I have a special author to introduce to you today. Cara Violet is an author who released her book "Kaianan" last month. I found her book intriguing. Take a look.
Kaianan
(Kaianan Trilogy) Paperback – July 19, 2020
by Cara Violet (Author)
2020 EDITIONKaianan, a
defiant Gorgon Princess, lives peacefully with her family on the faraway
planet, Rivalex, until her Coming of Age changes not only her life but the
whole universe’s path.
Product details
·
Paperback: 311 pages
·
ISBN-10: 0995366748
·
ISBN-13: 978-0995366749
·
Publisher: Thorpe-Bowker
(July 19, 2020)
·
Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.78
x 8 inches
·
Reading level: 13 - 18
years
·
Language: English
Cara Violet - Author
Kaianan (The Kaianan Trilogy)
Tell your readers a little about yourself,
where you grew up, where you live now, where you went to school etc. Let them
get to know the personal you.
Born in
Melbourne Australia, I grew up in the western suburbs of Melbourne with my
mother, father, and older brother, before shifting to Townsville, Queensland,
at age four, only to return at age eight due to the disillusion of my parents’
marriage. My father remained in Queensland while my mother, brother, and I
returned to Melbourne. My childhood was influenced by fun in the sun, a quiet
brother who loved science fiction movies and computer games and reading as a
form of escapism.
My mother’s family is Armenian. My mother, born in Cairo, Egypt, traveled with
her family as a legal immigrant to Australia when she was six years old. My
father’s side is English, with my grandfather, Ernst born in Mansfield,
England. With a mixed background, a commonality in modern Melbourne, I found it
easy to fit in at high school despite loving school purely for learning.
Attending Essendon Keilor College in Melbourne, I took part in the school
debate team, enjoyed winning Best Speaker awards, and honed in my skills as a
writer.
Spending years in educational sales after graduating from MONASH University in
Melbourne with a Communication Degree, I felt something missing. My love of
Kaianan had begun at twelve, and while I paced through my twenties, this world
in my mind had grown exponentially. A whole universe had started to form in my
mind where a young girl could speak up and be heard as if equal to the prime
minister or president. I loved reading my brother’s comics on Marvel and Star
Wars, and it was from there, where I was initially unable to find communication
to express myself that the Siliou universe was born. Kaianan took hold of the
voice I sought to define.
Politically, I believe all people are capable of decision making and developing
a voice; if we acquire the skill when we are young, we may have greater
legislative powers to make a significant change in our community and
revolutionize the way we do things. Fiction is fun, and as Alexander
Solzhenitsyn says, it must address the social and moral dangers of current
society. I currently reside in North Queensland Australia and love animals and
supporting foundations like the SMITH family in Australia, who focus on
assisting children below the poverty line access literacy and numeracy
resources they may be unable to source for themselves.
What
inspired you to author this book?
Kaianan was
initially inspired by the Dragon Ball Z story of Goku, and his evolution into a
Super Saiyan to fight to save Earth. The women in the first season of the Manga
cartoon were unable to evolve, and I found myself wishing there was a female
character I could create that could be just as powerful, if not more so than
Goku. Since I was twelve, I have doodled about her for years on notepads and
uni books. The inspiration for the Coming of Age story that surrounds the
tumultuous trilogy was further influenced by my own personal, single-parent
family experience through adolescence. Kaianan’s characteristics revolve around
her emotional instability. Her formation into a monster is what sparked me to
mold realness into a beast. I hated myself for my emotional outbursts as a
teen. I honestly believed that’s just what some people can become monsters. No
one to listen or hear me out, so the only option for attention was anger. As
the trilogy progresses, Kaianan becomes an understanding of emotions, and I
hope to inspire young women with their uncertain outlook on themselves.
Where did
you get the inspiration for your book’s cover?
The Kaianan
image is relative to the monster we’ve known in Greek mythology, Medusa. Our
heroine is a Gorgon, born in Layos on Rivalex in the Roame System, Felrin
Galaxy. In Shakespeare’s folklore, the eyes are the window to the soul. All my
books in this series have focused eyes on the reader, who is about to enter the
mind of the third person narrative of the various characters. The Gorgon form
is a symbolism of how we perceive ourselves at our worst as monsters.
Who has
been the most significant influence on you personally and as a writer?
