10 Questions with C Michael Lance
1. Caribbean Layoff is a big departure from your fantasy writing. What made you want to write that novel?
Actually, Caribbean Layoff was my first attempt at novel writing. Shortly after getting laid off in the 2009 recession and then getting laid up with a broken leg from a bicycling mishap—with nothing better to do, I decided to write. After several iterations, I decided that attempt was quite poor and turned to Fantasy instead. A couple of people who’d read CL, however, kept bugging me. Said it would make a great movie. After three Fantasy novels, I hoped that I had learned enough to do a decent job on a Caribbean Layoff rewrite. I think it’s much improved. I hope readers agree.
2. Who is your favorite writer?
Anne McCaffrey and her Dragon Riders of Pern is the first of many that popped to mind. So I’ll go with that stream of consciousness leader.
3. You have held many different jobs in your life. What has been the most interesting and/or fulfilling?
I had to skip this question and come back because it was the toughest. Sales, and leading a sales team was the most lucrative and working with customers to meet their needs was very fulfilling. However, leading a product management team and bringing new products and new product concepts to market was probably the best. Particularly because of the teams I lead and the plethora of customers I had the opportunity to work with.
4. What current writing projects are you working on?
I’m writing the fourth and final novel, Dragon Eye, in the Battle Wizard Saga contemporary fantasy series. Sig attempts to track down the source of his sword’s power in his quest to recover the magic that was stolen from him as a child.
His pursuit takes him into a dimension to which dragons escaped a millennium ago, after the thieving Knights Templar had almost decimated dragonkind.
5. Being a fellow engineer and writer, why do you feel there aren’t more engineers who have written novels?
Actually, there are a number of engineers who write, and have done well. A few examples are: Homer Hickam, the writer of best seller (and source of the movie) October Sky; Nick Arvin, author of award winning Articles of War; New York Times best seller Boyd Morrison; G. Harry Stine, one of the founders of model rocketry, who wrote a number of novels under the pseudonym Lee Correy for Del Rey and Daw. Fyodor Dostoyevsky and a whole slew of other Russian engineers were novelists. Andy Weir, author of The Martian is a computer programmer, which is a profession at least as nerdy as engineering.
I wonder if we don’t hear more about engineer writers because they’re embarrassed to admit that they function in the right brain as well as the left? I’ve resigned myself to the dichotomy, since not only do I write, but I’m also a book cover designer.
6. What type of scenes do you most enjoy writing?
I’m most comfortable with action scenes. Love a good fight, particularly if swords and mythical monsters are involved. I can see the action in my mind and they flow to the paper (just a turn of phrase—really, no paper is involved. I’m strictly a computer nerd when it comes to writing.) There is also good action in Caribbean Layoff. Martial art battles, sniper scenes, knife fights, even a dog chase featuring a large sighthound.
I get the most satisfaction, however, from wrapping humor into a novel.
7. What made you start writing?
I touched on that briefly in the first question. I’ve always been an avid reader. Started on science fiction in third grade, when I read Slan by A. E. van Vogt and was hooked. It might be a surprise that my first effort wasn’t science fiction. But by the time the broken hip laid me up, I’d read most every facet of SciFi and had moved to Fantasy. Reflecting on it now, Anne McCaffrey was a big influence on that re-focus. The core of Dragon Riders is SciFi, but dragons have deep roots in Fantasy. A great crossover series.
Still doesn’t answer why Caribbean Layoff, an Action/Adventure. I guess the story was at the top of my stream of consciousness at the right time.
8. How much of you is in the character of Steve Henning?
He’s my height (6’3”). I guess I know what the view is like from that vantage. I like weaponry and hunting, although I’m not an NRA member. Too much politics involved. I’d say I’m devoted to my family like he is, and my wife is a major influence on my life (don’t tell her).
9. What is your best quality as a writer?
I’ve been told that action scenes are particularly strong. Easy to visualize as a reader even without a background in combat or weapons.
10. If you could invite five people to a dinner party (alive or dead, real or fictional) who would you invite?
Genghis Khan – most influential in shaping history. (Do I get a translator?)
Queen Elizabeth I – to discuss the acrimony between Protestants and Catholics and how hard it was to maintain a middle ground. The Sunni/Shia wars are reminiscent of that time.
Thor – how damn heavy is that hammer?
Thomas Edison – Where did all those ideas come from?
