Alexis Lantgen's Blog, page 5

Interview with Fantasy Writer Katie Zaber, Author of Ashes and Blood

Check out my next author interview with Katie Zaber! Her book Ashes and Blood is free this weekend!

Tell us about yourself! What would you like readers to know about you?

Katie Zaber: I’ve always been creative, but never took up writing until I was recovering from surgery, was on a lot of meds, and let my imagination loose. Once off the meds and healed, I edited the story, building and rearranging, working through drafts until I was happy.

Alexis: Interesting! One of my story ideas actually came to me while I was in the hospital recovering from a C-section. I think something about the enforced rest and boredom does kind of inspire you (not to mention the morphine).

What book or books have most influenced you as a writer?

Katie Zaber: There are a few books and authors that really influence my writing. I’d say J.R.R. Tolkien’s use

of description in fantasy, Margaret Atwood’s style, and Chuck Palahniuk’s obscurity influence

me the most. However, I’d like to think I’ve absorbed a little bit from every book I’ve read.

Who is your favorite character in your book? What do you like about them?

Katie Zaber: I love Kilyn. She is a preteen Fae slave who was sold by her parents because she has bad blood and was born with no magical gifts. She’s spunky and fearless, using her wits and resources to

survive. I just might write a spinoff series with her...

What are you doing to de-stress during the pandemic? Is there any coping mechanism you’d recommend (or NOT recommend)?

Katie Zaber: Put down the phone. Stop panic scrolling and get your mind out of the daily insanity. Every time you have the impulse to scroll, pick up a book, start a new interesting show, learn something

new, or start a new hobby. I’ve been trying to keep my screen time on my phone to less than an

hour (with the exception of work and reading). That has helped relieve the stress and stop

wasting time.

Alexis: So true! I’ve had to delete Facebook off my phone or disable it to keep from spending too much time distracted. Now if I go on my phone, I try to at least do something worthwhile, like trying to learn Spanish on DuoLingo.

Cover of Below Dark Waters by Katie Zaber

What do you like to do other than read or write? Do you have any interesting hobbies?

Katie Zaber: I love baking delicious desserts and breads, almost as much as I love to eat them. I spend hours in the kitchen, blasting music, sipping sweet wine with flour up to my elbows. When not in the

kitchen, I’m reading a book or trying to find something to find on TV. If the weather is nice, I’m

visiting my hometown and going to the beach or heading to Six Flags Great Adventure to scream

and people watch for the afternoon.

Alexis: I love baking too! I’m a huge fan of the Great British Baking Show, so I’m always trying recipes from the show! BTW, Paul Hollywood’s chocolate babka is incredible.

Tell us about a mystery/urban legend from your hometown (or another place you’ve lived).

Katie Zaber: I grew up on the coast in South New Jersey. My town bordered on the New Jersey Pine Barrens, home to the New Jersey Devil. I can remember going to Wells Mills Park, a few miles away

from my elementary school, to go on a field trip and read about the Devil’s notorious birth and

how he still haunts the woods. He is even rumored to make appearances at kid’s birthday parties.

What TV shows/Movies do you like to watch or stream?

Katie Zaber: Anything fantasy or sci-fi, I like action too. Right now I’m excited for Hand Maid’s Tale.

Anything with powers, magic, robots, alternate universes, otherworlds, outer space, anything that

isn’t reality is something I’d watch.

What’s your favorite animal?

Katie Zaber: Can I pick a dinosaur? Ankylosaurus. The ones with a club tail that they would use to whack

predators and their backs had bone plates and horns. They were so cool looking. When I was a

kid, I really wanted Jurassic Park to be real life.

Alexis: You can totally pick a dinosaur, and Ankylosaurus is awesome!

Do you like playing video games? What’s your favorite game right now? Has a video gameever influenced you as a writer?

Katie Zaber: YES! Jumping into another world and exploring is so much fun!!! Right now I’m playing

through all the Assassins’ Creed games.

Do you like playing board games or role playing games like D&D? If so, which games do you like best?

Katie Zaber: I like to play chess and card games.

Do you have pet(s)? If so, share a picture of your pet!

Katie Zaber: Yes, I have a ball python named Wrathy. He is the best.

Katie Zaber’s snake, Wrathy!

How do you choose what books you want to read?

Katie Zaber: The cover has to grab me. It has to make me ask questions or want to know more. If the blurb is amazing, I’m sold.

Do you like Greek/Roman/Norse/Asian/African mythology or folklore? What’s your favoritemyth?

Katie Zaber: I like myths and folklore, and read more Celtic folklore, but don’t have a favorite.

You can travel the same path countless times, but it can sometimes lead to another realm.

Cover of Ashes and Blood by Katie Zaber

Ashes and Blood

A mystical tree captures the attention of Megan and her friends, morphing the surrounding environment, transferring them to an exotic planet with bloodthirsty creatures. Saved from the deadly beasts by hunters, Megan finds herself stuck in a rural town still maimed by the plague. A chance encounter with a familiar face gives Megan and her friends some security during their adjustment to this new world. While settling into promising lives, they are attacked and stalked by planet Dalya’s humanoid inhabitants, who focus solely on Megan. 

