Haddie's Haven : Aurelious Forty; Volume One

Aurelious Forty; Volume One

Release Date: 12/20/14

252 pages

Summary from Goodreads:

Aurelious Forty has led a lonely, troubled life. He stays disconnected from the world around him with no family and no friends. He lives merely to exist…to survive.

Aurelious’ life changes in an instant when an impulsive decision forces him to abandon everything he has ever known. Choosing to follow strangers into a new world, he discovers he was born with a gift so strong, so unique; it could give him the power to change humanity.

But the shadows of his childhood are long and dark and run through every fiber of his soul. Can Aurelious break the chains of his past and use his gift for good? Or will the nightmare of his tormentors set him on a path of revenge so fierce it could destroy us all?

Buy Links:
Amazon│Barnes & Noble│Kobo Books

A Deeper Look at a Main Character: Aurelious Forty

Aurelious is, at times, a bit of an enigma. He is a very emotional character and while he shares his emotional experiences with the reader, he tries desperately to hide them from the characters that he interacts with on the page. He is typically unsuccessful in masking his own emotions from those around him though he’s generally unaware of how unsuccessful he is because he’s fairly self-absorbed, at least in the beginning of the book. Enigma.

There is a lot to love in Aurelious but he makes you work at loving him, he doesn’t give it right away. There are times when you might think it’s easier to dislike him but then he draws you in and you’re reminded of what he endured as a child and you’re proud of how far he’s come.

Although he is the main character and the one telling us his story, he isn’t the hero. He is really more of a sidekick who has to learn from the hero and finds himself fumbling along the way, a lot. He fumbles so much that he makes the hero a little less heroic for a minute. But, when he starts to look outside of himself, when he starts to connect with and care for the people around him, when he shows us how much he changes and overcomes, then he does become a little bit more of a hero himself. Or at least makes us question how a hero could be defined.

Aurelious Forty struggles. He learns. He grows. He changes. He is an imperfect character, just like the rest of us. And, in his imperfection, he is worthy of being loved, just like the rest of us. As the person who created him, I must confess, I hope people will embrace his flaws and love him.

Playlist inspired by Aurelious Forty; Volume One

I think the thing that stands out for me most with Aurelious Forty is how emotional it is. The characters and, as a result, the readers go on an emotional journey that can be pretty extreme at times. Much like our own lives, there are highs and lows for each person that we meet on the pages.

I listen to music all the time. I mean all the time. Driving, cooking, doing laundry, taking a walk, daydreaming, you name it and I’ll have music on while I’m doing it…even if I’m doing nothing. Don’t get me wrong, I love silence, I think best when there is no noise at all and I can’t write with music on but I often use music to get into the mind or soul of a character.

When I was writing the last two chapters of Aurelious Forty; Volume One I listened to It Will Rain by Bruno Mars about a million times simply because, to me, it sounded like the intensely emotional scene that I was writing. So anytime that I wasn’t actively writing that scene on the day I wrote it, I was playing that song so I could stay in the mindset of my characters. I’m pretty sure my son thought I was nuts, but the process worked for me, it’s an intense scene to say the least!

So, that song is on my playlist inspired by Aurelious Forty; Volume One along with a whole host of others. The songs are either representative of a particular character or situation they are in and they all evoke some emotion, well for me they do and maybe they will for you too. And in case you were wondering, I listened to a lot of Mumford and Sons while writing Volume Two!

A Simple Man by Shinedown

If I Tremble by Front Porch Step

Too Close by Alex Clare

Sail by Awolnation

Drowning by Banks

Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked by Cage the Elephant

Pompeii by Bastille

It Will Rain by Bruno Mars

Now and Forever by Drake

Jar of Hearts by Christina Perry

More Than Words by Extreme

Round Here by Counting Crows

Centuries by Fall Out Boy

Handlebars by Flobot

Lightning Crashes by Live

The Wolf by Mumford and Sons

Where Are You Now by Mumford and Sons

Timshel by Mumford and Sons

Plain Sailing Weather by Frank Turner

Say Something by A Great Big World

Stay by Rhianna ft. Mikky Ekko

Headstrong by Trapt

Outside by Staind

Just Breathe by Pearl Jam

Uprising by Muse

About the Author

Dianna Beirne lives in a fantasy world. Okay not really, but part of her wishes she did and, since that’s technically impossible, she writes about fantasy worlds instead. Her first Young Adult novel entitled Aurelious Forty; Volume One quickly turned into her first Young Adult series with the addition of Aurelious Forty; Volume Two and, Aurelious Forty; Volume Three.

When not writing, she’s generally daydreaming which morphs into wondering if that last daydream could turn into a book. She has also recently discovered podcasts but doesn’t exactly understand what they are or why they’re different from regular radio shows. So it’s safe to assume that her next book won’t be about a podcast. Instead she’ll just keep listening to the ones that she finds that hilarious because laughing is one of her favorite pastimes and she finds way too many things funny!

Prior to dedicating her time to writing, Dianna taught undergraduate and graduate courses about using literacy in the elementary, middle, and high school classroom. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, a Master’s degree in Literacy and a Doctorate in Education specializing in Curriculum and Teaching.

Dianna lives in New York and is the grateful mother of a son whom she misses terribly when he is away at college.

Author Links: