Interview with Charles Brass, Author of A Currency of Control (The N-ergy Cycle Book 2)

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write A Currency of Control (The N-ergy Cycle Book 2)?

Book one in the series, A Path of Possession, ended with the protagonist, Lady of the Leaves Lake-Ellen Redwood, in a terrible bind. This book continues her story about how she struggles to find her Path in life again after losing everything. Making matters worse is her possession by perhaps the most powerful entity her world has ever known. Along with the heart-wrenching sacrifice of her innocent friend, the weight of those she’s inadvertently killed lies heavy on her consciousness. A Currency of Control sees Lake-Ellen travel across her world hoping to find a place she can live in peace, and her struggles to control the immense being now bonded to her. It showcases her resilience in the face of tremendous odds, where one mistake will lead to her facing the pyre’s flames. In the end, her pursuit of a faint glimmer of hope leads her to a land where her future might unfold in the best way possible, providing she again survives the machinations of those trying to kill her.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

I read a plethora of genres. Throughout 2024 I stuck to reference and how-to books. For 2025, I plan ot load my Kindle with fantasy, science-fiction, and Elmore Leonard-type dramas, with a bit of learning Midjourney and Dall-E along the way.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

I am enjoying David Brin’s Existence right now. Waiting in my Kindle are Leigh Bardugo’s latest, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, Nancy Kress’s An Amber Light, a variety of fantasy and sci-fi novels and novellas, and a pair of Elmore Leonard’s adventures.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

In the first half of Control, Lake-Ellen and her traveling companion join a merchant convoy traveling through kingdoms from a fallen empire. Two of these kingdoms are at war, and the border crossing portends to be a contentious affair. When she’s discovered to be a Ghesh female, the kingdom losing the war attempts to take her captive, so she can help save their failing crops. Having learned enough to control the devil integrated into her, Lake-Ellen ensures her escape to the adjacent kingdom for not only herself and new friends, but the entire convoy, all without killing a single enemy soldier. It is, for her, a turning point in her young life. Writing the entire sequence was great fun.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

Not really. I do my best writing at night, usually from midnight to three in the morning. I work the overnight weekend shift at my job, and when things are slow, I break out my laptop and get the words out. So the only quirky thing about my writing might be the hours I’m most productive.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

I try to be honest in all of my interactions. As for my writing, it’s clarity with brevity.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

Struggle through the bleakness; the sun’s still there behind the clouds and one day they will part. Lake-Ellen’s journey is fraught with dangers within and without. Despite the enormity of her struggles, she perseveres and in the end, finds a semblance of peace, where she and her abilities are valued.