I would like to introduce Bryan Caron, author of In the Light of the Eclipse. I found him through WordPress and found his book fascinating, so I knew I needed to interview him to give all of you a taste of him and his work. 
1. Tell us everything you want to about yourself.
Let’s see; what can I say that isn’t in my bio? I’m an extremely private person, so I’m very careful about what I divulge about myself—privacy is very important to me; if it’s not pertinent or extremely important, then I’ll usually keep it close to the vest. It’s why I don’t have a personal Facebook account, a twitter, or any of those types of social media services that basically dissect your life (that’s not to say that I don’t see their importance for those who do like to use them, they just aren’t for me). My private life is private and will remain so as long as I can keep it that way. (But if you have specific questions, I’m always happy to answer them as best I can.)
2. Give us a little bit about your book. What sets it apart from other books in your genre, as in, what makes it unique?
In the Light of the Eclipse is a young adult novel that follows best friends Zoe and Kayla as they try to end the curse of the eclipse that darkens the land of Heather every seventeen years, taking with it the lives of everyone over the age of seventeen. With Kayla having just turned eighteen, the motivation to stop it is higher than ever. With the arrival of a stranger from the outside world with possible information on how to do just that, Zoe dedicates herself to find out all she can about the eclipse and save Kayla from imminent death.
I believe what sets the book apart from others in the genre is that it is more a character-driven story than a plot-driven story. Even though the plot is a key component, In the Light of the Eclipse relies more heavily on how the characters deal with the incidents that happen than it does with what actually happens. I also don’t rely heavily on a love story or love triangle, as a lot of popular YA books do (though there is one present). My main focus is the friendship between two people from different backgrounds who love each other despite their differences. There aren’t any vampires, werewolves, witches or zombies either, which definitely sets it apart from the majority of works that sell right now.
3. Where did you get the idea for it?
The idea indirectly came from a group of kids I see every Christmas Eve (including my niece and nephew). We were discussing how much some of them read and I mentioned that I’m a writer. They didn’t believe me (or in the very least, teased me about it), so I challenged them to come up with an idea that I would then write for them. They came up with characters, events, and the like for the rest of the night (before they had to leave to get to bed… Santa doesn’t wait for no child). I immediately typed up the notes when I got home, adding in a bunch of stuff to help bridge the information and make a cohesive story. It evolved over the years, from when I first wrote the notes to when I finished the book, but that was the spark that ignited the idea.
4. Where did the inspiration for this book come about?
The inspiration came from those five kids: Amber, Sammi, Rebecca, Dustin and Heather, all of whom are listed in the acknowledgments of the book. It took several years to actually get the time to sit down and focus on writing the book, but every year from the first time we talked about it, to last Christmas, the moment I saw them, the creative urge to get the book written was unleashed all over. After I published my first two novels earlier this year, I knew I now had a platform to publish this story for them, so it was time to make it a reality.
5. What was the best part about writing this book?
I would say the best part of writing the book (and writing any book, for that matter) is really getting to know the characters and learning from them. Watching the evolution of a book from the first thought to the finished product is so enthralling. I love when characters and events change and mold themselves in different directions than I was expecting; it instantly makes their world and their lives more real. But to be more specific to this particular book, I would have to say, even though most of my films fall into the teen audience, trying my hand at a young adult novel was both educational and worthwhile.
6. If your book were a person, how would you describe it?
She is inspirational, loving, intelligent, cute, adorable and meaningful. She brings out the best in you, trusts you and keeps you entertained. She is genuine in her conviction, fun to be with and will never let you down.
7. What inspired you to start Divine Trinity Films?
Several years after graduating college (with a Bachelor degree in creative writing) I was getting nowhere with my screenplays, or writing in general, and was getting a bit frustrated with it all. So I decided that it was time to take matters into my own hands if I wanted to make something happen. I was working at a small film school and had met several budding filmmakers who were totally up to working with me on a script I had written. Divine Trinity Films—an amalgamation of the names from that first film and another screenplay I had written and was looking forward to filming (which hasn’t happened… yet)—came out of wanting to have a company name to back the production of the film, which I now use to represent films and novels that aren’t necessarily religious in nature, but strike a chord with one’s soul through the meaning behind life, love and sacrifice.
8. What inspired the cover art? And who did it? Did you do it, or did someone else help?
Because I’m a graphic designer, I was fortunate enough to be able to design and create the cover myself (as I’ve done with my other novels as well). I wanted to convey something important from the book that also correlated with the title (which itself went through a couple of variations). I knew I wanted the eclipse to be the main focus, but that itself wouldn’t be enough to captivate a reader; I needed something else to make it sing. As I was looking to create the teaser poster for the book’s release, I found the image of the girl, which was exactly what I needed. It conveyed the mystery of the book while not giving anything away, gave it a bit of sex appeal and left just enough to the imagination. It all came together from there.
9. How long did it take you to write this book, from start to publication?
Aside from the years in between the original idea and actually typing up the first chapter (which was anywhere from four to six years, and a few attempts that wielded a paragraph here and there, but nothing substantive), it took between five and six months to write, edit, rewrite and edit some more from the first word to the last period.
10. Anything else you’d like to say?
I have two other books in print right now. The first is an adult science-fiction/dystopian drama called Year of the Songbird, the other is Jaxxa Rakala: The Search, the first of a four-part science-fiction space adventure for general audiences, of which I will be publishing the second book next summer.
Other than that, if you, your fans or followers have any further questions for me, I’ll be happy to answer anything about me, In the Light of the Eclipse, or any of my other works (within reason that is).
BIO:
design, Bryan studied filmmaking and film editing while working at a performing arts studio in San Diego, California. He took this knowledge to write, direct and edit films under his banner, Divine Trinity Films. Soon after, he would team up with the Fallbrook Film Factory, a non-profit film consortium, to continue his growth in the areas of writing, directing and editing, all the while fleshing out his talents in fiction writing (publishing Year of the Songbird and Jaxxa Rakala: The Search in 2013), working as a graphic designer, and beginning his first blog: Chaos breeds Chaos.
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