Book Reviews by Lynn: Book Promo and Author Interview - Beneath The Surface: The Lost Boy by Erren Grey Wolf

Today, I have pleasure in hosting Erren Grey Wolf, author of Beneath The Surface: The Lost Boy. Please make her feel welcome! She has taken time out of her busy schedule to answer some of my questions. Please find them below:

Synopsis:

Beneath the Surface: The Lost Boy is a futuristic science fiction adventure mixed with ancient Celtic and Norse myths. An unusual boy is born on a spaceship bound for the planet Midgard, but his very birth brings sorrow to his family. Out of grief for the loss of their mother, Sean Archer abandons his baby brother in the forest by an old oak tree. He goes away hunting, never realizing the full consequences of his heartless act. The mysterious Queen of the Forest finds the sad, abandoned child and comforts him, but upon witnessing horrific visions of his future, she decides to steal him away into the Otherworld to protect him from it. When Sean returns and finds Erren gone, guilt strikes him down and he becomes repentant. He then begins his noble quest to find his lost brother, to right the wrong he had done, unaware that his search is awakening his latent telepathic gift. Inevitably, he comes to realize that the longer he hunts, the more he doubts his sanity. The forest becomes haunted as the mystical Queen Elaya tries to stop him from taking her little boy.

You can purchase The Lost Boy on Amazon at:

US: The Lost Boy (Beneath the Surface)

UK: The Lost Boy (Beneath the Surface)

Author Interview:

1. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

After my second breakdown at the end of 2004. I had to take Lithium, which made my hands shake and forced me to quit art school, so my creativity demanded another outlet and I began to write down the stories I’ve had in my head since I was a teenager.

2. How long does it take you to write a book?

That’s a difficult question. I began to write in 2005, but one paragraph turned into one chapter, which turned into one book, which turned in to three books, which turned into a whole saga. I’ve been working on the whole series for eight years now. I don’t write, finish, and publish one book at a time, I’m working on the whole series all at once to make sure all the stories weave into one another like a beautiful tapestry.

3. What do you think makes a great story?

Interesting characters and the interesting situations they have to deal with.

4. What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

I work all day, almost every day, until 10 o’clock when CTV News comes on.

5. How do you balance family and writing?

My father lives with me in my condo. I rarely see my Mum. I don’t get along with my brother, so I haven’t seen him in years. I see my best friend about once every one or two months. I don’t really have a social life.

6. Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?

My subconscious mind demands an outlet and speaks through symbols, which I turn into science fiction stories. It is very therapeutic to write about your pain in a symbolic fashion. My ideas come from my crazy, trauma-filled life. A few books along in the series, I write about demons. I’ve seen them. I have loads of stories to tell!

7. What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your book/s?

When I wrote most of the series, I did not intend to write about my own life. I thought I was just making stuff up, but I later realized my subconscious had come through and was trying to tell me something important through my writing. Many parts of my stories are my own life in symbolic form. That was surprising!

8. How many books have you written? Which is your favourite?

I have written about nine or ten books so far, but have only published the first in this series. I’m almost finished polishing the second. I hope to finish polishing the third before the end of the year. The others are pretty much finished as well, but just need polishing before I publish them. My favourite one hasn’t been published yet. It is called, “The Supreme Court of Titan,” and Erren Archer goes to trial for all the assassinations he had committed and cannot remember, but as the memory collector takes the memories from his mind, he remembers bit by bit what happened and it traumatizes him nearly to death. His big brother, Sean, tries desperately to hold him together, but … well, I won’t give it away yet!

9. Are your characters based on anyone you know?

Erren Tristan Archer is my alter ego. Sean is part of me, too. When I was daydreaming as a teenager, I used to imagine myself in different places, doing fantastic things, but I also expressed my own inner pain in those daydreams, too.

10. Do you have a favourite place you love to write?

In my bedroom at my computer.

11. How hard is it to get published?

I self-published. I was too impatient to wait for one out of all my query letters to accept me.

12. What do your family and friends think about your books?

They thought it was amazing that I accomplished so much. Dad, my proofreader, said my books are “compelling.” Mum said the first book made her cry.

13. What do you like to do when you are not writing?

I like playing Arkham Horror and Pathfinder Society games with my best friend.

14. Do you have any suggestions to help aspiring writers better themselves and their craft? If so, what are they?

Make sure you have someone proofread your work. You can read your stories a zillion times and still not see one typo. You need a fresh set of eyes to find the typos you have missed.

15. As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

I wanted to be an artist, but as I mentioned, I unfortunately had to give that up.

16. What are your favourite books and which authors inspire you?

I love Lord of the Rings and Narnia.

17. For an aspiring writer what do you feel are certain do's and don’ts for getting their material published?

Do believe in yourself. Pay for someone, like Kirkus, to review it. Even if it isn’t the best review, you will learn from it and you can revise your book to make it better. Kirkus told me that my first book Tells more than it Shows. That was a big lesson. I didn’t even knew what that meant, so I researched it, learned about it, then revised my story to make it less narrative and more about Showing what the characters are doing. That was an important lesson for me.

Don’t despair over negative comments. Consider them constructive criticism. One literary agent said my first book was too big for a first novel in a science fiction genre. It was 178,000 words. I tried to chop it down to 150,000, which is the maximum, but it cut into the heart of the story, so I chop the book into two smaller stories. That is why The Lost Boy out right now is the Second Edition.

18. What are you working on now?

I’m working on polishing book two. It’s called, “Long Lost Brother.” This used to be part three of the first edition of The Lost Boy, but as previously mentioned, I had to chop that original book in two. Long Lost Brother is the sequel to the Second Edition of The Lost Boy. I’m almost finished revising Long Lost Brother to Show more than Tell, which is an important lesson in my writing career. I hope to publish this book in May.

About the Author:

I am a compulsive writer. When I am not writing my books, I am writing in my voluminous journals. I have over three dozen two-inch binders of journals and counting. One day, I will use them to write my autobiographies. Sometimes, reality is stranger than fiction. There are things that have happened in my life that you will simply not believe. There are things too horrific for me to speak about, so I write them secretly in my journals. Until I summon up the guts to tell the truth, I will write science fiction. Being able to write about horrific events in a symbolic way is my form of therapy. It’s what I call, “The Art of Darkness.” They say, “Write what you know.” Well, I know trauma. I know what hell is like. Already, I fear I have said too much.

YouTube (reading book synopsis of The Lost Boy):