Interview with dark fantasy author Auden Johnson

Today's special guest is dark fantasy author Auden Johnson. She's chatting about her newest novel, Chains of the Sciell.

During her virtual book tour with Goddess Fish Promotions, Auden will be awarding a $30 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:

Auden is a dark fantasy writer. As a kid, she created her own books by folding several construction papers in half and stapling them down the middle, adding her own illustrations. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get away from writing. She holds a B.A. in English, a M.S. in Library and Information Science and she studied Creative Writing in England. She is a Research Assistant for Aubey LLC and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY- working towards her Masters in Publishing at NYU. Her short stories, No Vacancy, Clipped Wings and Welcome to My World and her novellas Visible Through Darkness and Shadows under the Light are now available through Amazon. The Sciell was her first novel; Chains of the Sciell is her second..

Welcome, Auden. Please tell us about your current release.

Chains of the Sciell is Book 2 of the Merging Worlds Series. It takes places 50 years after book one and focuses on the children readers were introduced to in Book 1. These children are now adults with no memories. Divine, Royal, Blae and Aliceanna don’t feel like they fit in anywhere. They have powers but they don’t know where their abilities came from. An enemy, who wants their power, kidnaps them and traps them in this hidden town called Silhouette. They feel as if they’ve met each other before. They know they used to live in that town. Divine, Royal, Blae and Aliceanna need these memories and their powers to escape the mansion before the enemy takes everything from them.

Outside of the town, the world is changing. Walls of Darkness have surrounded populated cities for years. These walls are thicker now. They torture the mind of any human who gets too close. Darkness is growing stronger. It infects animals and plants. In some cities across the world, walking out of the house is a fight for survival against the Darkness within and the one outside. Humans are beginning to realize otherworldly beings exist.

What inspired you to write this book?

Chains of the Sciell is actually the descendent of the first “real” novel I ever wrote. For some reason, I couldn’t let it go so I kept rewriting it. Over a hundred rewrites later, I exaggerated but it was a lot of rewrites, it was beginning to look like something. Then, I wanted the story to be a part of The Merging Worlds series. Chains of the Sciell evolved again as I fit it with the first and last book in the series.


Excerpt from Chains of the Sciell:

Royal dangled her feet into the warm water. She let the feeling ease all worries. She closed her eyes.

“Imagine your mind as a maze with many doors,” Kaige had said. “Behind each door is an attic of a house. Your goal is to reach the basement.”

She appeared at the mouth of the maze. She was inside her mind. The first time she did this, it had taken a while to materialize her body as it actually appeared instead of how she wanted it to look. Even now, her breasts and hips were on the large side.

Her Lifeblood didn’t reach for her. She called. It didn’t answer. Her power never disobeyed her. It forget the sound of her voice. If It knew the Sciell was calling, It wouldn’t ignore her.

The air was toxic. The poison, it seemed, was supposed to affect their minds and it did. Maybe not the way their captor wanted. It created a thick raging wind. She had trouble seeing. This was her mind after all. She willed the wind to part. It did so, reluctantly.

She sensed Divine behind her physical body. His shadow covered hers. He wrapped his arms around her neck, latching his mouth onto her skin. Royal controlled her desire to peel off his skin. Their minds melded. She relaxed. She was no longer Royal. He was no longer Divine. They were a different being who they hadn’t bothered to name. This wasn’t just her mind anymore.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I’m taking all my world building blog post and putting them together in a book on Dark World Building- still trying to figure out what that mean exactly. I’m also writing a short apocalyptic story about a group of non-human misfits who return to their otherworldly home to find it empty. I’m putting dragons in the story, something I’ve never done before. It’s been a lot of fun. They aren’t called dragons in this work-in-progress. They’re Sencil, energy beings who look like dragons when they take on a physical form.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Recently, which is strange. I’m still reluctant to call myself a writer. I need to get over that. I spend most of my time writing.

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 write full-time but I’m also a student at NYU getting my Masters in Publishing. My day begins with making my social media rounds- using Tweetdeck to schedule tweets, posting on Instagram, Facebook and Tumblr. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I post on my blog. If I have an assignment for class, I’d work on that. Since I have a book I’d like to release in the next couple of months, I do a bit of writing. I’m also into graphic design. If there’s a book image I need to work on, I throw myself into that. Since I spend all day alone inside, I like to unplug and work in the park by the lake now that it’s finally warm outside.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I’m particular about my pens. I’d spend far more time than necessary at Staples picking the perfect pen. If the pen doesn’t feel right, then something feels off when I’m writing story notes.

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

I started out wanting to be a vet, then a doctor, then a lawyer. Being an author was always in the back of my mind, but for some reason, I thought it would be boring. Being an author is so not boring.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Don’t be afraid to be a little adventurous. You never know what you like until you try it.

Links:

Blog | Tumblr | Instagram | Twitter | Website

Thanks, Auden! Happy writing!

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