Interview with fantasy author Aedan Byrnes

Aedan Byrnes is in the house today to talk a bit about his fantasy paranormal romance novel, Through the Oracle’s Mist.

Aedan will be awarding, to one randomly drawn commenter, a journal from his Cafe Press 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.

To be entered for a chance to win, leave a comment below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit other tour stops and leave comments there, too. 

Bio:

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.

Welcome Aedan. Please tell us about your current release.

Through the Oracle’s Mist is a trip through history. It is a story of love, loss, and choices when we realize they are ours to make. It is the first book in The Vengelys Series that will include Warrior’s Watchtower this year and Kingdom’s Fall next year. Beyond those, the future is not written in stone.

Cover synopsis:
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:

How many times can a man be broken? How many times can a man die and never have it be final? How many lost loves or lost chances at love will it take to undo any chance of ever becoming whole? In the purest sense…only one. Nothing I could imagine or ever endure would compete for the absolute punishing agony of her folding me into her arms to comfort me and hearing her whisper…

“I know.”

Two words. Who knew that two words would be all that it would take to lose the storm? Hardly two words really, only five letters. Five little letters with extreme power. Five little letters to rob Zeus of his most lethal bolt, focus the strike, and rend me in pieces. The surge had pushed past my pride and leaves me sobbing for the loss I had yet to experience. A loss I knew would take my breath, but I cannot die. How cruelly ironic that death has become my sole wish now?

My internal emotional upheaval is a flash storm out of place beneath the cloudless sky. The cacophony of my noisy tears and transition scatter the small creatures for miles. I have no control and shift without grace. Rage and pain coalesce to an explosion, angst roaring as the internal battle is waged, and the war lost before the call to arms is done sounding. My thunderous eruption screaming against the fading light, with a rising silvery moon and shimmering stars to bear witness to my destruction. The metamorphosis from man to beast is abrupt. I shift, not with the flexing of bone and the stretching of skin, but with the crack of a gun blast and a single pull to form. It is razor wire across my senses and I am bloodied raw without a trace to be found.

A testament to her, she stands still. Not frozen, but placated to let me render the fury that must come out as I cannot hold it in. The beast from within is enormous, but not big enough to hold so much. I warned her. I told her. I had made her aware almost cruelly that first time I let my inner wild out that this day might come…could come…would come and that it would be ushered in on an unseen tide that would sweep our perfect world away. I had wanted her to be afraid. She wasn’t. She had believed, but had also naively assured me that the day would be long into the future and we would enjoy the time until then.

She had been wrong. There was nothing to say now. ‘I’m sorry’ would be a hollow sentiment and ‘I was wrong’ would do nothing as the last thing I would want to hear and know about this was that I had been right.

What inspired you to write this book?

This story started as an ‘inbetween’ for something else, but as it developed, it no longer fit. As the tale grew, the need for it to become something on its own became apparent and so the story goes. Small idea takes off and blooms. The emotion and the pull to see what else what there compelled me to keep going.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I’m working on the next two books in the series. Warrior’s Watchtower had to be reworked when the ending of Oracle changed and thus the third book, Kingdom’s Fall, is changing as well. Watchtower will pick up where Oracle left off as well as take us back to Amaranth and what transpired after the portal in the court floor closed.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I don’t think I ever did, even now. I’ve always written in some form, but the actual title of writer never really has been one I’ve used to describe myself. Writing was an outlet, it was for fun, it is a way to quiet my mind, but it has never been a title to claim. I’m ecstatic that others are enjoying the stories I have to tell, but to be honest; I started and continue because it is something I like to do. It is like sitting back with a movie for some, it’s an escape.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I do not write full time. I am a professional Sexton and take great pride and care with my duties. Writing, as it is a release for me, is what I do when I sit down to decompress. Be it that I scribble or scribe on a tablet in bed, in the tub, in the family room whilst the family does what they do…or to sit at the computer and rework words so they make sense to anyone but me…whatever and wherever is when I write...it is not usually that I am fitting it around my life, it is that it is part of my life everyday.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I think I am in a distinct minority in that I write everything long hand. I don’t sit down at a computer and type until I have the story down, and then it is to transcribe the information from my scribbles and cross-outs into something that can be read by another person and be followed. I generally have strike through and arrows all over the page which make perfect sense to me, but I don’t expect anyone else to decipher it.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to work in a lab and uncover mysteries. I have degrees to that end, but found I didn’t enjoy the work learning far too late I’m afraid for the education expenses to be undone.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

…Just my gratitude for stopping by, having a look, and for reading the tale. I appreciate the audience and the growing group of fans who remind me that while I write to relax, they read to do the same and together we help each other out.

Links:

Twitter | Facebook 

You can purchase book I, Through the Oracle’s Mist through these sources:

Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes and Noble | Cafe Press

Fun: 

Fan-made video trailer | Book video

Thanks, Aedan. Readers, don't forget to leave a comment if you'd like a chance at the prize package!