Interview with Pangaean writer Melodie Rivers
Posted On: Jan 12, 2024 18:58:56 GMT
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Post by SmokeFromFire on Jan 12, 2024 18:58:56 GMT
In December 2023, PangaeanCulture member and Québécoise writer Mélodie Rivers (@clara-01) officially published what she nicknames the Final Revision of the Free Edition of her first book, The Shadow Paradigm Book I: Project Orb Weaver, after 12 years of tumultuous hard work. We'll delve into the details of the creation and publishing of her book, and what comes after.
IT: Good morning Mélodie, glad to have you once again, and that you could find the time for this interview.
MR: My pleasure, Isabelle. Thank you for doing this!
IT: So. Now it's officially official, you've published the Free Edition of your book. How does it feel?
MR: It's really awesome, I don't think the 15 years-old me thought it would be possible. I rushed the publishing last year, when personal events struck, but having finally the time to go through it all again, finetuning what I didn't like, removing some plot holes, clarifying some parts... it really made the difference, and now, I can really be proud of what I've finally published. It's as close of a finished final product as I can make it, until I have some funds aside for a professional edit and touch up.
IT: And it's free.
MR: Yep, it's free! That's another huge thing that really mattered to me. I mean, who can afford books nowadays? Now, I know my book won't be for everyone, but that's the point. No single book will please everyone, so might as well give people the chance to get to know it before settling for the professional edition.
IT: And despite events in the last year, you are still promoting it as the first Pangean novel? (Note of Interviewer: Pangaean refers to the Federation of Pangaea, of which Rivers was once active as an artist in the cultural community before her hiatus)
MR: Yes, I find that to still be important. I might no longer be involved in the community, but all projects need some form of publicity and endorsement of some sort, and of visibility. Art allows that, and to go a step further with the promotion of a full-fledge book (and trilogy, one day), will very likely help set in stone the seriousness of the project. So that was still an important aspect of the publicity and the promotion of the novel for me.
IT: I know it's no longer a subject you touch nowadays, but are you comfortable with talking a bit about what happened, what triggered your absence from the art community in the last year?
MR: Sure, I don't mind. It's a lot less juicier than you think! (laugh) Long story short, Québec entered in a state of recession much earlier than stated in the news, back in 2022, and even earlier on in late 2021. Food costs rose, interests rates on cards and on mortgages exploded, and, well, being the sole revenu income in the family because of my ageing family, I could no longer sustain all those rises with my single salary.
IT: You had a farm, right?
MR: Yes, we did. I always thought I would get to grow old in it, pass it down as a Rivers legacy to my own children... But... Life and events has a way to hit you when you least expect it. Again, long story short, we had to make the really, really hard decision to drop it all. I mean, it really hurt. That farm was our life to me and my parents. We were so happy, we ate from our hard work, we woke up to the smell of grass and plants, heard birds everytime we walked out, and just had that unbridled freedom. Having to give it up before I could no longer pay the interests rates on it...
So my dad, stoic as he could, made the hard decision for the whole family, to sell the farm, and then I declared bankruptcy to get rid of the debts that a family accumulates throughout normal life. We were lucky to buy ourselves a RV with the farm's sell profit, because living in a tiny apartment with paper thin walls at 1600$ per month when my salary IS 1600$ per month was simply out of the question. So we kept our debts low, we didn't even had Internet, we would just go to local coffeeshops or libraries to check up on the few stuff we still had to keep, the rest went to food and gas costs; we were on the road in winter when campings were closed, then we got to settle at a camping this summer, hence why I got to come back. And a colleague was kind enough, bless his soul, to let us park in an unused part of his backyard so we don't have to go back on the road in the meantime of the camping season.
IT: Wow.. that's gotta have been rough on you guys.
MR: It was; I'm not saying that for pity, it's just, yes, absolutely. When you're used to open space and being self-sufficient, to now live in an RV and try to fit 3 people in there, being dependent on gas, food that isn't always fresh... It was extremely hard on the morale, especially for my parents that simply wanted to spend their retirement on their land!
But, that's when I kind of understood where I went wrong. I spent so much effort trying to save the world, trying to think about other people, and here I was, not even able to take care of my own family. The long hours I spent being online, talking out of my ass about world issues, didn't went to spend time with my ageing parents that needed their daughter around.
