Published Author Interview | Fiction Novelist | Brae Wyckoff | The Orb of Truth

Hello writers, creators, friends, and audience. It's been a couple of weeks since I last published an author interview. I'm quite busy with Tales of Deborah, despite that I'm down. I hope you are all keeping up the dreams of conquering in your various fields just as I'm doing? If you find yourself wanting to buy a book by Brae Wyckoff, avoid thinking if it is going to be a good read, find out for yourself to see how prolific this writer is.

Join me to welcome on the blogs fiction novelist Brae Wyckoff.

DO: I'm pleased to have you on the blogs Brae. Welcome.

BW: Thank you for having me. I’m excited about this interview.

DO: Quickly tell us how your road to publication has been.

BW:I started writing full-time a little over two years ago when I was suddenly laid-off from my job. I wrote The Orb of Truth in six months, took the manuscript through a prestigious critique group, went through re-writes based off of their feedback, then took it to a professional editor, had the book cover professionally designed, and then created my own publishing company…LR Publishing. December of last year, The Orb of Truth was up on Amazon. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

DO: How did you identify your writing voice, nurtured and developed it?

BW: My dad always told me that it is better to be a “smart- a** than a dumb-sh*t”. I have taken this amazing wisdom (lol) and applied it to my life. I’m a smart-one and you will hear my voice through my characters. There is a little of me in each of them. My kids think I’m Dulgin (the dwarven hero) with some of his remarks and dislikes. I think they are right and I deeply connect with the main hero, Bridazak, on a more personal level.

An author’s voice comes through our experiences in life. We write what we know or what we have gone through and try to bring it out in such a way that it is entertaining to the reader. I don’t like to read boring stories so I make sure to keep the story moving along and have a good time along the way.

DO: Let's talk about the book The Orb of Truth that you are currently promoting. Is it your debut?

BW: The Orb of Truth is indeed my debut novel. It has been out since December 2012 and is getting great traction within the reading community. On Goodreads it has been voted #1 in several categories.

Voted #1 BestFantasy Book Under the Radar!

Voted #1 Best Christian Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book!

Voted #1 Best Indie Fantasy Book!

DO:Gathford. How much of the town is fictional?

BW: Completely fictional. It is a simple town that I created to introduce the main heroes and get the story going. Gathford to me is like Bethlehem. Nothing amazing but something special is birthed in this place.

DO: The Lady Birmham of the house of Urmthong, is that our protagonist?

BW: Lady Birmham is NOT the protagonist. Our heroes are Bridazak and Spilf (both coined in my story as ordakians) along with a grumpy dwarf named Dulgin.

DO: "It's common to mistake an ordakian for a child, Lady Birmham, but I'm almost three-hundred years of age." What sort sof species are the Ordakians?

BW:Ordakians are my spin of Halflings. Very similar in nature to what we see in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. They range in height from three-and-a-half feet to four-and-a-half feet tall.

DO: Why are they mistaken for a child? And what's their importance to the story The Orb of Truth?

BW: From a distance, halflings/ordakians can easily be mistaken for children due to their height. They are a non-threatening race in most regards and their importance to the story is monumental. Bridazak was chosen to be the carrier of The Orb of Truth and this unfolds in the first few chapters that escalate each step of the way.

DO: Why did Lady Birmham search for the Varouche for so many years?

BW: Much like ourselves and all of our collections of things over the years, Lady Birmham has this insatiable desire to collect rare feathers across the realm. The Varouche is a rare specimen only found in the great Everwood forest. She has been looking for many years when low and behold she hears of a vendor having acquired one in the town of Gathford.

DO: What is the Varouche and its importance? Does it have some spiritual significance like Lady Birmham bodyguards thought?

BW: The Varouche has no importance in and of itself but I have woven this special bird to be the initial focal point of the opening chapter for our heroes to interact with the Lady Birmham. Our heroes are not full-fledged heroes yet and we are introduced instead to two thieves.

The spiritual significance of the feather is only perceived as such due to the length of time trying to acquire one. It was special and viewed with importance to the Lady and her bodyguards.

DO:'The Ordakian thief', the meeting at the market with Lady Birmham, and the Ordakian, was that planned out by the Ordakians to rip off her money? And the Varouche she paid so much to own was fake, right?

BW: Yes, it was completely planned out. Bridazak and Spilf faked the feather. They had the full intention of taking as much as they could from the rich noblewoman. She was their mark and it all happens in the first chapter. I love introducing my characters through action and dialogue as this is the best way to quickly bring the reader into the story. It is truly an epic adventure and once you finish the book, you will look back and reflect on where they started, the small town of Gathford, and where they end up.

