JAMES GAULT MEETS AN AUTHOR ... KYRIAN LYNDON
Kyrian Lyndon is a novelist and poet from New York.
The first novel of her Dark Veils series, Shattering Truths can be found on Amazon as an e-book and a paperback. Where you'll also find her two poetry collections and her novel Provenance of Bondage.
Hi Kyrian. A big thanks for taking part, and a bigger thanks for answering the questions so frankly. As a poet and an novelist who has been through bad times and good times, I'm sure your comments and observations will be uplifting and illuminating to both readers and any to upcoming authors who read them.
You have been writing since a very early age? What do you think compelled you to start and then keep going?
It was something I did instinctively since the age of eight, something I felt born to do. I don't feel like I’ve had a choice about it, so it's good that I love it. It's become my addiction.
As a poet as well as a novelist, how would you say that working in both literary forms enhances a writer’s style?
Poets embrace the dark and the light, the joy and the pain—happy, sad, whatever. It’s all good. We write from our hearts. We need to express all these compelling thoughts and pictures that keep running through our minds. For all I know, that might be the same for any writer. I know you can be a great novelist without being a poet, but poetry does enhance my own style. It has always been a way for me to keep a record of my impressions, observations, and emotions. If I’m writing, and I need to get the feeling and picture right, I can often go back to those poems and recapture certain moments.
You have a great affinity for 19th century British literature. What attracts you to it? Has it influenced your writing style?
It has influenced my writing style. The interest in other time periods may have started when I watched Dark Shadows as a kid. I love stories with parallel time, and, in that series, the characters traveled back and forth from the 20th century to the 19th and 18th centuries. I loved the settings, the costumes, the hairstyles. I loved noticing the differences in behaviour. All of it was fascinating to me. Charles Dickens showed us the harsh reality of that era. He also showed us the romantic beauty and innocence, as did many of the other authors of that time. Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, the Brontë sisters, Jane Austen, and Percy Bysshe Shelley are among my favorites.
At some point in my life, I became an anglophile (though I haven’t been to England yet), but I can’t say if it was before or after falling in love with 19th-century British literature.
How has the other jobs you have had influenced your writing?
I got to be an expert on the computer!
Actually, the other jobs mostly made me wish I was somewhere writing. There were stuffy environments where I didn’t necessarily fit in as an eccentric young adult, and that included publishing companies. They were perfect in the sense that I learned what happens on the other side—the manufacturing of books, the publishing world dealing with new technology, etc. The advertising environment, on the other hand, was more comfortable. There was all this creativity and craziness. I felt at home. Back then, I’d make friends with creative directors, and they’d say, why don’t you do this ad? It seemed absurd to me because I was into hiding behind the scenes as a writer, not putting myself on that level of display. But it’s always interesting because you learn, and you can incorporate everything you learn into your work.
I know your writing is very personal and related to past bad experiences. For a writer, which do you think is best, emotional detachment or emotional involvement?
As a writer, I feel that I can’t have enough experiences. Even the bad things that happen, you think about how you will tell that story, and those experiences usually have good outcomes. I say that not because I’d wish them on anyone but because those experiences help you learn, heal, grow, and evolve. Then you pay it forward by sharing what you’ve learned so that someone else can benefit. Sometimes they are my experiences. Sometimes they are the experiences of others, but they serve the same purpose. I like to help and serve people in that way, but I also love to entertain. In a novel, you can do both. You can mix fact and fiction. As for emotional detachment, I don’t know about that. It’s foreign to me. I think I’m emotionally involved in whatever I write. As for what’s best, do we know if George R.R. Martin was emotionally detached or involved when he wrote Game of Thrones? If he was detached, he didn’t need to be involved. I’m pretty sure J.R. Rowling was emotionally involved in creating the Harry Potter series. So, I’d say whatever works for that writer.
What to do you want readers to get from your work?
I want, above all, for readers to enjoy my work. They should be able to escape into a different world, fall in love there, and then close the book with a lasting impression. At the same time, I do hope to impart some of what I’ve learned because I can’t begin to explain how much the works of others have taught me and helped me to grow. We all know things that can benefit others, and I think we should be all about sharing for the greater good.
Among the things you’ve written, what’s your favourite and why?
My favorite is always my work in progress because, as writers, we keep learning and growing. We get better. It’s like parenting. I can look back at the earlier years and wish I could go back to fix something because I know better now. Any book out there is my child, in a sense. They each have their place in my heart.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
Mastering your craft is an ongoing thing. Keep yourself open to learning everything there is to learn and stay in the loop. What may have been right to do once may not be presently acceptable. We’re lucky to have the internet. Take advantage of it. Read a lot. Learn from criticism. Join a community or two. Check your ego at the door.
What have you got coming up?
My main project is the sequel to the last book. It’s the second book in the Deadly Veils series. The focus is on different characters, including one character that a lot of people seemed to love in the first book. It’s more of a crime thriller, and there will be a good deal of romance. The main character from the first book, Danielle, won’t feature prominently in this one, but she’ll pop up eventually. Aside from that, I started working on a dark fantasy novella which has been exciting to do. I’m very enthusiastic, and I’m eternally grateful that I get to do this kind of work.
