Thank you for joining me in the shadows. Pay no attention to that odd silhouette over there. Weird things live here. Where do you hail from?
Tell me about your latest book. What makes it stand out from the crowd?
I think Through the Oracle’s Mist stands out because of the historical elements. The blending of accurate history with fiction, to me, makes it more believable and makes the alternate world of Amaranth more believable as well in consequence. It is a tale of timing and choices, but also of sacrifice along the journey to claim that perfect future, or a chance of it. It is a bit fairytale, but also grounded in the idea that fairytales come true for those who go after it. The greatest things to have and cherish have a price. How much are we willing to pay?
Do you have anything new in the works and can you tell us a bit about it?
I am working on Warrior’s Watchtower, the second book and Kingdom’s Fall the third book. To not be working on the book beyond what comes next is short sighted in my thought as they are part of each other. In book two we will pick up where Oracle leaves off, but also jump back too to find out about what we missed in Oracle when we left Amaranth behind. The world that was left behind has changed dramatically for the remaining Vengelys and others of the Warrior class. Things will never be the same, even when everyone gets back.
What advice would you give to writers just starting out?
The best advice I got as a new writer was to bind up my ego, stow it in my back pocket, and sit on it. It is a lightning strike for an unknown to have colossal success out of the gate and we have many miles to walk to reach the goal, whatever the goal. Learn your lessons and take your lumps with grace. You never know which contact you’ve made along the way will be the one who stands at the door and greets you when you arrive.
How did you deal with rejection letters? Any tips for unpublished writers?
The short answer is I only got one. The long answer is that I had sent out many queries, to which I got no reply at all. The one I did get was the most beautifully devastating, but gracious letter. It was not a rejection of me, but of the work as it was at that time and forced me to look again and make it better. That is the lesson of rejection letters…you can grow from them and become better or you can allow them to be devastating. I chose, and continue to choose to grow at every turn. For the unpublished; don’t give up. Never give up. The road is bumpy, but it’s the road. Keep going.
What tools of the trade are must-haves for you?
Pen and paper. (I write everything long hand first.) A good dictionary. A thesaurus. Earplugs. Chapstick (I talk when I write.) Coffee….
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done to research a story?
I don’t think there’s anything crazy about research. Do what you need to do to get the information. Accuracy is important to me, even in fiction.
What do you like to read?
Something I can’t predict. Grisham makes me crazed. I can’t guess him ever. History is a big one too…I’m a huge fan. Old texts will have my attention for days on end, pretty much no matter the subject.
Who is your favorite author and why?
I have no favorites because there is no way in my mind to choose one over another. Writing is the pouring out of bits of soul and I cannot judge between them.
Now for the fun questions. Let’s strip away the veil of invisibility. Do you have a day job alongside writing and will you tell us about it?
I do have a day job. I am a Sexton, which by the old definitions is the care keeper of the cemetery, the sacred, or the dead. I am humbled and proud to oversee the final resting place of so many and maintain someplace beautiful for families to gather and remember.
If you weren’t a writer, what career might you have chosen?
I didn’t choose to be a writer. I didn’t choose to be a Sexton. It’s where I am now. In 5 years, who knows? I like to believe that I will be where I need to be when the time comes.
Who is your favorite superhero (or heroine)? Can be from a comic book, movie, novel, cartoon, video game or anywhere else heroes reign.
I don’t think I have one. But to be fair, I don’t know comics, cartoons, video games or the like. I seldom watch movies or tele either. I did just read Michael Scott’s Alchemist series and rather fell into like with Perenelle Flamel.
Your favorite book hero?
See above
You finally have an evening free to spend any way you want. Money is no object. Where do you go? What would you do?
I would be dining at the Acropolis or the Parthenon under a full moon with me love.
You’ve been gifted (or cursed) with the ability to shift into another form by a witch. What kind of shifter are you? Why?
I am a time mage…to all the places I read of and dream of so I can go and see them for myself.
Thanks so much for being my guest today! Anything else you’d like to share with my readers? Don’t forget to give us links to your website etc.
Thanks for having me.
To connect:
Twitter: AuthorAedanByrnes@aedanbyrnes
Facebook:
Purchase Through the Oracle’s Mist from 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
Through the Oracle’s Mist
by Aedan Byrnes
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BLURB:
In the blackest night, with the moon and stars to guide him, she would always be there waiting…
Cyrenna thought she died the day she watched Tynan and his brothers jump through the banishment portal in an act of solidarity with Rigor. Little did she know, it would be the first of many deaths she would experience in her quest to claim his heart. She would surrender not only her immortal soul, but a mortal one repeatedly. Through a deal with the great Oracle, she has multiple mortal lifetimes to change the direction of her future and have a chance with Tynan.
Her journey spans the ages from the GenPei War in Japan and the Silk Road west, to Cromwell, the Three Kingdoms and modern times, bringing her one step closer to forever until she makes a misstep. Then, the burden falls to Tynan. The only thing that is absolute is her fervent hope that he will come, but there’s one big problem.
Through it all, he doesn’t so much as know her name.
Excerpt
That single word coupled with the tangling and untangling fragrance of her, become a vortex in my mind. Rational thought collides with irrational thought, wants, and needs. All of them together, do battle with my better self. Standing up, my feet are unsteady; my head is a carnival ride of haphazard motion, and my inner wild is desperately cleaving for release. I can hear her heaving for breath as quietly as she is able and can smell the palatable desperation to remain in control and calm. I have to back away or it will be over before I can form a thought to stop it. I am too close to losing the battle with my other self and I have less ability to restrain him of late. I am not master of myself right now. I’m too close. Mistakes made years ago will not be repeated. It is a hard reminder in the back of my mind. I have to back away or risk destroying another who might finally, so many years after Ite, be worth the challenge to learn.
Backing up, I find myself stumbling backwards, the mad tumbling bramble in my mind cluttering all rational thoughts and abilities. Lights flash against darkness in my mind, leaving momentary blindness in their wake and confusion. Images slideshow with lightning quickness; her standing in the moonlight, then it isn’t her at all but another who looks at me with sorrow, courage and compassion. More images come of her shivering to maintain control as I stroked an ice cube down her cheek; back to the other her, shivering from a different kind of stroking. The back and forth are disorienting and I find myself ass-planted on the floor with a ‘whump’ grabbing for my temples to stop the onslaught of the ensuing madness. The back and forth comparisons will not be still.
Kneading my eyes with the heels of my hands I shake my head to clear the fog from my addled brain. I am aware that she is not able to see me and that is a small mercy, though as I settle I can smell the cloying damp earth smell of her sobbing in confusion. The smell of her tears is nearly my complete undoing as my other self surges forward to rage at memories. I clamp down hard on the past and the storming emotions to wait. I am rewarded with the low tone of her breath hitching across her vocal chords as she rights herself and regains her composure. Sadly, for both of us, it isn’t enough. I want more.
Excerpt Four:
I had a choice to make for all of us. I needed to make it now. There was no time to wait or to confer. Letting go of my brother’s arms, I tried to convey that there was cause as the five of them eyed me like I’d lost my mind. Maybe I had. I would have to be perfect to do what I was planning.
Sending up a prayer for Amarus to guide me, I shifted to other on the court floor before the god and the gallery of spectators. Throwing my weight forward, I slammed into Rigor’s back, knocking him forward to kneel at the god’s feet. I held fast and shifted back as quickly as I was able. I could only hope that it would be enough, and that Amaranos would understand. As we knelt before him, the room electric with shock, I said the only thing I could get out that might be enough.
“Please.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
There is no simple description for Aedan Byrnes. Obsessive, dreamer, reclusive, compulsive, outdoorsman and wordsmith would be among the list if one were started. The displaced Gael lives in the upper Midwest with family between jaunts wherever the road takes him. A frequent traveler, he is as likely to be found rock climbing or spelunking as sitting fireside dreaming or aimlessly floating away.
A lifelong lover of words and writing, he claims a diverse reading appetite and his writing reflects the myriad influences. A self-proclaimed ‘reader’s writer’, he looks for the emotional and the sensory in word combinations, not just the visceral comprehension of phrases in the stories he crafts and his love of all things literary shines through.
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fan made video trailer:http://youtu.be/wdW5BBP6wcs
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Link for book video: http://youtu.be/KLpBb5gnJbs
Giveaway: Aedan will be awarding to one randomly drawn commenter 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 M
ist. The bracelet leather colors and the journal cover may differ from the photo.
ist. The bracelet leather colors and the journal cover may differ from the photo.
