Q&A With Terrance Niedziela Jr.

Mickey Mikkelson has connected me with my next guest Terrance Niedziela Jr. Terrance is the author of the novel Tales of Aras Becoming Fire & Lightning. I’m so happy to be interviewing Terrance!

Q: Terrance welcome to Book Notions! Would you please give a brief description of Tales of Aras? 

A: Thank you for having me. Tales of Aras is an epic fantasy where unforgettable and relatable characters confront the common struggles of identity, expectations, and faith. Twenty-seven-year-old Dr. Michael Jenkins returns home from his studies in Israel with the hope of rebuilding his relationship with his seventeen-year-old sister Cassandra. Meanwhile, Cassandra dreads her brother’s return because his success has led her to strive to outdo him. Before they can reunite, they are whisked into a fantasy world where Michael is chosen by Eímai, the Lord of Light and Life, to be an El’esh, one of his fiery knights. Cassandra is chosen to be Speaker of Reconciliation and reunite the seven races of Aras to combat the sudden invasion of the evil dragon Ba’rel’s Legion. They discover they are the fulfillment of a two-thousand-year-old prophecy predicting the coming of two great beings called Fire and Lightning who will unify Aras, destroy Ba’rel’s evil forever, and free those bound in darkness. But forces within the races and the Legion will stop at nothing to stop them. They must learn to trust Eímai and fulfill their calling Eímai’s way, not the way everyone else thinks they should.

Q: Where did the idea of Tales of Aras come from & how long did it take you to write the novel? 

A: In 2005, I had the idea to write a short fantasy story for my youngest sister’s seventeenth birthday. We had a close relationship, and she enjoyed fantasy as much as I did. When we were younger, we would run around our dad’s 40 acres having pretend adventures where I was a knight, she was a princess, and together, we would battle evil. The story started with the title “The Knight and the Princess,” and I wanted it to be about a brother and sister being transported to another world. They would save a woman from being sacrificed to a dragon idol and have other grand adventures. But after writing the beginning scene, I got stuck and put the story aside. In the years that followed, I added more details, and soon Aras was born with its 80,000-year history, seven races, and a plethora of creatures that my writing mentor says are the scariest things she’s ever read. In all, it took twenty years to write, polish, and publish the book.

Q: What are lessons & emotions you want readers to know about and remember once they finish reading Tales of Aras?

A: The first lesson I want readers to know is that God made each of us to fulfill a specific mission. His plan is the best because He is infinitely wise and infinitely good. If we are willing to submit to His plan and do it His way, we will experience a truly fulfilled life. Trying to live up to the expectations of everyone but God will leave us empty and frustrated. The second lesson is that God can take the traumas of our past, whether they are physical, spiritual, or psychological, and turn them for our good. He did not cause them, but He can use them for our benefit and the benefit of those He brings into our lives.

Q: Are you currently writing a sequel to Tales of Aras, or is the next book totally new?

A: Becoming Fire and Lightning is the first book in the Fire and Lightning trilogy. But between each book in the trilogy is a standalone detailing the backstory of an important character in the series. I am currently working on the first of those standalones called The Saga of Miklos. This book features El’esh Miklos, an ancient hero mentioned throughout Becoming Fire and Lightning, whom Michael meets at the end of the book. Becoming Fire and Lightning ends with Miklos speaking the first two lines of The Saga of Miklos. The Saga of Miklos is a race against time story where Miklos, a scholar turned El’esh, must find a lost mountain and prevent the worst catastrophe to occur in Aras since the Great Fall in the third age of Aras, where two of the floating mountains were pulled to the earth, slaughtering thousands of Arasians. All the while, those with power in Aras and the Legion do everything in their power to keep the secrets he discovers hidden.

Q: Would you please leave links to your social media accounts? The readers of the blog and I would love to follow you and your work!

A: Instagram: @terranceniedzielajr
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terrance.niedziela

Facebook:  Tales of Aras