JeDi Awards 2019

Interview with @riyamcyriac

Let's get to know riyamcyriac

Riya Mary Cyriac is an aspiring author from Texas. While being in high school, she likes to read, write, and be part of her school's theatre, choir, debate, model UN, Indian dance, and council programs. In her free time, she writes fantasy, sci-fi, general fiction, short stories, and poetry. She is the author of "Of Suns and Spirits", "Control Factor," and co-author of "Paper Cups and Coffee Mugs." She participates in many activities around Wattpad, such as reviewing, graphic making, and is a Legend in RebelBC. She has been part of Wattpad since 2016 and loves to support people who support her. Her aspirations include becoming a psychiatrist, having an impact on her community, and becoming a published author.
Some of her interests include traveling, photography, making graphics, watching Bollywood movies, listening to music (any type), reading, talking to her family, planning things, and most of all, writing!

She also loves to help people. She can be a shoulder to cry on, someone to support you, fangirl about music, books, and plays (she'll talk about anything except sports XD).

Her favorite books include Six of Crows, A Darker Shade of Magic, Caraval, The Handmaiden's Tale, The Selection Series, Red Queen, Harry Potter, and so many more! She's always looking for more reading requests.

If you want to connect with her, follow her on Wattpad @riyamcyriac, on Instagram @rmcwrites and @riyamcyriac, and on Twitter @riyamcyriac.

Of Suns and Spirits won first place in The Panteon of Swords (ongoing).

Story Blurb:

Every century, the competition of a lifetime commences: The Blood Battles.

Each Realm is eager to push their very best into the front lines of the inter-dimensional fight to the death in hopes of receiving the power to control the currents of travel, commerce, and legislature between the three Soul Realms, The Spirit, the Earth, and the Dark.

Meet Varona, Kardith, and Akuru, three ferocious competitors fighting for their spot in the battles. Varona is a famed street fighter with a gift that could cost her life. Kardith is an ex-soldier for the medieval kingdoms turned puppet for the Shinyun Dynasty. Akuru is a skilled magician and politician, known for stupendous acts, with hidden illegal activity that could cost him his place in the Spirit Realm. All have different intentions, different stakes, different strategies, and different goals, but the end goal is victory.

When they accidentally stumble upon a hidden corridor, they unexpectedly get tied up in a scheme much larger than them, rooted in the deep webs of the Forbidden Current, the area where the worst of soul trade, human trafficking, and destructive magic flow freely. Now surrounded with bets on their life, ruthless traders, and a closeted horror threatening to hurt all they love, the stakes are all the higher, and no one is willing to lose.

Let the Blood Battles commence.

Notes from the judge:

Wonderful, engrossing story. Loved reading it :) 

What inspired the story?

A strive for uniqueness and heartfelt characters.

My story, I'd like to say, is a story that's been in the works for a very long time. Before I wrote Of Suns and Spirits, I had this really crappy book called Majesty. It was generic, whiny, boring, and eh.

I joined Rebelbc and got a LOT of constructive feedback. Yes, it stung, but that lead me to take a break and focus on myself and school. After getting in a good place, I started thinking about how I could change Majesty.

I didn't want it to focus on royals anymore, so I scraped that. I needed something to justify the war, I made the Soul Realms, I didn't like that, so I made three. Then I looked on Pintrest and suddenly wanted to have three main characters with three goals and three backstories. Then I wanted a competition, but no, there must be a twist, so I added one, the feared Forbidden Current. *cue dramatic screams* Thus, Of Suns and Spirits was born.

I jumped into it and wrote more chapters than I've ever written in my entire life. Everything is still a first draft, and I won't fall into the trap of going back and staying in the editing process without actually finishing the book. I'm more than halfway done with it, and I plan to polish, revise, edit, restructure, and blossom this book and give it a shot at the Watty's. Am I crazy, yea, I guess so, but I'm still gonna try.  

More news from the author:

I just want to say, young writers, like myself, keep trying. You'll hit the mark one day. I've thrown out dozens of books and ideas to get here, and I still want to try harder. Know that no one really cares as much about your book as you, so you've gotta put all your love into it. As I always say, you need three things to be a great writer. To read, to write, to experience. Enjoy the journey, and I promise, the destination will be beautiful.

I want to thank JeDi Academy for hosting these wonderful awards. I got to compete with people I highly respect and admire, and it made me learn and strive to be better. I also want to thank Rebel Town for the overwhelming support they've given my book. It would not even have existed without them.

If you want to read my book but ain't too fond of the genre, I recommend you read "Majestic Ruins", a collection of my short stories, and if you like poetry, "Paper Cups and Coffee Mugs." If you need advice on writing, check out "Writing Tea", my subpar advice book. Need a good graphic? "Mystic Graphics" is always open.

All my high fantasy lovers, be looking out in the summer. Along with OSAS revisions, I'll be writing a new book in that genre, but completely different. I won't do a name reveal yet, but let me tell you, the cover is GORGEOUS!!

Thanks for reading this, guys! If you want to connect with me, follow her on Wattpad @riyamcyriac, on Instagram @rmcwrites and @riyamcyriac, and on Twitter @riyamcyriac.