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Tag: interview

Friday Five: women’s fiction author Jeanne Felfe

friday fiveToday’s Friday Five focus is Jeanne Felfe, author of women’s fiction short stories and novels.

Jeanne Felfe grew up in hurricane country and often writes as if a storm is at her back. A South Texas beach bunny—and still very much a Texan—she long ago transplanted to the Midwest, where she insists on growing tropical plants to feel at home. She’s going for a record for the longest engagement—she’s been perpetually engaged to her sweetie since 2008—with no plans to tie that knot. She writes stories from the heart, finding inspiration in songs and everyday life.

Bridge to Us is a cross between a women’s fiction life journey and a second chances romance. Julianne’s husband walked out; Jokob’s wife died. Together they must find a way to mend their broken hearts, bridge their differences and find love again.

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Jeanne Felfe head shot1. Where do your inspiration and ideas for your stories come from?

Quite often it’s a flash of inspiration out of the blue. Other times it might be a line in a song or a news story. My current work in progress is a cross between women’s fiction, coming of age, and suspense. That one came to me one morning while I was cooking breakfast. I had an image float through my head of the pastor’s son gone missing. When I asked what happened, this 14 year old Somali refugee began to tell me her story.

2. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

The gift of helping others through their darkest moments. I grew up with mental illness surrounding me, so it seems to be a knack of mine.

3. Is there a certain type of scene that’s harder for you to write than others? How do you deal with this?

Not really. I generally start with dialogue and build the scene around that. I know some authors have trouble writing deeply emotional scenes, but those seem to be my forte.

4. What’s the worst job you’ve ever had and why? What was the best thing about that job and why?

One week waiting tables at a newly opened Mexican food restaurant – because people can be mean and rude to waitstaff. I can’t think of anything good about it except that it helped me be extremely nice to waitstaff.

5. What’s your current writing project and what are your writing plans for the near future?

I’ve completed The Things We Do Not Speak Of up to the point of beta readers, and will be starting revisions based on that feedback. Once complete, I will be shopping for an agent. I’m currently researching to start writing suspense/thrillers and have begun book 1 in a series.

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Bridge to Us is currently available at Amazon. Connect with Jeanne on Twitter or Facebook.

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Friday Five: horror/suspense author J.P. Barnett

friday fiveToday’s Friday Five focus is J.P. Barnett, author of horror/suspense novels.

J.P. Barnett is the author of the award-winning Lorestalker series, a collection of paranormal horror suspense/thrillers examining folklore and tall tales of mysterious creatures roaming our world, published by Evolved Publishing LLC. His debut novel, The Beast of Rose Valley, won the Pinnacle Achievement Award and was a finalist in the Readers’ Favorite Awards. The follow-up, The Kraken of Cape Madre, released to rave reviews, and was named a Top-5 finalist in the 2019 Kindle Book Awards. J.P. currently resides in San Antonio with his wife and hellion of a cat, both of whom look at him dubiously with some frequency.

In his first book, The Beast of Rose Valley, it’s not awkward at all when you’re forced on a family vacation with your new stepmother and her young daughter. Even worse when a malevolent force wants to kill you.

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JP Barnett1. What author has influenced your writing style/subject the most and why?

Michael Crichton – he has always been one of my favorite authors. I always loved the way he blended real science with science fiction. Though I don’t write in the science fiction genre currently, I still aim for the blend of the real and the imagined.

2. If you could pick just one book to read for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

Ready Player One. It’s so dense with references that it might take a lifetime to absorb them all.

3. What are three things on your bucket list?

1) Take a month-long trip to Australia

2) Write 20 books before I die

3) Learn to trust myself and live life on my own terms

4. How much of your published writing is based on personal experiences?

Though it wouldn’t seem like it on the surface, a part of me lives in every character I write. Though there are monsters, those are really just a stand-in for the internal monsters we all fight on a daily basis.

5. What is the most important thing that people DON’T know about your subject/genre, that you think they need to know?

Sometimes it’s a hard sell to get people to read my books. A lot of people don’t care for horror, and worry about getting too scared. My books are very approachable, though, and I wish I could explain that they really fit in some middle genre between urban fantasy and horror. Also, I think a lot of people might find it interesting that most of my “monsters” are based on real-life folklore of cryptids around the world.

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The Beast of Rose Valley, The Kraken of Cape Madre, and the rest of the Lorestalker series are currently available at Amazon. Connect with J.P. on Twitter or Facebook.

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Friday Five: Nillu Nasser

friday fiveToday’s Friday Five focus is Nillu Nasser, author of literary fiction and women’s fiction short stories, novels, and poetry.

She is a writer of literary fiction novels. Her books include: All the Tomorrows (2017) and Hidden Colours (2018). An Ocean of Masks is due to be released in 2019. Nillu has a BA in English and German Literature, and an MA in European Politics. After graduating she worked in national and regional politics, but eventually reverted to her first love: writing. She lives in London with her husband and three children.

Each evening, nestled in Berlin’s Treptower Park, the immigrant circus comes to life. When Yusuf fled Syria, he lost everything. Now the circus is the only home he knows. When public opinion swells against it, he risks upheaval and grief all over again.

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Nillu Nasser1. What genre do you currently read most and why?

The book on my bedside table is currently Matt Haig’s How to Stop Time. On my Kindle is a bundle of ebooks about book marketing, because the launch of Hidden Colours is a few weeks away and I need to refresh my skill set. On the whole though, it’s literary fiction, magical realism and fantasy I gravitate towards, in that order. They help me understand the world, fire my imagination, keep me aware of the trends in the market, and help me escape reality. There really is nothing better than a good book and a cup of tea in hand. I’ve got a whole pile of Murakami books waiting for me, because he really is an author I’d love to explore more.

2. What do you want your readers to take away from your works?

I’d like them to have found themselves thinking from the perspective they might not have considered before, be it the hero or villain. All of us have good and bad in us. What I love about fiction is that is makes us feel deeply, and realise life is messy and complicated, but still hopeful.

3. What are some of your favorite words and why?

I like this passage from my new book Hidden Colours, because it flowed onto the page without thought and it feels truthful to me when I read it over again: “He’d met men like Silberling before. Hadn’t his father been such a man, before it all came crashing down? Can’t they be found on every street, in every country, there where the wine flows, backs are patted and decisions are made? Some wore suits, others wore kurta, some carried guns, and some a briefcase, but the undercurrent of energy remained the same, and the hunger in the eyes.”

4. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever researched for your works or biggest/most out-of-the-ordinary thing you’ve done while researching?

Oh my goodness, I shudder to think what lists I am on for the things I type into the Google search box. For All the Tomorrows, the strangest bit of research was how long before a body decomposes to work out the timing of a funeral in India, and for Hidden Colours it was details on clown routines. Any investigator looking at my search history would be very confused if they didn’t know my profession!

5. Why should people read YOUR stuff? Who’s your target audience and why?

My writing is aimed at adults over 25. My stories often take place in rich settings and explore the search for identity from an outsider’s perspective. They delve deep into characterisation, and what brings humans to breaking point. They are not afraid to be dark, but there is always hope.

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All the Tomorrows and Hidden Colours are both currently available at Amazon.

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Friday Five: David Hagerty @DHagertyAuthor

friday fiveToday’s Friday Five focus is David Hagerty, author of political murder mystery short stories and novels.

Stories about crimes have always resonated with David, whether it was Crime and Punishment or The Quiet American. Maybe it’s because he started his career as a police reporter, or because he worked for a time as a teacher in the county jail.

More than a decade ago, when he decided to finally get serious about writing, he started with short stories based on real misdeeds he’d witnessed, including one about his next door neighbor who’d been murdered by a friend, another about an ambitious bike racer who decides to take out the competition, and a bunch of others based on characters from the jail.

Over time these got picked up by various magazines online and in print. More than a dozen now exist, with most of the latest in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and Big Pulp.

For his debut novel, They Tell Me You Are Wicked, David drew inspiration from the most infamous event in the history of his hometown: the real life killing of a political candidate’s daughter (though he made up all the details).

Book two in the series, They Tell Me You Are Crooked, is set two years later, after the hero, Duncan Cochrane, has become governor. He’s haunted by the family secret that got him elected and fighting a sniper who’s targeting children in Chicago.

In the latest book, They Tell Me You Are Brutal, Gov. Cochrane searches for a saboteur who is poisoning pain medications, all while trying to protect his family from personal and political ruin.

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David Hagerty1. Why do you write political murder mysteries?

As a young man growing up in a wealthy suburb, I thought that crime happened to other people. Even as a young adult, writing the police beat for a local newspaper, crime felt distant from me. Then my next door neighbor was murdered, and I realized it affects us all.

Now I write about infamous crimes from my childhood, seeking connections to those who, like me, feel immune to its effects.

2. What was your attitude towards reading when you were a kid?

Loved it. Books were my best friends.

3. Thinking about the stuff you’ve written, who’s your favorite character and why?

I have a columnist who appears in all four of my books named Mark Rica. He’s inspired by the famous Chicago scribe Mike Royko, who commented on all the political shenanigans of the city. I find writing in his voice freeing, and his cynicism feels somehow rewarding.

4. What literary character are you most like and why?

No one writes books about people like me. Who wants to read about a guy who spends his free time daydreaming at a keyboard?

5. What is the most important thing that people DON’T know about your subject/genre, that you think they need to know?

That mysteries can be more than whodunnits. A good mystery will show you something about the time and place in which it’s set, not just the characters, but the culture as well.

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They Tell Me You Are Wicked, They Tell Me You Are Crooked, and They Tell Me You Are Brutal are all currently available at Amazon.

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Friday Five: YA sci-fi author Adelaide Thorne

Today’s Friday Five focus is Adelaide Thorne, author of YA sci-fi novels.

After her stick figure comic series “The Adventures of The Unstoppable” failed to garner any fans, Adelaide Thorne accepted that drawing would never be her superpower. She also accepted that she was not, after all, The Unstoppable. Twelve-year-old Adelaide never forgot the thrill of adventure, however, and the mystery of heroes, powers, and a bad guy who maybe is only bad because he feels stuck. Or maybe he’s just bad, and that’s interesting, too.

Adelaide’s writing has taken her around the worlds of her brain, and also around a lot of restaurants. After years of being the pickiest eater in the south, she somehow got a stint as a city blogger and food columnist, which taught her that people are too obsessed with queso and not excited enough about chicken noodle soup. She’s since said goodbye to journalistic writing and hello to creative writing, which is, after all, what she’s always done.

She currently lives in Florida, where she complains about the humidity but never makes any plans to move. Adelaide and her husband have two cats (only two), who are excellent sounding boards for ideas.

The Trace, the first book in her sci-fi, young adult Whitewashed trilogy, follows Ella Kepler, a nascent metahuman whose strength and speed is matched only by the enemies set against her. The Integer, the second book of the series, follows Ella as she unravels the truth about the Metahuman Training Academy and what binds her to it.

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Adelaide Thorne1. Where do your inspiration and ideas for your stories come from?

My head. :) I do daydream a lot. For instance, today I was thinking about what it would be like to find out that your real father was a serial killer. Creepy, eh? Sometimes, my ideas come from the bits of dream I remember, but often times they’re spontaneously generated.

2. What do you want your tombstone to say?

Sheesh, hadn’t ever thought about that. Probably “Totus tuus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt” which translates to “I am all yours, and all I have is yours.” That’ll be beneath “Wife & Mother.” I’m pretty boring. :)

3. What’s your current writing project and what are your writing plans for the near future?

I’m currently wrapping up my Whitewashed trilogy – or trying to! After I finish this trilogy, I have a few other bookish ideas. One delves into fantasy, which I’m excited to try out!

4. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

You have no idea how often I think about this. It’d likely be flying. I’m kinda scared of heights, but I’d love to float above the earth and see things I’ve never seen before. Plus, it’d make traveling much more enjoyable.

5. Is there a certain type of scene that’s harder for you to write than others? How do you deal with this?

I’m not great at fighting scenes, because I like to be very specific and detailed, yet it’s really boring to read “He lifted his left hand thirty degrees, formed a fist, and knocked that fist directly into the right side of his opponent’s jaw…” My solution, odd as it may seem, is to act the scenes out with my husband (I promise no one gets hurt!). He’s trained in Wing Chun and always brings me back down to earth – ’cause I like to imagine the craziest, most unrealistic fighting scenes.

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The Trace and The Integer are both currently available at Amazon.

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Friday Five: Beth Hudson

Today’s Friday Five focus is Beth Hudson, author of fantasy short stories, novellas, and novels.

Beth Hudson determined to become a writer while still in grade school. For years she worked on her writing, producing numerous short stories, and even completing two (unpublished) novels while in high school and college. Since deciding to focus on her writing, she has published a number of fantasy short stories in various magazines and anthologies. The Herd Lord, a novella about a war among centaurs, was published in 2011; her first full-length novel, Etched in Fire, was released in 2015; and her short story anthology, Seeing Green, came out in July 2017.

Swan maidens and assassins, selkies and disgruntled house spirits walk the pages of Beth Hudson’s short fiction anthology, Seeing Green. A player troupe is attacked by dark enchantment; a man seeks to uncover the mystery of a sealed box; a woman desperately searches for her heart’s desire. Fifteen spellbinding tales open a gateway to other worlds full of love, betrayal, and the cost of magic.

Because sometimes, when you seek magic, you get your wish.

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Beth Hudson1. What was your attitude towards reading when you were a kid?

I read constantly. I fell asleep in class because I stayed up half the night reading. I would panic if I didn’t have a spare book (and still do). Books were my best friends.

2. Thinking about the stuff you’ve written, who’s your favorite character and why?

My favorite character is in my current work in progress. Traedis has courage that I would love to have. I also love the main character of Etched in Fire, Maelen, who will do anything necessary to protect innocents.

3. What are three things on your bucket list?

I’ve studied Welsh, but learning to full-out speak it.
Going to Alaska.
Doing a book tour.

4. What is the most important thing that people DON’T know about your subject/genre, that you think they need to know?

We’re not necessarily writing escapist fluff. In any writing there must be something that makes a connection with the reader, and good fantasy is not about the differences of the world, but the humanity of the people.

5. Why should people read YOUR stuff? Who’s your target audience and why?

My audience is people who want to read about hard issues in a context of wonder. I write about survivors of abuse and trauma, and also explore what it means to be a woman. But I hope people from outside those experiences will find good things in my works as well.

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Seeing Green is currently available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

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Friday Five: S.A. Edwards

Today’s Friday Five focus is S.A. Edwards, author of YA fantasy novels.

Sophie Edwards has worked in many fields and gained qualifications in Hairdressing, Childcare, Photography, and is now undertaking a BA(Hons) in Creative Writing. She lives in the UK with her husband and three homeschooled children, with the beginnings of a grassfed farmstead in the back garden. She also designs book covers on the side.

Her debut novel Mage: The Guardian’s Oath is available now.

Eighteen years trapped in a village is enough to drive anyone crazy, so when a way out appears in the wall, Clara leaps at the chance to leave. But her joy quickly diminishes, for outside the wall’s protection, the hunters seeking her life can sense her, and an ancient, sinister plot emerges – a plot that’s killed her six times, and now, only one chance remains. To save those she loves and gain her freedom, Clara must face the darkest magic and find the courage to do what she fears most.

