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Author Interviews

I highly encourage anyone to check these authors, as well all the writers on my Authors List.

Authors List

Indie Spotlight with SF Edwards

5/19/2015

1 Comment

 
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Today’s Indie Spotlight is SF Edwards, author of the Spiral War: On Dagger’s Wings. Welcome!

It’s a pleasure, always happy to help another indie author.

Tell us a little about yourself.

Well, I currently live on the Kitsap Peninsula across the Puget Sound from Seattle.  I took a new job with the FAA up here back in November and moved the whole family out of Southern California.  While there, I worked for nine years at Edwards AFB as a flight test engineer, it was a very rewarding and at the same time frustrating time in my life.  Prior to that, I worked for the Navy at Port Hueneme for 3 years as an In Service Engineering Agent; a fancy term for a guy who fixed and certified missile launchers.  I am an alum of the University of Arizona, graduating in 2002 with a degree in Aerospace Engineering.

Personally, I am originally from Montclair, CA.  But we moved from there in 1987 to Tucson, AZ, which I consider my hometown.  I’m married and am the father of 5 boys, ages 4-13.  My family is my life and I love to do things with them, from hiking and biking around the neighborhood, to camping, and even just playing, reading, and watching movies with them.  My fourth son has a severe neurological disability, Lissencephaly, which means he is wheelchair bound and operates at the level of 3-4 month old.  That can be frustrating, but also very rewarding as we include him in as many family activities as we can, and seeing his little face light up at those events fills us with joy.

I also used to be a regular contributor the Slice Of Sci-Fi and Dragonpage podcasts.  For the former, I sent in my weekly News from Flight Test Land segments as Sean From Edwards, then SF Edwards.  Unfortunately both podcasts podfaded right before I released Spiral War: On Dagger’s Wings.


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Now, I’m a huge fan of military science fiction and being a veteran I tend to be very critical when it comes to the genre. Do you find that your military service gives you a leg up when it comes to writing in the genre?

That is actually something I get a lot, even at work, everyone assumes I was prior military, but I am not.  I actually grew my beard while working for the navy so I didn’t get confused for shipboard personnel. 

I have however been raised around the military, both my father and my grandfather were Civil Service overseeing military acquisitions.  I grew up hearing about every weapon system, airplane and ship out there, reading about them voraciously.  I was even AFROTC in college before some prior medical conditions made me ineligible.  But most of my best friends are military.

My new job with the FAA is the first time in my professional career where I’m not working with and for our armed forces.  Even in college, after I left ROTC, I worked at the Aviation Challenge program in Huntsville, AL, where most folks knew me best as either Link or Knight-26.  It was the aviation/military offshoot of the Space Camp program.  There I worked with even more folks in the military, most of which I still count as some of my best friends.  A couple are even fellow writers.

Who are you’re biggest influences in the genre?

That’s a hard one to nail down.  I’ve read and watched sci-fi since I was kid.  I was all but raised on Star Wars in the theatres, and used to watch Star Trek and Doctor Who with my Parents and Grandparents.  And of course, as any child of the 80s, I watched all the genre cartoons, GI-Joe (though I preferred the comics), Transformers, and of course Super Dimensional Fortress Macross and its sequels.  Yes, I am a lying Macross purist, though I acknowledge that the compilation series Robotech introduced me to it.

Writing wise, I draw inspiration from many sources.  From the classics like: HP Lovecraft, Heinlein, Asimov, EE “Doc” Smith, and Bradbury.  Contemporaries that I hope to be counted amongst include: Timothy Zahn (who I had the pleasure to meet at Rustycon 32 here in Seattle), Michael Stackpole, Larry Niven, and Ben Bova.


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I’ve found that my own writing benefits from reading over several genres, not just science fiction. What are your favorite genres to read and have any directly influenced your own work?

Outside of sci-fi, I love a well-crafted horror story.  In fact my favorite modern horror writer is still Dean Koontz, though I do enjoy Stephen King’s short fiction.  I also enjoy a good mystery, having read all of the original Hardy Boys books before I hit fourth grade before I moved on to Sherlock Holmes.  BTW Benedict Cumberbatch is the best modern Holmes, period. 

I don’t read mysteries much anymore though, as I find most of them too predictable, but then I have that problem with most movies too and love it when something hits me with a genuine surprise.

Military fiction is also a lot of fun, but five kids, a wife and full time job, I have a hard enough time finding time to write, thank god for Audiobooks and a long commute where I am now, so I am catching up.

Until recently I was a straight-up pantser, what’s your style?

It really depends on the story.  For short fiction I put together a general idea of what I want to write about and then just jump right in.  For longer fiction, I feel that I have to plot and outline it out in order to avoid repetition and continuity errors.  When I first started writing, I was definitely a pantser though, but as things got longer and once the story evolved into a series I really had to plot things out.

Spiral War seems like its going to be a series sweeping several years, do you have an idea where you want the series to go, or are you just taking it one book at a time.

I originally planned Spiral War out as a 6 book series.  Then things happened and the first book split into two then after the last rewrite the new first book split into two again.  But I have plotted out the whole ten book series now.  In fact I have old drafts all the way up to what is now Book 5, but those are getting complete rewrites.  I have the first six books completely plotted and outlined out with at least a one line description of the chapter contents.  As I get ready to write an individual chapter I then outline it, making sure to indicate how it fits into the overall plot of the book and series.  For the rest, I have the general plot points written out in order to keep things consistent, and so I can properly foreshadow things to come.


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What projects are you working on right now?

Right now I am in the editing process for Spiral War Book 2:  In Death’s Shadow.  I have a recent draft of Book 3 written, but I’m letting it “ferment” as I edit Book 2, and then I just started the first chapter of Book 4.

Along with that, I have started on some Kindle Worlds GI Joe stories.  I am going to read some of Hugh Howey’s work and may even add some stories to his Kindle Worlds as well.  My current KW-GI Joe story follows one of my favorite Joes, and an underused one at that, Low Light.  I am crossing my fingers that I will have it ready for release in February; maybe I can take advantage of all the American Sniper coverage.

What are you reading right now?

I just finished the last book of Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein books.  I just started reading Hugh Long’s Tribes of Yggdrasil Trilogy.  Given that I “Read” most of my books while I’m driving I have to find audio versions, wherever possible.  But I am just using the FB-Reader audio plugin to shortcut that.  I have to laugh sometimes at how the computer voice mangles the Nordic terms, but I am quite enjoying the first book so far. Favorite book of 2014?

Unfortunately I did not read a whole lot of adult books in 2014.  My job was quite busy as was my family life, unless you want to count Kid’s books.  I am trying to catch up now, and did buy Tim Zahn’s latest book from him at Rustycon, so that is on my list.

The two previous authors I featured in the Spotlight are members of the Space Opera: Writing group on Facebook. As a member, is there anything particular you’ve learned from the group’s members that has improved your writing?

I have learned a lot of great things from the group and made some good contacts with other writer there.  I would recommend joining a writing group online, or in person to any would be writer out there.  I am currently a member of two different online writing groups: http://sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com/ and www.wewritersworkshop.com/ I have made very helpful industry contacts in those groups and have found that their help has improved and grown my writing to a degree I never could on my own. 

Such contacts are essential as an independent writer.  I would also recommend attending conventions for that same reason, especially if they feature any focus on writing or workshopping.  There is a lot more to being an independent writer than just the writing; amongst them, the editing, marketing, and distribution.

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What can we expect from you in 2015?

My Kindle Worlds GI Joe story, B.R.A.S.S. should be released this February, and then I have another I am working on for March. (*update: B.R.A.S.S. is out now on Amazon, you can find it here: G.I. Joe: B.R.A.S.S)

I plan to release Spiral War Book 2: In Death’s Shadow around June or July, depends on how editing goes.  I hope to step up the releases after that, but it all depends on the editing time, no GRRM times between books here.

Where can people go to find more information on you and your work?

I have a couple places, which I am now making time to update on a more regular, preferably, weekly basis.

