Author Spotlight: B.C. Brady on Echoes of Harmony, World-Building, and Steampunk Inspiration

A few weeks ago, I featured a promo about the fantasy novel Echoes of Harmony by B.C Brady. This is Brady’s first novel that immerses readers in a landscape where both magic and technology rule and shape the lives of the world the author has created. B.C. Brady has graciously talked further about his first novel and his process for creating a rich world.

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Kevin M. Gallagher, Jr: B.C. Brady, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk about your first novel, Echoes of Harmony, with me. I’m excited to hear some of your thoughts when it comes to the choices you made for your first novel and, one of my favorite aspects of storytelling, your world-building process.

B.C. Brady:  Thank you for taking the time to do this and promote my novel. I’m excited to answer any questions you have, and maybe your readers will as well. For the first, the world-building process is probably one of my favorite aspects as well. As both a reader and writer, it’s important to be able to be immersed in a story you’re reading. I had a lot of fun being able to put the visuals I had in my head on paper and paint a picture for the readers.

KMG: You’ve made a choice in your writing that has changed the direction I normally start these interviews with and that’s the point of view you’ve written Echoes of Harmony in–the first person. Perhaps it just happens to be the books and authors I read, but this is a rare POV in the fantasy and science-fiction world. What drew you to writing in the first person as opposed to the more traditional third person?

BCB:  I went with the first person POV because I wanted to hopefully fully immerse the reader. It’s one thing to immerse them into the world but to be able to put the reader into the shoes of whom they’re reading about rather than them imagining is a line I tried to cross. I’ve read plenty of books in the third person, like one of my favorites The Hobbit, and while great books, it always felt like you were riding along with them. I wanted it to feel like the reader was the one facing those fears, becoming the hero, not just reading what it’s like to be the hero.

KMG: That’s an interesting perspective when it comes to having your readers immersed in your story! Since the third person seems to be the most common perspective in the fantasy genre, was it difficult to keep everything uniform while writing in the first person?

BCB: Oh indeed it was. It took a lot of proofreading to find so many mistakes in switching between the third person and the first person. I’ve proofread it maybe 20 times and had multiple family and friends who did the same just to be sure I didn’t miss anything. I was determined to get it done, but at a certain point, I was just done for a while.

KMG: Another part of the creative process is deciding when you’re done. As the creator, it feels like you could always find something to nitpick, from proofreading to story structure. Beyond the point of view, did you find yourself looking at your story over and over and over again, or did you do a final pass and let your beta readers and editors have at it?

BCB: So many times, so many. It came to a point where it felt like I was taking a test in high school. But then, I remembered what my teachers talked about; if you find yourself second-guessing, you were probably right the first time. My uncle comes from a line of authors and is very bright. So once he proofread it and pointed out my mistakes, I went in one last time after I fixed it and thought it was perfect. I found myself starting to make unnecessary changes.

KMG: Picking a subject and genre for your first novel is no easy task; what led you to this steampunk-like fantasy?

BCB: I have always loved the fantasy style, like the Lord of the Rings series, and the series written by Robert Jordan. Outside of being an author, I am actually a mechanic as well, and steampunk hits home with me because of all the mechanisms and innovation that come with it. I have always been a tinkerer since I was young, so steampunk just kind of fit.

KMG: There it is, the hook! What a great way to take the adage of “write what you know” and put it into practice! When writing in settings that are filled with magic and spectacle, it can feel like an impossible task, perhaps even a dull task, to incorporate aspects of our own not-so-magical lives into the story. Setting your story in a steampunk world makes it very easy to incorporate that part of your life into your writing, but did pull any other real-life elements into your story for inspiration? If so, was it as natural as bringing your knowledge of mechanics into this steampunk world or did you have trouble finding the right way to incorporate those ideas?

BCB: All I can say without giving away any parts is yes, the main plot line deals directly with what I do for work. I went to school for it and understand it really well. The most difficult part was finding a way to fantasize about the mechanics of what I know. I didn’t want to give either side a major advantage over the other. So, I ended up doing a little history check and found a way to combine science with magic and make it work wonderfully.

KMG: “Magic’s just science we don’t understand yet”! Great use of that trope. Now, no matter what any of us do–even if it’s not a creative endeavor–we are inspired by those who came before us. Who and/or what inspired you to write a novel?

BCB: To be honest, it originally started as just a fun project, or ADHD project as my wife calls them, but then I really got into it. Almost all the main and supporting characters are after friends and family. Brynn and Clara for example, kind of right on the nose, but are after my wife and daughter, Brittany and Charlie. One of the supporting characters you will read about, Aerlon, is after my best friend Aarron, and I just stuck with that dynamic. I felt if I used my inspirations in my book, then I could create more dynamics for readers to connect with in their own personal lives, like a strong marriage, strong friendship, and fatherhood. In the end, my wife really inspired me to keep going, she never let me give up.

KMG: It’s wonderful when friends and family encourage you with a creative project as it starts as a labor of love. It’s no easy feat to combine ideas into one cohesive story–is there any particular moment in writing Echoes of Harmony Where you hit some roadblock? How did you get past that?

BCB: The biggest roadblock was figuring out how to humanize the villain. I’ve read so many hero/villain books where the villain’s reasoning as to why they are doing whatever it is they’re doing, is unrelatable sometimes. Part of the immersion experience I was going for was coming up with a way for readers to connect with every character, even the villain. To get over it, I started looking at different reasons the main character, or essentially myself, would end up doing what he does. There’s a lot of mirroring in the story that I hope readers can pick up on, but I can’t say much more without giving away major plots.

