Parting the Veils, Book One
Epic Fantasy / Visionary Fiction / Magical Realism
Date Published: 04-19-2025
Colleen Addison fears that the messages she receives from a place called Ophia prove she’s losing her mind. As she grieves for her lost twin sister, Earth’s civilizations, divorced from magic and wonder, crumble.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Partition, Esperidi Mon-Sequana discovers she’s the last surviving Sophryne, a Wakeful Dreamer cast adrift as Ophia convulses beneath the weight of atrocities done to Her, spilling Her anguish in fire and floods.
With naught but dreams and waking omens to guide her, Esperidi ventures across a ravaged land where marauders are a law unto themselves, and the Shetain priesthood demands that Ophia’s children appease the Rupture with penance and blood.
Lost and bereaved, Colleen and Esperidi reach for hope and salvation beyond the camouflage Veils, unsuspecting of the ties that bind them across lifetimes and worlds…
Interview with Seth Mullins
What is your favorite part of the book?
The final chapter is the most powerful for me. There's so much going on, movements on many levels, and I found a way to intertwine all those threads without it ever feeling convoluted or forced.
Does your book have a lesson? Moral?
I always try to push my narrative towards an emotional catharsis. A good denouement, like a good poem, can mean many things to many different people. The trilogy’s core conflict is between personal sovereignty and relinquishing one’s power to an external authority, including even a god figure. So the moral in that sense would be to trust your inner nature and guidance. Not to deny the idea of divinity, but rather to honor the divinity that expresses and discovers itself as you.
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
All of the characters are fictional, though sometimes they appear and speak so vividly that I have to wonder whether they're merely the products of my imagination.
Of all the characters you have created, which is your favorite and why?
So much of the novel—and the entire series—revolves around ideas of partnership and spiritual community. Every player in the drama contributes to unraveling the core dilemma, and none of them can accomplish this alone. So it's difficult for me to isolate one single character. But I really enjoy Esperidi as a protagonist. For a long time, I've wanted to write an epic fantasy where the central conflict is resolved without resorting to the usual means: violence, force, manipulation, or outwitting the enemy. Esperidi doesn’t possess abilities that lie beyond the reach of any of us. She's neither warrior nor savant. She's a hero of the heart. As she makes her way through a ravaged land, she touches the hearts and souls of those with whom she comes into contact. Her very presence allows light to gain a foothold in a land where darkness has been prevalent.
What character in your book are you least likely to get along with?
Konatep, the Shetain priest. I try to live by the dictum “judge not lest ye be judged” because I believe that's the way our universe operates energetically. However, I can become triggered by people who are convinced that their personal belief system is the only true one, particularly when they attempt to impose that belief system on others. And Konatep is someone who acts entirely out of self-interest, caring nothing for the sufferings or needs of others.
What would the main character in your book have to say about you?
Usually, when Esperidi speaks to me directly, she tries to contradict limiting beliefs I hold that cause pain or limitation Like, she’ll remind me of my essential worth when I’m beating myself up for some perceived shortcoming.
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
“Ophia's Sister Soul” is the first novel of a three-part epic. There are also occasional references to events from one of my previous novels, “The Authors of This Dream,” and a character who carries over from that book. Everything I write exists within the same universe.
About the Author
Throughout my life's myriad twists and turns, one desire has always stayed strong in me: to write epic tales that illuminate the inner world of our souls. I write fiction that depicts the journey of self-discovery in a dramatic and emotionally cathartic way. I'm inspired by methods of inner exploration like dream-work and shamanism, wherein one takes an inward plunge and then shares the fruits of that deep descent with the wider community. That, to me, is the essence of what any art form is really about.
I think the artistic impulse takes it for granted that the universe is forever unfinished; we all have unique gifts that bring something to Creation that would not otherwise ever exist.
My inspirations/influences include writers like Jane Roberts, L. Frank Baum, Barbara Marciniak, Stephen R. Donaldson, Frank Herbert, Lewis Carroll, Jack Kerouac, and Robert E. Howard. Though I've enjoyed writing in many genres and styles, speculative fiction remains my biggest passion.
Contact Links
Parting the Veils (YouTube channel)
Purchase Link
https://mybook.to/OphiasSisterSoul
%20by%20Willow%20Thorne.jpg)
0 comments:
Post a Comment