They Write the Books – Edward Aubry

One of the cool things about posting reviews (when a certain someone actually remembers to do them) is that every so often, the author will reach out to you Cool, right? Well, this happened to me a few months ago, after posting a review of his awesome book, Unhappenings.

I’m happy (and you should be too) to welcome author Edward Aubry in today’s Author Spotlight!

Tell us a little about yourself.

For much of my adult life I was a math teacher who dreamed of being a novelist. Of late I am a novelist who teaches math to support my family (still not making those millions in royalties, at least not yet). My bachelor’s degree was in music. That, the math and the writing allow to me to model for my students the fact that no one has to be exactly one thing. My first novel was released in 2010, and I am currently writing my sixth, with plans for many more.

How did you get into writing?

Seventh and eighth grade English class. I happened to have a teacher who pushed all the right buttons to spur an interest in writing fiction, as well as some fantastic starter tips for how not to suck at it. She actually told me at the end of eighth grade I was one of the worst student writers she had ever seen when I started her class, and by the end of those two years I was one of the best. She gets full credit for that transformation as far as I am concerned.

How did you come up with the idea for your story?

Unhappenings was originally two different time travel stories I was working on separately. One of them had to do with the central idea that every trip through time permanently changes some aspect of the past. That was partly a reaction to The Time Traveler’s Wife, which is a beautiful book, but has consequence-free time travel, in the sense that the past can never be changed. The traveler simply becomes part of events that have already happened. I wanted to push that idea as far as possible in the opposite direction. The other story was about someone using time travel not for great heroics or power, but for a simple, petty and purely selfish reason, and the catastrophic consequences that would have. Eventually I realized they were the same story from two different angles.

Who are your favorite authors?

Neil Gaiman. Lois McMaster Bujold. Dan Simmons. Mark Twain. Kurt Vonnegut. Stephen King.

If you could only recommend one book, which would it be?

Not fair! Okay, Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Apart from the fact I was absolutely consumed by it when I read it, it hits a multitude of completely different tropes and genres, and does so seamlessly in the context of a single collective novel. It’s a masterpiece of story-telling, and a great place for any aspiring writer to start in their quest for models to follow.

*Bonus * What one person (living or dead) would you share a meal with? And why?

I’m sure this is because his passing is still very fresh, but it would have to be David Bowie. I want to know what someone so phenomenally talented at pushing boundaries is like when he’s at home. While I don’t operate on anything near his level, my goal when writing my novels has always been akin to the way he approached music. Aim for the unexpected, invent new genres, perfect, move on, do not rehash. It would be utter conceit to say I do those things, but I want to, and he did. Oh, my, he did.

Thanks for stopping by, Edward! And thanks for an awesome read 😉

 

Edward Aubry

Edward Aubry is a graduate of Wesleyan University, with a degree in music composition. Improbably, this preceded a career as a teacher of high school mathematics and creative writing.

Over the last few years, he has gradually transitioned from being a teacher who writes novels on the side to a novelist who teaches to support his family. He is also a poet, his sole published work in that form being the sixteen stanza “The History of Mathematics.”
He now lives in rural Pennsylvania with his wife and three spectacular daughters, where he fills his non-teaching hours spinning tales of time-travel, wise-cracking pixies, and an assortment of other impossible things.

Books and Blogs and More Things – Oh My!

I’ve tried writing a few different stories lately (I try to pop one out every month or so) but now I can’t. Well, I’m sure I could, if it wasn’t for that darn manuscript I still have up—the one I’ve been working on since May, the one I can’t stop writing (awesome right? I know!). Even this post is unexpected because every time I’ve sat down to write one, I end up adding another page to Better Than This (working title). But I’m writing this away from my computer, so it actually has a chance of being written. Yay!

And, while I have some steam going, a few things:

Rozmarie (9)

How cool is this? She came to me and offered to design one for FREE. Free! Whoo-hoo! Thank you, Universe, for having my back. And thank you, Leandra, for this amazing cover, and for being clever enough to add that awesome tagline because I definitely wouldn’t have thought of it myself. 🙂

  • Seattle was a blast! I left the scorching FL 90-100 degrees weather to be swept away by the North-Western 70 degrees breeze. A-MAZING. Other than a few mishaps involving a van, the caterer and thrown-away vows, everything went off perfectly. Here are a few pics I remembered to snag along with one I pilfered from FB:

20160806_150846 20160806_210149 20160806_210334 20160806_210615 20160806_230136 Catie and Andy

Congratulations Catie & Andy!!!!!!!!!!

  • So this book I’m writing…

I’m totally pansting it like I normally do, but I have a rough sketch of it in my head and I’m coming to the part—the BIG part—that I know is going to break my heart. Something happened to a character in my last book, Crusade Across Worlds, and I was sobbing when I wrote it. Not that anything terrible is going to happen to these characters, per say, but guys—GUYS—send me tissue packets because this is going to be really hard to write. But I’m going to do it. For you, I’m going to do it.

  • Last (but certainly not least) I’m participating in Blood Moon Rising on October 4th. It’s a month-long event on FB for authors of Horror or authors who use horror as a subgenre, which, surprisingly I do. I’ll be taking over that day, so if you’re curious, stop by and read some super short stories, novel segments or learn some crazy cool stuff you never knew about yours truly.

Okay, I think that’s all for now. Virtual high five for writing something besides BTT (like a blog I just paid to renew. Hurray!) Off to write now.

Because, like, what else is there?

IWSG – Still Here

So I missed last IWSG.

🙁

It felt weird. Like missing the school dance when all your friends are going. You want tag along, but it snuck up and you have nothing to wear. Bad analogy…you get it. So here I am, back again, ready to not be kicked out of the group for missing twice in a row. Yay for remembering on time!

I’ve been not posting much because I’m taking a mental breather. Pressing pause on the whole this is me being a writer stuff. A pause—not a stop. I’m still writing. I write every day. I write in the morning before work and after, when Batman and Appa are occupied—time I should probably use to mop the floor but I sit my butt down and type away instead. I’ll get to the floor one of these days.

So writing is not the problem.

Not that there is one. I feel fine. I’m working on something I love, but have no idea how it will end. Or what it will turn into—one giant novel or four novellas or two books or what. I keep going back and forth and then remind myself I don’t have to decide now. Which is awesome, because I’m not sure where to go next. And that’s where the pause comes in.

Besides writing, I don’t know what my next move is. I’m a terrible advertiser and ridiculously stupid with technology, so if you’re reading this, believe me, I’m more shocked than you are. I’ve got four published books out, another on Swoon Reads, and a project I don’t want to talk about. Yet. (There’s no need to jinx it.) So I’m taking it easy, putting the gear in neutral and coasting for a bit. I’m watching. Learning. Participating in group discussions (eek!) and really getting an idea of what other people are doing. How they’re getting noticed or the tactics they’re using to cultivate a fan base. Am I going to try these things? Possibly. But I don’t have to decide right now.

Right now is for writing.

And you, IWSG 🙂

Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) is a monthly blog hop for writers at all levels to share their fears and insecurities in a safe and encouraging place. Please drop by and say hi to Alex Cavanaugh who started this nifty concept in bringing us all together.

P.S. If I don’t respond to a comment, it’s because I’m in Seattle for the next few days for a wedding! (Congratulations Catie and Andy!) I’ll get back to you as soon as I can 🙂

P.P.S. Happy 30th Birthday to an AMAZING friend I’ve known for almost twenty years. I love you, Ari!