May is sci-fi madness month here on my blog. I’m interviewing two authors of science fiction each week. Today I’ve got Kenneth Schultz, author of The Truth-Teller Rebellion to stop by. Thanks for being my guest today, Ken!
What are some essential ingredients for a good sci-fi novel?
Sci-fi readers live in the everyday world around us. They expect something different. Our hero can have extraordinary abilities in an otherwise normal world. How does our hero cope with this? Audra’s character driven Hitchhiker is an excellent example of this approach. Or, like in Scalzi’s Old Man’s War, a fairly normal person can be thrown into a disorienting world unlike our own. Can they survive? Alternatively, like my Truth-Teller Rebellion, the protagonist can have unusual abilities in a somewhat different world than ours.
What type of research did you do for your novel?
Truth-Teller Rebellion’s setting is two thousand years from now after the exhaustion of fossil fuels. Global warming is a distant memory and an ice age grips the Earth. Technology is advanced, but the average person’s energy consumption is barely more than that of our Founding Fathers. This scenario required research on the exhaustion of fossil and nuclear, on how civilization might manage a greatly reduced energy budget, and finally on how an ice age would transform the Earth. Only during this research did I realize coal and oil have literally fueled mankind’s current population explosion and technological revolution. I tried to infuse the research into the background of the book and never let it seem like research.
Have you ever experience writer’s block? How do you deal with it?
Writer’s block isn’t a problem for me once I start writing, but I do often reach an impasse while doing the outline for a book. It may take me weeks to resolve a plot issue. Success most often happens while walking my dog or before falling asleep.
This doesn’t mean I do nothing for weeks. There is editing on other books to do or I can write on a different book. The key is to keep writing. Don’t stop writing. Never stop writing. When I am actively writing I want to log five hundred to a thousand words a day.
What’s your science fiction novel about, in 25 words or less?
Can an eighteen-year-old truth-teller and his empath sister elude a psychopathic assassin long enough to uncover the secrets of their family’s past and unlock their formidable mental gifts?
THIS or THAT:
War of the Worlds or Independence Day?
I like both but War of the Worlds is better sci-fi in my opinion.
Ewoks or Tribbles?
Ewoks. They have spunk and character. I’m with the Klingons regarding Tribbles.
Laser pistols or Light Sabers?
Light Sabers get style points, but give me a laser pistols in a real fight.
Where can we learn more about your books?
Check me out at
http://burstbooks.ca/product.php?id_product=112 http://www.KennethDSchultz.com http://www.facebook.com/KennethDSchultz
What are some essential ingredients for a good sci-fi novel?
Sci-fi readers live in the everyday world around us. They expect something different. Our hero can have extraordinary abilities in an otherwise normal world. How does our hero cope with this? Audra’s character driven Hitchhiker is an excellent example of this approach. Or, like in Scalzi’s Old Man’s War, a fairly normal person can be thrown into a disorienting world unlike our own. Can they survive? Alternatively, like my Truth-Teller Rebellion, the protagonist can have unusual abilities in a somewhat different world than ours.
What type of research did you do for your novel?
Truth-Teller Rebellion’s setting is two thousand years from now after the exhaustion of fossil fuels. Global warming is a distant memory and an ice age grips the Earth. Technology is advanced, but the average person’s energy consumption is barely more than that of our Founding Fathers. This scenario required research on the exhaustion of fossil and nuclear, on how civilization might manage a greatly reduced energy budget, and finally on how an ice age would transform the Earth. Only during this research did I realize coal and oil have literally fueled mankind’s current population explosion and technological revolution. I tried to infuse the research into the background of the book and never let it seem like research.
Have you ever experience writer’s block? How do you deal with it?
Writer’s block isn’t a problem for me once I start writing, but I do often reach an impasse while doing the outline for a book. It may take me weeks to resolve a plot issue. Success most often happens while walking my dog or before falling asleep.
This doesn’t mean I do nothing for weeks. There is editing on other books to do or I can write on a different book. The key is to keep writing. Don’t stop writing. Never stop writing. When I am actively writing I want to log five hundred to a thousand words a day.
What’s your science fiction novel about, in 25 words or less?
Can an eighteen-year-old truth-teller and his empath sister elude a psychopathic assassin long enough to uncover the secrets of their family’s past and unlock their formidable mental gifts?
THIS or THAT:
War of the Worlds or Independence Day?
I like both but War of the Worlds is better sci-fi in my opinion.
Ewoks or Tribbles?
Ewoks. They have spunk and character. I’m with the Klingons regarding Tribbles.
Laser pistols or Light Sabers?
Light Sabers get style points, but give me a laser pistols in a real fight.
Where can we learn more about your books?
Check me out at
http://burstbooks.ca/product.php?id_product=112 http://www.KennethDSchultz.com http://www.facebook.com/KennethDSchultz
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