One dark night, after a magical attack, the Fae King’s knight is sent to fetch Megan for a reason she can’t possibly guess. When she wakes up a prisoner, she learns that there is much more to this strange place, and it is oddly more like home than she ever would have expected. 

The more Megan learns about the strange world of Dalya, the more she realizes that finding a way home is insignificant compared to everything else at stake.

More about Katie Zaber

Katie Zaber knows the best way to decide who is cooking dinner is with a Nerf gun fight in the living room. Her boyfriend is an exceptional cook. When she isn’t baking, reading, or going to wine tastings, she’s busy planning her next trip to Six Flags Great Adventure or Long Beach Island, New Jersey. As a child, her mother would read stories about Atlantis and other fictional places that she dreamed of exploring, fueling her love of history, adventure, and fantasy. These days, she finds herself captivated by her many projects and enjoys quiet nights at home.

Books: Ashes and Blood and Below Dark Waters

Website: https://zaberbooks.com/

Social Media: Goodreads, Bookbub, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

author interview book review books fantasy science fiction writing Saints and Curses

Leon Stevens Interviews Leon Stevens, Sci-Fi Author and Poet

Leon Stevens interviews Leon Stevens for Lunarian Press!

Hello. I’m Leon Stevens, and I’m here with the author Leon Stevens. 

  - So, we are doing this again?

Do you have somewhere to be?

  - No, not really, unless you forgot something. Who is this for this time?

Lunarian Press.

  - Ahh, yes. Fine folks. OK, go ahead.

What would you like readers to know about you?

 - That I’m out there, not philosophically, but I am a writer. One of the hardest things about being a new indie author is getting the word out. 

Do you want to let them know what books you have written?

 - My first book, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures, is a collection of—

Poems, Prose, and Pictures?

 - Exactly. My second book is a book of classical guitar music called Journeys, and my latest book, The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories, has both science fiction and post-apocalyptic stories, along with a few poems.

Cover of The Knot at the End of the Rope by Leon Stevens!

I’ve asked this before—

 - And you’ll ask it again?

[silence]

Can I finish?

 - Go ahead.

As I was saying, you write in many different styles. Do you think that limits your appeal by segmenting your readership?

 - I’ve thought about that. But if I am inspired to write something, I don’t want to limit myself. I still write poetry. It took me four years to publish my first book of poetry—I’m not going to be able to put out another right away. I hope my readership will embrace my eclectic writing.  It is about entertaining and keeping readers engaged. Writing poetry served its purpose. It was therapy for me. Once I discovered my enjoyment of writing, I turned to science fiction because that was my first love.

Cover of Lines by Leon, a collection of poems, pose, and pictures by Leon Stevens

What book or books have most influenced you as a writer?

 - My father, who wasn’t a writer, would make up space stories at bedtime, so I credit him for introducing me to that genre. I like to think that Kurt Vonnegut had a role in how I write. His writing is part science fiction—without the hard science—mixed with humor, satire, and cynicism. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury turned me on to short stories.

What are some tropes of fiction in your genre that you love/hate? Why?

 - I don’t think there are any I wouldn’t touch or dislike reading. They are used for a reason—because they work. I wouldn’t say there are bad ones, just ones that are used badly. 

Used badly…Is that proper grammar?

 - Excuse me, did I put the adverb in the wrong place?

I’m not sure. It just sounds…odd? I see that you are redesigning your science fiction book cover. Why?

 - It was my initial design—and I liked it—however, it seemed to not have the appeal that I hoped for. After a few self-publishing courses, I decided it was a good change to make. 

I like #5, by the way.

  - That seems to be the consensus.

Feel like doing the lightning round?

 - Sure, Why not!

Favorite—

 - Chocolate!

I wasn’t done.

 - Sorry

Favorite T.V. show

 - Star Trek

What’s your favorite animal?

It’s not the same as yours? Let’s say it at the same time. One…two…three.

Platypus/Armadillo

Really? Huh. Go figure.

When was the last time you played a video game?

 - Wow. That’s a while ago. I think it was Fallout—the third one.

So, not a fan?

 - Apparently not.

Do you remember when we used to play D & D in university? 

 - We played more games than we studied, didn’t we. How about Shadowrun?

Wow, I haven’t thought of that one for a while.

 - And lots of board games.

Risk

 - Stratego

Supremacy

 - Axis and Allies

Good times.

- Indeed!

Let’s end off with a final writing question. What advice do you have for other writers or people just getting started in writing?

 - Write about what you love. I would say—others may not—that you should write for yourself first, then as you hone your craft, you can decide if you want to write what people are buying. 

Well then, I think that’s about it. Anything else to add?

 - Just this column of expenditures. Tax time, remember?

[silence]

Find Out More About Leon Stevens!

