachers and his school counsellor around the topic of his dad, while on the other side, you have scenes where Corey is discovering the amulet’s powers while trying to keep it from being stolen by a bully and a criminal mastermind.
The book deals with the theme of letting go and healing. What message do you hope readers, especially younger ones, take from this book?
I want readers to know that love is forever. Love never fades or “goes away.” Love transcends time and space, connecting you always to those you love, even if they are no longer here physically. It’s okay to feel sad, mad, and all the other human emotions one may feel in dealing with the loss of a loved one. No emotion is “wrong.” It’s not wrong to miss your loved one. But the best way to honour them and your love for them is to find a way to acceptance, however long that takes, and try to live the best life you can, to try your best to be happy, allowing their positive influence on you to live through your actions and words.
What do you think makes Corey a hero that readers will root for?
Corey is the classic underdog; he’s a kid who’s usually the one made fun of. He sees himself as a nerd and not the hero who ‘saves the day.” But the circumstances call for him to step up the plate, so to speak, and become the warrior he needs to be in order to succeed.
For a child who also doesn’t see himself as athletically inclined as other kids, this is no easy task, but he gives it his all, and that’s why readers will be rooting for him to succeed.
Additionally, were there any scenes or characters that surprised you as you wrote them?
Trina, Corey’s teenage cousin in Jamaica, was a pleasant surprise when she entered the story during the last year of revisions before publication. I knew I needed something or someone to inject some more energy and a healthy dose of humour into the opening scenes of the book. As I start off with Corey, who is thinking of his dad and how he wishes he were back home in Queens rather than at a boring family reunion. Thus, Trina was born. She was fun to write.
I also enjoyed learning more about the school bully, Letroy, and the novel’s criminal mastermind as I worked on the novel. I liked how Letroy seemed to be a mess of contradictions – star basketball player who’s the shortest boy in his grade, a bully who gets straight A’s and can make a reference to Picasso and Cubism. Letroy is not your average bully!
I was also surprised by the incredible depth of the criminal mastermind’s back story as it unfolded. It truly made that character more three-dimensional, as was my goal for all of the major characters, not just Corey.
Also, the connection characters made between the Tainos and indigenous tribes from the Amazon – that was a pleasant surprise that added yet another layer as I explored the theme of misuse/abuse of power.
What were your favourite books or characters when you were Corey’s age?
My favourite books were The Lord of the Rings series, which I’d read twice; I loved them so much. I also loved the Chronicles of Narnia, the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory books, and the Pippi Longstocking series. Gollum from The Lord of the Rings was always an interesting character, especially the unique way in which he spoke. Pippi was a fun, dynamic character who seemed larger than life.
Finally, If you could visit one ancient civilisation or time period for research, where would you go and why?
I would go to ancient Egypt, to the time when the Great Pyramid and Sphinx were built. The reason being, is I support the evidence discovered by geologist John Anthony West and archaeologist Robert Schock that water erosion at the base of the Sphinx places its construction at either 10,500 years ago or 32,000 years ago. I also know there are suspected inner chambers within Sphinx as well as deep under the Great Pyramid, which, like American engineer Chris Dunn, I also believe to have once been a massive power generator. I want to see if all of these things are, in fact, true!
Corey Crumbly and the Lost Amulet by Donn Swaby is available to order now from Amazon (UK), Amazon (USA), Waterstones and Bookshop.org.
