An Interview With Chogan Swan
Over the past year, I've been working on quite a few physics projects. These have included revision guides, sample papers, and workbooks. Whilst some are still works in progress, others have now been published. You can see them at http://www.alasdairshaw.co.uk/bbop/papers.
Right, so today I am talking to Chogan Swan, author of 1799 Planetfall.
So. What draws you to writing science fiction?
I was always a reader. When I was in the seventh grade, I started spending a lot of time reading in the science fiction and fantasy genres, and that helped me realize that speculative fiction allowed a much greater range of palette for a writer who wanted to evoke a sense of wonder and possibility. At the same time, it lets writers question assumptions and point out problems that could be harder to portray and easier to ignore in a 'real world setting'. Whatever that means, right? Like Robin Williams once said, "Reality, what a concept."
Which writers inspire you?
Many writers have inspired me through the years, capturing my imagination with adventure and inspiring me to consider different viewpoints and ways of looking at life. But, the writers who inspired me to write were the ones who could pull off a great adventure story while saying things that were important about life and the human experience. You know, things that make you want to strive to be a better person and work for a better world.
Of the many I could mention, I’ll just point out a couple who I don’t think get enough recognition today, though they were recognized and honored when they were alive. So first, Octavia E. Butler. What inspires me about her is that she lived the kinds of struggles she wrote about. Her characters were interesting and vivid and struggling with hard moral choices as they fought through challenging times.
Another of my favorites is David Feintuch, who wrote the Seaford Saga series. He did a smashing job with space opera, but he also explored the concepts of honor and duty in ways that make you think.
Give us an insight into your main character. What does she do that is so special?
The main protagonist in Sentients in the Maze is an alien who crash lands on Earth in 1799 while pursuing a ship of parasitic monsters. She tries to destroy their ship before they can land on Earth, but can’t be certain there weren’t survivors. She can’t let this race of parasites get another start multiplying. So, to save the world and the primitive sentient beings living there, she follows them down in a ship-to-ship battle. The two ships crash a thousand miles apart, and she’s the only survivor from her own vessel.
Two things make her special. She is from a race of omnivores who cannot survive only on plants and synthetic nutrition but need substances only available from animals. Thousands of years ago, her people decided to refrain from killing for food, if possible, and developed ways of living in symbiosis with other beings for what they needed to survive. They chose to partner with other sentient species rather than domesticating livestock, choosing mutually beneficial arrangements for both sides instead.
Part of her challenge on Earth is finding new partners in order to survive, because her entire crew dies. The other part, of course, is killing the monsters. The second thing that makes her special is her race’s ability to reproduce either sexually or parthenogenetically. So, with a bit of time, effort and technology, she can produce a full clone of her own genetic materials. In addition, she can pass on all her own memories to her offspring.
This ability to retain valuable knowledge, even if one branch of her genotype dies, has allowed her people to survive in the Symbiont Wars they have been fighting against the parasitic niaaH for thousands of years.
The last trait has been fun to work with. I get to write about different characters, who have some of the same memories, but have become different people because of their experiences after the branching that produces the next ‘generation’. The scene I enjoyed most with this dynamic is when one character has to fight her full-clone in a challenge match over a disagreement in strategy.
Tell us a little about the series.
I’m now working on the fourth book in the Symbiont Wars Universe—which includes two series. The books already span hundreds of years of Earth history, and soon will expand to outer space and past the near future where the action is taking place now.
After the first book—which sets the stage for both the YA and the adult books—all the books can be enjoyed without needing to know everything that happened in the others but they also dovetail with each other like puzzle pieces. Should I make a new verb? Puzzletail maybe? Whatever... My readers seem to like the way things fit together, so I’ll keep doing it as long as I’m having fun and getting good feedback.
How are you publishing this book and why?
I decided to publish independently, because of my experience with traditional publishing. A number of years ago, I wrote an epic fantasy trilogy (Against That Shining Darkness). When I showed it to my mother, she said, "With all the garbage that gets out these days, surely someone will want to publish that."
Well she was right, even if it wasn’t phrased in an ego boosting endorsement. Somebody did want to publish it. I found an editor with an international publishing company who wanted it ... and it only took me two years.
In the middle of working on some changes requested, the editor left the company, and the young adult line he was developing went on the back burner... along with my trilogy. Since I had done everything without an agent, there was no contract yet, so at least it didn’t tie up my rights to go elsewhere, but it was discouraging when I realized I probably couldn’t make ends meet by writing.
It took so long to get it in front of someone only to have it dropped. I couldn’t stand to go through it all again, so I just shelved it.
My kids ended up loving it though, so that was nice.
If it hadn’t been for the changes in the independent publishing arena, I probably would have never followed my lifelong dream of writing full-time.
Now, I can write what I want to for the people who want to read it. I don’t have to satisfy some publisher’s idea of what people want. If I just tell good stories, and get them in front of the right people, it will happen.
These days, it is much easier for me to make ends meet than it used to be. I have readers waiting for what I write, and there are more of them every day.
Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. Good luck with the series...
Chogan Swan lives in the country of the mind in the world of thoughts in the universe of ideas. In your space-time continuum, Chogan studied Philosophy as a youth at an accredited college earning an undergraduate degree in that discipline and later graduate degrees in Business and Engineering from a major US university. These studies led to Chogan’s interest in Systems Thinking and how to work together to save the world for everyone.
