Shattering Truths(Deadly Veils, #1)
by Kyrian Lyndon
Publication date: January 30th, 2017
Genres: Suspense, Young Adult
She was left fighting her demons alone . . .
For sixteen-year-old Danielle DeCorso, the old house in Glastonbury was an eerie place to grow up. Coping with mental health challenges exacerbated by a traumatic family dynamic, Danielle watches from the window for two men in a dusty black sedan who keep circling the house and harassing her with phone calls. The two predators drugged her and her cousin, Angie, and then lured them from Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport to a secluded cottage on Long Beach West. She remembers feeling dizzy, the room spinning. She recalls screaming, crying, fighting, and then slipping in and out of consciousness. Angie, however, has no recollection of the incident.
When Danielle attempts to jog Angie’s memory and convince their best friend, Farran, that the two strangers had victimized them, no one seems to believe her. Alone in her pain, Danielle remains guarded, obsessed, and withdrawn. Soon she is sinking deeper into a tumultuous world of adolescent isolation and change. Grief, guilt, and anger send her spiraling into an even darker place.
Tormented by terrifying nightmares, she fears she will lose her sanity, or possibly her soul. Is she having post-traumatic stress hallucinations, as one of her friends suggest, or are her recurring nightmares as real as they seem? Trapped in an unyielding emotional bondage, Danielle continues the fight to reclaim her power. Startling revelations awaken her newfound spirit, inspiring a once naïve girl to grow into a woman of defiance and courage.
~AUTHOR INTERVIEW with Kyrian Lyndon~
1) What gave you the inspiration for the
storyline?
There were many reasons I chose to
write about one rape survivor’s rocky road to recovery.
Let’s start with the assumptions—the
“one size fits all” solutions, the one size process of healing, things others
decide for us, like how we should feel, behave, and react. People who have
never experienced rape often decide these things for us, and there is a
general lack of understanding.
She
shouldn’t have been there. She shouldn’t have worn that. She should have taken
a course in self-defense. It wasn’t brutal. Drugging someone isn’t rape. Why
didn’t this person go to the police? Why didn’t this person get counseling
immediately?
They bring up a person’s consensual
behavior and expect it to apply in non-consensual situations.
As long as there are still places where
people shun rape victims or don’t believe them, despite overwhelming evidence,
we’re going to have a problem with disclosure. As long as there are apologists
who find justification for rape, we’re going to have a problem with disclosure.
As long as an element of society seeks to punish people for crimes committed
against them, we’re going to have a problem.
2) Are there any hidden themes in the book
that you hope readers will discover?
Oh, yes.
Throughout the series, readers can see the development and resolution of
shame-based narcissism. The books also deal with addiction, afflictions, and
dysfunctional families. In the second book, which I’m working on now, there’s
some BDSM experimentation for some of the characters. It's all just life—exploring,
struggling, loving, and too often dealing with tragedy.
3) Are any of the characters based on real
people you know?
Yes.
4) Who has influenced you most as a writer?
I am a fan of 19th
century British literature, so I’ve gotten a lot of inspiration from Charles
Dickens, Charlotte and Emily Brontë, Jane Austen. Of course, I write for modern
times, pretty much, so you may not necessarily see that. Also, like so many
writers I know, I saw The Wizard of Oz as a kid and said, “That. I want to do
that. I want to write things that take people to another time and place, and I
want to entertain them thoroughly.”
5) If you could have any three literary
characters over to your place for game night, who would you invite, what would
you play, what would you serve, and why?
What a great
question! I’d want to pick the ones who’d be the most fun. I might pick Johnny
Depp’s version of The Mad Hatter in Alice’s
Adventures in Wonderland, Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, and Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones. If I were immortal, on
the other hand—say a vampire—I’d choose Armand and Lestat from Interview with the Vampire and Memnoch
from Memnoch the Devil. Most of these
people are either brilliant or hilarious or both. They all have chutzpah.
For the game, I
would play Clue, one of my favorite
board games, maybe a live version. As for what I would serve, hmmm, well, the
vampires don’t eat, but I’d have plenty of wine and champagne flowing, and I’d
stay sober to keep an eye on them. (They probably don’t drink either but
whatever.) For the other crowd, I’d serve the same but with pizza. ;)
Author Bio:Kyrian Lyndon is the author of Shattering Truths, the first book in her Deadly Veils series. She has also published two poetry collections, A Dark Rose Blooms, and Remnants of Severed Chains. Kyrian began writing short stories and fairy tales when she was just eight years old. In her adolescence, she moved on to poetry. At sixteen, while working as an editor for her high school newspaper, she wrote her first novel, and then completed two more novels at the ages of nineteen and twenty-five.
Born and raised in Woodside, Queens, New York, Kyrian was the middle of three daughters born to immigrants — her father from Campochiaro, Italy; her mother from Havana, Cuba. She has worked primarily in executive-level administrative positions with major New York publishing companies. She resides on Long Island in New York.
Thanks for hosting today, Jen! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the post and the interview! Kyrian
ReplyDeleteThank you for the chance!
ReplyDelete