PLEASE PICK 5-6 QUESTIONS MOST PERTAINING TO YOU
Please tell us about your writing. Can you explain the title without giving too much away?
Please tell us about your writing. Can you explain the title without giving too much away?
Through
the Oracle’s Mist is a story about the things we value and the choices we make.
It is a love story through time and trials when there is everything at stake to
lose and nothing left to give. The mist is the connective tissue between the
lives. The title was a fan choice when they were given the opportunity to name
the book. They did a great job. It’s a
perfect title!
Whom do you see as your ideal reader?
I
have such a diverse audience. It is a
romance readers’ book to be sure, but I think the history and the other
components in it make it a solid choice for readers across multiple genres and from
various audiences as well.
When you have time, what would we find you reading?
You
could truly find me reading just about anything. Right now I’m reading Moss’
Dreamgates; Exploring the Worlds of Soul, Imagination, and Life Beyond Death. I
recently read the Landmark Thucydides which is a comprehensive work on the
history of the war between Athens and Sparta, and I nearly always have the
comprehensive Edgar Allen Poe lying close by.
What advice can you give to aspiring writers?
There is so much advice out there and
all of it is great. This is a reprint of my answer to this question from an
interview a year or so ago, but I think it is still the best advice I can give.
BEGIN. Whatever you do or don’t do after
that, Begin. There is no ‘THE END’ without ‘In the beginning’. I’ve talked to
many folks who are trying to start and the question is always “How?” The answer
is, keep it simple. Pick an image and describe it, take a word and make a
conversation, choose a voice and write a monologue. Can’t come up with it? Try
picking a character you love and write a story for them that hasn’t been told.
I am not advocating plagiarism here… I am saying tell the side you have never
seen. Choose a villain you love to hate and tell the love story that you’ve
never heard. Choose the good guy from the television show and write about his
wild and rowdy night on the town. Write something that you would never see for
this character as it is completely against their nature as you know them. Once
you can do this then start coming up with your own characters and the stories
that go with them, but don’t kill yourself and burn out before you get started
trying to take on the 300 or 500 page novel from scratch with nothing else
under your belt.
The 50 Shades of Grey series
that came out by EL James started as fan fiction for Stephanie Meyer and her
Twilight saga. Does it seem like it’s the Vampires and Werewolves Meyer wrote?
I have no idea, I haven’t read them, but what I’m saying is that the idea
developed by piggy-backing on something else that was out there…it was a place
to jump off from. We all need to find the end of the pier and jump into the
deep end somewhere. Just take a few laps in the kiddie pool first.
Writing isn’t re-inventing the
wheel. It’s finding new ways to tell the same stories we’ve been reading all
along. There aren’t a thousand new genres that come out every year….there are a
thousand books though that do and they fall into the established genres. And
this is the next big step... Once you can honestly put a string of words
together to complete a thought, once you can take a mental image of a character
and breathe life into them, you have to decide what they are going to do and
this will determine the genre you write in. Maybe there will be more than one,
but probably best to start with just one. And there is nothing wrong with
starting small. It’s like writing essays….in middle school they were a page, in
high school we went from 3 to 5 to 10 pages and in college we went from 15 – to
hundreds for thesis work. Allow yourself the time to grow. I would say to you,
remember you have to crawl before you walk before you run. Always be answering
the most important question about your work and your words; “And then what?”
Whatever
path you take, remember that you have to start. Dreaming is that voice inside
telling you that there is something there but it can’t do it without you.
There’s magic in dreaming and stories too. No matter how good the dream though
you still have to get up and take up the pen to tell the tale or it is only
ever a dream. There’s a song out that is more an analogy for life, but the key
line is an absolutely perfect observation statement for this….Natasha
Beddingfield says, “Today is where your book begins, the rest is still
unwritten.” I say, “You are the only one who can change that.” Begin, and then don’t ever give up.
Where can our readers find a copy of your work?
You can purchase book I, Through the Oracle’s Mist through these
sources:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Through-Oracles-Mist-Vengelys-Series/dp/1935970186/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/379575
Barnes &
Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/through-the-oracles-mist-aedan-byrnes/1117497870?ean=2940045449298
To connect with me you can find me at:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AedanByrnes
Facebook:
And finally, as an author, do you have any quirks or habits that help you write better?
I
have lots of quirks. Do they help me write better? I don’t rightly know. I tell myself the tales
and refine the language in my head for a long time before I take up the pen and
start writing. I think that the story comes out very quickly this way because
I’m not creating at this point, I’m just the scribe. Once that is done, I will
transfer it to the computer, which is where my personal language quirks get
ironed out (hopefully…don’t ask my editor) and the formatting gets set up so it
can be sent out to the beta readers who can tell me if I’ve over or underdone
parts of the telling. Once those have been fixed, it’s off to the editor who
hopefully falls madly in love with the words and sends me smilies, or if not
sends me my ‘to do’ list to get it right and ready for press. Does this process
make me better? Again, I don’t rightly
know…but, it’s what works for me so far.
Thank you for being my guest today. I wish you the best of luck with your writing.
Thank you so much for having me here. I look forward to the post!
Aedan will be awarding to one randomly drawn commentator a journal from his CafePress storefront, a charm and leather bracelet made for the story and a custom cover shepherd hook style bookmark made by Stone Soup Designs for Through the Oracle's Mist. The bracelet leather colors and the journal cover may differ from the photo.
Follow the tour and comment; the more they comment, the better their chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:
Thank you for having me.
ReplyDeleteIt boggles my mind that you can come up with the whole story in your head before writing anything down. I picture myself at the grocery store picking up the needed items, and by the time I get there, I've forgotten half of what I needed....including the list I made to make sure I didn't forget anything...lol I'm really looking forward to reading the next book in the Vengelys Series, Warriors Watchtower.
ReplyDeleteYour words are encouraging for any person that has thought about writing. I'm actually thinking about writing the story that has been in my head for years.. LOL But the thought of getting what's in my head down onto paper is daunting. The fact that you have the entire story in your head and then can transfer it to paper is boggling indeed. I am impressed. I hope the second book, Warriors Watchtower, is coming along nicely; because I'm eagerly awaiting its arrival.
ReplyDeleteIt would seem that I am unusual this way...but I believe perhaps it stems from an oral tradition of storytelling as opposed to a pen and paper or typed creation stance. Who is the bard in your family? Is the tale always the same, or fairly close? Does the language get better with the telling? Writing is the same to me, I just refine orally or viscerally before commmittin to paper. I think we all can, just few of us do.
ReplyDeleteThucydides is not some light, fluff reading! An interesting choice for yourself. I also think that process of writing the book in your head before putting pen to paper is interesting.
ReplyDeleteI always say Whatever works for you keep doing it. You seem to have it worked out well I thought Oracle was so well written and plotted out. I really enjoyed pov of Tynan and Cyrenna so we could actually feel their emotions and the trials and tribulations they were going through. You are an amazing writer and storyteller. That's why I refer to you as Bard Extraordinare. I would love to sit in and listen to a Tale from the Bard.
ReplyDeleteThe drawing for the prize package was done on Sunday 2/9 for the tour.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations DeeDee Dhreamer!
Thank you to all who followed the tour. I hope you enjoy the tale.
-Aedan