Leon’s Social Media and Website: Website  / Goodreads / Twitter  / Instagram

Book Links: The Knot at the End of the Rope     Lines by Leon   Journeys

author interview book review book spotlight books fantasy science fiction writing Sapience

Book Spotlight: The Demon of Yodok by Adria Carmichael

Banner for The Demon of Yodok by Adria Carmichael!

A Young Adult Dystopian Survival  series with a Giveaway !

Just when Areum, daughter of a privileged family in the totalitarian state of Choson, thought she was free from her personal prison, her world collapses around her. Her family is taken away in the middle of the night to a camp in the mountains where people who have strayed from the righteous path are brutally re-educated through blood, sweat, tears and starvation.

There she has to fight for survival with the family she hates. Areum is forced to re-evaluate every aspect of her life until then – her deep resentment toward her twin sister; her view of her father in face of the mounting evidence he’s a traitor; and even her love and affection for the Great General – the eternal savior and protector of Choson, whom she had always considered her true father.

Cover of Juche: The Demon of Yodok by Adria Carmichael

Adria Carmichael is a writer of Young Adult Dystopian fiction with a twist. When she is not devouring dystopian and post-apocalyptic content in any format – books, movies, TV-series and PlayStation games – she is crafting the epic and highly-addictive Juche saga, her 2020 debut novel series that takes place in the brutal, totalitarian nation of Choson. When the limit of doom and gloom is reached, a 10K run on a sunny day or binging a silly sitcom on a rainy day is her go-to way to unwind.

Find Out More about Adria Carmichael!

Giveaway: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0e7c6a8f239/

Books: Juche: The Demon of Yodok, The Sufferings of the Strayd, and The Storm of Storms

Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

author interview book review books fantasy science fiction writing Sapience

Interview with Science Fiction Writer Stacy Overby

My next author interview is with science fiction writer Stacy Overby!

Tell us about yourself! What would you like readers to know about you?

Stacy Overby: Some of the big things - I am a mother to a very busy ADHD 8 year old son who tells awesome stories and is an adorable cuddle monster. I am an alcohol and drug counselor supervisor for a major hospital, so COVID has led to some very interesting challenges at work over this last year. It’s kind of a miracle my husband has put up with me as well as he has over the last year. Well, twenty really since we got married. I write across multiple areas of the speculative fiction arena - mostly sci-fi and fantasy, but dabble in other genres as well. Most of my books are published through Three Furies press, where I also do some graphic design work.

Alexis: Wow! I’m always impressed with the dedication of people who counsel young people, especially people who suffer from addiction. One of the other authors I’ve interviewed, Olga Gibbs, was also a mental health worker.

What book or books have most influenced you as a writer?

Stacy Overby: Some of my absolute favorites are The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Lord of the Rings series, The Black Jewels series, the Wolfwalker series, and the Dragonriders of Pern series. I could add so many more books, but these definitely are high on my list of all time favorites. Oh, and the Iron Druid Chronicles. I love the way each of these approaches the story - a great mix of seriousness and hilarity. Each stays consistent and believable even in the craziest moments. And most of all, each tells a great story that draws you in. That’s ultimately what I’m working to create - stories that are amazing and pull you along for the ride.

Alexis: I’ve also loved The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy! Douglas Adams is a brilliant writer. And I just loved the Dragonriders of Pern as well.

What are some tropes of fiction in your genre that you love/hate? Why?

Stacy Overby: Ugh, I really detest the “damsel in distress” thing where they’re basically useless without someone there to protect them. It’s fine to start there and allow that character to grow beyond this, but leaving them in that position without ever questioning it or change is just old and misogynistic to me.

I tend to gravitate toward a “chosen one” trope, but I also like to try to mix it up a little. Yes, that character may be “chosen” but do they really go to their “destiny” without fighting it or questioning it? Is their “destiny” really what it seems? Things like that. 

Alexis: I completely understand disliking the “damsel in distress” trope. I do find the “chosen one” trope a little trying, mostly because it feels as though characters should work or worry more than chosen ones do. No one’s fate should ever be certain, because we can never really know what the future brings.

Who is your favorite character in your book? What do you like about them? (or, which character do you hate most and why)

Stacy Overby: One of my absolute favorite characters in my books is Devin Wade. He’s the leader of Black Ops, a military/police type force in my space opera series. Devin carries the weight of everything on him and struggles to make peace with the price he’s paid for doing what’s right. Devin is, in his way, a very broken man but strong and has a good heart. I see a lot of myself in him, which has made finishing this book quite the challenge. I’ve had to take it in bits and pieces.

Cover of Tattoo, and Black Ops Book by Stacy Overby

What are you doing to de-stress during the pandemic? Is there any coping mechanism you’d recommend (or NOT recommend)?

Stacy Overby: I highly recommend NOT doing what I’ve done, which is go “I’m fine” until it hits a point that I’m not.  But that’s also because I’m a supervisor of an addiction medicine clinic in a hospital. We specialize in treating opioid addictions. So yeah, lots of stress and it’s easy for me to ignore taking care of myself.

