It’s not outside of the realm of possibility, surely. It was a good book! Honestly, The Omega Room is something of an apparition anymore…I don’t really remember much of it except for snippets.
It was an adventure story of four youths who get sucked into something too big for them, a renegade military operation or something of the kind, and I do seem to remember being influenced by Die Hard 2, the movie, at the time. Some rogue leader decides to abscond with technology not his own, for his own nefarious purposes, and the kids get caught in the crossfire. You would think I would remember more, as I had over 300 pages of it at one time, but I was a kid who didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life, and so he foolishly deleted it and moved on. I wish I could remember more. Perhaps one day I’ll try to resurrect it.
That book was written back in the 90s but you didn't start publishing your saga until 2023. In the intervening time, you wrote nonfiction books and poetry. What made you decide to come back to writing a novel? What inspired you to write a sci-fi post-apocalyptic series?
I’m primarily motivated to be a fiction novelist, so that’s where my heart lies. I don’t think I’ll be writing any more business books, unless I’m sorely mistaken. My heart really truly lies with Dissonance, with Forecast, with other ideas that I’ve conjured up. I think my business guidance days are behind me. I’ve greatly enjoyed them, but I’m much more focused on the creative pursuits now. I have my business running exactly how I want it to and I’m able to maintain all the business that I do. Overall however, I just want to tell a good story. I’ve always been a storyteller, and I love telling good stories: mine or otherwise.
What type of research do you do for your books? Tell me about the process.
The best example I can mention here is Dissonance Volume III: Renegade. I did a tremendous amount of research for that book, because I wanted it to be militarily accurate. I talked with a Lieutenant Colonel in the USAF, retired Army chopper pilot, two senior airmen in the USAF, as well as a retired 35-year captain of an aircraft carrier. Aside from Google Street and Satellite views, Reddit, Quora, and other forum-based sites where military people chime in from time to time, those folks were invaluable in helping me attain verisimilitude throughout the novel.
I’m primarily motivated to be a fiction novelist, so that’s where my heart lies. I don’t think I’ll be writing any more business books, unless I’m sorely mistaken. My heart really truly lies with Dissonance, with Forecast, with other ideas that I’ve conjured up. I think my business guidance days are behind me. I’ve greatly enjoyed them, but I’m much more focused on the creative pursuits now. I have my business running exactly how I want it to and I’m able to maintain all the business that I do. Overall however, I just want to tell a good story. I’ve always been a storyteller, and I love telling good stories: mine or otherwise.
What type of research do you do for your books? Tell me about the process.
The best example I can mention here is Dissonance Volume III: Renegade. I did a tremendous amount of research for that book, because I wanted it to be militarily accurate. I talked with a Lieutenant Colonel in the USAF, retired Army chopper pilot, two senior airmen in the USAF, as well as a retired 35-year captain of an aircraft carrier. Aside from Google Street and Satellite views, Reddit, Quora, and other forum-based sites where military people chime in from time to time, those folks were invaluable in helping me attain verisimilitude throughout the novel.
How much does social media play in your promotion of your books? What type of publicity do you do to promote your book? What has worked best for you in generating sales?
I do a ton. Vendor markets, craft fairs and trade shows, book signings at local bookstores, book signing/sales parties, organic social media posts, TikTok ads, Facebook ads, IG ads, and of course Amazon ads, vinyl lettering on my car, T-shirt and custom author apparel, book reviewers/influencers, appearing on podcasts and in book review articles or interview articles, promotions through Written Word Media, Fussy Librarian, CraveBooks, BookRaid, Book Barbarian, etc., YouTube videos, SoundCloud videos of my audiobooks, local networking, maintaining an active website, my blog, etc.......and the best part, just writing more books! 😊
That self-publishing is truly the way to go. So much so that I self-published a book on…self-publishing! People tend to get scared off by the ‘specter’ of marketing and self-publishing, but it’s actually a lot easier than you think. It’s the marketing in particular that frightens people, but the best advice I can give to that end is don’t be a marketer. Be an enthusiast. It’s absolutely and fundamentally different. With marketing comes pressure to make a sale. But enthusiasm is infectious and contagious. People hop on board the enthusiasm bandwagon and support you.
I also wish I knew more about agents and getting one. I have five voiceover agents. But getting a literary agent is definitely harder. I’m trying to get one for my new novel, ‘Forecast.’ It’s been a fruitless pursuit so far. Also, with writing, early on I fell prey to the imitation game, trying to sound and flow like Tolkien. Big mistake. There is only one Tolkien. It’s okay to tip the hat to, or pay homage to a certain author or inspiration with occasional nods, and to emulate…but not to duplicate.
What surprised you the most in a good way in writing your novels? What’s been the most frustrating?
