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Author Interview with Author Gordon Byron

I'm here today with author Gordon Byron while he discusses different aspects of his work. So come on...don't be shy. Join us.


Author Interview:


1. Please tell us about your latest book.


I have two latest book series as they are both ongoing:


The Superspecies: the novel is about a kidnapping incident by a crazed grizzly that ultimately uncovers a secret genetics engineering project that turns not-so-secret when the modified animals start rebelling and killing people including the researchers studying them. Their increased intelligence due to genetic enhancement makes them aware of the destructive nature of human beings, forcing those dealing with the bears to question their own motivations.








Young Love, Old Lore: a young and irresponsible young man who doesn’t care about himself or his life crashes into an old lady while rushing to school. He almost kills her and faces the possibility of a lengthy jail term if she dies. His relationship with his girlfriend is also on the rocks and his life seems to be spiraling out of control. Mrs. Halston, the woman he nearly kills recovers and appears in court on his behalf, changing his perspective on life, his own future, and the society he lives in.




2. What are the main characters in your book like? What are their strengths and weaknesses?


In The Superspecies my main character, Jack Falcon, is a forest ranger who is forced to watch as the job and living environment of his dreams is swept away in a whirlwind of trouble due to circumstances beyond his control. His life slowly crumbles under his feet and he has to rapidly adapt to radical changes over which he has no control. The character came about as a result of my desire to create a strong but natural personality type who simply loved living and working in the forest but whose idyllic world would ultimately be disrupted, forcing him to fall back on skills and aptitudes he'd learned from living and surviving in the wild. The character becomes entangled between the world of the intellectual/ scientific and the natural and essential.


In Young Love, Old Lore my main character, Paul Masters, is a wildly untamed and apathetic young man on a collision course with his own recklessness and shortcomings. He's terribly self-destructive and views self-immolation as romantic, edgy, and destiny itself. I was inspired to write about this type of character because so many young men (including myself) have to suffer through this growing-up phase. It's one archetypal image of a young male in my view (and increasingly more so with women too) and I wanted to explore a possible resolution to this tough phase of life: tapping the knowledge, character, and life experience of older generations who've already been through it.


3. Is your book a stand-alone or part of a series?


Both of the books I am working on now are part of a series. I will continue to write in series until the stories have exhausted themselves.


4. Can you tell us a bit about your process as an author? Do you try to hit a certain word count a day? Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished the first draft?


My writing style is neo-stream of consciousness/ impressionistic. I try to be a much more readable version of William Faulker or Henry James, both of whom were certainly brilliant but I think would have been much more accessible if they brought their unconscious impressions down to earth a bit.


I walk the line between overly abstract and overly literal and concrete in my writing style. I'm forever crossing the line between both writing approaches and I also try to add a bit of poetic


I write and edit seven days a week from the morning to midday or early afternoon. I can't really adjust to the world without engaging with my stories first. I try to finish at least a few edited pages per day and I edit my stories as I go along. After I draft 20 pages or so, I'll go back and start editing which certainly helps to keep the story together.


5. Do your plot and outline or do you wing it and see where the writing takes you?


I regularly switch back and forth between outlining and winging it within the outline. I try to let the story guide me to where it wants to go as a matter of course. Some stories should be character-driven by their very nature and others plot-driven because that is how the story begs to be told. I believe stories should be told in a certain way to make them complete in the reader’s mind and to convey them realistically and comprehensively, doing them justice in other words. The author isn’t in total control of the process (nor should he/she try to be) because stories must be allowed to breathe and the author should act primarily as a facilitator of the tale with all the accompanying and supporting details, ideas, and concepts.


We were lucky enough to get a blurb and short excerpt to each book, so hold on tight and check them out below!


Blurb:

The Superspecies: A young girl is brutally abducted by a bloodthirsty grizzly, forcing a group of scientists to mop up a genetic engineering operation that is out of control, threatening any and all who enter the woods. One question remains: are the animals really dangerous for no reason at all or does their enhanced intelligence simply make them recognize something damning about human nature that needs to be understood before it's too late?


Young Love, Old Lore: Paul Masters is a troubled and irresponsible young man who doesn't much care about himself or his future until he crashes into the elderly Mrs. Halston one morning while rushing to school. He nearly kills her and, as a result, faces the harsh reality of severe legal jeopardy if she dies. His relationship with his girlfriend Sandy is also on the rocks and everything in his life seems to be spiraling out of control until Mrs. Halston recovers and appears in court on his behalf, rescuing him from a lengthy jail term and a doomed perspective on life as well.


Short Excerpt:

The Superspecies: “Shhh,” Falcon whispered, placing his finger in front of his lips and the other hand over Skaggs’ mouth, “Take a peek right there...” Gesturing to the left of the tiny flame which had diminished significantly in the interim, to a bulky black bear sitting on its haunches and staring transfixed at the tiny flicker before it. Its prominent “Roman” nose sniffed the air once or twice, noting a change in the overall chemistry and the bear instinctively shifted its gaze in their direction. They ducked down and dropped flat on their bellies as quickly and quietly as possible, suspending all breathing for a period of time that seemed eternal without stripping their bulging eyes from the miraculous scene unfolding through a crack in the leaves.


Young Love, Old Lore: He wondered if he weren’t being punished for some reason. Was there something particularly nasty and horrible he had to pay for in life?Sandy?No, he’d behaved well in that relationship. The perfect gentleman in fact.Something to do with his Mom and Dad perhaps? There were a lot of things he could think of if he were totally honest, something he wasn’t prepared to do at the time because it made him feel worse. But something else occurred to him: what if punishment and reward had nothing to do with it? What if justice was meted out randomly by a malevolent god or indifferent universe? That was more frightening than anything because bad things could just strike him out of the blue at any moment but this being all too much to digest at once—the esoteric secrets behind his situation and the pain of dealing with the consequences—he simply let it all go for the time being.


Now a bit about the author!


Author Bio:


Gordon Byron/ Timothy Byron (my two pen names) is a world traveler (who has lived in North America, Asia, and Europe), teacher, earth science nut, and outdoors person with a background in geological sciences, market trading, and fiction writing. He became interested in fiction writing and poetry at age nine, science fiction in grade school, and horror stories in high school but now focuses primarily on creating characters involved in some form of moral/ existential struggle that forces them to overcome personal weaknesses or past grievances.

He loves reading literary fiction, classics, science fiction, and romantic comedies but lately occupies most of his time by researching new topics that might be interesting to himself, current and future readers. He attempts to connect with his readers through dynamic and accessible characters others can sympathize with and grow to love and emulate. His primary motivation for writing is to entertain and amuse.

He wrote The Superspecies series with the intent of presenting the possibility of a group of animals becoming as or more intelligent than human beings through genetic engineering and modification. A radical change that forces humans to reevaluate their status as rulers of the planet, putting them in the position of deciding whether to defend (or share) their place with an emerging species.


Follow him at the social media links for updates on his work and if you feel like you just can't wait for one more second to buy his books, then click the links below for purchase.


Social Media Links:







• Amazon Author Page: https://author.amazon.com/home,



Buy Links:


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