My biggest
influence in terms of writers, away from the classic of Tolkien’s LOTR, would
have to be Brent Weeks. It was when I read The Way of Shadows Trilogy, that I
then believed my own story had a place in New Adult epic fantasy. When you
develop complex ideas and crazy notions of world-building, you tend to believe
it’s possibly too far-fetched for people to grasp. As much as I loved reading
all the YA classics, Harry Potter, Mortal Instruments, Throne of Glass,
Twilight, etc, it wasn’t until I read Weeks’ trilogy that I found inspiration
click with high end fantasy and what my imagination was producing. His writing
gave me faith in myself, especially when he specifically states a writing group
had turned him down in the early stages of writing his first manuscript.
Perseverance can be inspiring.
What were
your struggles or obstacles you had to overcome to get this book written?
It’s really
been a juggling act for me to complete the whole series. I was first an intern
while sketching the skeleton draft of Kaianan at age eighteen. As a graduate in
a corporate career, I spent most of my spare time writing and writing to
solidify the Siliou universe. It’s been a long process to not only create the
roller coaster ride story, but also cement the way of aura, and the fantasy
elements in the series. As soon as I got that sorted, I felt more confident.
I’m also a highly sensitive person, so it’s taken me a few years after wanting
to pursue writing full time to expose myself. I possibly prematurely released
Kaianan in 2016, to failure. Still, I have persevered to know, developing my
skills, and taking the time to establish the idea of the Siliou universe; my
dream would pay off.
Tell your
readers about your book.
The
evolution of the human taxonomy, the Siliou universe, was born when homo
sapiens evolved into homo captious. The genus, now prevalent throughout the
universe, is clarified in the narratives of aura, The Felrin Originals, as the
advancement and use of gravitational force by its evolutionary civilizations. Kaianan is a coming of age story in this new time of evolution. Of a Gorgon
princess born on a faraway planet, Rivalex in the Felrin Galaxy run by the
Felrin Congress of the Universal Order. We meet Kaianan alongside her Giliou
Guardian Xandou, and Felrin Liege Dersji Brikin at the Layos Manor. Upon her
Coming of Age ceremony, all three characters spilt up, and their narratives are
monitored as each of them discover new paths. With memory loss, Kaianan must
flee and navigate directives from Xandou while her home planet faces another
civil conflict. Not worthy of the fight, our young princess meets a new world
of homo sapiens, known as the form before or preform on Earth, and gaining
experience on her time there, confronts her own beliefs realizing change is
formed within.
Exposing
deceit and long-standing traditions as inefficient, Kaianan embarks on finding
her place in the Felrin hierarchy and what her purpose will be if she is to be
given an opportunity to make change. Back in time, cross worlds, through war,
under scapecrafts, and loving and losing the people she loves, the trilogy
forces change upon our protagonist, with the most vital of decisions about who
she will become.
Who is your
target audience, and why?
This would
suit the YA to NA young woman, although many boys have enjoyed the series
because it does have multiple character perspectives. The focus is to ensure
those, especially young women sixteen to twenty-two, know that they can have a
voice. A silent crowd is an observer who believes they have nothing important
to say, the Kaianan trilogy is written to undo that, and explicitly explain,
that who you are, your emotions and complexities are exactly what the world and
humanity need to evolve.
What do you
consider your greatest success in life?
Completing
this series so far. Never giving up on it and the purpose that has driven me
from the early ages of my childhood. If I can assist and encourage a few young
girls to be themselves, find out who they are, and live in that space, especially
those below the poverty line, I’ve achieved every success possible.
What one
unique thing sets you apart from other writers in your genre?
This isn’t
your run of the mill first person or singular outlook fantasy story world. You
will meet up to fifteen characters in the first few chapters of book one, move
across several planets, and be expected to keep up without constant
explanation. This is a keep-you-guessing adventure of action, differences, and
acceptance, as pieces fall into place with the more content you consume. The
story is riddled with mystery and fun, learnings and emotions, and most
significantly, which is why I write, the motive to ask questions, to inspire
various viewpoints, and the joy change can bestow upon you in the direst of
circumstances. It explores the political persona of each individual and
questions why it is we settle for the nomination of power to people exactly like
us. We are phenomenally capable as we are, in all different fields with
expertise to advance our society and communities. The Kaianan story is unique
in the sense; it doesn’t just take a story of entertainment and make it
profound, on its journey, it encourages acceptance of self and addresses the
current social and moral dangers young women face today in a media-centric,
social status world of visual technology, and its parallels between
disconnection of self to suit what society expects of you to the challenging
and intricate pursuit of being your true self.
