Sahara Foley Books and Book Reviews: Anita C Young and her Work in Progress: THE WILL OF TYR

Anita C Young and her Work in Progress: THE WILL OF TYR

Eyes of Osiris: A Kayara Ingham Novel (Architects of Lore Series Book 1)

Fenrir Reborn: A Sindri Modulf Novella (Architects of Lore) (Volume 2)

Tell us about your Work in Progress:

My WIP is called The Will of Tyr. It’s a sequel to my first novel, Eyes of Osiris, which was published in December 2013. It is getting ready to go into its last round of editing and will be published June 1st. I am also working on setting up pre-ordering for this book.

What is the story about?

The main character is a scientist, Kayara Ingham, and she sees the future through dreams and visions. In the previous novel she was coerced into leaving her home and moving to Iceland. She also happens to have been turned into a paranormal creature in the previous book, and is now coming to terms with her new world. These supernatural beings call themselves the Architects of Lore because they are responsible for all the legends, from vampires to werewolves to mermaids, and sow misinformation into mortal lore to suit their purposes. For instance, it’s easy to prove you’re not a vampire if you have a reflection after all.

The Will of Tyr is about her adjusting to the strange archaic rules, in a strange land. While this would have been difficult enough, her tyrannical Clan Leader, insists on using her psychic abilities to track down the source of terrorists who have been harrowing Moon Clan, her clan now, for years.

Who is the main character?

The main character is a young doctor of immunology called Kayara Ingham. She has a troubled past that haunts her, and despite her best efforts, still influences her actions. Now she has to learn to cope in this new world with a leader whose paranoia is rotting the core of her new Clan, and her only allies are a man she barely trusts, a woman who can manipulate emotions, and a good natured, though jaded, man that everyone refers to as the wolf.

What inspired this tale? How did the story come to you?

In an interview I saw Laurell K. Hamilton, one of my favourite authors at the time, claimed that the only way to explain vampires was through paranormal or mystical means. I took this as a challenge and created a world about vampires, werewolves, demons, etc., that could be explained through science. Given my scientific background, I leapt into this with both feet.

Others have tried to explain vampires with viruses before, but I took it a step further. What if viruses explained everything? In every culture around the world there are myths about blood drinking creatures, so I made that the core of them. They all reproduce through blood by spreading these viruses. In my universe I have a pair of viruses that work together, one type in the salivary glands, and one in the general blood. They can only turn a human when both are present.

The Kayara Ingham trilogy is simply a story about a woman who is trying to overcome her past, which many people can understand. The fact that her obstacles are a little more supernatural than ours makes for interesting reading in my opinion.

Did you have to research for this novel and if so, why?

I research for all my novels. They are based on science so I need to know the science. For this one, most of the scientific rules had already been set in book one, Eyes of Osiris, so I just had to research the locations. I did a lot of research on Iceland, which I have always thought was amazingly beautiful, and Egypt, which has captivated my imagination since I was a child.

If you did research, what do you think surprised you most to learn and why?

I am constantly surprised about what I find when I research. Sometimes it’s something as basic as “Did hot chocolate even exist then?” to as complex as what was going on in Egypt during a certain time frame.

I actually have so many facts that I find surprising and interesting, that I share one every other day on my Facebook author page. For The Will of Tyr, I found it fascinating that one of the Pharaoh’s in Egypt completely broke with tradition and founded an entirely new religion based on worshiping the sun. This was actually, coincidentally, where Sun Clan, North Africa’s Architect of Lore clan, happens to live. I am constantly surprised at how many happy coincidences occur in the history of my world with the real world.

Do you relate to your character? Is your protagonist anything like you personally?

She is a little like me, yes, but I’ve borrowed many characteristics from other people.

If yes, then how?

We both feel the need to understand and explain the world around us.

What made you write this character; what made them important to you or made you want to tell their story?

She is important to me, partially because she is a little like me, but also because she is working through a past that would have crippled most people, and is becoming a stronger, better person for it. I think that her struggle to overcome is a struggle most people many people, including me, find inspiring.

Is there anything you specific want readers to know about this piece of work?

This is not a typical vampire novel meant for young teens.

When will the novel be available for purchase?

June 1, 2015

Has the book already been published?

Eyes of Osiris (book 1) has been published as well as a novella spin off about one of the characters, Sindri, in Fenrir Reborn.

If yes, do you have a link available for buying it?

Eyes of Osiris: