Hello friends! Today I'm honored to host an interview with Jared N. Michaud, the author of Brightstar: Energematrice6 – The Epimyth Begins . We met at a local library event back in November, where I bought a copy of Brightstar and . . . well, most of y'all have probably heard that all from me before. If not, go check out my other blog posts. 😉
But anyway! Jared kindly agreed to the interview, so here goes. My questions will be in italics.

Welcome to the blog, Jared! Will you start off by introducing yourself?
Absolutely! I've loved imaginary worlds since before I can remember. I started writing about those worlds (and specifically the Energematrice6 universe) when I was twelve, and now, almost twenty-five years later, I've finally published my first book, Brightstar. As a dad of six, I want to write fiction that will enrich my kids' generation and point them to the truth of Christ.

So, about Brightstar. I’ve read it – and loved it – but tell our readers more! I know I always like hearing about a book from its author.
Brightstar is just the beginning. If I had all the resources in the world, I would have written a book five times as long as Brightstar to be my first story in the Energematrice6 universe. I didn't have the time or resources to do that, so Brightstar, my debut novel, is the first of four or five books in The Epimyth, which is to be the core miniseries of the Energematrice6 universe. Even then, Nate's story is just the beginning!

Ooh, goody! Lots more books! XD

What’s the history behind the book, and what inspired you to write it?
When the Star Wars prequels came out, I promised myself "I'll never write a prequel." so when I started writing the story that was originally intended to be Brightstar, I decided I had to tell it from the beginning rather than jumping into the middle. What was originally supposed to be the prologue of Brightstar stretched out into 250,000 words (roughly 5 times the length that Brightstar is now) and became a novel itself. It was terrible.
Turns out, it isn't just writing a story "later" that makes it a prequel. It's having a predictable ending point for your story before you ever write it. That on top of my own inexperience with writing made me shelve the manuscript four years after I started writing it, but I still loved the Energematrice6 universe, and Brightstar was the story I originally wanted to tell anyway!
That original manuscript is still "on the shelf," and it has made the background for Brightstar deeper and richer!

I get that! I love writing out character backstories and country histories; even if they never make it into the book, it makes everything so much richer!

Who’s your favorite character to write?
I don't know that I have a favorite. That's almost like asking me to choose between my children--each character is a person to me, and I like each one for different reasons! I AM looking forward to sharing more of the characters' backgrounds with my readers as time goes on.
One of my early readers told me she'd rather hear more about Keevan because "Jon and Rachel seem like more standard characters." I wasn't offended, but I also don't think she realized just how much personality each of these characters has for me!

#truth . . . asking an author their favorite character is an unfair question 😂

Who are some writers that have influenced you?
My most essential influence is Jesus Christ. He is the only person in the Bible to regularly tell fictional stories (parables) that are invested with truth at a deep level, which is what I aspire to.
Phoebs interrupts: Hear, hear!
After that, C.S. Lewis, Orson Scott Card and a slew of writers who contributed to the original Star Wars lore (now considered non-canonical) would be very high on the list.

I know you have a lot more books planned, including your upcoming anthology. What can readers expect?
I'm almost finished with my anthology now. I'd been planning to write only one story to finish it out, but I've been considering doing two (one about Keevan and another about Jon and Rachel). I can use the extra word count, and I like both ideas! (And you folks reading this are officially the first to know!)
After that, I really need to finish the final edits on The Vale of Mysteries (the Epimyth book 2), and I'm still (as often as I can get myself into the right headspace) trying to push forward on book three of the Epimyth!

AAAAH YAY!!! This is so exciting! *happy squeals and flailing*

What are you hoping these stories will achieve?
Oh boy. This is a subject I could talk about for *FAR* too long!
Andrew Brietbart popularized the quote "Politics is downstream of culture." I go further. Culture is downstream of faith, and myth (stories with essential truth embedded in them) lives between faith and culture, pointing back to the faith we stand on and forward to lead the way for the culture. A near-perfect example of this is a tweet I happened upon when I first revitalized the Energematrice6 twitter account, "Dudes will literally read 1 book and then make it their entire personality.(for me its starship troopers)" - @AdamNeumannsCoS
I like the quote because it clearly showcases the point--the stories we read are absolutely critical to the way we think and how we live our lives.
I want to write stories that point back to the greatest truths in the world, starting with Jesus and working out into all the rest of life!

Amen! Sometimes I don't think people - ourselves included - realize just how MUCH influence authors can have.

Where can interested readers buy your book(s)? ('Cause yeah, they need to. I'm saying it right now. Y'all NEED to.) 😉
Brightstar is available anywhere you would normally buy books. That means you should go to a local bookstore and get them to order it for you! (Or choose an online bookseller that is a small business. It's available everywhere!)
For those who are interested in my forthcoming anthology, From the Void, I won't be releasing it through a traditional publisher, so you should check out my website. I plan to make it available there!

I'm keeping my ear to the ground for developments on that . . .

Is there anything else you’d like to share?
This has been a rather amazing journey so far, and I more than appreciate all the folks who have come alongside me, both as readers and introducing me to their own following! Phoebe is an absolute gem, and I've been privileged to meet her and so many other wonderful folks along the way!

Aww, thanks, Jared! ^-^ And thank you for being on the blog today! It's been a great interview!

What do y'all think? Have you taken my advice and read Brightstar yet? 'Cause I mean it; you MUST. I'm not a sci-fi reader, and I loved it.