Philosopher, poet, prophet, revolutionary and warrior-sentients in many universes have used these words to describe Chogan. As always, the truth is in the interstices.
Right, so today I am talking to Chogan Swan, author of 1799 Planetfall.
So. What draws you to writing science fiction?
I was always a reader. When I was in the seventh grade, I started spending a lot of time reading in the science fiction and fantasy genres, and that helped me realize that speculative fiction allowed a much greater range of palette for a writer who wanted to evoke a sense of wonder and possibility. At the same time, it lets writers question assumptions and point out problems that could be harder to portray and easier to ignore in a 'real world setting'. Whatever that means, right? Like Robin Williams once said, "Reality, what a concept."
Which writers inspire you?
Many writers have inspired me through the years, capturing my imagination with adventure and inspiring me to consider different viewpoints and ways of looking at life. But, the writers who inspired me to write were the ones who could pull off a great adventure story while saying things that were important about life and the human experience. You know, things that make you want to strive to be a better person and work for a better world.
Of the many I could mention, I’ll just point out a couple who I don’t think get enough recognition today, though they were recognized and honored when they were alive. So first, Octavia E. Butler. What inspires me about her is that she lived the kinds of struggles she wrote about. Her characters were interesting and vivid and struggling with hard moral choices as they fought through challenging times.
Another of my favorites is David Feintuch, who wrote the Seaford Saga series. He did a smashing job with space opera, but he also explored the concepts of honor and duty in ways that make you think.
Give us an insight into your main character. What does she do that is so special?
The main protagonist in Sentients in the Maze is an alien who crash lands on Earth in 1799 while pursuing a ship of parasitic monsters. She tries to destroy their ship before they can land on Earth, but can’t be certain there weren’t survivors. She can’t let this race of parasites get another start multiplying. So, to save the world and the primitive sentient beings living there, she follows them down in a ship-to-ship battle. The two ships crash a thousand miles apart, and she’s the only survivor from her own vessel.
Two things make her special. She is from a race of omnivores who cannot survive only on plants and synthetic nutrition but need substances only available from animals. Thousands of years ago, her people decided to refrain from killing for food, if possible, and developed ways of living in symbiosis with other beings for what they needed to survive. They chose to partner with other sentient species rather than domesticating livestock, choosing mutually beneficial arrangements for both sides instead.
Part of her challenge on Earth is finding new partners in order to survive, because her entire crew dies. The other part, of course, is killing the monsters. The second thing that makes her special is her race’s ability to reproduce either sexually or parthenogenetically. So, with a bit of time, effort and technology, she can produce a full clone of her own genetic materials. In addition, she can pass on all her own memories to her offspring.
This ability to retain valuable knowledge, even if one branch of her genotype dies, has allowed her people to survive in the Symbiont Wars they have been fighting against the parasitic niaaH for thousands of years.
The last trait has been fun to work with. I get to write about different characters, who have some of the same memories, but have become different people because of their experiences after the branching that produces the next ‘generation’. The scene I enjoyed most with this dynamic is when one character has to fight her full-clone in a challenge match over a disagreement in strategy.
Tell us a little about the series.
I’m now working on the fourth book in the Symbiont Wars Universe—which includes two series. The books already span hundreds of years of Earth history, and soon will expand to outer space and past the near future where the action is taking place now.
After the first book—which sets the stage for both the YA and the adult books—all the books can be enjoyed without needing to know everything that happened in the others but they also dovetail with each other like puzzle pieces. Should I make a new verb? Puzzletail maybe? Whatever... My readers seem to like the way things fit together, so I’ll keep doing it as long as I’m having fun and getting good feedback.
How are you publishing this book and why?
I decided to publish independently, because of my experience with traditional publishing. A number of years ago, I wrote an epic fantasy trilogy (Against That Shining Darkness). When I showed it to my mother, she said, "With all the garbage that gets out these days, surely someone will want to publish that."
Well she was right, even if it wasn’t phrased in an ego boosting endorsement. Somebody did want to publish it. I found an editor with an international publishing company who wanted it ... and it only took me two years.
In the middle of working on some changes requested, the editor left the company, and the young adult line he was developing went on the back burner... along with my trilogy. Since I had done everything without an agent, there was no contract yet, so at least it didn’t tie up my rights to go elsewhere, but it was discouraging when I realized I probably couldn’t make ends meet by writing.
It took so long to get it in front of someone only to have it dropped. I couldn’t stand to go through it all again, so I just shelved it.
My kids ended up loving it though, so that was nice.
If it hadn’t been for the changes in the independent publishing arena, I probably would have never followed my lifelong dream of writing full-time.
Now, I can write what I want to for the people who want to read it. I don’t have to satisfy some publisher’s idea of what people want. If I just tell good stories, and get them in front of the right people, it will happen.
These days, it is much easier for me to make ends meet than it used to be. I have readers waiting for what I write, and there are more of them every day.
Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. Good luck with the series...
Chogan Swan lives in the country of the mind in the world of thoughts in the universe of ideas. In your space-time continuum, Chogan studied Philosophy as a youth at an accredited college earning an undergraduate degree in that discipline and later graduate degrees in Business and Engineering from a major US university. These studies led to Chogan’s interest in Systems Thinking and how to work together to save the world for everyone.Philosopher, poet, prophet, revolutionary and warrior-sentients in many universes have used these words to describe Chogan. As always, the truth is in the interstices.
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