The Unburned Island Other Investigator Series Book One Auden Johnson - Dark Fantasy Horror - A haunted island. An unusual demon. Can this team of magical investigators solve the mystery of the Unburned Island?

The Unburned Island
Other Investigator Series
Book One
Auden Johnson

Genre: Dark Fantasy Horror

Publisher: Aubey LLC
Date of Publication: April 2017
ISBN: 9780996423427
ASIN: B06XX2RSBY
Number of pages: 148 pages
Word Count: 30,000
Cover Artist: Auden Johnson

A haunted island. An unusual demon. Can this team of magical investigators solve the mystery of the Unburned Island? 

The entire island was on fire yet only one schoolhouse burned. Everyone disappeared. Several tried taking it over but were never successful. People no longer talk about Unburned Island. It was left to rot.

Years later, Kiran, En, and a team of magical investigators travel to the island to banish whatever haunts an old building. With En acting strange, they knew this wouldn't be a simple job. Kiran develops a second ability, making their investigation both easier and harder.

 It takes them no time to realize the building isn't the problem. The island is. They never anticipated the terrible secrets hidden within the school’s campus. Maybe some of the residents deserved their fate.

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An Interview with Author
Auden Johnson

Welcome to JB’s Bookworms with Brandy Mulder

Tell us about your newest book.

A group of paranormal investigators with some interesting abilities are trapped on a haunted island. They knew it wouldn’t be a simple investigation. Then, Kiran Ava develops a new helpful ability that puts her in dangers. I love haunted location stories and I also enjoy writing characters with magical powers. It’s also fun to take certain paranormal creatures like dragons, demons and shifters and try to do something different with them. It’s the first book in The Other Investigator series.

Writing isn’t easy. What was the most difficult thing you dealt with when writing your newest book?

The Unburned Island is book 12. Generally, all characters in my books have powers. By the time I wrote this book, I was running dry on ideas for unique abilities.  Fortunately, I watch a lot of anime. They’re never short on magical abilities.

Tell us a little bit about your writing career.

 I started publishing while getting my first masters. I was fortunate enough to have a part-time job that allowed me to do outside work. When I had a free time, I was writing books and working on blog posts. Several years later, I got another masters in Publishing. A lot of things I learned during those years helped me immensely when publishing my own books. So far, I’ve released 13 dark fantasy books. 14, if you include Creators of Darkness. I wrote that to be a free for newsletter subscribers.

They say Hind-sight is 20/20. If you could give advice to the writer you were the first time you sat down to write, what would it be?

Don’t be afraid to experiment with your marketing efforts and have patience. What worked for one author may not work for you and that’s okay. Get creative. With marketing, try to balance between connecting with writers and connecting with readers. I had a lot of writers following me and interacting with my content. But, none were interested in buying my books.

What was your most difficult scene to write?

When writing the backstory for the Merging Worlds series, this one character was dead before book 1. But, as I was working on the timelines, I realized they had to alive but would die later in the series. This meant I spent more time with them and got to know them. I really didn’t want them to die but they had to. Their death scene broke my heart. 

Are themes a big part of your stories, or not so much?

I tended to write characters who were either bullied in the past or are currently being bullied. My characters often have trouble finding a place they belong because they’re different. Diversity has always been one of my passions so I make sure my characters have a range of skin colors. 

What are you working on now?

Years ago, I told myself working on more than one book was a bad idea. But, because of time, I’m writing 3. One of them is a photography books called To Other Worlds. It’s a fantasy story inspired by some of my nature and landscape shots.

Is there a release date planned?

To Other Worlds will be available the first week in September.

Who is your favorite character from your own stories, and why?

I’m also working on the fourth and final book in The Merging Worlds series called The Sciell’s Legacy. Ren is a new character. He’s 17 and I’m having a lot of fun writing from his POV. He inherited a lot of power from his parents but he has trouble controlling it. Ren’s the eldest of four and his sibling turn to him more than their own parents. He acts older than his 17 years but he’s still a momma’s boy.

