The Voice in All was the winner in the NEW ADULT category of the 2024 IndieReader Discovery Awards, where undiscovered talent meets people with the power to make a difference.
Following find an interview with author Audrey Auden.
My heartfelt thanks to the IndieReader Discovery Awards for selecting my fantasy novel The Voice in All as this year’s New Adult Fiction category winner. The Voice in All is Book 1 of The Artifex and the Muse, a YA romantic fantasy series that explores freedom, fate, and the power of human connection. I’m delighted that the coming-of-age story of Ava and Dom captivated your expert judges, and I’m excited to share that The Path of Mysteries (Book 2 of the series), is now available. Thank you, IndieReader, for helping new readers discover The Voice in All!
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
The Voice in All (Book 1 of The Artifex and the Muse series) was first published in 2022.
What’s the book’s first line?
I crouch motionless beside my mother at the edge of the cedar forest.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
The Voice in All is Book 1 of The Artifex and the Muse, a YA romantic fantasy series that explores freedom, fate, and the power of human connection.
The Voice in All tells the story of Ava, a 16-year-old determined to free herself from the powerful priestesshood that controls her society, and Dom, who is called by the mysterious Voice in All to serve the priestesshood. The night before the coming-of-age ceremony that will seal their fates, Dom crosses paths with Ava during her desperate escape attempt. Their accidental brush with forbidden magic awakens a deep telepathic connection between them, setting them on a collision course with their shared destiny: to reveal the hidden truth of the power behind the priestesshood.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
The friends-to-lovers journey and deep emotional connection between Ava and Dom was inspired by the joys and challenges of romantic relationships and creative partnerships in my own life. The quest that Ava and Dom share to overturn the power structure that governs their world mirrors my own struggle to accept the need for power structures that support civil society while remaining vigilant to the threat of our power structures becoming corrupt in ways that degrade society.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
The most distinctive thing about my heroine Ava is her insatiable hunger to understand her world, her society, and her purpose in life. Ava is endlessly curious and eager to understand the diverse perspectives of other people, and the insight she gathers through her openness to new ideas gives her the ability to solve problems in unexpected ways. Ava’s drive to understand her world is what ultimately empowers her to change her world in profound ways that drive the series plot and help her discover her destiny.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
If you love falling in love with your romantic leads, read this book! Readers consistently tell me that it’s the relationship between Ava and Dom that keeps them up all night reading. The metaphysical fantasy and adventure that forms the backdrop of this story is beautiful and richly textured, and readers love this aspect of the series too, but at its core The Voice in All is a character-driven romantasy.
If they made your book into a movie, who would you like to see play the main character(s)?
I would love for a pair of undiscovered young actors to get their first big break playing Ava and Dom.
When did you first decide to become an author?
I’ve known since I was seven years old that I wanted to be a writer. Though my engineering education led me to a career in tech startups, I’ve been writing on the side ever since.
Is this the first book you’ve written?
I’ve published three novels to date and have a fourth currently in progress. Readers can find links to all my work (and some fun behind-the-scenes content) at my author website audreyauden.com. My currently available books are:
Realms Unreel
The Voice in All (Book 1 of The Artifex and the Muse)
The Path of Mysteries (Book 2 of The Artifex and the Muse)
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
I’m currently on a sabbatical from my career in tech startups. When I’m not writing, I’m out in the woods managing the beautiful conservation forest property where I live in the foothills of the White Mountains in New Hampshire’s North Country.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
For each of my first three novels, I needed about twelve months from the time I wrote the first draft of the first scene until I completed the final edits on the print-ready manuscript. While writing the first draft of a manuscript, I generally spend 2-4 hours per day writing, with perhaps one day off per week. After I’ve received feedback from my editor on my complete first draft, I’ll generally spend 4-6 hours per day revising and expanding scenes. After completing a second draft, I often step away from the manuscript for weeks at a time so I can come back to it with fresh eyes. I’d estimate that for every 100,000 words that appear in a final manuscript, I’ve written and discarded about 1 million words in various drafting phases. I try to remain unattached to any given draft of a story, because sometimes you need to write something you won’t publish in order to discover how the story needs to be told. For example, for The Voice in All, I spent six months writing the original 120,000+ word first draft manuscript. After receiving a very thorough and helpful developmental edit from my amazing editor Tanner Perkes at Writer Therapy, I had so many improved ideas for telling the story that I threw out the first draft and rewrote the entire book from scratch with an entirely new narrative point of view. I’m so pleased with the final result, and it wouldn’t have been possible if I hadn’t been willing to throw away an entire manuscript as part of the writing process.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
For me, the best part of being an indie author is the freedom to tell my stories my way. The hardest part of being an indie author is designing and executing an effective book marketing strategy, in our world of increasingly fragmented marketing channels.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
I would be excited to work with a traditional publisher, given the opportunity. Book marketing is an art unto itself, and working with a traditional publishing team that’s excited to help grow the audience for my books would give me more time to focus on the writing itself, which is where my passion lies.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
Writing is truly its own reward, for me. Writing is one of the few activities in my life that allows me to enter a deep flow state. While I’m writing fiction, I lose track of myself and all sense of time because my mind completely inhabits my story world and my characters. Writing is an incredibly vivid and multisensory experience for me, and it engages every part of my mind.
I would write even if I knew I would never have a single reader besides myself. However, one of the great things about being an indie writer is that I can reach readers in so many ways. Connecting with my readers is incredibly motivating. Over the 13+ years since I published my debut novel, I’ve met and corresponded with hundreds of my readers. There are few things more motivating than a reader telling me they’ve fallen in love with one of my characters, or that they stayed up all night reading my book cover to cover, or that they can’t wait for the next book in the series. It’s even more rewarding when, years later, readers get back in touch with me to say they’re still thinking about a story of mine that they read years ago. Knowing that my stories and characters are inhabiting other readers’ minds gives me the confidence to keep writing and motivates me to keep improving as a writer with each new story I publish.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
Please don’t make me choose! I admire so many writers, and countless writers have influenced my life and my writing in fundamental ways. If forced to choose just one, though, I must call out Octavia Butler. The strong female leads, unusual character perspectives, and social commentary in all her writing is excellent and inspiring. Her duology The Parable of the Sower and The Parable of the Talents is one of my all-time favorite pieces of speculative fiction writing.
10. Which book do you wish you could have written?
As the steward of a beautiful conservation woodland and a person concerned for and inspired by our natural world, I was deeply moved by Richard Powers’ novel The Overstory. Through the lens of literary fiction, The Overstory spotlights the real life contributions of scientist Suzanne Simard, whose research into the fungal networks connecting tree roots has illuminated the complex interconnectedness of trees, humans, and all life forms sustained by forests. I would love to someday write a book as powerful as The Overstory.