Now, in the last year we were on the road, we got to rekindle. We played board and card games, we talked, we listened to mom and dad's old music from the 70s, 80s, 90s, heard all those good old classic songs. I would write in my laptop in the evening, even if I didn't get to publish anything during that time, but now my stories went a bit more in a direction I wouldn't have taken otherwise. I was a bit more wise in the arguments and issues I wanted to tackle, and I even have an unexpected plan for my characters all the way in Book 3 that I don't think people will expect me to go there. But with what happened to me, it now felt right.
IT: And that's why you stayed away, at your return, from the Pangaean community, and in fact, from even all social networks and all non-artistical activities.
MR: Exactly. I can't help my own family, how can I possibly help others? I can't do a thing about the issues affecting my family, so what gave me the right to go on proclaiming myself as being able to solve other's issues?
I just want to write, and writing has always been, above all else, even above charity and grand projects, what was healing to me and to people. I feel amazing writing. The other stuff was just me trying to take on more than I could handle. But storytelling is amazing, and it's all I ever need and want if everything else fails. Music is storytelling, and that's what kept us going when we had nothing left.
And what's even more important is being completely, and with all my attention, by the side of the few years left to my parents, and somehow, through all of that, regain what we lost. We have opportunities to try and buy back a small land up North, and this time I intend to work hard to keep it. I can't do that with my attention split arguing about issues I can't ever hope to change.
IT: Wow. I know it's not something you wanted to talk about, so thanks for opening up about it. Why don't we go back about the creation of the book?
MR: Haha, that would be great.
IT: So, it's been 12 years since the first word was written down. How has it unfolded up until now?
MR: Oh boy. 12 years is a long time to remember, haha. Obviously the first few prototypes were awful, and really did not went well. I tried to cram too much weird stuff, and worst, stuff I didn't really understood well. Then, I think it was around 2014, 2015, I wrote a decent version, but I still didn't see how it could ever become something I could be proud of.
IT: Did you try getting it critiqued, see if it could help?
MR: Oh, I did. I even read all those "how to" books from all those popular writers. But I hated it. I hated that it just didn't sounded like me, all those things that were supposed to be "good writing". Do this, do that, don't say this, don't say that. I didn't even liked half of what was "proper" writing, and I was expected to write like that? No way.
So I took a long hiatus. I binge watched everything, from movies to tv shows to animes, everything that was popular, that people wanted to watch. A good 80% of it I just didn't liked, but I really settled and focused on what I liked about the stories that did capture my attention.
IT: And so it clicked?
MR: Absolutely. I came back to my book in 2017 or 2018, I don't remember well, and I really understood what I wanted it to read like, to feel like, to be like, and no, probably, it wasn't most likely "proper writing". But it was the story I wanted to read.
Actually, that's funny, because another artist kind of went through the same hiatus, not the same obviously, but he said something which I completely am in accord with (he is a songwriter musician). When he too rediscovered his love for music, he said that he wrote only with the creative freedom that only him would hear his songs, and that they were to be songs he wanted to hear, not what the people expected him to make.
That is so true!! When I came back to my book, I decided, tough luck with people, I'm writing it the way I want to read it.
IT: And this thought process is what we can find in the current version of your Book?
MR: Yep. That's 100% my own writing and expectations, and it makes it, for me at least, a very fun and fulfilling book! There's quirks, humor, complexity, even things you don't expect to read in a proper book but you look at real life and you read my book and can go: "Okay, yeah, that's what happens in real life". That scene where the siblings fake being martial art experts when first handling their bastions... I mean, come on, who doesn't act that way when they have those cheap lightsaber toys, for example? So that's what made, for me at least, the magic of my book, that extra oumph. It's not sterile, it's not perfect. But neither is real life, and that's how I wanted my book to read. I want people to have a good time.
IT: So can you make a quick resume of Book 1, what people can expect from it?
