It is my pleasure to host author Aaron Ryan on my blog today. Volume I of his book Dissonance is available for purchase now.
Have you always wanted to be a writer ?
Not always. I’ve dabbled with a few different pursuits over my lifetime, but one of my earliest loves was writing, and I penned a few works to that effect. I’m overwhelmingly grateful and excited to have returned to it.
What made you pen down this book?
Well, I am the kind of person who genuinely needs to create. I have been a musician in another life, and made a concerted attempt to return to music in 2023. When that fell through (the landscape has changed significantly since I was last in music in the 90’s), I found myself re-exploring becoming an author. I had missed it, and was supremely excited to make a return foray into authoring a new novel. What shape it was going to take was beyond my guessing at the onset; the creation of it was highly organic, and naturally evolved as I went along. I just needed to follow the path and see where it took me. But I did know from its genesis that there would be a deadly alien invasion, it would be post-apocalyptic, and that there would be a greater subplot at work.
Can you elaborate on the significance of the title “Dissonance”?
As a musician, dissonance is whenever two notes collide and clash. Without introducing spoilers, you’ll come to understand how dissonance plays a role in the ongoing war against the aliens (called “gorgons” in my novel), and in ongoing relationships between human and fellow human.
The protagonist, Cameron “Jet” Shipley, plays a crucial role in the story. What aspects of his character did you find most intriguing or challenging to develop?
Cameron Shipley needed a personality that had a bit of rugged youth to it; not so old that he was set in his ways and perhaps “timing out” of service, but not so young that he was immature and unlikeable. He’s compelled to do his service for the military, but he has a thirst for justice, and that thirst both serves and works against him as the story goes on. I relate very well to railing against injustice, and so suffice it to say there are elements of me present in Cameron Shipley.
The book is set in 2042, depicting a world where humanity is struggling to survive. What influenced your vision of the future, and how did you approach world-building in this dystopian setting?
This was perhaps the hardest part, because in 2023 we’re not dystopian, although there are definitely some dystopian elements to our civilization and mankind as a whole. But I did have to explore what society would look like; what would have happened, how would they continue to survive, etc. And with any novel you have to equip your protagonist with a fair shot, so there were ways that I had restrict the invaders from total domination, otherwise, there would be no story to tell. The “against all odds” stratagem works here, because there is truly a chance for humanity to come back from the brink, and to recover.
Without giving away spoilers, can you share insights into the central conflict or challenge that Cameron and his team face during their recon mission in Clarksville, Tennessee?
The central conflict is inherent to the story as we know it in the first part of the series is that if humanity is going to survive, they’ll need to continue to find survivors, run foraging missions for food, supplies, equipment, ammunition, etc., and anything else that will equip them to go on. Plaguing all of this, of course, is the presence of the gorgons, and you never know where they’ll be, but you’re utterly certain of what they can do to you. However, as the story goes on, Cameron finds that he is being undermined, and that strings are being pulled by those over him in Command that are becoming an impediment to his mission, with potentially lethal ramifications. So now he appears to be working against two enemies instead of just one.
The comparison to “Aliens” and “A Quiet Place” suggests a unique blend of genres. How did you balance the elements of science fiction and thriller to create a cohesive narrative?
Aliens is my all-time favorite movie. I love it. It’s captivated me more than any other sci-fi movie has, due to its gritty realism and the terrifying nature of the Aliens. But the frustrating element to A Quiet Place is that you just can’t make any real noise, or you’ll be in grave peril. However, there’s an additional element to the gorgons that poses a real tangible threat: and that’s that you can’t look directly at them. They are far more dangerous than any other predator. Though they remain flesh and bone like most any other predator, they possess a supernatural element to them that really stacks the odds against our heroes. All of this has to take place during real-life military situations.
When can readers expect the next volume of the series to release?
Thank you for asking! At this point I’m 109 pages into Volume II. I have targeted the release of Volume II for mid-2024, but at this pace, it may come sooner. We’ll see.
Aaron Ryan lives in Washington with his wife and two sons, along with Macy the dog, Winston the cat, and Merry & Pippin, the finches.
He is the author of several business books on multimedia production penned under a pseudonym, as well as a previous fictional novel, “The Omega Room.”
When he was in second grade, he was tasked with writing a creative assignment: a fictional book. And thus, “The Electric Boy” was born: a simple novella full of intrigue, fantasy, and 7-year-old wits that electrified Aaron’s desire to write. From that point forward, Aaron evolved into a creative soul that desired to create.
Aaron enjoys the arts, media, music, performing, poetry, and being a daddy. In his lifetime he has been an author, voiceover artist, wedding videographer, stage performer, musician, producer, rock/pop artist, executive assistant, service manager, paperboy, CSR, poet, tech support, worship leader, and more. The diversity of his life experiences gives him a unique approach to business, life, ministry, faith, and entertainment.
Aaron’s favorite author by far is J.R.R. Tolkien, but he also enjoys Suzanne Collins, James S.A. Corey, Marie Lu, Madeleine L’Engle, C.S. Lewis, and Stephen King.
Aaron has always had a passion for storytelling.
Connect with Aaron on here
hjbookblog.wordpress.com 