https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08H25DHVG
The Ouiums Journey looks like an exciting story. Any plans to turn it into a series?
Yes! I am currently working on The Ouiums Journey: The Rise which is the 2nd installment in the series. Originally, it was a standalone, but it developed into more. I have another side project which is writing a collection of short stories including Esa, Estelle, Kaspar and Skylar and their lives prior to the events in Hell Broke Loose.
What can you tell us about Esa Blyth, the main character?
Esa is a wise witch beyond his time who suffered a great loss because of his actions. He had to learn the hard way and his journey shows that and him growing into his new powers. Guilt is a heavy emotion to carry, but he is strong and takes it in his stride. All he wants is for people like him, Ouiums, to be safe in the world and free from discrimination.
That’s an amazing cover. Can you tell us a little about it?
The cover concepts at the start were quite different to what it is now, originally, it was Esa and Thegon fighting in the realms of Hell. Instead, I included the main protagonists of the story with Thegon looming over them to show his power and colossal size. I loved how it turned out and it fits with the themes of the story.
How did you come up with the story in The Ouiums Journey?
I was sitting at my desk wondering how I could add a spin on witches, but more specially how their magic worked. Generally, in the fantasy genre, they are born or bestowed with energy to cast spells and must follow the rules of nature. I decided what if they had to break these rules against their will and ‘steal’ it from their surroundings. From there, I developed my main character, Esa Blyth and added a spice of dark magic, hell, and chaos into his character. After that coming up with the story, which was a challenge, but with hard work I created something I fell in love with.
Did anything stick out as particularly challenging when writing The Ouiums Journey?
This was my debut novel; it came with a lot of challenges, but rewriting and self-editing was challenging for me as I had little experience authoring a story of this size, but in the end, I produced a manuscript I loved. I love the characters and the growth that happens during the story.
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I grew up in Northern Ireland and currently live there. I am studying applied science with the hopes of going into medicine.
Where can readers find out more about your work?
I only have one novel out and one coming out in the next few months. My audience and keep with my work on Discord which is a social media platform. You can contact me directly by adding me via my tag or joining my Discord server.
My tag is: @𝓓𝔂𝓵𝓪𝓷#6666
The server invite is: https://discord.gg/bhBeVWAn7J