Things I have started doing to take care of myself include doing some yoga (not as often as I want but getting there), going for walks, talking with some friends, and just being more mindful of my own health in general. These are some of the things I’d suggest others have as well. Especially the friends who’ll kick you when you’re not taking care of yourself, metaphorically speaking of course., and tell you to keep yourself as a priority as well.

What do you like to do other than read or write? Do you have any interesting hobbies?

Stacy Overby: Man, I need to be independently wealthy to continue supporting all the things I love to do and want to learn to do. Currently I quilt, I’m learning art journaling and watercolor painting, and I crochet. I also cross-stitch, camp, hike, kayak, do photography, and am learning graphic design. That’s probably the bulk of it at this point.

Alexis: That’s an impressive list! I tried to get more into sewing early in the pandemic (I made a lot of homemade face masks), but I’m not nearly skilled enough to try quilting! If you ever read Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace, she writes some incredibly beautiful passages about quilting and the symbolism of different types of quilts women made in the 1800s.

Tell us about a mystery/urban legend from your hometown (or another place you’ve lived).

Stacy Overby: Did you know MN has a serpent just like Nessie over in Loch Ness? We do! We have the Lake Pepin serpent. Pepie is a friendly serpent that can sometimes be spotted swimming about in Lake Pepin. There’s even festivals and celebrations for Pepie!

Alexis: I did not know about Pepie! What an amazing legend!

What TV shows/Movies do you like to watch or stream? 

Stacy Overby: We tend to watch a lot of documentary type things around my house. My 8 year old son LOVES them. I know, he’s a bit odd that way, but hey, I’m not going to argue. We learn all sorts of things about engineering, biology, astronomy, and more. I’m also currently going back to rewatch the Stargate series. I watched a bunch of it but missed the last couple seasons before it went off the air.

Alexis: We also like to watch documentaries, especially nature ones. We loved My Octopus Teacher, which just came out on Netflix.

What’s your favorite animal?

Stacy Overby: Tough call, I love lots and lots of animals. I’d adopt most of them if I could. If I have to go with just one, I’d have to stick with my dolphins. They’re just such incredible creatures.

Do you like playing video games? What’s your favorite game right now? Has a video game ever influenced you as a writer? 

Stacy Overby: I do play some video games, though not a ton. I am so in love with Zelda Breath of the Wild right now. Amazing graphics and beautiful game play. I can’t say for sure a specific video game has influenced my writing in a certain way, but I’m sure some of the stories and things filter through. After all, I tend to play the sci-fi/fantasy type games and that’s what I also write.

Alexis: Breath of the Wild is one of my favorite games!

Do you like playing board games or role playing games like D&D? If so, which games do you like best?

Stacy Overby: Hmmm, I’d love to get back into D&D, but that’s hard when my son isn’t quite ready to do something like that yet. So, we stick with board games right now. The latest couple we’ve found that are a lot of fun are Apollo and The Battle for Hogwarts. Apollo is based off the NASA Apollo and Gemini missions and you don’t need me to explain the other one. I like them because they’re cooperative games racing against time/against an “automated” bad guy to beat.

Do you have pet(s)? If so, share a picture of your pet!

Stacy Overby: I do! I have a small menagerie around my house. My son would love to add to it and it breaks my heart to tell him no. Currently we have a Russian tortoise, a rabbit, and 3 fish. Rabbit and tortoise are pictured here. The fish don’t hold still long enough.

Alexis: They’re so cute!

Cute Bunny!

Stacy Overby’s pet rabbit!

Tortoise!

Stacy Overby’s pet Russian tortoise!

What advice do you have for other writers or people just getting started in writing?

Stacy Overby: Stop getting hung up on the “do and don’t”s of writing. Yes, there are good things to keep in mind, but there are also exceptions to most every rule. Read a lot. I mean a real lot. That’ll give you an idea of what it takes to get to something that should be printed and how to tell when it might not be ready for print yet. Then start putting words on the page. You can’t edit a blank page, so get those words down. Then worry about what to do next with it.

How do you choose what books you want to read?

Stacy Overby: Depends on my mood. Sometimes I’m up for something heady and intellectual feeling. Other times I just want something fun to read. Since the pandemic hit, I’m also careful at times to look for things that can take my mind off work and such. But basically, I’ll read most things at some point or other.

Do you like Greek/Roman/Norse/Asian/African mythology or folklore? What’s your favorite myth? 

Stacy Overby: Oh wow, I love mythology and folklore! First off, there’s so much psychology underlying them that is fascinating. Plus there are some awesome stories out there. And the fact that such diverse cultures have very similar myths is so interesting. For example, most cultures around the world have some kind of great flood myth--how did that work out that way? Anyway, one of my favorite myths comes from Celtic mythology. It’s how banshee are created. That, to me, is the ultimate gothic dark fantasy type myth.

If you write sci-fi, what technology or innovations or scientific discoveries have inspired your work?