I’m a pantster by nature: I write organically and prefer to let the story develop rather than stick completely to a bullet-point list of absolute mile markers. I like to write organically that way. And when I do that, I’m always pleasantly surprised at how well everything has worked out in the end…something I just ‘happened’ to write in the beginning without really knowing the bearing it would have on the story at a later point became indispensable and critical. The most frustrating thing is finding typos and errors committed by me, not caught by me, and not caught by my editor, at the audiobook narration phase, which is the last phase. I have to go back and fix all those, and that can be irritating. I do like to put out a good offering that is error-free.
What is the best advice you've been given about writing or that you've learned that you would like to pass along?
The marketing vs. enthusiast is the biggest one, I believe. But noy, there are so many mistakes authors make. They don’t charge enough. They give their books away for free. They try to copy. They use AI. They don’t treat authoring like a business. They don’t have a mantra. They don’t operate by goals. They get stuck in imposter syndrome. Ultimately, this is a journey that requires a huge mindset shift if you want to be successful. I’m loving every minute of it, evn whe the sales are down for whatever reason, or I’m in between book signing gigs. It’s an amazing experience, it really is. Treat it as such…always.
What other works do you have in the process?
I’m presently writing the sixth installment in the Dissonance series, entitled Dissonance Volume IV: Relentless. It follows Dissonance Volume III: Renegade. But I’m not done with Forecast yet…every time I try to dive back into it, I get bungee-sucked right back into the world of Dissonance once more. I tried after Volume III, and get sucked back into writing Revelation. Then I tried again, and got sucked back in writing Rising. Then I tried once more and now I’m writing Relentless. It’s just something about the Letter R, I guess! 😊 Seriously though, with Forecast – once I get back to it – it’s going to take some diving back in time and remembering what the world of 2001 was like prior to 9/11. So much has changed. I have to unlearn what I have learned, to quote Yoda.
Are there any other points about writing you’d like to cover?
The Dissonance series is the best thing I’ve ever written, by far. It is loaded with heart and thematic depth. Justice vs. revenge. Cynicism vs. trust. Snarkiness vs. maturity. Renegade vs. obedience. Forcing vs. allowing. And ultimately, that man is always the worst enemy of man.
What surprised you the most in a good way in writing your novels? What’s been the most frustrating?
I’m a pantster by nature: I write organically and prefer to let the story develop rather than stick completely to a bullet-point list of absolute mile markers. I like to write organically that way. And when I do that, I’m always pleasantly surprised at how well everything has worked out in the end…something I just ‘happened’ to write in the beginning without really knowing the bearing it would have on the story at a later point became indispensable and critical. The most frustrating thing is finding typos and errors committed by me, not caught by me, and not caught by my editor, at the audiobook narration phase, which is the last phase. I have to go back and fix all those, and that can be irritating. I do like to put out a good offering that is error-free.
The marketing vs. enthusiast is the biggest one, I believe. But noy, there are so many mistakes authors make. They don’t charge enough. They give their books away for free. They try to copy. They use AI. They don’t treat authoring like a business. They don’t have a mantra. They don’t operate by goals. They get stuck in imposter syndrome. Ultimately, this is a journey that requires a huge mindset shift if you want to be successful. I’m loving every minute of it, evn whe the sales are down for whatever reason, or I’m in between book signing gigs. It’s an amazing experience, it really is. Treat it as such…always.
What other works do you have in the process?
I’m presently writing the sixth installment in the Dissonance series, entitled Dissonance Volume IV: Relentless. It follows Dissonance Volume III: Renegade. But I’m not done with Forecast yet…every time I try to dive back into it, I get bungee-sucked right back into the world of Dissonance once more. I tried after Volume III, and get sucked back into writing Revelation. Then I tried again, and got sucked back in writing Rising. Then I tried once more and now I’m writing Relentless. It’s just something about the Letter R, I guess! 😊 Seriously though, with Forecast – once I get back to it – it’s going to take some diving back in time and remembering what the world of 2001 was like prior to 9/11. So much has changed. I have to unlearn what I have learned, to quote Yoda.
Are there any other points about writing you’d like to cover?
The Dissonance series is the best thing I’ve ever written, by far. It is loaded with heart and thematic depth. Justice vs. revenge. Cynicism vs. trust. Snarkiness vs. maturity. Renegade vs. obedience. Forcing vs. allowing. And ultimately, that man is always the worst enemy of man.
That's all for today's interview. If you'd like to learn more about Aaron's books, here are some links to get you started.
Author Website: https://authoraaronryan.com/
Dissonance books: https://dissonancetheseries.com/ or https://getthesebooks.com/
Social media links: https://dot.cards/authoraaronryan
Aauthor group: authoraaronryangroup.com
Goodreads: authoraaronryanreads.com
Amazon: authoraaronryanbooks.com
If you're a fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, here are 3 eBooks that are currently F-R-E-E on Amazon. Not sure how long the sale lasts, so check them out ASAP!
Thank you so much for this great interview opportunity. I appreciate it!
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