Interview
Let's see I live in Ansonia, Connecticut. Grew up in Milford Connecticut. I am the baby of the family, but have the Independent streak of a first born. I write tales that I want to read. I write because I am compelled to do so. It is an outlet for the tumultuous and often twisted bits that go on in my head, if I didn't get it out I would probably be far less adjusted than I am. I tend to be a wee bit of a control freak, and often will take over any conversation I am a party to. Some would say this makes me a bitch. Others would teli you it's a part of my charm, or that my being Bi-Polar has much to do with it. I don't really know one way or the other, but frankly I think it takes being a wee bit crazy and unstable to be able to put out the kind of work that makes you think about those around you. Many of the best writers from yesteryear had something going on. Hemingway was a drunk, Poe addicted to one substance or another. Hell even Freud was a coke head for awhile. I think that these facets of the person make for interesting storytellers. In the end all one really needs to know about me is that I am a tellers of tales, and I hope that some will appreciate them.
2) How long have you been writing?
For as long as I could spell. Even before that my family would tell you that I have been telling stories. Just off the fly when ever I thought of them. I could never contain the tales within, which is why I started writing.
3) Do you have a favorite place to write?
I can write anywhere.I am rarely seen without a pen and some paper. In high school I even used napkins from the cafeteria when I had to get an idea down. I'm currently remodeling so that I have a better use of my space for writing interrupted.
4) Why did you decide to write In Dreams... The Solitary Road?
I wrote In Dreams... The Solitary Road to serve as a companion novella to my first work In Dreams... The Road Unavoidable, published back in 2012. It was to supposed to be a short story that simply explained Amara Dagon my protagonist's background. A means to show how she came to be as she is in the 1st book. But as I continued to write, it took on its own life, as my work tends to do. This brought me to realize that the first work was simply a wee bit intimidating, finishing out at well over 400 pages... It got me to thinking that I had missed something in ending it as I had, so now I have gone back to the writing board and tweaked the first tale, making it the second in the series. Re-titling it In Dreams... The Unavoidable Road. Both of which are now available on Amazon.com. I am current;y working on the third in the series. To be titled In Dreams... The Savage Road. The actual inspiration for the work? A combination of many different stimuli. From Video games and music to films, friends and Continental Drift Theory. It's my means of writing how I perceive the human condition in all its wants, needs pomps and glories.
5) Who is your favorite character in your book and why?
In this installment, I would have to say that all of the Raepuwa were my favorite characters to write. I had to develop a language for them based on signs and body movements for those characters that did not speak with voice. It was fun watching my pets communicate to each other and shaping those actions into an humanoid character.
6) How about your least favorite character? What makes them less appealing to you?
I love all of my characters... Even the villains, when you spend as much time with a character/s as we writers do I don't think there is any way you can not love and hate them all in equal measure. Some days the cooperate, other days they go mute. It's like any other relationship at the end of the day you roll with the punches.
7) Do you proofread/edit your own books or do you get someone to do that for you?
I have recently worked with BETA readers, that's about as far as I go as to letting anyone else get their hands on my work before it's released. I do my own edits, and am a stickler for the Oxford Comma. I tend to run on an on, but that's my style... Like it or not, I'm not changing what works for me.
8) What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Garden, plan more works, draw, read, do book reviews for Indy Authors... See the occasional movie...
9) Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors?
I have spent a considerable bit of time reading as of late. I host many authors on The 131 Preview Review, my Review/Interview Blog, of those indy authors, one of my most favorite is Eri Nelson, she has this way of twisting a tale and molding it so that even the flow of her sentences is primal there is an uninhibitedness that reaches out to me and makes me scream to read more.
10) What question do you wish that someone would ask about your book, but nobody has? Write it out here, then answer it.
I have seen many questions as of late. Many I've answered more than once, and many I myself have asked. But A question I wish people would ask? I don't really know, I suppose I wish that I could spend more time picking the brains of those who have read my work. I think that there are always going to be questions like why did you write this, who was it written for? And such, actually that's one I haven't had..
Who did you write this book for?
The answer, I wrote for Amara Dagon, because she asked me to...