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S. A. Edwards1. Why do you write in YA?

The possibilities are endless. In the real world there are rules. In mine, they’re completely different. I find fantasy intriguing and the perfect opportunity to share the hidden magic out there with people in this world.

2. What literary character are you most like and why?

Belle, probably. Quiet, misunderstood in my young, a lover of books.

3. How much of your published writing is based on personal experiences?

Most of it, actually, only tweaked. A lot.

4. What are three things on your bucket list?

See more of the world.
Share my stories with as many people as possible.
Learn a language.

5. What do you want your readers to take away from your works?

If every reader who finishes my work feels satisfied and that it was worth it, if they want to read more, my job is done.

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Mage: The Guardian’s Oath is currently available on Amazon.

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Friday Five: David Taylor II

Today’s Friday Five focus is David Taylor II, author of children’s, sci-fi, and fantasy short stories, novels, and poetry.

David Taylor II is an author, playwright, songwriter and producer. He is the author of the new children’s favorite Diary of a Smart Black Kid and is also adding to his Dear God children’s series. His latest novel, Lucifer: Soldiers, Serpents and Sin, is an internationally best-selling book. He has created an entire story world called The Realm from that first book and continues to expand it. He is a co-composer for the smash hit theater production, Eye of the Storm:The Bayard Rustin Musical, nominated for 3 Black Theater Alliance awards. In 2015 his book Wayward Pines: Survival, from the hit Fox TV show of the same name, broke top 10 in the Amazon best seller list and is currently still in the Top 100 of Kindle Worlds sci-fi. He is the proud father of two, as well as a lover of football, pizza, and a good glass of lemonade.

11-year-old Baron Winters, protagonist of Diary of a Smart Black Kid: Sixth Grade, has a funny name. He’s smart, black, and a geek. That means parents, bullies, and bullets. And girls. He chronicles his foray into middle school, trying to understand it all. And survive.

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David Taylor 21. What author has influenced your writing style/subject the most and why?

It wasn’t an author, it was a film director, James Cameron. The man is a master storyteller and his movies hold up even years later. So I wanted my books to be good stories that hold up over time.

2. What genre do you currently read most and why?

Mainly fantasy and comic books, because it keeps my mind expanding.

3. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

Ooooh I’ve thought about this one six ways to Sunday. If I have to pick only one, it would be super speed. Everything changes if you can move at super speed.

4. What’s the worst job you’ve ever had and why? What was the best thing about that job and why?

I worked at a certain retail outlet and the boss was horrific. Just mean on purpose. But at least I got discounts on purchases.

5. Why should people read YOUR stuff? Who’s your target audience and why?

People should read my stuff because I don’t care what I’m talking about, I’ve got a fresh twist on it you’ve never heard before. My target audience is people that love to Geek out as much as I do!

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Diary of a Smart Black Kid is currently available on Amazon.

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Friday Five: Francis Sparks

Today’s Friday Five focus is Francis Sparks, author of mystery/thriller and fantasy short stories and novels.

Francis Sparks lives in Des Moines, Iowa, with his amazing wife Kelly. If he’s not working on his next novel or short story, you can find him teaching his children about dragons.

His debut novel, Made Safe, depicts the gritty underbelly of the American heartland. For Private Investigator Moses Winter, the job just got more complicated. His adultery case has taken a violent turn landing the subject of his investigation, Fred Dunsmore, in the hospital and Moses in jail. Moses is held for questioning along with his erratic client, Sharon Dunsmore, and Fred’s mistress, a Bosnian refugee who just happens to be related to the DCI agent investigating the case, Raif Rakić.

After Rakić secures their release, Fred goes missing, and Moses Winter finds himself compelled to find him. With the assistance of Rakic, Moses unravels Fred’s ties to Des Moines’s underworld and is forced to confront the most heinous crimes of his career.

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Francis Sparks1. What was your attitude towards reading when you were a kid?

I was awful at doing assigned readings of the classics in high school but starting in fifth grade I had my nose in a book from then on. Mostly fantasy novels.

2. If you could pick just one book to read for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

I would pick WAR AND PEACE. First of all I would finally have to finish it. Second I think it is such a massive work that I could read and re-read for many years and still find things that I’d missed.

3. What are some of your favorite words and why?

You know, there are certain words that I can’t put into a sentence because I associate them so closely with a particular work almost like they’re an actor who’s been typecast. I will say I’m sure I overuse words that I’m not aware of but I’m not sure I have favorite words. I try to write original sentences as much as I can and avoid cliche.

4. Is there a certain type of scene that’s harder for you to write than others? How do you deal with this?

I think it can be difficult to write any scene where someone does something abhorrent or evil because I try to always come back to the axiom that this person doing this thing doesn’t see themselves as being evil. They are the hero of their own story. So how do you get inside their head and understand how they can justify to themselves what they are doing. I’m not sure I have a good way of dealing with it other than to keep trying to figure them out.

5. What’s your current writing project and what are your writing plans for the near future?

I fell into a project of a lifetime. A retired New Jersey detective contacted me last summer to help him tell the story of his lifelong pursuit of one of the most prolific cat burglars in history. We’ve been working on it since then and are now querying the proposal. I never thought I’d write nonfiction but it has been a great experience.

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Made Safe is currently available on Amazon.

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Friday Five: Edwin Peng #AtoZChallenge

A to Z challenge 2018 EToday’s Friday Five focus is Edwin Peng, author of YA science fiction short stories, novellas, and novels.

Edwin Peng lives in beautiful Lincoln, Nebraska, with his beloved Pokémon buddy, Eevee. During the day, he indulges in super-villainy by performing high-power laser research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. At night, his secret identity is that of a literary superhero fighting to make the Young Adult Science Fiction genre less clichéd and more inclusive. He is the author of the Star City series, which features bad-ass heroines and space aliens who love blueberry pies. The first novel was released by Evolved Publishing on December 4, 2017.

Star City is the first book in the Star City series. When space aliens make contact with Earth, 18-year old Emma Smith is ready to serve. She answers the call of the United States State Department for the college freshmen to serve as student ambassador to the visiting Ba’ren delegation. As political struggles intensify between feuding human and Ba’ren factions, anti-alien sentiment on Earth reaches a lethal pitch. Emma is determined not to be a pawn in this complicated game of life and death and must risk everything to help maintain the fragile peace between the two species.

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Edwin Peng1. If you could pick just one book to read for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

If I’m stranded on a deserted island, it would have to be Robinson Crusoe.

2. What are some of your favorite words and why?

According to my editor, I use “very” a lot in my manuscript, so I guess that would be my favorite word.

3. What is the most important thing that people DON’T know about YA/sci-fi, that you think they need to know?

YA is a lot more than – or at least, CAN be more than – novels about abusive, glittering vampires. There are so many aspiring and current authors who are writing quality YA novels. Ignore the disparaging stereotypes about YA and its readers – try some yourself!

4. Where do your inspiration and ideas for your stories come from?

There were many sources of inspiration for Star City. My dayjob as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln provides plenty of ideas about future scientific discoveries and technologies. History, economics, and linguistics provided many of the ideas found in the Star City series. For instance, the many attempts at constructing an universal language for all humans is what I had in mind when creating Ba’zek, the language of the Ba’ren.

5. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever researched for your works or biggest/most out-of-the-ordinary thing you’ve done while researching?

Researching sounds for the Ba’ren language is fascinating – and can make you look weird when you’re straining your facial muscles to make weird sounds.

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Star City is currently available on Amazon.

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