MR: Sure. Apart from the description, which pretty much already says it all, it's really just that: exploring paradigms (Note of Interviewer: paradigms are a set of ideals, of lines of thoughts) that results from people trying to better the world they see. So you have the heroes, which I really wanted to make them as ordinary as possible, you know, no superpowers, no training, no nothing. They are a bit goody two shoes and try their best to be the best of themselves as they can, but that represents the naive idealism that is inside all of us, thinking we can make a difference. And through some circumstances, they will be facing off another group, who, on their side, sees the bad of humanity and try to fix it via ways that they can guarantee will make a difference, via, yes, a more pessimistic yet realist outlook. So these two groups will clash, and we'll see where it gets them to, which paradigm eventually might be the right one. Earlier critiques liked that each sides were intelligent, that even the "villains" weren't just there to be punching bags for the heroes, and that's what I'm glad that went through. I myself loved that in shows like Games of Thrones and Shingeki no Kyojin (NoI: Shingeki no Kyojin is known to English-speaking audiences as Attack on Titan, a Japanese anime show that was popular from 2010 to its finale in 2023), where the sides are not as crystal clear as expected; and even though I still very much prefer one side over the other, it was important for me to give very realistic and up-to-date arguments of the validity of the "villains" side of their story. But most of all, how individuals, even in a community, can greatly affect an outcome.
And of course, having directly lived and have been affected by the tumults of the last ten years, and even more so in the last five years, in a supposedly democratic country, I had to insert a few sociological and political observations.
So you can see my book as a mix of soft sci-fi with lots of mysteries, its fair share of political and psychological intrigues, and some much-appreciated sprinkle of comedy and romance.
IT: You will soon be posting Book 2. When you do, it will be the first time we see those chapters, right?
MR: Yep. Well, apart from the people that supported me, to which I sent them privately the first 13 chapters as a thank you gift, hehe. But yes, this is not only the first time that I post those chapters, but, apart from a half-dozen chapters, it's the first time I write Book 2. Apart from some old notes from back then, considering I always planned TSP as a trilogy, there's no 12 years of history and prototypes and drafts, it's all created as it goes from now on.
IT: Is it more challenging?
MR: Definitively. I have to keep things moving. Book 1 was about something, but with Book 2, I have to make it evolve into something else, and so on. It has to keep on track of Book 1, but not be redundant, and not get carried away neither, so it's very challenging; and this time, I don't really have a template to base myself upon. A lot of Book 2 chapters are really created on the spot according to how the story moves along from the preceding chapter. Some things I know have to happen according to old notes, so I write them down even if it's far down in the book; but 75% of it are really brand new creations.
IT: So can you talk about Book 2, give us a little insight?
MR: The title is Iteration, which, long description short, is a system of trying out different scenarios throughout all variables over and over until the right system is found; and it's a form of chaos theory. In Iteration, the appearance of the siblings in the glass city affected the existing system and forced it to evolve. Vice-versa, the ending of Book 1 forces the siblings to look at their own surroundings and see how it affects them. So in Book 2, we'll find our heroes concentrating not only their efforts on their abilities as MUTs, but also on figuring out what is actually happening around them. And Abraham and Ysadora have their own little mission, and now, people have started to be interested in not only what Abraham and Ysadora set out to do, but also in what the siblings have to offer.
IT: So we can expect new characters, and I imagine, a much complexer plot?
MR: That's right. You will be introduced to the remainder of the thirteen noble families, four more proficiently. and specifically one of which has his own hidden ability as well, and his own ambitions. The Society is explored, including their Scivias Yantra, which is their master plan that makes them act the way they do, and the repercussions it has on the siblings. Meanwhile, the siblings involve a bit more their circle of friends in their projects, we will also get to know Gabzryel's Japanese godfather, who is responsible for all the medical machineries that allows the siblings to do what they do, and the siblings will need to face that their world too has to be fought for and explored and understood if they want to fulfill their promises and their idealistic paradigm.
IT: So it's still about a clash of paradigms?
MR: Even more so than in the first book. I can at least count five different paradigms clashing in Book 2 so far, and we explore how these paradigms go through their iterations in search of what is the right way forward.
IT: I imagine you have to leave some for Book 3.
MR: Yes, but Book 3 will move a bit differently, at least, from how I can set it up for the moment. Book 3 will mostly be about redemption, but also, of confronting one's demons, and that includes the siblings as well. Already from what we know of the siblings regarding their own past, we can already see a contradiction in their ideal. And that will be explored in Book 2 and Book 3; the same for Abraham and Ysadora, where is the threshold between their own free will on their forceful ideals and where they are still slaves to someone else's wills; the other characters introduced in Book 2 will also need to face the constant of the world, in that chaos will always seeps through a seemingly perfect plan and throw all previsions away, which is the reason behind Book 3's title, The Promise of Chaos. So the attention will shift a bit away from the dynamics of the first two books, so I can reassure you, there will be a lot left for Book 3. In fact, I have to shift things from Book 2 to 3, because if I don't, I fear Book 2 would end up being 800 pages long, if I look at how far I already am in the chapters, and how much more I have left to wrote!! So I have to actually save some stuff for Book 3. and hope that it doesn't end up being 800 pages as well, hihi.