DO: "I would make sure there is less of their kind in the world." I would say that was some goal there supplied by Thule with cruel clarity to the Ordakians. Why does he hate them that much? What is it they are denying him of in his land?

BW: Thule is a bully to say it bluntly. The realm of Ruauck-El is now controlled by humans so the other races have gone into hiding in the forests and mountains (Dwarves, Elves, Halflings, etc). Some have chosen to remain within the human communities and this is the conflict of the story to initially start things off. Thule is my way of introducing this prejudice mindset.

DO: Quickly tell us shortly the center conflict of the novel The Orb of Truth.

BW:What is my purpose in life and do I matter? These are the questions that my protagonist is struggling with. He is led on an adventure by supernatural forces beyond his imagination. With any story of good there is the antithesis, evil. The Orb of Truth is part of a prophecy unfolding in the heroes lives while at the same time the bad guys are trying to kill them. It is a classic of good vs evil.

DO: There is more to success in writing than people bear in mind. What routes do you think writers should take with their crafts to become listed success in the publishing field?

BW: I always tell everyone to make sure their story is the best it can be. You absolutely need to invest in yourself and make sure your work is professionally edited top to bottom. Take your manuscript through a critique group and get some feedback, do some re-writes, and then hand it off to someone you trust to edit it (but not your mom…lol). Get your cover professionally designed and make sure it is easy on the eyes while at the same time captivating and mysterious. First impressions matter and the cover need to grab someone to check it out.

Hire a PR Manager to help get the word out about your book. (Aileen Aroma is a great resource for authors and you can find her on Facebook)

Get your book professionally reviewed by some big names if you can. Keep working it.

Lastly, be professional in all you do. With your interviews, the ways you interact with people, your reviews of others work, etc, are important in creating your image. You are an author and there is a respect that comes naturally with this title so it requires respect to be given to it by yourself as well.

DO: Thanks for stopping at the blogs, I Am Darmie and Authors' Curtilage with Darmie Orem. I wish you success in your writing career and the book tour.

BW: Thank you so much for having me. It was an honor being here.

About Author: Brae Wyckoff was born and raised in San Diego, CA and is working toward a Psychology degree. He has been married to his beautiful wife, Jill, for 20 years, and they have three children; Tommy, Michelle, and Brittany. He has a beautiful grandson named Avery. Brae has been an avid gamer since 1985. His passion for mysterious realms and the supernatural inspired him to write The Orb of Truth, the first in a series of fantasy action adventures. Brae describes The Orb of Truth as a cross between the Lord of the Rings and the Wizard of OZ where you will be swept away into a magical land of Dwarves, Elves, and Halflings.

Book Short Blurb: In the hundreds of years since the Holy City disappeared, darkness has fallen over the land. Human kingdoms have seized control of the realm, scattering the other races into hiding.

Bridazak, a skilled thief, and his friends, a Dwarf and a fellow Ordakian, have dared to remain within the human communities and live relatively quiet lives, until they discover a mysterious, magical artifact. The three friends are thrust into an adventure that will challenge their faith, their purpose, and their destiny as they chase a forgotten and lost prophecy across the realm of Ruauck-El, where they hope to discover the origins of the strange item and their place in its history.

An ancient, unknown enemy threatens the completion of their journey at every turn. Bridazak is about to face the biggest adventure of his life, one that may change the known realm, and answer the questions he has carried all his life. Will they unlock the truth?

Formats Available with price:

Paperback Amazon: $11.69

E-Book Amazon: $2.99

 Buy Links:

Paperback Amazon 

E-Book Amazon 

E-BOOK Amazon UK 

Grettir Jacobs Published Author Interview with Darmie Orem

INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHT

I have with me here today on the blogs to interview Grettir Jacobs, author of Strike Zone.

STRIKE ZONE - INTRIGUE, CAPTIVE AND DETAILED.

Welcome on the blogs, Grettir.

“Thank you Darmie.”

The audience would be pleased to meet you. Quickly tell us a little about yourself as an author, your life outside writing, and when you found you could write.

“I grew up in a small community in the Tehachapi Mountains of southern California. I was lucky to have contact with some interesting people. Cesar Chavez was a neighbor, for example. Among other things, my parents were both playwrights. They were not very successful, but they made many friends through their activities, especially in San Francisco. They both had plays produced by the Magic Theater about the time that Sam Shepard became the playwright in residence for that company.  

