Parting the Veils, Book One
Epic Fantasy / Visionary Fiction / Magical Realism
Date Published: 04-19-2025
Colleen Addison fears that the messages she receives from a place called
Ophia prove she’s losing her mind. As she grieves for her lost twin
sister, Earth’s civilizations, divorced from magic and wonder,
crumble.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Partition, Esperidi Mon-Sequana
discovers she’s the last surviving Sophryne, a Wakeful Dreamer cast
adrift as Ophia convulses beneath the weight of atrocities done to Her,
spilling Her anguish in fire and floods.
With naught but dreams and waking omens to guide her, Esperidi ventures
across a ravaged land where marauders are a law unto themselves, and the
Shetain priesthood demands that Ophia’s children appease the Rupture
with penance and blood.
Lost and bereaved, Colleen and Esperidi reach for hope and salvation beyond
the camouflage Veils, unsuspecting of the ties that bind them across
lifetimes and worlds…
Interview
Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?
The story examines (and oftentimes contradicts) certain beliefs that are prevalent in our culture. One of the biggest is the idea that love is impotent in the face of violence and aggression. I wanted to dramatize the power of love, human potential, and trusting our inner guidance.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
I naturally think in terms of broad themes and my characters’ internal lives. At times, it can be difficult for me to visualize locations and specific scenarios. I've taken to sketching and painting scenes, much like movie storyboards, to help me envision details and move the action organically.
How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
I've unpublished several novels over the years because I felt that they weren't fully realized. I was reaching to create a vital, living myth, and it took me time to develop—not just as a writer, but in terms of my personal journey and understanding—to reach that point. My last novel, “The Authors of This Dream,” was a significant step in that direction, but “Ophia's Sister-Soul” is my favorite. It's an entirely evolved vision.
If you had the chance to cast your main character from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?
Madeleine Madden has an appearance and aura that's close to how I envision Esperidi.
When did you begin writing?
I've been making up stories and writing them down, literally, for as long as I could write, but I had to accumulate a lot of life experience before I could begin tackling the themes that I really wanted to explore.
How long did it take to complete your first book?
All three parts of this intended trilogy, “Parting the Veils,” took shape and developed simultaneously, and the world of Ophia evolved over several years. Nothing progressed linearly. Once I started focusing on the first installment, I needed probably six months to pull the various pieces together and make the narrative seamless.
Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?
Stephen R. Donaldson. When I discovered “The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever” at age eleven, it completely altered my conception of storytelling, as well as the scope and depth that stories could encompass. I decided right there that I wanted to create something that would affect others the way that epic had affected me.
What is your favorite part of the writing process?
Those magical moments when characters and scenes spring to vivid life, and I can feel the inner thrust and flow of the story as it seems to write itself. So many forces in our world work to extinguish our sense of enchantment and wonder. Writing is my sanctuary where I can keep those flames alive.
Describe your latest book in 4 words.
We create our reality.
Can you share a little bit about your current work or what is in the future for your writing?
The follow-up to “Ophia's Sister Soul,” “Gossamer Veils,” broadens the overarching conflict and deepens the stakes. From Colleen's perspective, the overall arc revolves around core cultural beliefs that have created much collective suffering and limitation. For simplicity's sake, we could categorize those systems as scientific and religious. The first book was primarily concerned with the old scientific conception of life, exploring the consequences of seeing ourselves thrown into an accidentally created universe where our individual lives have no purpose or significance. The second focuses on religious distortions that can make us feel estranged from ourselves, lost, and in need of some external authority to find our bearings.
About the Author
Throughout my life's myriad twists and turns, one desire has always stayed
strong in me: to write epic tales that illuminate the inner world of our
souls. I write fiction that depicts the journey of self-discovery in a
dramatic and emotionally cathartic way. I'm inspired by methods of inner
exploration like dream-work and shamanism, wherein one takes an inward
plunge and then shares the fruits of that deep descent with the wider
community. That, to me, is the essence of what any art form is really
about.
I think the artistic impulse takes it for granted that the universe is
forever unfinished; we all have unique gifts that bring something to
Creation that would not otherwise ever exist.
My inspirations/influences include writers like Jane Roberts, L. Frank
Baum, Barbara Marciniak, Stephen R. Donaldson, Frank Herbert, Lewis Carroll,
Jack Kerouac, and Robert E. Howard. Though I've enjoyed writing in
many genres and styles, speculative fiction remains my biggest
passion.
Contact Links
Website
Goodreads
Parting the Veils (YouTube channel)
Purchase Link
https://mybook.to/OphiasSisterSoul
Amazon
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