JQM LITERARY CHAT Welcomes T. E. Bradford
Tell us about yourself:
I’ve always loved books, ever since I was little. And I mean little. We have this family picture of me when I was about three years old, reading to my five and six-year-old cousins. I think I was probably reciting from memory, but Mom swears I was reading. Who am I to argue. LOL
Seriously though, it’s that love of books that later translated into my passion for writing. I also was raised with lots of music and have a passion for that as well. If you read my work, you’ll see connections to music everywhere. Maybe even an original song or two. Little known fact – I’ve also written two full musicals and have another I’ve been working on for a while. One of my dreams is to write an animated musical and have it produced.
Tell us about your book:
Child of Prophecy, Book One of the Divide Series, is about a fifteen-year-old girl with Synesthesia, a condition that causes the brain to process sensory input from one source as output from another one. allowing you to do things like see sounds, taste colors, etc. Sounds kind of interesting, right? But in high school, being different can make you a freak.
Nova soon learns there’s a reason she’s never fit anywhere in this world—she’s from another one.
Across the Divide lies a world where magic still exists and power rules. The people of the Order have dedicated their lives to studying prophecy, the direst of which heralds a child born with all three factors of magic who will bring about the destruction of every world unless life’s blood is spilled – The Blood Debt Prophecy.
When a hunter crosses the Divide to retrieve the child of prophecy, fifteen-year-old Nova Hawthorne learns she is their target. Armed only with a magic she does not yet understand and the synesthesia no one else does, she must race to figure out how to stop prophecy from unfolding, find a father she’s never met, and discover who she really is.
What influenced you to write your current genre?
I’m a dreamer. Sometimes my dreams don’t stay in the lines. As a Christian, I believe the incredible nature of the universe reveals the glory of God and proves rather than disproves his existence. I love seeing how far into the cosmos my imagination can take me, and what interesting things I can find there. I also don’t think that truth has to be shared in a dry, crusty format. I prefer stories filled with wonder, where each discovery is a hidden gem for others to find and hopefully treasure as much as I do.
Who are your favorite authors?
Not surprisingly, C.S. Lewis had a huge impact on me. To this day I continue to learn things about him as both a philosopher and author that amaze and inspire me. Anne McCaffrey made me love dragons. How can you read her books and not fall in love with dragons? So yep, you’ll get lots of dragons in my books. If you haven’t read Jeff Wheeler’s books, you’re missing out. I found the Muirwood books first, and immediately went out and bought / read everything he’d ever written. I still do. He’s incredible. He’s one of the founders of Deep Magic, which is where I published my debut story The Dragon Between Worlds, a prequel to the Divide Series books.
What are your favorite books?
Everything by Jeff Wheeler. Everything by Tamora Pierce. The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins (yes, the one who wrote Hunger Games). Everything by Kiera Cass (yep, love me some dystopian too). The Fablehaven books by Brandon Mull. These are just off the top of my head. I could literally go on for HOURS. I read about 2-3 books a week on average.
Who are your favorite literary characters?
There are so SO many! But for now I’ll pick Quentin and Grandpa Zeke. Because they’re mine, which makes me picking them less controversial than trying to pick someone else’s.
Is there anything you want to share with potential readers?
Reading should take you on a journey. It should drop you into another time and place and let you have an experience through the eyes of the character(s). It should make you smile, and sometimes make you cry. These are things I hope come through in Child of Prophecy and all of my other stories. If you find a hidden treasure in there somewhere too, well all the better.
Where can we go to learn more about you and your literary works?
Author website: http://www.tebradford.com
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/TEBradford
Facebook series page: https://www.facebook.com/WorldOfThrea
Newsletter Sign Up: https://madmimi.com/signups/707f93f53b14452d8c2577c65c704728/join
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TE_Bradford
On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/T.E.-Bradford/e/B01LYP25SS/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_4?qid=1533007704&sr=8-4
James Quinlan Meservy - Author 