In Dreams... The Solitary Road
S.I.Hayes
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: S.I.Hayes
Date of Publication: October 1, 2013
ISBN-13: 978-1491092118
ISBN-10: 1491092114
Number of pages: 206
Word Count: 45k
Cover Artist: S.I.Hayes and Eri Nelson
Book Description:
Dumped in a treacherous Arctic land, Amara Dagon must master her spell craft if she is to survive a year in exile, but fear, doubt and the loss of her family threatens to take hold. Can Amara gain control of her magic or will she succumb to it leaving her people in the hands of a dangerous tyrant?
Excerpt
She stood with the Queen in her hands, humming as she had been taught by her tutors. The Queen darted from her hands, flitting this way and that, as it did so, the other Hymenopteria began to awaken from their long cold time slumber. The swarm rose, filling the sky. Amara stood frozen, her fear holding her and her voice at the gate of silence. She could not continue the hum or the chat that should have followed. Her fear was too great; the idea that this insect could kill her in moments overwhelmed her. The swarm came in a rush, down upon the masses of people. Pandemonium ensued. They ran. Ran into their homes, headed for the water, others high tailed it to the Inn on the hillside. Rosaline had no choice but to step in, she took Amara’s place in the center of the swarm, wrapping her arms protectively around Amara.
“Jeremiah! Come take her, wrap her in your garb. Keep her from the queen! She will seek her out!” Amara’s mother’s voice was filled with demanding concern. Jeremiah did as he was told, staying low to the ground avoiding the insects’ stings.
Within a few moments, Rosaline had stopped the swarm, her presence seemed to be all that was needed, when it was over and all was calm, three people were dead, including Carrola, Beatrice’s youngest child.
To make matters worse, because Amara was unable to finish her final initiation, the task of calming them, there was no alternative, their appeasement could only be held firm with smoke and blood.
This was the isle’s way, so said Rosaline, according to her Priestess texts, which were conveniently translated by Beatrice. Stating that if ever the insects failed to calm in the presence of a High Priestess it was because the Divine Goddess wanted a libation. In the past this had been done regularly, to keep the flow of Trialade in check, but the last time was more than sixty years ago.
A choice had to be made, either it was to be the blood of the initiate, or the blood of the father. Since Amara was an only child, and Jeremiah had forfeited his pervious life to become High Priest, he knew it was his duty to keep Amara safe. He would keep his promise to her, in the only way he could. He sacrificed himself, so that she would be spared. He never dreamed that Rosaline’s cruelty could go so far...
As part of the ritual to appease the Divine, Jeremiah was beaten, first publically lashed by Rosaline and Beatrice, while Amara was forced to watch. When this was done, he was taken away by guards who all but crippled him. Once the pyre had been created, he was dragged to its base, lugged up the steps, and tied by guards, a few of whom were visibly in tears.
In the time of Nathan, and Jeremiah, the treatment of men, was a far fairer time. Before them, stories were told of atrocities as the one now witnessed happening on a far larger and more frequent scale. The entirety of the Isles people were gathered as the ritual played out. Amara was held tightly by Amaranth, and handed a torch, she was to be the one to light the fire. Adorned in white robes she was pushed forward, the torch in her hand, as Rosaline chanted. The words escaped Amara as she looked into her fathers bloodied face. She couldn’t do it, even as the man nodded, giving her permission. Amara collapsed, hoping that this would end it, but she was dragged away screaming for her father, as Rosaline, glared at her, then took up the torch, and finished it. The kindness of Amara’s world ended in that instant.
About the Author:
I am the Co-Author to Awakenings: The Wrath Saga, a paranormal drama likened to Big Brother meets The Real World, of the Preternatural.
I'm currently working on the sequels to In Dreams... Due for release in 2014.
I have a mind that is easily distracted and prone to wandering. Tangents are my forte, and if you think my characters are going to fit a cookie cutter shape of any kind, think again. They live, they love, they eat, sleep and fuck. I believe that people are inherently sexual creatures and my characters be they human or something all together else are no exception.
I don't adhere to a single genera, I toe the line on several and wouldn't presume to be a master of any. So I suppose you could call me jack-of-all-trade-paperbacks.
I am a truth seeker, in my life, in my work. I’d apologize for it, but I kinda can't help m’self. It's my best and worse personality trait, well mostly, being Bi-Polar I guess you could say that is the worse. But I believe that the disorder has made me, well... Me.
I have taken this life and twisted, carved, shaped and molded it in to the worlds of my characters. Albeit with a chainsaw, and it has made all the difference
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