Name of Author: Sydnie Beaupré
Title of Book: Dark One- Book one of the Khiara Banning Series
Favourite Authors: Charlotte Bronte, Edgar Allen Poe, Tahereh Mafi, Suzanne Collins, Partick Rothfuss...to name a few!
Bio: Sydnie Beaupré lives in her own imagination; a post-apocalyptic, zombie-inhabited world, where magical creatures and supernatural occurrences are simply the mundane. Outside of that, Sydnie can be found in Montreal, Quebec where she was born and raised. When she's not writing you can find her reading, playing the violin, singing, or spending time with her amazing friends and crazy family.
Dark One:
https://www.wattpad.com/story/12723951
Can you explain what your book is about?
Readers of books written by Becca Fitzpatrick and Lauren Kate will love this take on Fallen Angels...
When Khiara Banning was born, her soul— the purest of all souls— was inextricably intertwined with the outcome of the final battle between good and evil. However, due to her parent's foolishness she was cursed, cursed to be truly alone; no Guardian, no Soul Mate. But yet, when the fallen angel—Cael—heard whisper of this and from the exact moment he first saw her, he knew with the core of his being that he above all others needed to protect her. Cael begged and pleaded with God to be appointed as her guardian and because He is fair, it was permitted. However, He ruled that if any mistakes were to be made, Cael would instantly be stripped of his title.
Years later, the curse evolves in a terrifying new manner that not even God could have predicted. The only entity who knows the key to reversing the effects of her life, no... world changing curse is none other than the Goddess, Morrigan, whose curse tainted Khiara in infancy. She alone has knowledge that could change Khiara's fate forevermore.
Can Cael's perseverance, love and angelic power surmount the poisonous evil influences that rise up as the final battle draws nearer? Will Khiara be able to endure the relentless onslaught? Her survival is crucial, as the fate of the world depends on it. (This is just the synopsis because usually I end up saying "IT'S ABOUT ANGELS AND CURSES AND FORBIDDEN LOVE PLZ READ IT??"
Who is your targer audience and why?
I write for YA, you know, teens and what not. But anybody can pick it up, one of my fans is a fifty-six year old man. He told me I tricked him into liking romance ;)
What is paranormal about your story?
Angels, specifically the Fallen kind, Nephilim, magical curses at the hand of a Goddess, Irish mythology, uhhh...a new take on the Gods and Goddesses.
Does it contain other genre elements, if so which ones – and why?
Fantasy! It's got Faen people in it; Nymphs, Pixies, Elves. It kind of qualifies as an urban fantasy, as well as a paranormal romance.
Tell us about your writing process – how do you get from story idea to a Wattpad published story?
This is gonna be rambly, but I have to start off with this: I have always written stories, little ideas that seemed awesome, but none of it ever hit me as deep as Dark One did. I found inspiration in a classroom.
Honestly, this story started five years ago, almost six now, as simply...the prologue. I wrote it in my grade eleven class, which lucky for me, had computers. I was in a program called Genesis, a program for people who don't benefit from the regular classroom setting...that is to say, I have lots of learning disabilities and gave up on the school system, and just began to skip class because nobody was helping me. That changed when I entered Genesis; everybody was there because being in a boring classroom with desks and a teacher who didn't care wasn't our cup of tea. Some, like me, had learning disabilities, and others just needed an extra push. The classroom had couches, a fridge, a microwave and a kettle for tea and coffee. We still did school work, but it was made fun by our two teachers, Ms. Jackson and Mr. Potter, the two best teachers I have ever had besides a few awesome English teachers who kept me from completely dropping out of school before going into Genesis. In any case, it was a comfortable place to be, and it got my creative juices flowing, and one day while sitting at a computer during English class, I just wrote out the prologue, and BAM! I re-read it later in the day, and the idea came to me like a smack in the face. I uploaded it to Wattpad under my other username, sydenay, and had it up there on and off for a while until finally I made a separate account for the series.
It took five years to perfect, but after much research into many different religions and Irish mythology, Dark One was born.
Did you encounter any challenges when writing, if so – how did you overcome them?
I suffer from terrible Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, General Anxiety Disorder, and depression - not to mention the fact that I am chronically ill with Leukopenia (a lack of white blood cells) which makes me get sick more often than I should, and asthma, anemia (lack of iron), and scoliosis (curvature of the spine)...sometimes when I want to write, I just can't. But I have great friends and family, and sometimes reading helps me a lot, to escape a bit.
You often hear writing well is the baseline for success. What does that mean for you?
Well, I think if a book is well written, people will want to read it. Of course, enjoyment is subjective, but I think as long as grammar and spelling is acceptable and the story flows...well I think any story is a good story. They're parts of our souls that we share with the world, so while I agree with the quote, I'm not one to judge. I mean some people hate Twilight but look how successful it is!
