Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work.
Today, Aeryn Jaden – Aeryn Jaden loves to read. Loves it so much that some days she doesn’t know what reality is anymore. Her friends and family usually have to yell a bit and remind her. Must be why she’s twenty eight and still searching for a special person of her own. The second best thing in the world for Aeryn is writing. Writing keeps her relatively sane and clears the voices in her head clamouring for her attention (meaning the characters’ voices, she’s not that crazy to randomly hear voices! Yet.).
Thanks so much, Aeryn, for joining me!
JSC: When did you know you wanted to write, and when did you discover that you were good at it?
Aeryn Jaden: Difficult one. I didn’t discover writing it was just something that was always there for me. From little I was fascinated (obsessed really, but using another word makes me seem saner lol) with stories, so I soon as I upgraded from writing letters to semi-coherent sentences, yeah. That was the end for me. After that it was a matter of needing to write so the stories inside my head let me sleep at night. As for discovering I’m good, errr. I’m still working on that, nothing discovered yet for me.
JSC: How would you describe your writing style/genre?
AJ: Frankly? Chaotic. I write either until I drop or take pauses of months. As for genre, I love writing paranormal because I really believe it exists and the only limit to what can exist out there in the wide world, it’s our imagination. Gay romance is just hot and comes as a plus for me. I write horror and philosophical essays too but nothing concluded or ready for publishing.
JSC: What was your first published work? Tell me a little about it.
AJ: My first work was self-published, titled Good for Me. It’s book one in a series I started oh, 5 years ago? Err, sorry, series still not finished, got distracted from writing book 2 . It’s about a shy, genius professor and an undercover soon to be ex-cop. I love that story still, I managed to came up with some funny dialogue in that book. Book is still available on Amazon for purchase but you’ll have to excuse the poor editing, that is on my to-do list.
JSC: What’s your writing process?
AJ: I need one. Process here suggests organization, which I lack. I totally lack. I’m trying to do better but day-job interferes with my good intentions. It usually goes like this: 1. I need to write, I’m way behind. I make myself open the file and put my hands on the keyboard. 2. I open 10-15 tabs of random things as I avoid actually looking at my blank page. 3. It’s too late to write, I’ll start tomorrow again.
I’m not joking about it too but usually after 2-3 days of doing this, I finally start typing and then it doesn’t stop until at least half the story is down on paper. I don’t do much research before, I do it while writing and keep files with important information and character development that I update and sketch as I write. Chaotic maybe but in the end it works and the story pours out.
JSC: Describe yourself using… ( a food, a book, a song, a movie, an animal, a drink, a place etc)
AJ: I’m a strange beast which is part owl, part wolf, part panther and part turtle. Lol, I’m bookish and analytical; loyal and steadfast; silently cunning and ferocious when crossed; really really slow at times, not to mention maybe too cautions.
JSC: If you could kill one person, who would it be, and why?
AJ: Huh, interesting question. Only one person? If I forego the whole conscience thing for good I’d be pretty dangerous that’s for sure. Even like this, it’s a known fact that anybody harming my loved ones are screwed. I don’t waste my temper with my problems but mess with the few people I call family and yeah. It’ll not be pretty.
JSC: What pets are currently on your keyboard, and what are their names? Pictures?
AJ: Mopsy! AKA Devil Dog, don’t let the face fool you
JSC: Which of your own characters would you Kill? Fuck? Marry? And why?
AJ: I have a love-hate relationship with Aeri from Hard to Kill. We resemble too much not to butt heads occasionally so sometimes I get the urge to kill him. I wouldn’t though; he’s just too much fun to write. I would totally fuck Caden- The Lost One or Kraken – from Drakon’s Mate (or both) in an instant, they’re hotties (and sweethearts, the silent and strong type) but for marrying… hehe that character has only been alluded too and it would be A’Rael! My baddie from the series Return of the Originals. Things will be explained in time…
JSC: Would you visit the future or the past, and why?
AJ: The past, to relive happy times. The future is tempting but too much knowledge about that ruins the joy of simply living the present. Knowing the future can be a curse, not a blessing.
JSC: What are you working on now, and when can we expect it?
AJ: I owe my readers at least two more books by Easter. One is Gotta Love Dragons, book 2 in Fated series, which is ¾ done! Yay! I need to start working on book 6 in Return of the Originals series too, I know what’ll be about but if I start focusing on that now Gotta Love will never be finished, so no more info on that one for now.
Besides those 2 books, I have 2 half-done manuscripts that hopefully will see the light of publishing in Summer 2017.
And now for Aeryn’s new book: Enchanting His Mate – due on 1/17/17:
Mallick’s life had never been easy and that probably wouldn’t change anytime soon. Likely, never. It was normal, after all his father was probably the most hated man on Earth and for good reasons too. Determined to stop the suffering, at least for others, he flees in search for allies and finds much more than he bargained for. He finds everything he’d ever wanted just to see it torn away together with any hope he’d ever had.
Adair shouldn’t be alive. He should have died with his mate more than two millennia ago. Yet here he is, and the one responsible for his awakening is none other than the son of the man responsible for shattering his world. To say he reacts badly it’s an understatement. He realizes soon what he had done but by then there’s nothing he can do to fix it.
