Thanks for stopping by to talk a little about your writing! Let's jump right in. When did you begin writing and why?
Thank you for having me! I started writing in the 5th
grade, as me and my friends got inspired by our English teacher. At first, I
would write fan-fiction (before I even knew what that was) of a Final Fantasy
character named Yojimbo. He would go on these crazy adventures and I would
write them down on pad paper. I would then submit these stories to my English
teacher, oftentimes once or twice a week. Shortly after that, I came up with
the very first drafts for AURA.
Do you have a favorite genre? Is it the same genre you prefer to write?
Fantasy! But lately, my interest for high fantasy
waned and was replaced with fantasy exploring technology and having more modern
setting. These things all lean towards science fiction, but ironically, science
fiction isn’t my most favorite of genres.
Do certain themes and ideas tend to capture your writer’s imagination and fascinate you?
Definitely. The themes of war shown from the various
Gundam series always stirs up my imagination, and when I played the Suikoden
games, it stirred those up even further. Most animes also invoke these.
How do you balance long-term thinking vs. being nimble in today's market?
In my case, I had the ideas for AURA since I was 10
years old. The story of AURA back then versus how it is now is vastly
different. I try not to follow today’s market trends, but there’s no doubt that
those market trends helped me in telling the story with the best of my ability.
How do you find readers in today's market?
I think the best way to find readers today is through
social media. No matter how niche your book’s market be, with all the people in
the world, it could be a great success.
Do you come up with the hook first, or do you create characters first and then dig through until you find a hook?
In my case, I created the characters first. Those
would be: Ren (the protagonist), Lisa (who I renamed to Garnet later), Raven,
Lily, and Millie (who I renamed to Alma later). Those five characters were the
only ones to survive all the changes to the story. As for the hook, it came
second, but was always the same for every version of the story- that Ren would
lose everything dear to him and that his journey would be filled with revenge.
Also, Alma wasn’t in the first book. Consider this a sneak peek to my absolute
favorite character.
How do you create your characters?
I would first imagine someone just living out their
life- what a normal day would be like for them. I would then look into the
story’s plot and see if the story needs a particular role fulfilled. I would
then imagine if that character could fulfill that role- what would change in
their life? What would they need to sacrifice in their current life to fulfill
that role? Can the character be more fleshed out if I put them in that role?
Will the storytelling be negatively affected by them? But sometimes I created
background characters that became more prominent in the story. I did not intend
for them to be prominent, but I’m very happy that I did give them a bigger
role, as I grew very attached to them.
What's on the top of your TBR pile right now?
Right now, it’s Howl’s Moving Castle, A Feast for
Crows, and Les Miserables. Right now, I’m rereading The Promised Neverland.
Tell me a little about the characters in AURA: Revive Edition.
I would say they are doing the best they can given
their situation. Ren lost everything when the Gaians attacked and woke up in a
foreign Kingdom. Lily is doing her best to help her community of survivors from
the Gaians, but can’t shake her thirst for vengeance. And Gem, living off the
grid since she was a child, prepares for avenging her adoptive grandfather. In
short, they are very selfish with their goals tunneling their vision with what’s
really going on in the world.
Where’s the story set? How much influence did the setting have on the atmosphere/characters/development of the story?
The story first starts in the City of Xerik- the
Capital of the Kingdom of Zinah, and a shining utopia in the middle of the
desert. The majority of the story would then take place exploring the Kingdom
of Praganja- a lush and large Kingdom filled with false peace.
Magic Crystals called Shards influenced the world very
much, bringing forth numerous advances in technology such as Airships,
electricity, and weather control. That’s why the majority of the Zinahns live
comfortably despite their Kingdom being in the middle of the desert. One of the
biggest feats the use of Shards made is the City of Minerva- a flying city in
the middle of the wasteland known as the Kingdom of Elyciux.
But the Shards also bring out the worst in humanity as
anyone who touched them raw would turn into an Auran- an out-of-control super
being that could control numerous elements.
If you had to write your memoir in five words, what would you write?
Surpass limits and surprise yourself.
How often does your muse distract you from day to day minutiae?
It distracts me 20-60% of the time. I often joke that
I lived their lives more than mine.
What do readers have to look forward to in the future from you?
AURA: Revive Edition is only the first book out of an
estimated four. I’m working very hard to make the second book, and if you liked
the first one, you will love what comes next.
