New Dawn: Revelation picks up where its prequel, New Dawn: Deception left off. Were there any story lines you particularly enjoyed concluding?
All of my characters were very dear to me. I enjoyed concluding every story, though some of course are permanently concluded, while others may still have a future in other stories. That being said, I believe the story line centering around the space station Colludion 2 has significance in the world we live in today, and was one of my more favorite areas to explore.
Is there a message in the “New Dawn” books that you want readers to grasp?
It has been my opinion for many years that too much government is a problem. Governments often come off as overbearing and oppressive to at least a portion of their citizens. If they allow corporations to run unchecked as well, they are destructive to the people. When government ceases to fear the people, it becomes even more overreaching and oppressive still. I want to show that less government has its merits as well, and that often in history, a less controlling government spawns a more productive nation, and vice versa.
Describe your favorite scene from New Dawn: Revelation.
That’s a tough question, lol. One of my favorite scenes would have to be where Dauphine du Fren, Admiral of Colludion 2, sets aside her power and accepts whatever the future may bring. Giving up power is a rare feat; the more power one holds, the rarer it is that someone should give it up. I thought that was an action which showed how strong of a character she is, to give up dictatorial control for the people. She doesn’t know what’s going to happen as a result, so it’s a very dangerous decision to make, yet she does it freely.
Are any of the characters based on people you know?
Several of the characters are based in large or small part on either myself, or other people I know. I think it’s important for giving your characters life, to endow them with characteristics you are familiar with. They say “write what you know,” and to an extent, that’s very good advice. Making a character represent traits about yourself and others you know (whether those traits are good, bad or indifferent) gives you more of a building block than trying to embody characteristics that you haven’t personally experienced. Therefore, many of my characters, (the ones I write point of view through) are based on people I know or have known.
The “New Dawn” books contain several different plots taking place in the same universe. If you had to choose one to write a spinoff about, which would you pick?
Some of the characters in Revelation don’t make it to the end, so naturally they wouldn’t qualify. ;) However, three of the stories with the most potential, in my opinion, for a spinoff would be either Tak and the sentient robots, Gennifer and her fanatical devotion to the beings of light, or Dauphine and her potential as leader of the first constitutional republic in the galaxy’s history.
Are there any authors you find particularly inspiring?
Many. William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Kurt Cobain, John Steinbeck, George Orwell. In the modern era there’s the authors of the Elder Scrolls and Mass Effect video role playing games, Harry Turtledove, Eric Flint, S. M. Sterling, Jade Max (of the Faded Phoenix series), and many more.
What are you currently reading?
Well, as of this day, 2/25/13 I’ve been laid up for over a week with a broken leg and have been tearing through Turtledove’s “Settling Accounts” series. It’s an alternate WWII where the Confederates are still a power and fighting the USA. The CSA is analogous with Hitler’s Nazi Germany. It’s a fantastic series.
Do you consider yourself primarily a speculative fiction writer, or do you see yourself as branching into other genres?
There are other genres? J/k! For now, I’ll stick with speculative fiction, though I have my eye on one day writing nonfiction, maybe a philosophical study. I have too many stories spinning round in my head right now, though. Hopefully, I can get to them all before I go mad, lol!
New Dawn: Revelation is available at: Amazon US (Kindle e-book), Amazon US (paperback), Amazon UK (Kindle e-book), Amazon UK (paperback), Barnes & Noble (Nook e-book), Smashwords (multiple e-formats)
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