Aaron Ryan - Tense, Thrilling and Gritty Post Apocalyptic Sci-Fi

Aaron Ryan lives in Washington with his wife and two sons, along with Macy the dog, Winston the cat, and Merry & Pippin, the finches.  He is the author of the bestselling "Dissonance" sci-fi alien invasion saga, the sci-fi thriller "Forecast", the business reference books "How to Successfully Self-Publish & Promote Your Self-Published Book" and "The Superhero Anomaly", several business books on voiceovers penned under his former stage name (Joshua Alexander), as well as a previous fictional novel, "The Omega Room." When he was in second grade, he was tasked with writing a creative assignment: a fictional book. And thus, "The Electric Boy" was born: a simple novella full of intrigue, fantasy, and 7-year-old wits that electrified Aaron's desire to write. From that point forward, Aaron evolved into a creative soul that desired to create. He enjoys the arts, media, music, performing, poetry, and being a daddy. In his lifetime he has been an author, voiceover artist, wedding videographer, stage performer, musician, producer, rock/pop artist, executive assistant, service manager, paperboy, CSR, poet, tech support, worship leader, and more. The diversity of his life experiences gives him a unique approach to business, life, ministry, faith, and entertainment. Aaron's favorite author by far is J.R.R. Tolkien, but he also enjoys Suzanne Collins, James S.A. Corey, Michael Crichton, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Marie Lu, Madeleine L'Engle, C.S. Lewis, Stephen King, and Dave Barry. As our Author of the Day, he tells us all about his book, Dissonance Volume 1 - Reality.

Please give us a short introduction to what Dissonance Volume 1 - Reality is about.

In 2026, aliens invaded our world, silently floating down through our skies and hovering at 50 feet above the ground at a geostationary orbit for 3 months. We thought they were angelic messengers. We were wrong. They are apex predators with horrifying speed. In 3 months, they killed off 85% of all mankind and organic life. The rest were driven underground. Sergeant Cameron Shipley was only six when it happened. Now, he and his brother operate out of an underground bunker called a ‘blockade’ in Clarksville, TN performing daily recon operations for food, ammo, and survivors. But when new arrivals from another Blockade introduce a massive and potentially war-altering secret, Jet grows even more cynical and war-weary: something is happening that he has not been informed of. These new developments will have great bearings on the war against the gorgons.

The aliens in Dissonance have the terrifying ability to paralyze and consume their victims telepathically. What inspired you to create such unique and chilling antagonists, and how do they reflect the themes of fear and survival in the novel?

I was deeply frightened by Medusa in 1981’s Clash of the Titans. The stop-motion photography and Claymation nature of the model only further terrorized me. The way her eyes lit up and froze her prey was super impactful on this little guy. I sought to incorporate that into a beast or monster that wouldn’t just render you unable to move, but would then feast on your flesh, leaving you to feel every agonizing bite. Be that as it may, it only goes to reinforce that as terrible as they are, mankind is always far more terrible. We live in fear of the gorgons as we eke out an existence in the shadows trying to survive…but, as it turns out, our fellow man down here with us is far more nefarious.

The world you depict in 2042 is bleak and filled with terror. What do you think makes post-apocalyptic settings so compelling for readers? How did you balance the dark atmosphere with moments of hope or humanity?

I think the sense of being bereft of hope is such a compelling narrative. Hope is “the one thing stronger than fear,” said President Snow in The Hunger Games, and I believe it. Hope is something that is at the center of nearly every violent struggle in movies and literature. It’s hope that keeps us going. In a post-apocalyptic world, hope is the one thing that drives us forward and enables us to keep going in search of deliverance. I had to supply my protagonists with weapons and shelter, and then again with technological developments that would give them a fighting chance. It’s the proverbial “being stuck in a room with a match and a candle. Which do you light first?” The match of course. They have to have strategy and figure things out and have to be able to move forward and advance in progress, even if that’s baby steps.

The dynamic between brothers Jet and Rutty is central to the story. How did you approach writing their relationship, and how do they represent different facets of surviving in this dystopian world?

Frankly, when I first wrote Rutty, he was Cameron’s friend. I changed that to having them both be brothers a week after I started the novel. It just felt more compelling. 85 % of humanity has been killed off, and the rest are living underground…well, if you have at least one family member down there with you, that’s a measure of hope as well, and a great comfort. Rutty offsets Cameron: he’s not war-weary, not cynical, he’s full of faith. He’s the antithesis of Cameron “Jet” Shipley. He balances him. He keeps him going.