I played high school football, which I loved, but I wanted to ‘get on with life,’ so I left high school after two years, and started college. I will be the first to admit that I had too much fun in college. I did manage to eventually get a degree, after spending some time as an exchange student in both Poland and Italy.

There were a few interludes before my degree, though. I worked as a carpenter, a firefighter, and as a soldier for extended periods of time before I received my BA in History. In 1989, I attended graduate school at the Catholic University of Lublin in Poland. What was most remarkable about seeing the events in Eastern Europe as the Berlin Wall came down was not the excitement of being a part of watershed events, but rather how quickly it simply became a prosaic part of life. That is, in the Poland I knew before 1989, normal people were simply afraid to speak openly in groups of three or more. (Why? Because, if there are three or more people in a group it is impossible to tell who the informer is.) Then, by the end of 1989, people said anything they wanted to, to anyone, anywhere. The fear was gone. The sense of impending doom was gone. But, Poles still spent most of their day standing in lines; the only difference was that they were waiting for Japanese color TVs rather than bread. In other words, everything and nothing had changed, almost over-night.

When I came back from Poland to the United States, I was completely broke. The hyperinflation there had destroyed my finances. Consequently, I had to drop out of a PhD program, and get a ‘real’ job again. First, I sold books door to door. That was the best job I could find. Eventually, became a stockbroker.

I worked in the financial industry for six years. It was only then that I caught the writer’s bug. I took some time off to write a first draft. The draft was good enough to land me a literary agent, who began pitching it to major publishing houses. But, it did not sell. In the late 1990s, I sat without inspiration, in the LAX President's Club with my father, then bang: It hit me. I knew at once I had something much better than the first draft, and spent the next two hours feverishly jotting down notes on napkins. One moment, I had nothing to look forward to but an in-flight movie, the next I had a complete outline for a new novel, so different from its previous incarnation that I re-named it. As I wrote the book, my father’s health deteriorated. Three days after my agent told me that he had been able to place the manuscript with two major houses, Doubleday and St. Martins, my father died of cancer. I attended my father’s funeral service (which, for various reasons, took place two weeks after he died), I received the news from my agent that Doubleday, which had recently been sold from one large holding company to another, and St. Martins were considering a merger, and that neither house would be adding any new authors to their lists for the foreseeable future. Worse yet, there was a pivotal plot point which the editors considered to be derivative of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. It wasn’t; I had written the book before anyone had ever heard of Lewinsky. So, as I read Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” before a gathering of my father’s friends and acquaintances, I had already concluded that my novel would not be sold, due to its ostensible timeliness. That was the end of my first writing career.

I then returned to real-life. For various reasons, I earned another graduate degree. Meanwhile, my wife’s career took off. As I was Mr. Mom for our four kids and trailing spouse to her, she was hired in progressively more responsible public health and disease surveillance positions in Japan, Egypt, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. I taught in high schools in Japan and Egypt. The whole family was evacuated from Egypt during the revolution, and it was at this point that I returned to the Tehachapi Mountains. We had designated our house near Tehachapi as our home of record, so the US government sent us there, rather than to Washington DC (like most of the other evacuees). We decided not to move the family to Kazakhstan (where my wife was building a US government sponsored BSL-3 biocontainment laboratory). Our kids were thriving in Tehachapi (my oldest daughter is a track, volleyball, and soccer star), but I could not find a job. It was at that point that my second career as a writer commenced. The product was STRIKE ZONE, a thriller/romance. STRIKE ZONE is informed by the above, but it more just the product two fertile imaginations: Mine and the coauthor’s.”

How do you feel about Strike Zone as the writer and author?

“STRIKE ZONE is actually a collaboration between myself and another author. The other author does not want her name mentioned publicly, except in the author’s notes at the end of the book. I liked the book idea, of course. I added quite a bit to the story, but the story’s spine is the other author’s. Frankly, I did not know whether a collaborative effort like this could lead to the desired results. It did. I am pleased with the final product.”

The material on Margaret's computer which had her engrossed, absorbed, and enthralled - would that be some kind of top secret? Please, hint us. I'm sure your potential readers are dying to know.

“Oh, yes, that material is quite important to the story. STRIKE ZONE’s action takes place during the height of the Cuban Missile Crises in 1962. The material Margaret was handling was very secret and very important. If it fell into the wrong hands, the transcript she was typing could cause a nuclear war. A mistake is made, and complications ensue. I won’t tell more. One will just have to read the book to find out.”