Kyrian Lyndon is a novelist and poet from New York.
The first novel of her Dark Veils series, Shattering Truths can be found on Amazon as an e-book and a paperback. Where you'll also find her two poetry collections and her novel Provenance of Bondage.
Hi Kyrian. A big thanks for taking part, and a bigger thanks for answering the questions so frankly. As a poet and an novelist who has been through bad times and good times, I'm sure your comments and observations will be uplifting and illuminating to both readers and any to upcoming authors who read them.
You have been writing since a very early age? What do you think compelled you to start and then keep going?
It was something I did instinctively since the age of eight, something I felt born to do. I don't feel like I’ve had a choice about it, so it's good that I love it. It's become my addiction.
As a poet as well as a novelist, how would you say that working in both literary forms enhances a writer’s style?
Poets embrace the dark and the light, the joy and the pain—happy, sad, whatever. It’s all good. We write from our hearts. We need to express all these compelling thoughts and pictures that keep running through our minds. For all I know, that might be the same for any writer. I know you can be a great novelist without being a poet, but poetry does enhance my own style. It has always been a way for me to keep a record of my impressions, observations, and emotions. If I’m writing, and I need to get the feeling and picture right, I can often go back to those poems and recapture certain moments.
You have a great affinity for 19th century British literature. What attracts you to it? Has it influenced your writing style?
It has influenced my writing style. The interest in other time periods may have started when I watched Dark Shadows as a kid. I love stories with parallel time, and, in that series, the characters traveled back and forth from the 20th century to the 19th and 18th centuries. I loved the settings, the costumes, the hairstyles. I loved noticing the differences in behaviour. All of it was fascinating to me. Charles Dickens showed us the harsh reality of that era. He also showed us the romantic beauty and innocence, as did many of the other authors of that time. Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, the Brontë sisters, Jane Austen, and Percy Bysshe Shelley are among my favorites.
At some point in my life, I became an anglophile (though I haven’t been to England yet), but I can’t say if it was before or after falling in love with 19th-century British literature.
How has the other jobs you have had influenced your writing?
I got to be an expert on the computer!
Actually, the other jobs mostly made me wish I was somewhere writing. There were stuffy environments where I didn’t necessarily fit in as an eccentric young adult, and that included publishing companies. They were perfect in the sense that I learned what happens on the other side—the manufacturing of books, the publishing world dealing with new technology, etc. The advertising environment, on the other hand, was more comfortable. There was all this creativity and craziness. I felt at home. Back then, I’d make friends with creative directors, and they’d say, why don’t you do this ad? It seemed absurd to me because I was into hiding behind the scenes as a writer, not putting myself on that level of display. But it’s always interesting because you learn, and you can incorporate everything you learn into your work.
I know your writing is very personal and related to past bad experiences. For a writer, which do you think is best, emotional detachment or emotional involvement?
As a writer, I feel that I can’t have enough experiences. Even the bad things that happen, you think about how you will tell that story, and those experiences usually have good outcomes. I say that not because I’d wish them on anyone but because those experiences help you learn, heal, grow, and evolve. Then you pay it forward by sharing what you’ve learned so that someone else can benefit. Sometimes they are my experiences. Sometimes they are the experiences of others, but they serve the same purpose. I like to help and serve people in that way, but I also love to entertain. In a novel, you can do both. You can mix fact and fiction. As for emotional detachment, I don’t know about that. It’s foreign to me. I think I’m emotionally involved in whatever I write. As for what’s best, do we know if George R.R. Martin was emotionally detached or involved when he wrote Game of Thrones? If he was detached, he didn’t need to be involved. I’m pretty sure J.R. Rowling was emotionally involved in creating the Harry Potter series. So, I’d say whatever works for that writer.
What to do you want readers to get from your work?
I want, above all, for readers to enjoy my work. They should be able to escape into a different world, fall in love there, and then close the book with a lasting impression. At the same time, I do hope to impart some of what I’ve learned because I can’t begin to explain how much the works of others have taught me and helped me to grow. We all know things that can benefit others, and I think we should be all about sharing for the greater good.
Among the things you’ve written, what’s your favourite and why?
My favorite is always my work in progress because, as writers, we keep learning and growing. We get better. It’s like parenting. I can look back at the earlier years and wish I could go back to fix something because I know better now. Any book out there is my child, in a sense. They each have their place in my heart.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
Mastering your craft is an ongoing thing. Keep yourself open to learning everything there is to learn and stay in the loop. What may have been right to do once may not be presently acceptable. We’re lucky to have the internet. Take advantage of it. Read a lot. Learn from criticism. Join a community or two. Check your ego at the door.
What have you got coming up?
My main project is the sequel to the last book. It’s the second book in the Deadly Veils series. The focus is on different characters, including one character that a lot of people seemed to love in the first book. It’s more of a crime thriller, and there will be a good deal of romance. The main character from the first book, Danielle, won’t feature prominently in this one, but she’ll pop up eventually. Aside from that, I started working on a dark fantasy novella which has been exciting to do. I’m very enthusiastic, and I’m eternally grateful that I get to do this kind of work.
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