KMG: The greatest villains are the ones who are well-motivated but we disagree with their methods–we understand how they got to be the way they are, even though we don’t disagree. Magento instantly comes to mind when I think about perfect villains. Were there any villains you looked at from other stories that you used as inspiration?

BCB: I took some inspiration from Dr. Doom, actually. I tried to make him one of a kind, but liked the idea of him being questioned as a hero or villain. I am a strong believer in the butterfly effect and cause and effect, one small choice can affect a major outcome and all that. Like Dr. Doom, had he made a different decision, such a simple decision, then he probably wouldn’t be a villain at all. But, because he let his anger And selfishness win, it ruined him and led him down the road of villainy.

KMG: One of my favorite parts of the writing process is world-building–if I’m being honest, it’s probably the part I have the most fun with; blame tabletop roleplaying games–What was your process to create Silver Hollow, Solara, and the rest of your world?

BCB: I really started to envision all of my favorite fantasy worlds from movies, video games, and other books that inspired me. I started to pick particular things from each of those worlds and then twisted them to fit the steampunk and ancient settings. Once it started to form pictures in my head of what I could see and what really fit into the setting I was aiming for, I formed it into words the best I could.

KMG: When developing Aetheria, what steps–outside of the steampunk setting–did you take to put your own twist on classic fantasy elements; like races outside of humans?

BCB: So, currently the only other race is elves. For my first novel, I wanted something to be a little familiar. However, many of the creatures that the characters run into, the names of them are unique in their own way, but kind of cheating. I have Irish/Gaelic heritage in my bloodline, even my first name is Gaelic. I wanted to incorporate that into my novel to personalize it even further, and pour even more of myself into it. If any creatures you don’t recognize, and if you are interested in learning something new, plug that word into a translate app and see what it comes up with. I’ll give you a freebie, towards the middle, you will come across an iora. Iora means squirrel in Scottish-Gaelic. The city and village names are the same. But that’s all you’re getting out of me for now.

KMG: I recently took a story I had for another series my friend created and brought it into my own universe as we had some creative differences and one of the greatest things I decided to do was incorporate my Irish heritage into the story. That was strengthened by a trip I took to Ireland, but I will say, those Gaelic words can be a mouthful! Are there any words/names you thought about using but were so Gaelic and hard to pronounce you had to modify it or abandon it completely?

BCB: Itealan. I’ll leave its translated version out for now as it is a major part of the story, so only those that are truly interested will have to look it up. But that version looks simple, but trying to describe what it was by the process of world-building, it would’ve turned into filler instead. It was much easier to just call it what it is and then stay focused on the rest of the story. The rest are fairly simple to understand once put into context.

KMG: Without spoiling anything for Echoes of Harmony, do you have plans for further adventures for Elias, Brynn, and Clara? Or are you planning something completely different for your next book?

BCB: You know, I’ve been asked that same thing by friends and family, and it honestly could go either way. I had a lot of fun writing Echoes of Harmony, and I don’t foresee myself stopping any time soon. I am starting to think about what to do next, and it hinges on continuing with Elias and Aerlon having to get the band back together, or telling a different story from another character’s POV. If I went with the latter, I think it would expand the world of Solara even more, expand on different lifestyles and a different view of Solara, and Aetheria as a whole. On the other hand, when I first started writing, my novel actually began with a prologue. However, after some feedback, I removed it because it kind of told a story of its own. So, using that removed prologue, I have thought about going with a prequel, something that will give the world problems you read about in Echoes of Harmony their beginnings. I really have to think about it, because I know prequels can sometimes make or break a series. I have quite a few ideas stirring around, it’s just going to take some toying with them to see what sticks. Who knows, maybe it’ll turn into a big series. Only time will tell.

KMG: The benefit and curse of creating a rich fantasy world is that you often have several different directions to go! At the end of the day, it does sound like we could see more from the world of Aetheria, regardless of who takes center stage. I have to imagine with so many ideas stirring in your head, it’s hard to think about, but do you ever see yourself writing a story outside of this world?

BCB: I love storylines that bring aspects from all over, so it’s definitely a possibility. Something along the lines of introducing a land across the ocean and possibly a new race as well. If I decide to turn it into a series, I could very well have all the lands come together for a major battle. Everything is in the air, but the possibilities are endless, so we’ll just have to see.

KMG: I want to thank you for taking time out of your schedule to chat with me about Echoes of Harmony and the process behind it. Before we let you go, could you let folks know where they can find you and your book online?

BCB: Thank you for the opportunity, it has been fun thinking about the process rather than just going through it. Echoes of Harmony can be found online on Amazon, both paperback and ebook and Barnes and Noble. Everything is currently online at the moment, but I am hoping to get it in stores, at least Barnes and Noble and maybe Target. You can also find me on TikTok and Instagram under B.C. Brady, where I will be posting some behind-the-scenes soon and will maybe even reveal some secrets, it all depends on what readers like to see.

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Thank you once again to B.C. Brady for taking time out of his day to chat with us. Follow B.C. Brady on TikTok for updates and behind-the-scenes content and get your copy of Echoes of Harmony today on Amazon!!