Stacy Overby: I do write sci-fi and love looking at things around me then asking that “what if”. Like, for example, we have iPads and Android tablets now. What will those look like in the future? What about bluetooth headsets? What if those evolve into the entire phone and headset being one small device attached near your ear? And what if we could go inside someone’s psyche, kind of like an x-ray or CAT scan, or even like a version of a holodeck? What would we find? I’m not super great on all of the technical ins and outs of the technology, which is why I tend to stick more to soft sci-fi/space opera type stuff, but I still love looking at what exists now, which feels in some ways very futuristic already (while I’m not *that* old, I do remember life before cell phones and much of any internet), and imagine what else it will evolve into over time.

Find out more about Stacy Overby!

Books: Tattoos; Scars, and Scath Oran

Website: www.thisisnothitchhikersguide.com

Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, Pinterest, and Bookbub

author interview book review books fantasy science fiction Sapience

Cover Reveal for Technopaladin: Charity's Edge

Banner for the Cover Reveal of Technopaladin!

Clarity’s paladin order forbids her from entering the Azure District, the one location in her high tech city that refuses paladin rule and technology. When she receives an illicit invitation to violate the prohibition, spurred on by rumors of suffering in the district, she passes through the crumbling brick entryway into no-man’s land. Within, she finds the residents lack not only the ocular implants and three dimensional computers she takes for granted, but also medicine to fight a disease infecting the children.

Clarity knows her order isn’t perfect---after all, they stole her from her parents when she was a small child to raise her with their values---but she cannot believe they know what’s going on in the Azure District. When she confronts the head of the order, he refuses to aid people who have rejected his help in the past, even the children. Unwilling to take no for an answer, Clarity enlists the help of the leader’s son Cass and takes matters into her own hands.

Desperate both to cure the children and keep her place in the order that is her only home, Clarity engages in increasingly questionable behavior---deleting official records, lying to her friends, and manipulating people who can help her. As the nefarious nature of her actions tarnishes the purity of her cause, she must determine what it truly means to be a paladin, in both name and action.

Cover of Technopaladin by Elizabeth Corrigan

About Author Elizabeth Corrigan

Elizabeth Corrigan has degrees in English and psychology and has spent several years working as a data analyst in various branches of the healthcare industry. When she’s not hard at work on her next novel, Elizabeth enjoys playing tabletop role-playing games and cooperative card games. She refuses to watch most internet videos and is pathologically afraid of bees. She lives in Maryland with two cats and a very active iphone.

Social Media: Twitter and Facebook

Website: https://elizabethcorriganauthor.com/

Picture of Author Elizabeth Corrigan

author interview book review books fantasy science fiction Sapience

Fantasy in a Time of Crisis: Guest Post by Suzanna J. Linton

I left Twitter earlier this year but before I did, I noticed many writers talking about using their writing as a form of activism. This isn’t exactly a new concept. Many novels have been written in reaction to the times in which writers find themselves. Neither is this a bad thing. The written word can bring a society to its knees, not because there’s actual magic there but because of the force of the ideas contained therein.

Fantasy makes a good vehicle for activist writing because of its flexibility and the broadness of its audience. Some of the highest grossing films right now are some form of fantasy or science fiction. However, in times where it seems like a new crisis emerges every other day and you’re the living manifestation of that meme of the dog in the burning room (“This is fine.”), is there still a place for fantasy whose goal is not activism?

This question reminds me of an interview involving Brie Larson and Jeremy Renner, who were promoting Avengers: Endgame. The interviewer asked, essentially, if they felt any responsibility as actors. Larson responded that she definitely saw her acting as a platform to spread her ideals. Renner, on the other hand, responded that there was nothing better than seeing the joy on children’s faces. Both responses were perfectly valid. As actors, they do have the ability to reach a wide audience and influence people. Whether they do or not is up to them and it’s a very personal choice that relates to their overall goal as an actor.

For writers, it’s no different. We could go into writing a novel with a specific message or theme in mind. We could build a fantasy world so that we can examine a value or belief we hold dear. In fact, I wrote the novel Clara to answer a highly personal question. When I couldn’t answer my question, I continued the series. In a way, the series Stories of Lorst is a manifestation of an ongoing conversation I’m having with myself about fate and knowledge of the future. It’s not activism but it is writing for a specific end.

Cover of Clara by Suzanna J. Linton

However, maybe someone else is having the same conversation with themselves. Or, perhaps they see another theme or value in my series my subconscious placed there but which calls to the reader. Or, maybe they enjoy being sucked into another world, one that does catch on fire but the good guys ride in to put out the flames. 

Writing a novel where good triumphs over evil is valid. We need hope in a world that seems a mess, where everything is complicated and simply going to the store feels like a colossal quest full of dangers of one sort or another. 

Writing a novel where questions are posed and values are examined is valid. We need honest conversation and thought in a world full of people screaming at each other and no one listening.

Writing a novel where the greatest goal is entertainment is valid. Sometimes, we just need to slip into a different world where everything has to make sense.