IT: And lastly, as you mentioned, you've primarily only focused on writing. Is there any other stories you are writing, or are you really just focusing on The Shadow Paradigm?
MR: For now it's TSP. I also have a fantasy collaboration story going on with The Chronicles of Dru, which is a very fun and light-hearted fantasy world, in the styles of good old 80s and 90s fantasy movies, that three gals started together; but I fear it often takes a side step from my own story. I have to fix that, but time lets me only focus at a few things at a time. I also want to make a bit of companion materials, so make some trivia pages about TSP, explain some terms, some concepts, make character sheets. I love music making, so of course I want also to dabble in some TSP "soundtracks". And of course I try to find time to make some fable stories and lighthearted stories for my Elysian Mark and Legends Retold collections, but as I say... one thing at a time.
IT: Multitasking is hard!
MR: Yes, it definitively is. But time will tell me. It's true I have some time ahead considering I already have 13 chapters written, so while I post them slowly, I could focus elsewhere, but... we'll see where inspiration takes me. I'm in no hurry to publish things in a commercial manner, so that's an advantage. I can take my time.
IT: Well, thank you once again for your time and this interview, Mélodie. Good luck with your novel, and most of all, good luck in your life and your family, I wish you success in your projects and dreams!
MR: Thank you very much for the wishes, Isabelle! *hug* As we say, time will tell. Thank you for the promotion, and always great to talk with you!
You can find Mélodie Rivers' The Shadow Paradigm Book 1 in her DeviantArt gallery as a full PDF book here:
www.deviantart.com/clara-01/art/TSP-Book-I-Project-Orb-Weaver-Free-Edition-914062697
or as individual chapters here:,
www.deviantart.com/clara-01/art/The-Shadow-Paradigm-Book-1-Project-Orb-Weaver-895536798
and as a full PDF download in her website:
melodierivers.weebly.com/the-shadow-paradigm-novels.html
IT: Good morning Mélodie, glad to have you once again, and that you could find the time for this interview.
MR: My pleasure, Isabelle. Thank you for doing this!
IT: So. Now it's officially official, you've published the Free Edition of your book. How does it feel?
MR: It's really awesome, I don't think the 15 years-old me thought it would be possible. I rushed the publishing last year, when personal events struck, but having finally the time to go through it all again, finetuning what I didn't like, removing some plot holes, clarifying some parts... it really made the difference, and now, I can really be proud of what I've finally published. It's as close of a finished final product as I can make it, until I have some funds aside for a professional edit and touch up.
IT: And it's free.
MR: Yep, it's free! That's another huge thing that really mattered to me. I mean, who can afford books nowadays? Now, I know my book won't be for everyone, but that's the point. No single book will please everyone, so might as well give people the chance to get to know it before settling for the professional edition.
IT: And despite events in the last year, you are still promoting it as the first Pangean novel? (Note of Interviewer: Pangaean refers to the Federation of Pangaea, of which Rivers was once active as an artist in the cultural community before her hiatus)
MR: Yes, I find that to still be important. I might no longer be involved in the community, but all projects need some form of publicity and endorsement of some sort, and of visibility. Art allows that, and to go a step further with the promotion of a full-fledge book (and trilogy, one day), will very likely help set in stone the seriousness of the project. So that was still an important aspect of the publicity and the promotion of the novel for me.
IT: I know it's no longer a subject you touch nowadays, but are you comfortable with talking a bit about what happened, what triggered your absence from the art community in the last year?
MR: Sure, I don't mind. It's a lot less juicier than you think! (laugh) Long story short, Québec entered in a state of recession much earlier than stated in the news, back in 2022, and even earlier on in late 2021. Food costs rose, interests rates on cards and on mortgages exploded, and, well, being the sole revenu income in the family because of my ageing family, I could no longer sustain all those rises with my single salary.
