Where Motherhood and Fantasy Combine~ Shattered Energy: A Memory in Time

There are fantasy novels built on spectacle, and then there are fantasy novels built on emotional truth. Shattered Energy: A Memory in Time by Athena Plencner manages to deliver both. At its center is Ariyana, a woman whose terrifying dreams begin to unravel the reality she thought she knew, forcing her to confront loss, identity, and the dangerous truths buried inside her own memory.

As we celebrate Mother’s Day here in the United States, it feels especially fitting to talk about a novel whose heroine remains, through all the chaos and revelations surrounding her, a fiercely loving and deeply protective mother. Even while facing impossible choices, Ariyana’s concern for her children never leaves the emotional center of the story.

I spoke with Athena Plencner about memory, dragons, fear, vulnerability, and building worlds that feel both epic and deeply human.

Dianne Pearce: The idea that Ariyana’s dreams are actually memories is so compelling. What sparked that concept for you?

Ariyana Plencner: As far back as I can remember, I’ve had really vivid dreams. I’ve had dreams that reoccur, and I’ve had dreams that were so intense that I would wake up more exhausted than when I went to sleep. I remember waking up one night after a particularly vivid dream to write it down before falling back asleep and in my half-awake mindset, I had written down a question: What if our dreams are lost memories? It stuck with me.

DP: That idea really does linger with you. It feels both unsettling and strangely believable in the best way. When did you know this story would become a series rather than a standalone novel?

AP: I knew right away. Ariyana’s story was too big for just one book.

DP: And honestly, readers are probably going to be grateful for that once they step into this world. It's a big book, and for me, that is the best. I like to lose myself from dusk to dawn in a large sweeping novel like this one.

The collision of Ariyana’s two lives happens on her thirtieth birthday. Why that milestone?

AP: I don’t want to give too much away with this one because this is something that readers will learn about as they get to know Ariyana in the next two books. What I can share, though, is that readers will learn that just like an injury can leave a scar on their body, heart, and/or soul, a traumatic event can leave a permanent, eternal mark on the energy around us and inside us. And that this mark can change both the natural flow of that energy and the way it behaves.

DP: That’s such an intriguing way to think about trauma and memory, especially in a fantasy setting.

The creatures in the novel are vivid and unsettling. How did you develop their design and presence?

AP: This ties into what inspired the story as a whole and that goes back to when I was little. My mom was and still is a huge fan of science fiction/fantasy. My earliest memories are of grabbing the books that I could reach off her bookshelf and staring at the covers. I especially loved the covers for Dragonriders of Pern. I wanted to live in a world where dragons existed, where it was possible to form a lifelong bond with a creature. Sometime around the age of seven or eight, my mom read the first three volumes to me and my imagination exploded. The book covers became snapshots of the worlds that lived within. It was so fun to imagine what those worlds sounded like, felt like, smelled like. Would the air hold hints of smells that I already knew? Would I see colors that I couldn’t assign a name to? So, I started creating worlds with creatures that depended on the environment that they evolved in.

DP: You can absolutely feel that sense of wonder and sensory imagination throughout the book.

Glacin is central to the emotional core of the story. How did you approach building that bond?

AP: Glacin is definitely central to the emotional core of the story. I can’t read the section about his death without crying. Even thinking about it now makes my eyes start to tear up. Glacin grounded Ariyana at a time when she had nothing to anchor to. Losing him challenged what she thought she knew about the world she lived on and the universe around her. It also challenged what she thought that she was capable of. I believe that most people can remember a turning point in their lives where things changed dramatically, beliefs were tested, and/or trust was lost. And it’s jarring to put it mildly. We might question who we are. We might question the path we’re on. We might armor up to try to protect ourselves from getting hurt again. I brought all of that into building that bond.

DP: That grief feels very real on the page, which is probably why readers are going to connect so deeply with it.

There’s a strong tension between fear and truth in the book. How did you explore that?

AP: It wasn’t a difficult thing to explore. I just had to look inward and explore the story that I can be guilty of telling myself sometimes. I don’t believe that I’m alone in having a bad internal narrative from time to time, but, geez, it can get out of hand if you feed the wrong beast, ha! It is certainly easy to tell yourself that you can’t do something when in fact, you’re just afraid that you won’t be good at it or that you’ll fail miserably. Or maybe it’s deeper than that. Maybe you know the truth about something, you admitted it to yourself a while ago, but you’re afraid to face it. I looked back on those moments where I’ve caught myself in a negative narrative and thought about how my characters might do the same thing.