Is there any hope left for the two broken souls? Will Mallick finally get what he’d not even dared dream about? Or is his not-mate too broken to accept the second chance he’d been given? The odds are stacked against them but luckily they have friends willing to help and pester them until they get it right. This time, they’re both due a bit of happiness if only they can reach and grab it.
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Excerpt
Go to the mausoleum.
Killa’s words still resounded in his brain two hours later. Mallick had eaten, slowly, pretended to read for the last half an hour and stared at the windows, forlorn. He was pitiful.
“All right. All right. Goddammit!”
He threw the book on the stand, just now noticing that he was holding it upside down. This was getting ridiculous! What was all the big deal, after all? He was going to visit a grave that may or may not produce a zombie. Yeah, no biggie. Either he was crazy or… he was crazy.
Mallick threw the door open so hard that it slammed the wall and almost knocked him on his ass when it bounced in his face. He rubbed his nose and felt the stickiness from his brand-new cut.
“Great. What else?”
Outside the sun was barely still shining. He could see the sky clothed in the various colors, preparing for the night. Yeah, he was dumb. I mean really? Visiting graves at twilight? At least it wasn’t the witching hour, but still! The garden looked glorious. The flowers shone brightly, cheerfully saluting the last glimpses of sunlight. Mallick didn’t notice any of this. His eyes were trained on the dense forest and the shadows that seemed to claim it more and more, second by second.
“Right. No biggie. At all. You’re a paranormal, Mallick. Man up. You’re big, bad, and… Yeah, right.”
He rolled his eyes, exasperated with himself, and entered the forest. A barely there trail took him quite quickly straight in front of a dome. It didn’t resemble a mausoleum. Not that he had seen many, maybe pictures of human ones. The dome was of carved stone with long-forgotten aged symbols staining its surface and gaping holes for high windows sustained by arcs. The doorway loomed ahead, like an open screaming mouth, and Mallick half turned to flee before he forcibly stopped himself. This was a dumb idea. He could do this, though it was still a dumb idea, no matter how he imagined himself as a hulking figure, which he wasn’t in his best dreams.
Come on now. I have faced worse that empty, dark tombs.
“Yeah, when? You wiseass. I better stop talking to myself now, or I’ll get in an argument for real.”
The truth was Mallick was petrified. Not of the dark or danger, if there was one, other than a close encounter with some bats. No, Mallick feared knowing. He felt the tug in his chest stronger than ever, and he knew whatever had been beside him all his life was there. Inside that tomb. Not speaking to him anymore.
“Ughhh! You’re a damn coward, Mallick! Go in already!”
He ran inside before he ran back to his bed or rather under it. The interior was not as dark as he had imagined. There was a round skylight cut in the dome’s ceiling, casting a circle of light on the ground. It also wasn’t huge or very ornate. Some interesting statues that Mallick recognized as being actual stone replicas of paranormals in their other shapes, the same symbols as outside but that this time, seemed to be glowing and shone in the shadows cast by the setting sun. In the center he saw slabs of stone with alight writing all around the pool of light in the middle, all arranged in circles upon circles. Not a lot of graves. Paranormals lived long, healthy lives if left alone, immortal in a way. They weren’t left alone often. Either humans hunted them or they made enemies among other paranormals.
Next to the center, a new tomb was covered in flowers. Not with flowers growing on it, but with flowers overflowing from the tomb beside it. The new tomb had been Aeri’s. His name was still on it, though the epitaph had been changed and made to commemorate the losses paranormals had suffered in the war Kale had wagged to overthrown the Council when he had thought his mate dead. Mallick was fascinated by the flowers. Short, white ones, round as a coin and found all around him, following the circle of light. Small, white mushrooms could be seen among them, and Mallick stumbled a step.
“Fairy ring.”
Unnoticed by him, a drop of blood from his abused nose dripped on one of the flowers. He didn’t see that, or see anything else for that matter. He was too busy feeling the ground shake. His legs failed to hold him upright, and a roar deafened him. Mallick’s eyes, wide open, took in the seemingly appearing from the ground shape, and he prayed he wouldn’t pee himself. Exactly in the middle of the fairy ring, in a pool of light cascading from above, the ground parted for the rising form, and Mallick saw the man.
Author Bio
Aeryn Jaden loves to read. Loves it so much that some days she doesn’t know what reality is anymore. Her friends and family usually have to yell a bit and remind her. Must be why she’s twenty eight and still searching for a special person of her own.
The second best thing in the world for Aeryn is writing. Writing keeps her relatively sane and clears the voices in her head clamouring for her attention (meaning the characters’ voices, she’s not that crazy to randomly hear voices! Yet.).
She was born in Romania but cannot stay put. One year you’ll find her in England, the next in Greece or Belgium. Who knows where her restless feet will carry her next… One thing remains constant and that is her totally healthy Internet addiction.
So you can find her on Facebook or email her at aerynjaden@yahoo.com or better yet at her websitehttp://aerynjadenauthor.weebly.com/, blog https://aerynjaden.wordpress.com/. She’ll love to hear from you so please stop by!
Thank you for having me, it looks great!