Concord is home to countless artistic and talented people. You’ve probably seen some of these talents on display at an art gallery, performance hall, bar or movie theater, as musicians and painters/sculptors tend to have plenty of outlets to display their work in this city.
But what about people whose talents aren’t the kind that are suited to live performances and big shows?
That’s where Gibson’s Bookstore comes in.
The bookstore is seemingly always up to something author related, and it’s no different this week.
Aeurm Delevan, a Concord native, will be at Gibson’s this Thursday to talk about his new book, Demon Chronicles: The Chaos Prophecy.
This is his first full-length novel (second book), and it’s really one big product of his imagination.
As you may or may not have gleaned from the title, this is a fantasy novel by every definition. “Think Harry Potter meets Star Wars,” Delevan said (and wouldn’t he be happy if this book became a fraction as successful as either of those two mega franchises).
The story starts on Earth then goes into space. The main character, a young boy, is a demon born to earthly parents. He doesn’t know what he is until he meets somebody from space, who helps him discover what he really is all about.
But we don’t want to give too much away – Delevan can do that himself on Thursday.
The idea for the story had been in his head for most of his life, he said, but “essentially I just started writing last year around February, and it took me about six months to finish it.”
That’s an impressive feat, considering he did all of his writing in his spare time from his part-time job. He also self-published this book, meaning he had to put down $3,500 of his own money just to get it printed.
“I would start writing around 10 or 11 a.m., go to work, and I’d get home around 8 p.m. – it’s like I’d be thinking about new plot lines, where I’d like my story to go, while at work,” he said. “Anything I thought about at work, I put it into my story.” Talk about killing two birds with one stone.
A mind like that, one that’s so fixated on writing and creating, had to have had an early start.
“Back when I was in third grade, we had a class, Daily Oral Language, then we’d also have a writing session,” Delevan said. “I’d be there during the writing session and I’d start writing fan fiction of some cartoons I watched like Mario, Sonic.”
It started with taking characters and storylines that already existed and expanding upon them. Delevan would take the world that someone else created and augment it with his own spin.
“I’d create their background story, where they’re from, how they got there, and then I would have them jump from one cartoon to another,” he said. “I’d take them and put them in different universes – I found ways to do that in my own imagination.”
Once he figured out that it was easy for him to create these different universes and scenarios, he decided to stop with the fan fiction and try something completely his own.
“I actually discovered, hey, I don’t need the crutch of taking someone else’s work, I can create my own.”
The next thing you know, demons and space-traveling adolescents are filling up the pages, all courtesy of Delevan’s own brain.
“I have no idea where I get my imagination from,” he said. “All I know is things that I have either seen or read.”
In junior high and high school, Delevan read a lot of Anne McCaffrey, R.A. Salvatore and Piers Anthony, all heavy-hitters in the sci-fi and fantasy world.
“I kind of knew how to do my own world-building at that point, but I didn’t really care for the way their magic systems worked,” he said. “So I borrowed from them . . . it seems that everybody borrows from everybody else.”
If you want to borrow from Delevan’s story for your own, you’ll have to go check out his speaking and signing event at Gibson’s on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Copies of the book will be available for purchase. Otherwise, the event is free.