Most writers were readers as children. What was your favorite book in grade school?

My parents got me An American Girl: Meet Addy series. I read those books over and over. I still have them. My copy of A Wrinkle in Time is so messed up I don’t even want to touch it. I used to read that book over and over as well.

What are your plans for future projects?

I plan to release Book 2 of the Other Investigator series this year. This will be an ongoing series where Kiran, En and co. will solve paranormal cases. I’m hoping to release The Sciell Legacy next year.

Is there anything you would like to add before we finish?

I’m also a nature photographer. I’ve been working on increasing my hiking level to capture those beautiful landscape shots. Follow me on Instagram to see some of my photos.

https://www.instagram.com/audenjohnson/

Good luck with your newest release, and thank you for being with us today. 

Excerpt

She pulled the band off her wrist and tied back her bushy hair. Of course, it didn’t all fit in the tie.

At least it wasn’t in her way now. Rather than use magic or chemicals to straighten her hair, Kiran usually kept it short. It was time to cut it again. She rarely let it run wild like this but work got in the way. Kiran liked her hair wild and long but it wasn’t practical. She needed to dye it again. The dark blue wasn’t as vibrant.

Why was she the only one drawn to this area? She usually saw more spirits than most but tests showed Kiran wasn’t sensitive. Maybe the other people wandering the grounds were human and she hadn’t paid much attention to that.

A terrible smell rolled in. Like old garbage and rotting corpses. Then the odor was gone.

The smell returned. Then it was gone.

It pulsed like a heartbeat. Kiran followed it.

From the small glances she got through windows, the interior appeared sturdy despite being abandoned. The school was clearly old but not nearly as worn as she had expected. Pieces of the stone exterior were chipped, probably due to age or weather. Thick green vines climbed up the building and through windows. She couldn’t see much of the roof from this angle.

She understood why someone wanted to use this place. The island was a short ferry ride away from the mainland. From Kiran’s first look, it seemed the land was large enough to fit a small village, the perfect location for an experimental campus.

This close, the old school no longer felt like a monster despite the oppressive air. Maybe the building wasn’t the problem.

Maybe it sat between worlds. Most believed Others’ ancestors came from different worlds and settled here. No one knew why they ran away from home.

Grass rustled. Kiran stopped. A figure jerked as though it wasn’t used to its body. The head turned at impossible angles. It twitched like the broken hands of a clock. It clicked as though each step towards her snapped a bone.

Kiran spread her feet shoulder length apart. She made sure all the lines of her body were straight so power could flow freely. She lifted two fingers and drew a level one ward symbol—a circle with a simple X in the middle.

Nothing happened.

She tried level two— an X with a line down the middle, from the sky to the ground.

Nothing.

She hit level five with no results. Symbols at higher levels took longer to create. Knots twisted in her wrist and side. The thing was close now. The smell was so bile she could taste it. She didn’t want to inhale and get more of that stuff in her. Kiran needed to breathe. If she wasn’t calm, the spell wouldn’t do what she wanted.

She stepped back, making sure to keep her body straight. This was taking too long. Hopefully, level ten would work. She made the ward sign. The creature shattered.

Kiran hit the ground. She couldn’t hear the clicking of bones anymore.

Some magic had a strong recoil. Wards were dangerous. You felt the effects only after the enemy was gone. Kiran’s limbs trembled. That was about all the moving she would do for a while.

About the Author:

An artist at heart, Auden Johnson loves photography, graphic design, and writing beautifully dark stories. She has published 13 dark fantasy stories featuring diverse characters with powers and questionable morals. She enjoys taking her camera on a long hike and photographing the scenic views. Most of her landscape photos are on sale online. Auden has a Masters in Publishing: Digital and Print and a Masters in Information and Library Science. She lives in Brooklyn with her writing buddy Oreo.

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