In Dissonance, characters are constantly faced with difficult moral decisions. How did you explore the concept of morality in a world where survival is often prioritized over ethics?

Without giving away spoilers, there is one character in Dissonance Volume I: Reality that greatly illustrates lack of morals and doing anything at all costs to survive. It’s horrendous. What would we do in such a situation? If we had to survive and provide for our family, and keep them safe, even if it cost someone else dearly or was at their expense somehow, would we do that? In Dissonance Volume Zero: Revelation, you see a great example of that with Cameron and Rutty’s father, Andrew, taking shelter when the gorgons attack. It’s powerful, and just goes to illustrate what great extents we’ll go to in order to ensure our own survival. That’s part of the reason behind the title, “Dissonance.” Instead of working together, we’re a very me-first society and civilization, putting ourselves forward, throwing others under the bus, doing whatever it takes to advance our own agendas, and ensure our own survival no matter the cost.

Without giving too much away, how does the new recruit’s secret challenge the status quo in the bunker, and what larger implications does it have for the story?

It’s revolutionary. First of all, they’re from another Blockade, and the older of the two of them comes across as smug and makes Jet a bit rank-protective. It becomes a bit of a pissing match, pardon the expression, between the two of them. Bassett can’t tell Jet why he’s there until a major development occurs, but ultimately after that development Jet learns that he can trust him. The implications of this new development are far-reaching. New technology has been made available to them that can, after sixteen long years, finally turn the tide in the war against the gorgons. It enables them to stop having to run and hide in the shadows. It provides them forward momentum and, again, hope.

With Dissonance being adapted for a screen pitch, what aspects of the story do you think will translate well to television or film?

I wrote this story from a very real, gritty, grounded perspective. It’s drudgery and gritty post-apocalyptic reality. I didn’t want anything squeaky-clean or antiseptic like Star Trek, and I didn’t want it on some far-off world. I wanted it very attainable, on earth, only a few years from now. We can see how our world has been overrun and overgrown. Very much as in “I Am Legend”, the earth has been unfortunately purged of so many of its custodians and caretakers, and the rest of us are in hiding. It’s so familiar and yet so tragic. We’ve all seen those scenes in movies where the head of the Statue of Liberty is underwater or lying shattered on the ground, or the remnants of the World Trade Center, cracked and splintered, still stand as grim testaments to a life before cataclysm. It’s a quiet earth: a ghost town, one that we see and instantly want to reclaim. And the humanity between characters, the real-life exchanges, the easy and natural dialogue, and the fact that it’s an easy read and not meant to overwhelm people with massive vocabulary or strange worlds and names makes it translate well.

Your characters are constantly forced to adapt and survive under extreme circumstances. How did you explore the theme of human resilience in the face of such overwhelming threats?

That’s the best type of subject, isn’t it? Hope against all odds. We’re essentially just like moles. Moles would run from us if they saw us, much like we would run from gorgons and retreat back underground. That’s just where civilization is at now, unfortunately. But we find a way to persevere and fight on. That’s the ingenuity of the human spirit, and “adapt and overcome” model of living, and it’s the greatest asset we have as humanity.

The world of Dissonance feels highly immersive, from the desolate landscapes to the underground bunkers. Can you walk us through your process of creating this world and how real-world events influenced it?

It’s definitely not a referendum on modern society, although there are hints and outright mentions of that, for instance, the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Gaza war, the Covid pandemic, etc. They are all touched on and remembered. So, real life events intruded into the story. To boot, I walked my characters literally through real streets, real establishments and abandoned businesses and buildings, real terrain as found on Google Maps and Google Street View, so what you read and see are actual real-life places and names that are there today. In fact, over Labor Day weekend I took a sort of pilgrimage out to Nasvhille and Clarksville TN, as well as Blue Spring KY, to visit the very places where my books are largely set at first. It was humbling and surreal. I wanted it grounded in reality, so that’s what I sought to achieve: verisimilitude. The quality of reality that makes you accept it as real and actual and tangible.

Alien invasions are a common trope in science fiction. How did you ensure Dissonance brought a fresh perspective to this genre?