Using writing as a platform for activism is a perfectly valid reason to be a writer. But it is still perfectly valid to write if all you want to see is the joy on people’s faces when they pick up your book. Whether you do or don’t depends on your goal as a writer and your choice is not one for which you should be ashamed.

Picture of Author Suzanna J. Linton!

More about Suzanna J. Linton

Website: https://suzannalinton.com/

Social Media: Goodreads, Instagram, and Books2Read

author interview book review books fantasy science fiction writing Saints and Curses

Interview with Science Fiction Writer Kristofor Hellmeister

My next interview is with Kristofor Hellmeister!

Tell us about yourself! What would you like readers to know about you?

Kristofor Hellmeister: I'm an alien--a legal alien. I was born in Canada but have since moved all the way to a small town near Atlanta, GA. I live with my beautiful wife, Kristie, and my son, Maddox. We are actually expecting our second child—a baby boy—who will arrive in August. I enjoy reading science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, military fiction, and nonfiction--especially history or leadership focused. When I'm not writing or reading, I am outside taming my backyard, or golfing with my brothers, or going for a run. I am a teacher, but can honestly say that teaching never feels like a job. I hope you enjoy my writing!

Alexis Lantgen: One of my friends, Sarah Mensinga, is also from Canada, and I’m a teacher too!

What book or books have most influenced you as a writer?

Kristofor Hellmeister: My writing has been influenced by a number of great authors including C.S. Lewis, Bradbury, George Orwell, Brian Jacques and many others! 

What are some tropes of fiction in your genre that you love/hate? Why? 

Kristofor Hellmeister: I once wrote a short story that was science fiction and the editor returned it to me and told me to stop “using nautical terms,” to describe space flight. I don’t necessarily hate the trope of using nautical terms, but I certainly understand why I needed to put my own spin on it! 

Another trope I don’t agree with is making your characters impervious. I think a realistic character carries emotional, physical, or psychological struggles. 

Alexis Lantgen: I also fid the impervious trope incredibly annoying. It makes characters feel too safe, as though they’re never really in danger. It sort of robs the story of its drama.

Who is your favorite character in your book? What do you like about them? (or, which character do you hate most and why)

Kristofor Hellmeister: My favorite character is Damien. He’s fiery and doesn’t take no for an answer. It’s always fun to develop his chapters and to see how he interacts with other characters. 

My least favorite character? I’d say Rais, who is purely evil. I don’t like to write purely evil characters because this is usually not realistic and feels like a disservice to his character development. 

Alexis Lantgen: Yes, I generally think it’s better to write complex characters. People are complicated, and very few are wholly good or completely evil. Most of us are just trying to do the best we can to get through the day.

Cover of Axiom by Kristofor Hellmeister

What are you doing to de-stress during the pandemic? Is there any coping mechanism you’d recommend (or NOT recommend)?

Kristofor Hellmeister: To be honest, I pray a lot, spend time outside with my son, hang out with my wife, journal my emotions, enjoy the small moments like a beautiful day or a walk in the sunshine. In the midst of stress, I do not look for an escape because that doesn’t lead to a solution for the pressures. I try to learn from my situations and trust God through them. 

Tell us about a mystery/urban legend from your hometown (or another place you’ve lived).

Kristofor Hellmeister: Hmm. That’s a good question. I don’t know one specifically for my hometown, but I do know that when my eldest sister was younger—around three years old—she was visited by “the Fog,” which tormented her for almost a year. 

What TV shows/Movies do you like to watch or stream? 

Kristofor Hellmeister: I love military thrillers, spy thrillers, science fiction movies like Star Wars or Avengers, but I’m game for political dramas and sports shows like Friday Night Lights. 

What’s your favorite animal?

Kristofor Hellmeister: I love dogs because they are friendly, though I enjoy going outside and experiencing nature however it comes. My favorite bird is the whippoorwill, though.

Alexis Lantgen: I love whippoorwills! I had a friend who had one in their backyard when I was a kid, and I remember watching it pretend to be injured whenever we got too close to its nest. They’re amazing animals!

Do you like playing board games or role playing games like D&D? If so, which games do you like best?

Kristofor Hellmeister: My favorite board games are Killer Bunnies, Smallworld, Monopoly, and Life. 

Cover of Citadel by Kristofor Hellmeister

What advice do you have for other writers or people just getting started in writing?

Kristofor Hellmeister: Network. Network. Network. Don’t give up when your first, second, or third book doesn’t sell. Write from your struggles, your failures, your fears and you will never run out of material. Pour everything you have into each story as if it were the only story you had the chance to write. 

How do you choose what books you want to read?

Kristofor Hellmeister: I try to be a disciplined reader, which means I read a nonfiction in the morning and a fiction in the evening. Right now, I’m on a classics kick so I’m reading books like Gone with the Wind and The Brothers Karamazov. 

Alexis Lantgen: Interesting! I also love reading classics.

Do you like Greek/Roman/Norse/Asian/African mythology or folklore? What’s your favorite myth? 