Abraham Lincoln – Can I ask what he thought of the play?
Actually, Caribbean Layoff was my first attempt at novel writing. Shortly after getting laid off in the 2009 recession and then getting laid up with a broken leg from a bicycling mishap—with nothing better to do, I decided to write. After several iterations, I decided that attempt was quite poor and turned to Fantasy instead. A couple of people who’d read CL, however, kept bugging me. Said it would make a great movie. After three Fantasy novels, I hoped that I had learned enough to do a decent job on a Caribbean Layoff rewrite. I think it’s much improved. I hope readers agree.
2. Who is your favorite writer?
Anne McCaffrey and her Dragon Riders of Pern is the first of many that popped to mind. So I’ll go with that stream of consciousness leader.
3. You have held many different jobs in your life. What has been the most interesting and/or fulfilling?
I had to skip this question and come back because it was the toughest. Sales, and leading a sales team was the most lucrative and working with customers to meet their needs was very fulfilling. However, leading a product management team and bringing new products and new product concepts to market was probably the best. Particularly because of the teams I lead and the plethora of customers I had the opportunity to work with.
4. What current writing projects are you working on?
I’m writing the fourth and final novel, Dragon Eye, in the Battle Wizard Saga contemporary fantasy series. Sig attempts to track down the source of his sword’s power in his quest to recover the magic that was stolen from him as a child.
His pursuit takes him into a dimension to which dragons escaped a millennium ago, after the thieving Knights Templar had almost decimated dragonkind.
5. Being a fellow engineer and writer, why do you feel there aren’t more engineers who have written novels?
Actually, there are a number of engineers who write, and have done well. A few examples are: Homer Hickam, the writer of best seller (and source of the movie) October Sky; Nick Arvin, author of award winning Articles of War; New York Times best seller Boyd Morrison; G. Harry Stine, one of the founders of model rocketry, who wrote a number of novels under the pseudonym Lee Correy for Del Rey and Daw. Fyodor Dostoyevsky and a whole slew of other Russian engineers were novelists. Andy Weir, author of The Martian is a computer programmer, which is a profession at least as nerdy as engineering.
I wonder if we don’t hear more about engineer writers because they’re embarrassed to admit that they function in the right brain as well as the left? I’ve resigned myself to the dichotomy, since not only do I write, but I’m also a book cover designer.
6. What type of scenes do you most enjoy writing?
I’m most comfortable with action scenes. Love a good fight, particularly if swords and mythical monsters are involved. I can see the action in my mind and they flow to the paper (just a turn of phrase—really, no paper is involved. I’m strictly a computer nerd when it comes to writing.) There is also good action in Caribbean Layoff. Martial art battles, sniper scenes, knife fights, even a dog chase featuring a large sighthound.
I get the most satisfaction, however, from wrapping humor into a novel.
7. What made you start writing?
I touched on that briefly in the first question. I’ve always been an avid reader. Started on science fiction in third grade, when I read Slan by A. E. van Vogt and was hooked. It might be a surprise that my first effort wasn’t science fiction. But by the time the broken hip laid me up, I’d read most every facet of SciFi and had moved to Fantasy. Reflecting on it now, Anne McCaffrey was a big influence on that re-focus. The core of Dragon Riders is SciFi, but dragons have deep roots in Fantasy. A great crossover series.
Still doesn’t answer why Caribbean Layoff, an Action/Adventure. I guess the story was at the top of my stream of consciousness at the right time.
8. How much of you is in the character of Steve Henning?
He’s my height (6’3”). I guess I know what the view is like from that vantage. I like weaponry and hunting, although I’m not an NRA member. Too much politics involved. I’d say I’m devoted to my family like he is, and my wife is a major influence on my life (don’t tell her).
9. What is your best quality as a writer?
I’ve been told that action scenes are particularly strong. Easy to visualize as a reader even without a background in combat or weapons.
10. If you could invite five people to a dinner party (alive or dead, real or fictional) who would you invite?
Genghis Khan – most influential in shaping history. (Do I get a translator?)
Queen Elizabeth I – to discuss the acrimony between Protestants and Catholics and how hard it was to maintain a middle ground. The Sunni/Shia wars are reminiscent of that time.
Thor – how damn heavy is that hammer?
Thomas Edison – Where did all those ideas come from?
Abraham Lincoln – Can I ask what he thought of the play?
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