Fantasy
The Aura Saga Book 1
Aura Multimedia Arts
For Ren, ignoring them was easy- the people screaming and going after
each other’s necks. He didn’t believe it concerned him- the alliance between
his home Kingdom of Zinah and the war-waging Kingdom of Gaia. All he wanted was
to continue his carefree life.
He wished he listened. The cityscapes he loved
so much were now nothing more than rubble. The people he knew since childhood
have been either taken away or brutally killed. And when the King of Gaia took
his sister, Garnet, Ren made it his life’s duty to bring hell to him and Gaia
the way they did to him.
Excerpt from Chapter
4:
“What do you mean ‘good luck’?” Hollis the soldier asked through the communicator, but no one answered
back. He approached the
lifeless body and crouched beside it- his eyes were open and gray
as his blood continued to pool around them, softening the mud and blending with
it.
“He came alone, didn’t he?” the second soldier,
Erskine, said. “Our job here’s finished! Shouldn’t we go back? It’s freezing
here!”
The third soldier, Wetherby, jabbed the second soldier’s
shoulder. “Would you shut your trap? You already got all three of us in
trouble! If the Guardian Vaan hears that, he’ll surely execute you.”
Erskine scoffed. “High and mighty all of a sudden, are
we? You’re just as much at fault here! See all these cameras?” He gestured at
the four semi-hidden cameras around the clearing. “Vaan must be laughing at us
now. It’s no question you’ll get executed too!”
As Erskine and Wetherby argued, Hollis observed the
dead boy’s body. He thought the execution to be a little bit overkill, but
orders were orders. He and Erskine and Wetherby have disobeyed too many of
them, and he thought this was a good way to make up for it. He leaned closed to
the dead boy’s chest and observed the many bullet holes- you could barely tell
that he was wearing a white shirt. He leaned back and looked at the dead boy’s
face. Was his hair always been this jet black? He thought as he turned
back to his companions.
“Oi!” Hollis shouted. “Could you two just stop
yammering?! You’ll get us into more trouble!”
Erskine and Wetherby shut their mouth with a grunt as
Hollis checked on the dead boy’s body again. “What?” he asked in disbelief as
he looked at the dead boy’s blue eyes. “Oi! This boy didn’t have blue eyes
before!”
“Shut up!” Wetherby shouted. “No one cares what that
boy looks like, he’s dead! What’s it matter?”
Hollis removed his helmet and took a closer look- the
dead boy’s tanned skin was turning paler by the second. “What the hell is going
on?” Hollis asked, now noticing the sword on the dead boy’s back. He reached
for it when the dead boy’s dead hand grabbed his wrist. “What in the name of-”
he shouted as he got up and backed away.
And immediately, the dead boy got up and drew Mirage,
slashing at Hollis before he could even finish his sentence. Hollis managed to
stay out of the swing arc, but he lost his footing and fell down to the mud.
Erskine backed away a few steps and Wetherby dropped
his rifle as Hollis backed away slowly from this dead boy whose upper torso was
shrouded in bright, emerald green Aura. The bullet holes in his chest shrank
and disappeared within seconds as well as the bullet holes in his right hand
and calf.
With shaking hands, Erskine took aim at the dead boy
who was just standing there. But the dead boy noticed, and before Erskine could
fire, the dead boy lunged at him. Erskine pulled the trigger and unloaded at
least a dozen bullets on the dead boy, but he kept charging. Not a second
later, Erskine found the dead boy, all bloody again in front of him and between
them was his sword. The sword pierced through Erskine’s breastplate like paper
and he felt his lungs emptying as the sword went out his back.
The dead boy swiftly removed his sword from Erskine
and he dropped dead. Wetherby screamed and decided to run uphill back to the
base, but as soon as he turned around, the dead boy was behind him and swung
his sword at his neck. Before Wetherby’s head could hit the ground, the new
bullet holes the dead boy got were already gone.
Hollis could only back away as the dead boy eyed him
with his eerie blue eyes. “Please! Please leave me alone!” he shouted, almost
incoherently as his fingers continue to dig though the mud, completely
forgetting that he had an arsenal of weapons at his disposal. He saw the dead
boy grab Wetherby’s rifle and walk towards him, his shroud of Aura leaving a
fleeting trail of emerald light. The last thing he saw was the dead boy aiming
the rifle in front of his face and then pulling the trigger.
Krisley Jior
Castillo loved drawing for as long as he can remember. He developed a love for
writing when he turned ten and came up with the first version of Aura. His
third passion, playing the piano, came later in life around 15-16 years of age.
He spends his free time composing music and honing his skills in piano and
drawing the characters of Aura.
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