Kristofor Hellmeister: I do! Pandora’s Box is pretty interesting. I like the idea that man has opened a door that carries with it dire consequences. This theme is prevalent in my work. 

If you write scifi, what technology or innovations or scientific discoveries have inspired your work?

Kristofor Hellmeister: I’d say that the technology that has inspired my innovations has to be the Apple Watch. I like the idea of having an interface that you can have literally on hand. In my Axiom Chronicles, the technology is also inspired by Scripture in that the citizens of Axiom are meant to shape their world.

Find out more about Kristofor Hellmeister!

Twitter: @KrisHellmeister 

Website: kristoforhellmeister.simplesite.com

Goodreads: @Kristofor Hellmeister 

Instagram: @hellmeisterkristofor

author interview book review books fantasy science fiction Sapience

Guest Post by Wendy L. Anderson, Author of Ulrik

Hello, I’m Wendy L. Anderson. I am a fantasy author! I will also reveal that my fantasy writing has a bit of romance thrown in. There is action, adventure, magic, danger, and intrigue in all of my books. 

My first foray into the world of writing was my five book Kingdom of Jior epic fantasy series. I have created an entire world full of fantastic and noble beings and it all begins with book one Of Demon Kind. Most of my reviewers have found this book series surprises them with its uniqueness.

One thing I love about writing fantasy is world creating. Would it be bad of me to admit that I love to escape into the worlds I make up rather than face the one I’m in?

I am a pantser which means I write by the seat of my pants and do not use a formal outline, process, or formula to write. I just sit down and start typing an idea I have or a scene that pops into my head and I just go from there. I also use many themes in my writing because they are my favorite things and places and they just happen. Being born in Colorado, it should not come as a surprise, that I love the mountains. I also love winter, forests, waterfalls, hot springs, crystals and jewels, prisms, and anything medieval. Knights, chivalry, swords, and honorable quests inspire me to write these fantasy adventures. Those favorites appear often in many of my stories, but I am always pushing the boundaries and I do try to expand my writing horizons.

In addition to my five book fantasy series, I have written a stand-alone Viking story titled, A Cut Twice as Deep. This is a beautiful tale I saw in a dream and is about twin sisters who only have each other in a world where women are not particularly valued. They have grown up serving their tyrant of a father when suddenly they find out that they have been given in marriage to the highest bidders. Forced to separate and travel great distances they are parted so that their father may increase his wealth and power. This story has everything danger, intrigue, and romance, and did I mention Vikings? I test the waters of historical fiction with my special brand of fantasy thrown in. A Cut Twice as Deep is an emotional tale of sisterly bonds and finding love in a land where blood and ice reign.

I once read, and perhaps you have heard the saying, that a true writer needs to write it is in their nature just like a painter needs to paint or a sculptor needs to sculpt. That is me. When it comes to writing, I live by Winston Churchill’s wise words, “Never, never, never, never give up.”

 I hope you have enjoyed this ramble. You can learn more about my books and my writing on my website www.wendylanderson.com. Be sure to subscribe and feel free to contact me about anything you’d like to know about me and my fantasy writing.

Until then… Enjoy the fantasy!

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Death was the beginning of their adventure.

Drowning when his ship went down in a vicious storm, Ulrik the Viking thought it was the end. Instead, he awakens on a new and brutal Earth. Believing he was banished to this strange land by the gods as punishment, he faces the mountainous wilderness alone.

Tessa, a lonely and broken-hearted woman, dies in her sleep on her 85th birthday. She too awakens surrounded by the frightful and the unknown. Both are mysteriously thrown into new bodies facing new lives, new hopes, new dangers, and new desires.

Cast through time and other dimensions, fate has given Ulrik and Tessa a second chance at life and love. They must survive in a ruthless new world against a brutal warrior race determined to use them to conquer extinction and enter into the age of metal.  All that stands against them is ULRIK.

Book Cover: Ulrik by Wendy L. Anderson

Excerpt

Ulrik sat on the bank of a cool stream that ran down the mountain where he usually hunted. He watched as the water trickled over smooth rocks and sprayed the moss-lined bank. Down the mountainside, the stream narrowed and was eventually joined by another river, widening to become a rushing, roaring froth of cold, crystal blue water flowing swiftly over rapids. His gaze followed the stream as it meandered off into the distance and gently widened into a deep slow-moving river. He listened to the different sounds the water made. The roar, as it cascaded down the waterfall further uphill, to the trickle of the stream over moss-covered rocks, and finally the faint pounding of distant rapids. The forest was raucous with sound and full of breath-taking sights.

The forest’s majesty was lost on him today. Ulrik was bored. He reached for a stone and tossed it into the stream then stood, grabbed his spear, and walked up the hill toward the lake at the bottom of the waterfall. He decided he had better find something for his supper and thought fish sounded as good as anything else.