The Spiral War Facebook Page:  www.facebook.com/SpiralWar

The Nobel Storm Books Blog:  http://noblestorm.blogspot.com/  This is my own imprint.

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/sfedwards26  I just started work on twitter and am still getting the hang of it.

I then post quite often on my own facebook page and to the Space Opera: Writers FB group, and a few others more sporadically.

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with us! Hope you had a good time and wish you the best of luck with Spiral War and all of your future projects.

Not a problem, this was fun.  It makes me wish that Slice of Sci-Fi and the Dragonpage hadn’t podfaded.  I always wanted to be interviewed by those crews.


Interviewer's notes:

I reached out to Mr. Edwards a few months back and to his credit he responded eagerly and promptly  excited for the interview...and I dropped the ball. I'm pretty sure I got this back in January or so and it's been sitting in my email inbox, patiently waiting for post-production. 

For those of you who have ever house hunted, found the perfect one, purchased it and then moved in in under two months...well, you know my struggles. 

My apologies for not keeping up with the Spotlight!

- Josh
1 Comment

Indie Spotlight with Scott McGlasson

1/15/2015

3 Comments

 
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Today, our guest is Scott McGlasson, writer and admin of the popular Facebook Group, Space Opera, as well as its many sub-groups. Along with dividing his time between the groups, three kids and a full time job, he also writes. His first novel, Not Until We Fall, is projected to be released this year.

To say that you’re a busy guy would be an understatement; not only do you work a full-time job, have three kids, and manage at least three Facebook Groups, how do find the time to write, much less sleep?

I got used to working odd hours in the Air Force.  Afterward, I tended to prefer evening/overnight hours, which helped immensely when I got into rock radio.  For the first couple of years in broadcasting, I had to take those wee hours shifts, but even after moving into afternoon and morning show slots, I still found I couldn’t get to sleep before midnight.  That continues today where I routinely get between five and six hours of sleep.  Undoubtedly it’s taking years off my life, but let’s face it; those are the crappy rice-pudding years at the end.

Tell us a little bit about why you created the FB Group, Space Opera.

Actually, John Markley was the original creator.  I joined soon after and he asked me to admin, as he wasn’t always available to quash spammers, provide content, and generally provide that cushion against chaos that an active admin can provide a large online group.  In fact, membership has recently discussed how refreshing it is to have a respite from the trolls and such that inhabit a lot of other forums and discussion groups.  I try to keep things on-topic and free of extraneous, more topical, issues unless those things (politics, religion, etc.) are directly related to a thread about space opera/sci-fi. 

After gaining the levers of power (mwuahahahaha) I found that the growing membership had niche interests that were better served in sub-groups. One of the most exciting of those is Space Opera: Writers.  This is a craft-only discussion and critique group of sci-fi writers who freely share techniques and processes for both writing and marketing/publishing.  It includes experienced and well-known writers such as Van Allen Plexico and Doug Dandridge, as well as exciting newcomers like Jennifer Foehner Wells and Hugh Long.

Today, the group has well over 2,000 members, did you ever imagine it becoming so popular?

Absolutely not.  We’ve nudged north of 2500 recently and it doesn’t appear to show any signs of slowing down.  Its closed membership, which means everyone that wants in, has to get through the admins first.  Without that, membership would be much larger, but at the cost of a cohesive, like-minded whole.  I don’t screen applicant’s walls for content, though.  I just screen applicant’s walls to make sure they ARE people.  Accounts with profiles of hot women that were just “born” last month need not apply.

Your love of Science Fiction isn’t just limited to reading and talking about it on Facebook, can you tell us a little bit about your writing?

I’ve dabbled for years, going back to my first full screenplay written at the tender age of 14.  It’s crap, but it’s finished crap.  Based on a Rick Springfield video, of all things.  I know that dates me, but ‘tis true.  Recently I reviewed it and it dawned on me that Hellgate is on par with today’s young-adult stuff, so maybe it’s actually got a future…under a pseudonym though, absolutely.  Seriously…it’s that schlocky, but so is most YA stuff today.

