The Singular Illusion

Hi, everyone.  I met a great author - Michael Wessels - on the Internet.  Not only did he send me a copy of his book, THE SINGULAR ILLUSION, for review, but he agreed to an author interview!

The review:

THE SINGULAR ILLUSION is the type of book that keeps you engaged.  Nothing felt forced or dragged out.  The characters are realistic, as is the dialogue.  I look forward to reading more in this series, as I see this is book one.

The interview:  

Kissed by Literature:  Tell us about your novel.

Michael Wessels: My novel, The Singular Illusion, is about a boy named Matt who discovers a world that is hidden in plain site. The general idea of the book is based on the old wives tale that we only use 10% of our brains. The other 90% in this case is taken up by another being in a sort of symbiotic relationship, but some people lose this other being and then gain access to their whole brain. These people are very smart and have abilities that allow them to communicate with people using their minds or manipulating the world around them.

KBL:  How did you decide on that cover?

MW: The cover is how I imagined a person mind to look like if they were in this world. Each person mind would be unique and reflective of their personality. I worked with Johann Wessels, who is a fine artist, to nail down the best way to represent a person mind visually.

KBL:  Which character was the most fun to write?

MW: The characters I enjoyed most were Fred and Bruce. In my head they are almost the same person and they allow me to have fun with the book. Any time I am getting to serious with a scene, or myself, I like to add something in for them. Small things like the race up the stairs shortly after Matt meets them for the first time.

KBL:  Tell us about your writing process.

MW: The first step to my writing is just about words on the page. I have a rough idea for what I want to get across and I just put as much down as possible. Then I leave the story alone for a few weeks to get my head away from it. Then I reread it and edit as I go. Once it is possible for other people to understand it, I send it to a few friends for opinions and some further editing. I repeat that process until I am happy with it.

KBL: What has been your happiest publishing/writing moment?

MW: I have a couple really great moments. The first was seeing the first printed copy of my rough draft. It was really satisfying to see such a thick volume of pages that showed the journey. Another was getting a message from someone who I didn’t know who had read my book and had questions about how they could go about writing their own. It felt really good to think that I helped someone else pursue something they were interested in.