Memories swamped him as he recalled all the times he had fished with his brothers as a young man. Those thoughts led him to contemplate, for the hundred thousandth time, his current solitary situation. By his count, it had been around two years that he lived alone in these mountains in this strange place. Being banished by the Gods he knew, enraged him and his loneliness made him feel like less of a man. Two years without speaking to another soul or without seeing another human’s face made him angry. He cursed, kicking at a stone in his path. The stone shot forward, struck a tree, and fell uselessly to the ground.

“By Odin and all the gods! I wish I had a woman!”

He cursed out loud and continued stomping up the path until he came to his usual fishing spot at the lakeside. He hefted his spear and waded into the lake, not even bothering to remove his boots.

The warm spring wind blew across his face. As he had a hundred times before, Ulrik stood still, slowed his breathing, and searched the deep emerald depths for the flicker of a silvery tail. Quick as lightning he stabbed down and, wrenching his arm back, pulled an impaled fish out of the water. He grasped the wriggling tail, pulled it from the spear blade, and threw it to the bank of the lake where it flopped, struggling to breathe as its life leached away.

Wendy L. Anderson, author of Ulrik

About the Author

Wendy L. Anderson is a Colorado native and mother of two boys. She has an English Degree from Regis University and writes books, short stories and poetry. Wendy is a devout reader of the classics, fantasy, sci-fi and historical fiction. She has decided it is time to write down the fantasies from her own mind. Writing about everything from fantastical worlds to the stuff of her dreams she takes her stories along interesting paths while portraying characters and worlds she sees in her mind’s eye. Her goal is to deviate from common themes, write in original directions and transport her reader to the worlds of her creation.

Website: https://www.wendylanderson.com/

Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads

Win a free copy of Ulrik here !

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Review: Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh

I picked up Solutions and Other Problems because I needed a laugh, and I loved Allie Brosh’s last book, Hyperbole and a Half. I ended up loving Solutions and Other Problems, which has the manic energy and hilarious awkwardness of Hyperbole and a Half, but with a lot of poignancy. If Hyperbole and Half does a brilliant job of capturing and depicting depression in a hilarious, but haunting way, Solutions and Other Problems does something similar for grief.

Sometime after her first book was published, Brosh’s sister died in a car accident which was potentially suicide. The loss of her sister, and her own traumatic health problems, shadow this book. Yet the book is also a brilliant tribute to the complicate love between siblings and the way that sometimes the people we’re closest too can be unknowable and mysterious. I loved and still love Brosh’s depictions of the fundamental weirdness of children, because as a parent and a teacher, I feel like this is not discussed enough. Kids are weird, man. They can be obsessed with the strangest things, and most of the time we just kind of accept that they have too put a line of robots along their bed before they fall asleep. For some mysterious reason.

Still, while this books examines sad and difficult problems and grief, it’s also laugh-out-loud funny. I seriously laughed so hard reading it I was afraid I’d wake up everyone in the house. I started reading it during Texas’s Snowmageddan 2021, and it kept me sane and laughing during some pretty crazy stuff. I was recently re-reading it, and it’s so funny and touching I could see this being a book I’d re-read over and over again.

I’d recommend it to anyone who needs a good laugh, or even a good cry. Or maybe both.

Cover of Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh

author interview book review books fantasy science fiction Sapience

Review: The Littlest Dinosaur

I don’t normally review children’s picture books here, but I do actually love them! For one thing, I do have children, and my little ones love picture books, especially ones about dinosaurs (I have so many dinosaur books). So I was excited to get a copy of The Littlest Dinosaur in exchange for an honest review!

This is a very cute book. I loved the illustrations of the little dinosaur and all the other dinosaurs that he meets while he’s looking for a friend on his journey. The story overall is very cute and simple, something that would make a good bedtime story. If I had a criticism, it would be that the dinosaur calls himself a “vegan” multiple times, which seems like a word many young kids wouldn’t easily understand. Also, as someone who loves science, I wasn’t necessarily convinced that a carnivore like T-Rex should be personified as a vegan. But it is a fantasy story, and it has a very cute ending. And if you are a vegan or interested in veganism, it might be a fun book for you and your kids to share.

Overall, I think this would be a good book for any families, especially if they have kids who love dinosaurs!

Ty, The Tyrannosaur just wants to make a new friend.

Sadly, the other dinosaurs are all afraid of his sharp teeth! So Ty must go on an adventure to find a dinosaur brave enough to be friends with a Tyrannosaur.

To win a digital prize pack which includes the ebook copy of the book, two desktop wallpapers for the computer, two cell phone backdrops, plus three printable activity pages including two coloring book pages and a maze, click the link below to enter!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/0e7c6a8f236/

Bryce Raffle ad Steven Kothlow, Authors of The Littlest Dinosaur

About the Authors

Bryce Raffle was the lead writer for the video game studio Ironclad Games. He also writes stories for young adults and designs book covers.

Steven Kothlow is making his debut as a children’s book writer. He hopes to tell many more stories that help spread a message of diversity and inclusion especially in children’s literature.

Tessa Verplancke is a sound designer by day and an illustrator by night. She lives to tell stories through as many mediums as possible.

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