I kept trying to pick writing back up and try and put something together, having told my son stories I’d come up with for years.  Finally in 2010, I bumped into an old college buddy at a reunion and he mentioned that he was already had three books done and convinced me to give it a shot.  While putzing around with a few short stories, the central idea for “Not Until We Fall” hit me and I was off and running.
Tell us about Not Until We Fall?

The spark, that first kernel of an idea that makes a writer sit up and go, “HOT DAMN!  THAT’LL WORK!” is classified, mainly because the very end of this story is a bit of a reveal/twist.  It started with that central idea which generated a 10k word short story.  This was hot iron I struck that basically proved to myself that I could actually put a bunch of sentences together into something I found entertaining and thought-provoking.  But, when I looked at where these characters were and why they were doing what they were doing, I had to back up and ask those questions.  That made me look at the main character’s mother and father. Looking further made me back up to his grandparents. 

Not Until We Fall is the first of a four-part series that will continue with Not Until We Fall: Deadlines, Not Until We Rise, and complete with Not Until We Conquer.  At its core, the first two will be apocalypse/post-apocalypse stories.  Not like we don’t have any of those around, right?  However, I feel compelled to do them because there are so few post-post-apocalypse stories out there.  What would it take for contemporary Westerners to go from our current pseudo-democratic, ostensibly liberal societies to go full imperial-expansionist, not just out of some rationalized necessity, but with full-on gusto?    This entire saga kicks off with the end of civilization, but it’s the society that comes out of that crucible that’s the key to answering that primary question.

I’m shooting for the smart sci-fi reader’s zombie apocalypse, but instead of the typical FIGHT-RUN-SURVIVE-INSERT GRAPHIC VICERA HERE fare that encompasses so much of the zombie genre these days…honestly, most of it seems like cannibal porn to me…I want to provide not only a reason WHY it happened, but give the characters something to DO about it.  There’s a specific cause for the world-spanning plague and a specific enemy to fight against afterward.  Doing so, changes the fledgling society that emerges from those ashes and their decisions echo down the two generations to my original short story, explaining its setting and why those characters are doing what they are doing…gleefully.

Can you tell us a little bit about your style? Are you a plotter or pantser?

Very much a plotter, though the pantser in me, left over from the impromptu nature of rock radio comedy, plays an important part.  I need to get the story’s main milestones down and know where I’m going and how everything fits together, but each scene, every interaction within those scenes, I allow to just expand on its own.  I write the narrative parts almost like theater “boxing”, i.e., this character moves here and does this, but the dialog is allowed to come alive on its own.  I just slap down the character names and let them talk.  Often, I’m surprised by what comes out of that and I’m told by far more experience writers that’s where all the gold is.

I spent a LOT of time (probably too much) researching the various ins and outs of the three story arcs that make up Not Until We Fall.  From cyberwar to the US Marines to cruise ship lifeboats, I got to know a lot about these settings and the real people that do the jobs of the characters I employ.  Alcatraz features prominently in the first book, as does both the National Ignition Facility (home to the world’s largest laser).  The massive shipyard at Newport News, Virginia is the primary setting of Deadlines, so I’m sure I’m on a government watch list somewhere, but hopefully it will pay off.

Who’s your favorite author?

Peter F Hamilton, followed very closely by Dan Simmons.  Niven and Pournelle are high up there, but they don’t produce as much these days.  SM Stirling used to be right up there with Hamilton, but something’s happened to his writing in the last four years or so.

What are you reading right now?

On the fiction side, I’m re-reading Larry Niven’s excellent The Integral Trees (space opera world-building at its finest).  On the craft side, Larry Brooks’ Story Engineering.

Have you set any goals for the New Year?

Absolutely.  Along with continuing my admin duties online, my goal is to write 2000 words per day until NUWF is finished.  Target for that is March 1st, followed by no more than two months of editing/revising.  Then its cover art and we’re off to the races.

Well, I can tell you I’m looking forward to reading your work and wish you all the best of luck with your fiction and Facebook groups as well. Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks for having me.

You can check out the Facebook Group: Space Opera here. Stay tuned for more information on Scott's projects.
3 Comments

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