DP: I think readers are going to recognize themselves in that struggle more than they expect to. I know I did. I also think it's a brave thing to do.

What do you hope readers reflect on when it comes to facing the unknown in their own lives?

AP: Connection is a very important theme in this trilogy: connection to ourselves, connection to each other, connection to our planet, and connection to the universe. Our past traumas can make us armor up to protect ourselves, but that armor can drastically limit potential connections with each other. Our armor might help to keep pain away, but it also doesn’t let the positive in. We need to be vulnerable to let others in. My hope is that by sharing my story about Ariyana and her vulnerable journey, as well as sharing my own vulnerabilities with others, it will encourage readers to do the same.

DP: That idea of vulnerability as strength really sits at the heart of this story.

What was it like working with an editor on your debut, especially through a platform instead of independently?

AP: I was nervous when I first started the process of finding an editor. As you can probably tell, connection is very important to me. I realized that the overall goal was to get the book edited so that I could advance to the next step in getting my book published, but I didn’t want the process to feel cold and distant. After doing a bunch of research, I was drawn to David Yurkovich’s profile because I sampled a handful of the books that David had edited and found that each author’s voice shined through uniquely. Then, I read through almost all of the reviews that David had received and, hands down, everyone really enjoyed working with him. He even had multiple return authors. Authors talked about how easy it was to work with David, how he focused on not changing their voices, and how warm the interactions were. It was exactly what I was looking for. Finally, I reached out and was super lucky because he was interested in working on the editing project. Working with David as the editor was incredible. As it neared toward the end, I did some digging and found out that David worked with his wife, you, at your company, Current Words Publishing. I reached out to set up a meeting and look at where we are today! I found two wonderful people that I feel connected to and my book is published and out there in the world. So happy!

DP: That makes me smile every single time I hear it. We appreciate you. And often, when Dave edits or I edit, we make each other read the books, so we had both already read and liked your book when you came to work with us on publishing. We were thrilled to have you.

Were there any breakthroughs during revision that changed how you saw the story or your characters?

AP: Yes, there was one that definitely stood out to me. It was toward the end of the book. Things get pretty bad for Ariyana. In the chapter, I had Ariyana stuck in her head a bit. She was thinking through things as opposed to acting, and it was definitely a time for action, not thought. Of course, I can’t think of the exact words that he wrote down in the comments, but essentially it was that I should let her go, set her free. It felt like a chain had broken in my mind. I was holding Ariyana back, and I hadn’t realized it. David’s comment was the ax I needed to break the leash I didn’t know was restraining Ariyana. I can’t remember writing as fast as I did that night. I let her go and rewrote the chapter. It was exhilarating!

DP: Those are the moments writers live for.

Seeing your story translated into a cover is such a big moment. What was your reaction when you first saw the design?

AP: The artist that designed my book cover, Guf, has been designing my tattoos since the day I turned eighteen. The moment that I committed to writing my trilogy, Guf was excited to help me bring my characters to life. As I worked on my world building and character building, he worked on drawing up some incredible tattoos of my characters. When it came down to working on the cover art, I knew that I wanted Guf to be a part of it. He has the perfect ability to pull character details out of my wild descriptions. I sent him an email with my initial thought about what I would like on the cover. He took that and made it better. I was blown away. It’s unique; it’s beautiful, and it reminds me of all the book covers that I remember looking at while growing up.

DP: There’s something really special about bringing a longtime artistic collaborator into a project like this. And we love the cover too.

How about some fast questions to finish up?

AP: Sure.

DP: Glacin in three words?

AP: Warm, patient, protective.

DP: Honestly, that says everything.

Coffee, tea, or late-night chaos?

AP: Chai with oat milk, warm. So soothing.

DP: That answer somehow feels exactly right for this book. A lot of what soothing means in this book is the love Ariyana has for Glacon, for her friends, her husband, her children, and, often, recovery, from battle, from grief, involves sinking down into something warm.... as a fan of hot deep baths, I could relate. LOL.

What would you tell Ariyana if you could speak to her?

AP: I would tell her that it wasn’t her fault. Glacin didn’t die because she did anything wrong. And then, I’d hug her.

DP: Okay, that one hurt a little. But, you know, your characters learn, and I feel it in this book, grief comes in waves, and the only way to really heal is to sink into it, not run from it.

One last thought,  because the book is so cool, and the cover is so cool, and you are so interesting, let's find out one more thing about what makes Athena who she is as a writer. If this book had a soundtrack, name one song on it.

AP: “Fearless pt.II” by Lost Sky.

Great choice. And honestly, “fearless” feels like the perfect final note for Ariyana’s journey.