Kevin James Breaux: Soul Born

This contest is closed. The winner is:

Susan Helene Gottfried



Title: Soul Born
Author: Kevin James Breaux
Publisher: Dark Quest Books, LLC
Trade Paperback: 316 pages
ISBN: 978-0983099321


Number One Novels: Congratulations on the publication of your first book! Tell me a little about it—what's your pitch?

Kevin James Breaux: Thanks! It’s good to finally have a book in publication. Soul Born is an epic fantasy novel which has been called brutal by some of its first readers, as well as genre breaking.

Soul Born begins a series that will take the reader on a journey from the beginning of this world as it is born into fantasy. This first book was developed with lots of twists and turns; it’s not necessarily a mystery, but there are lots of secrets and my characters are not always who they first seem to be.

Before I say anymore I thought you might enjoy this exclusive… This is a portion of the actual query I sent out in 2009 that found a publisher.

OPAL has killed for what she believes are all the right reasons.

When an invading warlord threatened the peace of the lands of Illyia, Opal developed a plan that would ensure her rise in the ranks of the Mage's Council. She would be a student no longer. On a quest of self discovery Opal is faced with what to become: sinner or saint. Even after discovering the truth about her teachers, Opal teeters back and forth between good and evil while trying to decide which path fulfills her selfish desires best.

TALA, a young elf banished from her tribe and misplaced into human society, has joined forces with an ancient elemental power to stop Opal. Burdening a great deal of responsibility, Tala selflessly places herself in the center of a human war. Little does either woman know that the weapon they each seek to wield is the same man.

SOUL BORN runs 110,000 words, and is a fast-paced read with a heart-breaking resolution. The book stresses action and story combined with colorful characters and a fast-moving plot spiced with several twists. SOUL BORN is the first in a projected trilogy detailing a series of adventures with life, death, and love as the main characters seek the truth of their existence.

NON: How did you get the idea for your novel?

KJB: Years of playing Dungeons and Dragons, watching tons of fantasy movies and playing every RPG video game I could get my grubby paws on! I think I was just born with fantasy in my blood. As far back as I can remember I was a big fan, even in elementary school I was rocking a Boris Vallejo calendar in my room. Not to mention running around my backyard with a stick for a sword and a metal trash can lid for a shield. Sure I was only like level one or two back then, but the birds feared me.

After seven years in art school I have to consider myself very influenced with the visual arts. I see my novels playing as movies in my head. Capturing them and transferring them to words has been both fun and very rewarding.

My biggest author influences for Soul Born would come from the authors of the Dragonlance books that I read growing up, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. I remember being enthralled by those books and the artwork that accompanied them for many years.

NON: No two authors seem to take the same route to publication, but almost every author has an interesting story about their journey. How did you get published? Did you use an agent? How did you find out that your book had sold?

KJB: Do you have a few hours? Seriously, it has been a long road. Over ten years of writing, submitting, rewriting, submitting, writing anew, developing, submitting, writing… Oh, did I mention submitting?

To break it down and keep it brief all I will say is this… The Submissions War is Hell.

I’ve been in the trenches for a long time. I’m like that grizzled old war veteran who smokes a cigar with his helmet off as he paces with a limp across the battlefield. I say things like, “when I was your age, we mailed our queries out at the post office…”

In reality, I have learned a lot from my own mistakes. Wanna see my scars? Does that make me an expert? Hell no! I’m just as green as the next guy. I guess I have just reached a point where I know some of the common mistakes to avoid. When asked for advice, I always tell people to take it slow, don’t rush yourself to get published and just because you get rejections doesn’t mean you have no more options left.

With Soul Born, I sent out a massive wave of queries to agents and publishers and it turned out a publisher was impressed with my query letter and wanted to talk. He asked for a partial and then a full. Months and months later, he offered me a contract. While I was waiting, I kept writing short stories and submitting them around. As a writer, you have to keep writing. Just because you are done one book doesn’t mean you can relax. Each book finished is one more step towards being published.

NON: I think that names say a lot about a person, especially a fictional person. How did you decide on your protagonist’s full name? Did you have any other names that were in the running?

KJB: Opal has held many names through the many drafts of Soul Born. This was the name that made the most sense and fit her best. When I renamed her Opal, it instantly stuck. Funny, when I was a young boy, back in elementary school, my best friend had a cat with two different colored eyes and its name was Opal. My character in Soul Born has a green and a blue eye; so I am pretty sure that’s the origin of the name.

Tala Silver Wolf the other main character had a different first name too. Her new name is based on an American Indian name. Tala means Wolf in American Indian names. A scene that was edited out of Soul Born showed her birth and how her father named her. Perhaps I will write an origins short story about her later and include that tidbit of info. I have a free short story about Opal that I will release soon that tells a little more of her back story.

NON: Do you have another book in the works?

KJB: Currently Soul Born’s sequel is being read by my publisher, Dark Quest Books. While that is happening I’m about to start submitting an urban fantasy novel, that I want to turn into a long series, to agents. This UF is my best work yet and I cannot wait to have agents and publishers read it. I think fans of the genre will love it!

While my submissions are going out I will be finishing book three in the Soul Born series, and I am starting the first draft of a sci-fi/fantasy novel I have developed. I also have a young adult UF book more than half written from the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) back in November 2010, but I think I will save that for last.

NON: What's your writing routine? Do you write in the mornings, nights, daily, or when the mood strikes you?

KJB: At the moment writing is my only job. Yep, I am another one of those IT people who cannot find a job in this poor economy, but hey, since I have all this free time I am doing a ton of writing.

I write mornings and early days, but that doesn’t mean I will not jump at the opportunity, if it reveals itself, to work after dark. I try and write something fictional each day. It’s important that writers have daily word counts and work to meet them. I also believe in practicing my craft seven days a week.

When writing I am normally listening to music. I hear a lot of authors say they do this, which makes me wonder. Do some of the super rich and powerful authors, like Stephen King or J.K. Rowling actually hire the band to come to their house and play when they write? I would so do that! I can imagine sitting there writing at my desk with KMFDM playing in the adjoining room. I would be like, “Hey, guys, can you play 'Bait & Switch' again?” Man, that would be cool.

NON: What’s your favorite way to procrastinate?

KJB: It used to play World of Warcraft, but then that monster grew so large it devoured all my time and I was barely writing at all. So now I do not play any games on my PC. With my work area clean of games, I can focus better.

That being said sometimes I like to hang out on YouTube and watch '80s cartoons, or just their intros songs. I read a lot about upcoming movies and silly celebrity gossip online too. I got hooked doing that back when I was working for a company that made movie merchandise back in 2000-2001. I have not been able to break that habit since. And yes, I think Mel Gibson should be exiled to a Celebrity Penal Colony. ☺

Another great tool for procrastination is AOL Instant Messenger, where I wax poetically with my one friend, The Beer Pope. (real name withheld to protect the innocent)

NON: What’s your favorite non-essential item on your desk?

KJB: I have two Marvel Comics HeroClix figures on my desk. HeroClix is a miniature game, if you are not aware of it. Google it sometime. I like collecting the characters from my favorite comic books. Sitting next to one of my PC speakers is an X-Men’s villain called The Blob, and fighting him is a hero called Colossus. Back in the 1980s X-Men cartoon, the Pryde of the X-Men, these two characters faced off. It was an immovable object verses and unstoppable force moment and for some reason that just stuck with me all these years. Having it recreated on my desk just makes me happy.

NON: What are you currently reading?

KJB: Mummy the Resurrection, an old White Wolf Publishing World of Darkness RPG book.