IT: You had a farm, right?
MR: Yes, we did. I always thought I would get to grow old in it, pass it down as a Rivers legacy to my own children... But... Life and events has a way to hit you when you least expect it. Again, long story short, we had to make the really, really hard decision to drop it all. I mean, it really hurt. That farm was our life to me and my parents. We were so happy, we ate from our hard work, we woke up to the smell of grass and plants, heard birds everytime we walked out, and just had that unbridled freedom. Having to give it up before I could no longer pay the interests rates on it...
So my dad, stoic as he could, made the hard decision for the whole family, to sell the farm, and then I declared bankruptcy to get rid of the debts that a family accumulates throughout normal life. We were lucky to buy ourselves a RV with the farm's sell profit, because living in a tiny apartment with paper thin walls at 1600$ per month when my salary IS 1600$ per month was simply out of the question. So we kept our debts low, we didn't even had Internet, we would just go to local coffeeshops or libraries to check up on the few stuff we still had to keep, the rest went to food and gas costs; we were on the road in winter when campings were closed, then we got to settle at a camping this summer, hence why I got to come back. And a colleague was kind enough, bless his soul, to let us park in an unused part of his backyard so we don't have to go back on the road in the meantime of the camping season.
IT: Wow.. that's gotta have been rough on you guys.
MR: It was; I'm not saying that for pity, it's just, yes, absolutely. When you're used to open space and being self-sufficient, to now live in an RV and try to fit 3 people in there, being dependent on gas, food that isn't always fresh... It was extremely hard on the morale, especially for my parents that simply wanted to spend their retirement on their land!
But, that's when I kind of understood where I went wrong. I spent so much effort trying to save the world, trying to think about other people, and here I was, not even able to take care of my own family. The long hours I spent being online, talking out of my ass about world issues, didn't went to spend time with my ageing parents that needed their daughter around.
Now, in the last year we were on the road, we got to rekindle. We played board and card games, we talked, we listened to mom and dad's old music from the 70s, 80s, 90s, heard all those good old classic songs. I would write in my laptop in the evening, even if I didn't get to publish anything during that time, but now my stories went a bit more in a direction I wouldn't have taken otherwise. I was a bit more wise in the arguments and issues I wanted to tackle, and I even have an unexpected plan for my characters all the way in Book 3 that I don't think people will expect me to go there. But with what happened to me, it now felt right.
IT: And that's why you stayed away, at your return, from the Pangaean community, and in fact, from even all social networks and all non-artistical activities.
MR: Exactly. I can't help my own family, how can I possibly help others? I can't do a thing about the issues affecting my family, so what gave me the right to go on proclaiming myself as being able to solve other's issues?
I just want to write, and writing has always been, above all else, even above charity and grand projects, what was healing to me and to people. I feel amazing writing. The other stuff was just me trying to take on more than I could handle. But storytelling is amazing, and it's all I ever need and want if everything else fails. Music is storytelling, and that's what kept us going when we had nothing left.
And what's even more important is being completely, and with all my attention, by the side of the few years left to my parents, and somehow, through all of that, regain what we lost. We have opportunities to try and buy back a small land up North, and this time I intend to work hard to keep it. I can't do that with my attention split arguing about issues I can't ever hope to change.
IT: Wow. I know it's not something you wanted to talk about, so thanks for opening up about it. Why don't we go back about the creation of the book?
MR: Haha, that would be great.
IT: So, it's been 12 years since the first word was written down. How has it unfolded up until now?
MR: Oh boy. 12 years is a long time to remember, haha. Obviously the first few prototypes were awful, and really did not went well. I tried to cram too much weird stuff, and worst, stuff I didn't really understood well. Then, I think it was around 2014, 2015, I wrote a decent version, but I still didn't see how it could ever become something I could be proud of.
IT: Did you try getting it critiqued, see if it could help?
MR: Oh, I did. I even read all those "how to" books from all those popular writers. But I hated it. I hated that it just didn't sounded like me, all those things that were supposed to be "good writing". Do this, do that, don't say this, don't say that. I didn't even liked half of what was "proper" writing, and I was expected to write like that? No way.
So I took a long hiatus. I binge watched everything, from movies to tv shows to animes, everything that was popular, that people wanted to watch. A good 80% of it I just didn't liked, but I really settled and focused on what I liked about the stories that did capture my attention.
IT: And so it clicked?
MR: Absolutely. I came back to my book in 2017 or 2018, I don't remember well, and I really understood what I wanted it to read like, to feel like, to be like, and no, probably, it wasn't most likely "proper writing". But it was the story I wanted to read.
Actually, that's funny, because another artist kind of went through the same hiatus, not the same obviously, but he said something which I completely am in accord with (he is a songwriter musician). When he too rediscovered his love for music, he said that he wrote only with the creative freedom that only him would hear his songs, and that they were to be songs he wanted to hear, not what the people expected him to make.
That is so true!! When I came back to my book, I decided, tough luck with people, I'm writing it the way I want to read it.
IT: And this thought process is what we can find in the current version of your Book?
MR: Yep. That's 100% my own writing and expectations, and it makes it, for me at least, a very fun and fulfilling book! There's quirks, humor, complexity, even things you don't expect to read in a proper book but you look at real life and you read my book and can go: "Okay, yeah, that's what happens in real life". That scene where the siblings fake being martial art experts when first handling their bastions... I mean, come on, who doesn't act that way when they have those cheap lightsaber toys, for example? So that's what made, for me at least, the magic of my book, that extra oumph. It's not sterile, it's not perfect. But neither is real life, and that's how I wanted my book to read. I want people to have a good time.
IT: So can you make a quick resume of Book 1, what people can expect from it?
MR: Sure. Apart from the description, which pretty much already says it all, it's really just that: exploring paradigms (Note of Interviewer: paradigms are a set of ideals, of lines of thoughts) that results from people trying to better the world they see. So you have the heroes, which I really wanted to make them as ordinary as possible, you know, no superpowers, no training, no nothing. They are a bit goody two shoes and try their best to be the best of themselves as they can, but that represents the naive idealism that is inside all of us, thinking we can make a difference. And through some circumstances, they will be facing off another group, who, on their side, sees the bad of humanity and try to fix it via ways that they can guarantee will make a difference, via, yes, a more pessimistic yet realist outlook. So these two groups will clash, and we'll see where it gets them to, which paradigm eventually might be the right one. Earlier critiques liked that each sides were intelligent, that even the "villains" weren't just there to be punching bags for the heroes, and that's what I'm glad that went through. I myself loved that in shows like Games of Thrones and Shingeki no Kyojin (NoI: Shingeki no Kyojin is known to English-speaking audiences as Attack on Titan, a Japanese anime show that was popular from 2010 to its finale in 2023), where the sides are not as crystal clear as expected; and even though I still very much prefer one side over the other, it was important for me to give very realistic and up-to-date arguments of the validity of the "villains" side of their story. But most of all, how individuals, even in a community, can greatly affect an outcome.
And of course, having directly lived and have been affected by the tumults of the last ten years, and even more so in the last five years, in a supposedly democratic country, I had to insert a few sociological and political observations.
So you can see my book as a mix of soft sci-fi with lots of mysteries, its fair share of political and psychological intrigues, and some much-appreciated sprinkle of comedy and romance.
IT: You will soon be posting Book 2. When you do, it will be the first time we see those chapters, right?
MR: Yep. Well, apart from the people that supported me, to which I sent them privately the first 13 chapters as a thank you gift, hehe. But yes, this is not only the first time that I post those chapters, but, apart from a half-dozen chapters, it's the first time I write Book 2. Apart from some old notes from back then, considering I always planned TSP as a trilogy, there's no 12 years of history and prototypes and drafts, it's all created as it goes from now on.
IT: Is it more challenging?
MR: Definitively. I have to keep things moving. Book 1 was about something, but with Book 2, I have to make it evolve into something else, and so on. It has to keep on track of Book 1, but not be redundant, and not get carried away neither, so it's very challenging; and this time, I don't really have a template to base myself upon. A lot of Book 2 chapters are really created on the spot according to how the story moves along from the preceding chapter. Some things I know have to happen according to old notes, so I write them down even if it's far down in the book; but 75% of it are really brand new creations.
IT: So can you talk about Book 2, give us a little insight?