The gorgons were the main component in that. I needed a monster that was so destructive and not just a lumbering giant smashing through buildings. We often fear the velociraptors more than the giant T-Rex, because they’re small, they can fit into the narrow hiding spaces that we’re in, and they’re cunning. The gorgons are such a creature. But with the added component of not even being able to look directly at them, how would you be able to fight such an enemy? It’s absolutely gut-wrenchingly terrifying what they do when they get you locked in their stare. It’s mesmerizing and transfixing, and there simply is no escape when that happens. You’re done. Life is now over for you. That’s horrible to be locked in such a stare, to have someone you love locked in it. When the gorgons “activate” in Dissonance Volume Zero: Revelation (prequel #1), I have never written anything more terrifying. I needed to take a break from writing for a bit after that…it was so heart-wrenching. The same was true with the first major death in Dissonance Volume I: Reality by a gorgon. I came disassembled in the writing, in the editing, and in the narration for it. They are absolutely terrifying creatures.

Jet undergoes significant personal and emotional growth throughout the novel. What do you hope readers will take away from his journey, especially regarding leadership and trust in a crumbling world?

I hope they take away that he’s just like us. If he can survive, then the rest of us can too. People follow him. People join up. He’s committed to being a good soldier and seeing justice done. Don’t we all want that? He finds that he can trust and that he’s capable of doing the hard thing. He needs people to guide him, as we all do, but he can do it. Again, if he can, then so can we. I find his journey from cynicism to trust deeply compelling. His journey of wanting revenge to allowing justice to happen deeply compelling. His journey of going from snarkiness to maturity deeply compelling.

While Dissonance is primarily a survival thriller, there are hints of romance and deep relationships. How did you weave these elements into such a high-stakes environment?

Again, hope. If we found love in such dire circumstances, wouldn’t that provide extra motivation to fight for humanity and to keep moving in the face of overwhelming obstacles? Love is BUILT on hope. It thrives on it. Ally Trudy is someone his age and they are a good match, her story and his. You find and explore more of that as you progress through the series into Dissonance Volume II: Reckoning. Where she has come from, and what she’s provided the world, is utterly amazing, and it’s all built on hope. You learn much more about her in Dissonance Volume Up: Rising, the second prequel, as well. She’s a perfect match for Jet. As far as relationships such as between Jet and Rutty, for example, I have sundered relationships with both of my brothers, one of which is my twin. Through a variety of poor life choices they’ve both made, they have both become unsafe or relatively toxic. I wanted an idealistic view of brothers such as what I craved and miss, so I projected that into writing the brothers.

The book has been described as both heart-pounding and emotional. Were there any specific reactions or feedback from readers that surprised or deeply resonated with you?

A friend told me that she got so immersed in the story, she “forgot who wrote it.” That’s high praise! And yes, people have told me that so many characters and developments moved them. Amos surprised them. Bassett made them laugh. Rutty gave them hope. Stone gave them a sense of betrayal. The church terrified them and galvanized them. The Woodward library at APSU shattered them and sent them convulsing with tears (it still does to me to this day.) I have received more feedback on Dissonance Volume Zero: Revelation (which is my favorite) particularly for elements like Mick or Jack…but overall, I LOVE getting ANY feedback and ANY mail from readers expressing what they liked or disliked about the books or the series. It’s utterly rewarding!

With six installments in the Dissonance saga, where do you see the story heading in future volumes? Are there any major plot developments you’re excited for readers to experience in the next books?

Oh, I’m done now. Seriously. I thought I was done with Dissonance Volume III: Renegade, and then it demanded a prequel, and then I wrote another prequel to fill in the five-year gap leading up to Dissonance Volume I: Reality. I wasn’t going to write a sequel, but I really felt compelled to, as there was a major plot point at the end of Dissonance Volume III: Renegade that was an open door or sorts, that provided the ability to write a sequel. I’m utterly pleased with how it turned out, and SO grateful! I hope they read all of them and really appreciate the journeys of all the protagonists…even the ancillary characters on the periphery. Not just Jet and Rutty, but also Rosie, Stone, Trudy, Bassett, Graham, Miguel, Vance, Andrew, Melissa, Sissy, Jack, Santella, Ferro, Carson, and so many more. I could write a whole book on Rosie. So….maybe I’ll do that. Maybe. We’ll see. 😊 As far as plot developments, you MUST read Dissonance Volume IV: Relentless after the trilogy. It ends in Dissonance Volume III: Renegade, but it begins again in Dissonance Volume IV: Relentless, and it’s POWERFUL. Unnerving. You learn a lot more about the gorgons in Dissonance Volume IV: Relentless much to your surprise, and I think it’ll blow you away how I’ve written it and what you learn. Thank you to all my readers for reading and enjoying my series!