Hey
Cecilia!! First I want to say welcome to Two Chicks on Books I’m glad you could
stop by for a chat! THE FORGOTTEN Series is AWESOME, and I can’t wait for
everyone to read it!
For the readers: can you tell us a little bit about the THE FORGOTTEN
and the characters?
So, The Forgotten is a mash-up of both Egyptian and Irish
mythology and lore. It takes place in
modern Sligo, Ireland in the Connaught area.
I’ve always loved the mysticism and nostalgia that both countries have,
and fell in love with the idea of meshing together the threads of their
mythologies (which was not as much of a
stretch as some might think.)
The idea started when I was brainstorming a short story for a
St. Patrick’s Day anthology. I spotted a
small book of Egyptian mythology gathering dust on my bookshelf, and asked
myself, “what if?” I didn’t want to use
one of the more well known goddesses, though.
Then I found the perfect one.
Bat. The more I read about her
the more fascinated I became. She was so
many things to her people. A fertility
goddess, a goddess of the soul (Bat is a form of “ba” which was one of the
pieces of the soul in ancient Egypt religion), as well as one of the goddesses
who helped to defend ma’at, or order.
Her home was in Upper Egypt.
However, not much is known, because after the unification of the
kingdoms, her temples and cults were absorbed into those of Hathor, who held
almost the exact same role, but in Lower Egypt. A bit of a butt kick, because
it was said Bat was key to ensuring the unification of the kingdoms of Egypt
(or at least there was speculation that it was her standing between Seth and
Horus on a carving called the Narmer Palette, which shows the unification of
the kingdoms. And I should probably stop
getting so pedantic and answer the question.) Once I found all that out, my
imagination ran away with me.
So here we have Bat, a once proud and dignified goddess of
Egypt, completely forgotten. Not just by
the people of Egypt, but by most of the gods themselves. Because they don’t need her, not
anymore. Her purpose has been fulfilled,
and she’s been replaced.
But Bat also has visions.
It’s one of the things that allowed her help with uniting the
kingdom. And while her power is low with
the loss of her followers, something has set those visions off. With some help from Bastet, she figures out
these visions are leading her to Ireland.
She decides to go, because part of what these visions are showing her is
that she may be able to find a new home there.
And more than anything else, this goddess is lonely.
When she arrives, it’s a bit of an eye opener. While she’s not unfamiliar with technology,
she’s not adept at it, and she’s kept herself so isolated that she doesn’t have
much of a clue about Ireland or the immortals and deities who live there. But one of the things she does know, is she
knows who she is, and she knows what she wants.
So when things start happening that threaten her and her new home, she
won’t let anything stand in her way.
One of the things I liked so much about Bat, is her generosity
of spirit. She’s a strong character, but
she’s not… standoffish or
combative. She won’t let people run all over her, but she is
also willing to bend. I like to call it
quiet strength. It’s a strength I think
a lot of people possess, and one I really enjoy both reading about and
embodying in my characters.
What about the guys, you ask?
Well, let me tell you about the O’Loinsigh brothers. Oh, those brothers. THEY have chips on their shoulders, for
sure. Dub, Shar, and Mell O’Loinsigh,
Fomoiri and the sons of Alatrom. Again,
I pulled a bit here and a bit there from old stories and texts. The Fomoiri were considered demons and
destructive beings. They lived mostly on
the sea and were pirates who raided and invaded Ireland. Their main enemies were the Tuatha de
Danaan. I won’t get into all the details
here (I do have quite a bit in the Note From the Author in the back of each
book).
Dub is the oldest, and the grumpy one. Bat tries to count his frowns as some point,
because he seems to have a different one for every situation, even when he’s
happy. His power is Strength, and
believe me, you don’t want to make him angry.
You’ll just need to be replacing tables and chairs and very expensive
slabs of wood for the bar top.
Mell is the middle child.
He’s a musician, and is adept as manipulating and projecting
emotions. So much so that he often
mistakes what is real and what is not, even for himself. He’s a musician, and the most merry on the
surface. That surface hides a lot of
pain, though.
Shar is the youngest.
He’s also the largest in body size.
Bat calls him her gentle giant.
He is the most gentle, with an affinity for plants, and a protective
streak as wide as him. He has a friendly
rivalry with the pixies that keep wanting to invade his garden, and his own
reasons for hiding away from the world.
Last but not least is Finn.
Oh, my Finn. He doesn’t really
get into the running for Bat’s affections until the second book, but he has his
reasons. He’s a warrior, though and
through. In the modern day, that of
course translates into being part of Irelands enforcement branch for immortals
and supernaturals. In the first book,
his past comes up and slaps him in the face.
If I’m honest, I think I like his story line with Bat the most. He brings out something in her that none of
the brothers do, and I think it’s because of him that the romantic ice is
finally broken. I also think it’s him
that allows her to see it’s okay for her to want people and things for himself.
In addition to our main players, there is a whole passel of
Irish fae and immortals. I wanted to use
the lesser known ones, or the ones more thought of as solitary or even
evil. The ones who didn’t quite
fit. The ones who, like the brothers,
just wanted to be left alone in their little corner of the world to live by
their nature and in peace. There are
banshees, leprechauns, will o’ the wisps, fear durgs, bomen, pixies, far gortas,
sluagh, and a few others. All misfits in
the overall scope of Irish Immortal society.
Just like Bat was a misfit in her own land.
You have two complete series under your belt now with THE FORGOTTEN
& THE ADVENTURES OF BLUE FAUST. So what are you working on now?
I have a few things planned.
I’m working on Ailis’s story. The
first book in that will be coming out in August. The mischievous fae will be going to Egypt,
and showing those pompous gods and goddesses how things should be done.
After that, I’ve got another new series. It’s going to be a new adult, paranormal,
urban fantasy, academy…
basically all the things. It’s about a girl named Genie who has psychic
powers, and sees visions of deaths as they happening. Twist is, she sees them from the viewpoint of
the killer. She finds herself at
Greyling Academy, a private college with the best parapsychology department
around, and from there…
well, everything changes for her.
That’s probably all I should say for now. I made a list once, of all the books I have
in my head floating around waiting to be written. It was over twenty. And the list keeps growing.
Were any of the characters in the book inspired by people from your
real life?
Not in their entirety.
But, one of the goals I have in any of my books is to create characters that
have what I like to call “quiet strength.”
It’s not that sassy, in your face, I will kick your but strength you see
in a lot of urban fantasy characters, but the one that carries most people
through their day-to-day lives. The
stuff that gets you up in the morning, and makes you try again even after
you’ve failed.
I’ve known a lot of people like that in my life, and I admire
them. They look on life as something to
live, not something to endure, and try to see the best in it. I guess you could call them optimists, but
that’s not even quite right.
Anyway, I’ve been blessed to know many like that. My mother, my step-father, cousins,
roommates. I won’t tell you about each
and every one, but all of them have shown that strength, and that’s what inspired
me.
Who was your favorite character to write? What about your least
favorite?
I’ll be honest. I LOVE
writing things from the villain’s point of view. I just get to let all that crazy fly. Even though there’s only one scene, it was my
most favorite.
As for a least favorite, I’m not sure how to answer that. There are ones I struggled with more than
others. For instance, Dub. You can only take “grumpy” so far before you
need to give him more depth. I still
enjoyed his scenes, because he was the most likely to explode in some crazy
way, but… Nevermind, I like writing him.
How about I tell you my least favorite type of scene to
write! The sexy times. I know some authors love to write it, but I
struggle. Mostly because I never know
which words to use. Do I stick with the
latin names, the more common slang, crude slang, or just refer to all the bits
with pronouns? I have to admire the
authors who can pull off the hot scenes with both class and description.
What is your favorite passages/scenes in THE FORGOTTEN Series?
This is probably longer
than you meant, but I’ve included it here.
This is Bat’s first night in the pub.
I love this part, because to me it tells you so much about Bat as a person. How lost she is, and how much she wants a
real home. You also see her begin to
reach for it here in a new land, and how the other patrons in the bar welcome
her without fanfare in their own way.
There are funner, and funnier, scenes, but this one…. Well, it makes me cry, and I
wrote the damned thing.
***
Folding
one leg under her, she placed the instrument in her lap. She didn’t play, not
right away. Instead, she listened to the rhythm of Mell’s song, and how Dano
accompanied him. When she had it, she began.
There
were a few false notes and a few missed strings; the spacing on this harp was
new to her. But she adapted, and soon her song merged with theirs.
When
they finished, Mell stared at her, something close to awe on his face. She
hadn’t seen that expression in far too long.
“Who
are you?” he whispered.
“I
am Bat.”
He
shook his head and set aside the guitar, his face hard. There was a warrior
side to him now, just as there was in his brothers. “No. I know your name. Who
are you? What are you?” He paused, but not long enough for her to speak.
“You have power. We felt it at the threshold, and it grew as you entered. But
you are no fae, nor are you of the clans. And you are not of the Fomoiri, I
would know. So, who are you?”
She
tilted her head to the side, her hair sliding along her shoulder. The terms he
threw out sounded vaguely familiar, though their meanings escaped her for the
moment. “I am Bat. That is who I am. I am… I
am she of the two faces.” Who
was she? She used to be the Unifier, the peace of the lands. She used to be
a fertility goddess and presided over festivals and rites. She used to be an
advisor for the kings, showing them the truth of the past and the future. She
used to be a guide for the dead, flying with their spirits and reuniting the
pieces of their souls. She used to be a nurturer, and a savior, and a guardian
against chaos. All these things she used to be, at one time or another.
Now… she was a forgotten goddess, seeking a bit
of peace.
His
face eased, as though he could sense her thoughts. “Well, Bat, she of the two
faces, would you like to play another? You start, we’ll follow.” He took up his
instrument and glanced at Dano, who nodded. Bat didn’t get anything from the
smaller red-haired man to indicate he was also a diminished god or sorcerer,
but surely he must be—they
all must be—to be sitting in a locked
pub on the night of another holy man’s
celebration?
The
strings of the harp quivered under her fingers, as though asking to be plucked.
She started slow, picking out the mostly forgotten tune as it came to her,
filling in the missing notes with snips of new music inspired by this land. Her
fellow musicians came in slowly, weaving around her melody, supporting it,
enhancing it. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the moment.
A
voice joined them from across the pub, singing in a language she didn’t know,
with words that flowed in counterpoint to her melody, blending with Mell’s
guitar. After another moment a new one, higher pitched and feminine,
accompanied it.
She
could feel Mell’s powers reaching out to both her and the patrons, and she
seized upon it. She could sense the balance of it, but also that something was
missing. Comfort. And that was something she could provide.
It
all came together, and for one shining point in time, she felt at home.
What kind of research did you have to do for the story?
Oh, man. Well, let’s
see. I checked out about ten different
books from the library on both Irish and Egyptian history and mythology. I also had about forty tabs open to different
sites on my computer at one point. I had
google Earth open as well, to help me “walk the streets” of Sligo and the other
areas of Ireland.
And I did a LOT of reading.
I just kept reading and browsing through those books until the pieces
started coming together.
Probably the hardest part was the fact that the pieces I loved
and wanted to do more with were all the really obscure ones! Tir Hudi, the island from The Final Melody,
was a mention in a few books, but almost nothing concrete existed.
I also did a lot of reading of things that didn’t really make it
into the book, but that I hoped informed it well. For instance, Druid law. Did you know there were multiple types of
both marriage and divorce in ancient Ireland?
And those people were really quite advanced in their thinking.
Anyway, now I’m rambling.
So, as I was saying, I just read until I found the parts that interested
me. Then I would check for
parallels. If there wasn’t one, I would
have to let the idea go, but luckily for me, that didn’t happen often. It’s really interesting how much commonality
you can find in different cultures and their origin stories.
I also kept three different timelines going. One for Egyptian history, one for Irish
History, and one that melded the significant events from both that I used in
the story. A lot of the Irish mythology
was vague in where it belonged in the time line, so I may have fudged that a
bit, but I did my best based on other historical articles and books on the
various migrations and invasions of Ireland.
And since one of the main Irish mythologies is The Book of Invasions, I
drew some hints from there and then just told myself “this is the way it is for
my story.”
As for the research into ancient Egypt, and Bat, there were
certainly more codified timelines to draw upon, but the mythologies themselves
changed over the different dynasties.
Especially which gods and goddesses did what and who they were and what
they stood for. Also, how the soul was
treated. In some ages, there were a few
parts of the soul, and in others there were I think up to eight? The rules for making it to the other world
(or The Land of Reeds) changed and grew more and more complicated as well. For all of that, I tried to keep to the
simpler methods of everything.
And I am now officially rambling, so I will stop. Hopefully I answered your question!
Who is your ultimate book villain?
Damn, this is like asking what’s your favorite book. That’s a HARD question to answer. So, I may have to list off a few.
I think of a type of villain more than a specific one: and
that’s the villain that is absolutely convinced that what they are doing is
right. Not the ones who know they are
doing evil things and decide to keep doing them. To me they are evil, yes, but it’s and evil
that’s easy to see and overcome. No, the
ultimate villain is the one who is convinced that what they are doing is the
right thing to do.
For instance, in Anne Bishop’s Others series, humans and the
Human Rights First Movement are the villains, as well as the controller. You don’t see much from the latter’s point of
view, but for all the humans fighting agains the Others, they know they are
right.
In John Ringo’s Black Tide Rising series, you may think the
villains are the zombies, but that’s not right.
It’s the people or person who set off the plague, and the ones later who
are so worried and power hungry that they are stunting the survival of
everyone. All these people are convinced
in some way that their actions are warranted and needed.
In Lisa Shearin’s SPI Files series, the villains are all after
something that has to do with either the survival of their people or taking
down someone they consider an enemy.
Again, in their eyes they are only doing what they need to in order to
survive.
And fighting against something or someone who knows what they
are doing is the correct thing, is the scariest of all. Because you see it in every day life, to one
degree or another.
What inspired you to write RH?
The short answer is: I was so sick and tired of all those love
triangles. Like, just shoot me.
The long answer has more to do with becoming intrigued about how
to make something like that work, for real.
What kinds of personalities would they all need to have, what type of
environmental factors would influence someone to make a choice like that. I think everyone involved would have to be
incredibly generous of spirit.
I’ll be honest again. I
used to believe in the idea of the “one true love.” That if you loved someone, you couldn’t love
someone else as well. If you did it only
proved you had never really loved the first one. I really believed this, and it drove me a
little batty. Because everywhere I
looked, that idea was proven wrong. I
think the turning point came when I read a book by Guy Gavriel Kay. I remember almost nothing about the plot,
except for one scene. A woman, sitting
before a man on horseback. She had been
taken captive, and was soon to be let go.
He was a general or something. He
had a wife that he loved very much and stayed faithful to. She had someone back home that she loved as
well, a fiancé I think. They had this
whole moment of unspoken feelings on the back of that horse. She asked him if it was possible to love more
than one person. He said yes. That was all they ever said to each other of
their feelings, as much as they ever acknowledged them. She went back to her fiancé, and I think he
eventually made it home and back to his wife.
The whole thing stuck with me.
Then my father died (sorry if I’m getting too personal) and my mother
remarried. It was interesting, because
both my dad and my step-dad’s wife died from cancer only a few months
apart. They had been long time family
friends. He and my mom started spending
more and more time with each other, and things just developed. But the thing that still strikes me, is we
have pictures of both of them (my dad and my step-dad’s first wife) all over
the house. The fact that he and my mom
love each other now did nothing to diminish the love either had for their first
spouses. No one tried to hide it, or
push old feelings away or discount them.
It struck me as a beautiful thing.
That’s what I try to keep in mind when I write these
relationships. That humans can be
amazing in their capacity to love. And that sometimes we need to examine if our
“shoulds” (should only have one spouse, should only love one person, should
hate this, should love that) are really things that forward our own happiness,
or if they area ideas pushed on us by someone else.
Now that I’ve waxed philosophic, I have to say i also just
really like the idea of the fantasy of more than one incredible man loving
you. I mean, as long as you set up a
good chore chart and meal plan, and there’s someone to clean the bathroom every
day, what could go wrong?
Lightning Round Questions
What are you reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that
you’re dying to read?
A couple of things, actually.
I’ve got two Egyptian mythology themed stories, one called Seratis by NJ
Adal, and the other is by Laura Greenwood.
I’ve also got a (shhh) slightly advanced copy of the second in the Books
of Stone by BL Brunnemmer.
What Hogwarts House would the Sorting Hat place you in?
I want to say Gryffindor…
because I love gryphons (that’s
how I like to spell it) and because they’re
all brave and heroic and stuff. But
honestly I’d probably be a Hufflepuff.
With a sliver of Slytherin, because something in me loves writing the
murderous villain scenes all too much.
Twitter or Facebook?
Facebook. Because I don’t
have the Twitters, nor do I know how to use them. I am an author of the digital age stuck in
analog, unfortunately…
Favorite Superhero?
This is probably the only easy “favorite” question for me. Wolverine.
I’ve liked him since the cartoon version when I was like six.
Favorite TV show?
Kind of depends on my Mood.
Eureka is a good one.
Friends. Lucifer. The Almighty Johnsons (and I’m not really
sure why I like it so much). Let’s see… Ugly Betty.
Jane the Virgin. NCIS. Criminal Minds. Okay, I’m
stopping now. (You didn’t ask, but I’ll tell you a secret. In addition to music, I often will put a show
on in the background to help me with the “mood” of things.)
Sweet or Salty?
Let’s call it even, and eat Kettle Corn. (Don’t you like how I’m
not really even answering any of your questions properly?)
Any Phobias?
Things crawling into my ear.
Song you can’t get enough of right now?
Comes and Goes by Greg Laswell.
Here’s a Spotify link. I don’t
know what it is about this, but I’ve had it on repeat for days now.
2019 Movie you’re most looking forward to?
Uhhh… I
don’t even know. Damn, I should leave my house more.
Thanks
so much Cecilia for answering my questions! I can’t wait for everyone to read
THE FORGOTTEN Series!
Thank you!
Michael Okon is an award-winning and best-selling author of multiple
genres including paranormal, thriller, horror, action/adventure and self-help.
He graduated from Long Island University with a degree in English, and then
later received his MBA in business and finance. Coming from a family of
writers, he has storytelling in his DNA. Michael has been writing from as far
back as he can remember, his inspiration being his love for films and their
impact on his life. From the time he saw The Goonies, he was hooked on the idea
of entertaining people through unforgettable characters.
