Amor Libris: Are there any new authors who have caught your attention?

Rebecca Bryn.: Several Indie authors: Lesley Hayes and Ica Iova are but two.

Amor Libris: Can you share the title and blurb of your latest book?

Rebecca Bryn: Where Hope Dares is the novel I’m hoping to publish in a few weeks’ time. It’s a story of courage, faith and hope in the eternal battle for good over evil.

In a time of social, religious and political upheaval, two isolated cultures clash with devastating results. Kiya, a healer and young mother, is kidnapped to fulfil an ancient prophecy, leaving Raphel, her storyteller husband, to rescue her from a brutal regime with nothing more than a headful of stories. Abe, their friend, to whom they look for help has his own secret agenda. Who can they trust? Friend or foe?

Amor Libris: Who is your favorite character from your latest book and why?

Rebecca Bryn: I would have said Kiya, but a recent rewrite has given Abe a more prominent and central role and I find myself liking him a lot. He’s an enigmatic character. He feels guilt acutely, knows what it is to love and lose, and has spent his life trying to do the right thing with disastrous consequences. Yep, my favourite character has to be Abe.

Amor Libris: Are any of the characters and/or experiences in your books based upon yourself or someone you know?

Rebecca Bryn: Yes, to a degree. Alana, in The Silence of the Stones, is the person I could have been had I had more courage and much less conscience: me, liberated. Walt, in Touching the Wire, is based on my maternal grandfather, a person I loved above all others, and I couldn’t have written such a harrowing story without constantly reminding myself of his love and gentleness. Adam and Robin are two sides of the same coin, the best and worst sides of people close to my heart. I like to think Kiya shows my determination, though she has more faith than I shall ever have. I think every character has a little of me and those I love in them.

Amor Libris: Can you share with us about what you are working on now or your next project?

Rebecca Bryn: My next project, I think, will be to strip down and totally rewrite a story I wrote some years ago. It’s called, at the moment, Daughters of the Moon, and will be about a young woman put into a mental institution for smothering her baby. It will revolve around the effects on lives of afflictions like PMS and depression after giving birth (the term has momentarily escaped me—I suffer from Dysphasia, which is the only word I never forget). Sounds depressing put like that, doesn’t it? The idea is in its early stages. I shall attempt to make it entertaining and moving. (Post-natal Depression—I knew it would come, given time.)

Amor Libris: Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

Rebecca Bryn: Write—with conviction and passion. Don’t think you can’t do it, but do take on board any feedback you get and act on it if it will improve the story or your writing. Follow a creative writing course or book. Join a writing group. The Word Cloud on-line site is one I can thoroughly recommend: a great and knowledgeable group of like-minded, helpful folk. Writing is a huge learning curve and it takes time. Promoting your published title is just as great a challenge.

Amor Libris: How can we contact you and find out more about you and your books?

Rebecca Bryn:
Website: www.rebeccabrynandsarahstuart-novels.co.uk
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rebecca.bryn.novels
Twitter: www.twitter.com/rebeccabryn1
Independent Author Network link: www.independentauthornetwork.com/rebecca-bryn