"For example if anyone had guessed how interested she was in power, that inside she was crying out with excitement as she felt the words making history through her ears, into her fingers..." May we hear from your mouth of the outer and inner motivation of Margaret, as her creator?

“She is typing a transcript of an important secret meeting. She is thus privy to the biggest secret in the world at the time. She doesn’t want to let anybody know how interested she is in that secret, since secretaries aren’t supposed be interested in the secrets they learn about as part of their jobs.”

In the book Strike Zone, Margaret was a secretary to a presidential aide by the name of Jason Pickering, and at her office, at the beginning of this book there was a crisis about congressional election; is this political novel?

“STRIKE ZONE is more of a spy thriller/romance than a political novel. The political and diplomatic situation is important to the story, of course. But, the characters are interacting with each other one-on-one. There are very high political stakes, but the conflict between the characters is personal.”  

Clifton Addison is widely known as The Man behind the Throne. He was an important man far more important that his title would indicate. What made Addison important?

“Addison plays a role in the inciting incident which causes Margaret so much trouble and danger; he is also quite important to the conclusion. Addison can be a very dangerous man. It is best not to toy with him.”

The design of this book cover has snake in it. That got me curious about the book title. What's the inspiration? Why the snake? How does it tally with our title?

“The action in STRIKE ZONE takes place in Washington DC and the Tehachapi Mountains in California. For various reasons, snakes play important roles in pivotal passages in both locations. The snake is also a metaphor both for the situation as a whole and for the sort of man with whom Margaret become romantically involved. That is, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the entire world sat within the STRIKE ZONE of thermonuclear war; Margaret finds herself in the STRIKE ZONE of cold and lethal men.

By complete coincidence, just about the time that I was preparing STRIKE ZONE for publication, I heard my dogs barking at something outside my office. It turned out to be a rattlesnake. I caught it, and then put it into an old garbage can, so that I could transport it out to the middle of nowhere for release. As an afterthought, a photo was taken of it. I loved the photo. The colors of the trashcan blended nicely with the snake's scales. The purplish-blue of the snake's forked tongue was striking. It was only then that I realized, 'Hey, the title of the book is STRIKE ZONE." Hmmm... I thought. 'Hey, wait a second, a rattlesnake plays a role in important plot points.' You can already probably guess where my mind was going. I decided then and there that I wanted this photo for the cover.”

Would Margaret be our protagonist?

“Yes. She is a protagonist; her character arc is the spine of the novel.”

What is the central issue of the novel, Strike Zone?

“A mistake is made in the White House, and only Margaret can make it right before it is too late.”

What are the fascinated end scenarios of this novel?

“Margaret falls in love with a spy. He also happens to be the only man in the world who can help her to save the day. Can she trust him? Read STRIKE ZONE to find out.”

What moral message should your potential readers highlight in the book?

“Seemingly unimportant and amoral actions can lead to extreme consequences. Margaret would never have found herself in mortal danger if she had been an urgent moralist.” 

Is this your first book?

“No, but it is the first that has been published.”

Is there any other work coming up after this?

“Yes, I have a collection of short stories ready to be published.”

Provide book blurb:

It is after midnight on October 19th, 1962, and the Cuban Missile Crisis has reached its most dangerous point. The world sits in the STRIKE ZONE of thermonuclear annihilation. The clock is ticking down as the White House considers using a top secret super-weapon to strike first. It is at that moment that, Margaret Potter, a beautiful young staffer, inadvertently loses a transcript of a high level meeting which contains details so explosive that they could start World War III if they fall into the wrong hands. Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances, she knows that only she can find the transcript before it is too late. She is thus thrust into a terrifying spy-versus-spy world which she has hitherto only seen in the movies. In the midst of this life or death struggle, Margaret, a formerly nice little girl from rural Wyoming, finds herself falling in love with a darkly mysterious and cosmopolitan man. Is that man her rescuer or is he her real pursuer? She has no way to know the truth until the very end. All she knows for certain is that he is the one man in the world who can help her to save the situation, and that he is also the one man she has the least reason to trust. There is one more thing that she knows: He is the man she has been looking for her whole life.

Social Media Links

http://grettirjacobs.com/  

https://www.facebook.com/GrettirJacobs 

 http://www.goodreads.com/GrettirJacobs

https://twitter.com/GrettirJacobs

http://pinterest.com/grettirjacobs/

         

  Purchase Link

 

Hey beautiful people, I'm sure it's been a pleasure to meet Grettir Jacobs. Please, hurry to get your copy of Strike Zone. Thanks for coming on the blogs.

“Thank you very much, Darmie.”