MR: The title is Iteration, which, long description short, is a system of trying out different scenarios throughout all variables over and over until the right system is found; and it's a form of chaos theory. In Iteration, the appearance of the siblings in the glass city affected the existing system and forced it to evolve. Vice-versa, the ending of Book 1 forces the siblings to look at their own surroundings and see how it affects them. So in Book 2, we'll find our heroes concentrating not only their efforts on their abilities as MUTs, but also on figuring out what is actually happening around them. And Abraham and Ysadora have their own little mission, and now, people have started to be interested in not only what Abraham and Ysadora set out to do, but also in what the siblings have to offer.
IT: So we can expect new characters, and I imagine, a much complexer plot?
MR: That's right. You will be introduced to the remainder of the thirteen noble families, four more proficiently. and specifically one of which has his own hidden ability as well, and his own ambitions. The Society is explored, including their Scivias Yantra, which is their master plan that makes them act the way they do, and the repercussions it has on the siblings. Meanwhile, the siblings involve a bit more their circle of friends in their projects, we will also get to know Gabzryel's Japanese godfather, who is responsible for all the medical machineries that allows the siblings to do what they do, and the siblings will need to face that their world too has to be fought for and explored and understood if they want to fulfill their promises and their idealistic paradigm.
IT: So it's still about a clash of paradigms?
MR: Even more so than in the first book. I can at least count five different paradigms clashing in Book 2 so far, and we explore how these paradigms go through their iterations in search of what is the right way forward.
IT: I imagine you have to leave some for Book 3.
MR: Yes, but Book 3 will move a bit differently, at least, from how I can set it up for the moment. Book 3 will mostly be about redemption, but also, of confronting one's demons, and that includes the siblings as well. Already from what we know of the siblings regarding their own past, we can already see a contradiction in their ideal. And that will be explored in Book 2 and Book 3; the same for Abraham and Ysadora, where is the threshold between their own free will on their forceful ideals and where they are still slaves to someone else's wills; the other characters introduced in Book 2 will also need to face the constant of the world, in that chaos will always seeps through a seemingly perfect plan and throw all previsions away, which is the reason behind Book 3's title, The Promise of Chaos. So the attention will shift a bit away from the dynamics of the first two books, so I can reassure you, there will be a lot left for Book 3. In fact, I have to shift things from Book 2 to 3, because if I don't, I fear Book 2 would end up being 800 pages long, if I look at how far I already am in the chapters, and how much more I have left to wrote!! So I have to actually save some stuff for Book 3. and hope that it doesn't end up being 800 pages as well, hihi.
IT: And lastly, as you mentioned, you've primarily only focused on writing. Is there any other stories you are writing, or are you really just focusing on The Shadow Paradigm?
MR: For now it's TSP. I also have a fantasy collaboration story going on with The Chronicles of Dru, which is a very fun and light-hearted fantasy world, in the styles of good old 80s and 90s fantasy movies, that three gals started together; but I fear it often takes a side step from my own story. I have to fix that, but time lets me only focus at a few things at a time. I also want to make a bit of companion materials, so make some trivia pages about TSP, explain some terms, some concepts, make character sheets. I love music making, so of course I want also to dabble in some TSP "soundtracks". And of course I try to find time to make some fable stories and lighthearted stories for my Elysian Mark and Legends Retold collections, but as I say... one thing at a time.
IT: Multitasking is hard!
MR: Yes, it definitively is. But time will tell me. It's true I have some time ahead considering I already have 13 chapters written, so while I post them slowly, I could focus elsewhere, but... we'll see where inspiration takes me. I'm in no hurry to publish things in a commercial manner, so that's an advantage. I can take my time.
IT: Well, thank you once again for your time and this interview, Mélodie. Good luck with your novel, and most of all, good luck in your life and your family, I wish you success in your projects and dreams!
MR: Thank you very much for the wishes, Isabelle! *hug* As we say, time will tell. Thank you for the promotion, and always great to talk with you!
You can find Mélodie Rivers' The Shadow Paradigm Book 1 in her DeviantArt gallery as a full PDF book here:
www.deviantart.com/clara-01/art/TSP-Book-I-Project-Orb-Weaver-Free-Edition-914062697
or as individual chapters here:,
www.deviantart.com/clara-01/art/The-Shadow-Paradigm-Book-1-Project-Orb-Weaver-895536798
and as a full PDF download in her website:
melodierivers.weebly.com/the-shadow-paradigm-novels.html
