The Write Stuff – Monday, May 11 – Interview With Sally Ember

May 11, 2015May 11, 2015 raymondbolton Leave a comment

In the wake of featuring so many authors from genres other than mine, I’ve decided to focus on creators of science fiction and fantasy for a while. Although I read a wide variety of literature and most of you do as well, most of my followers look first to the genre I create. That said, I have the pleasure of introducing Sally Ember, Ed. D., author of the complex and controversial Spanner Series.

As in the case of some earlier guests, Sally and I met through Facebook’s Fantasy SciFi News Network, #FSFNet, a group open to readers, writers and bloggers alike. Sally, who fits into all three categories, has been passionate about writing since 3rd grade. Now, she blurs the lines between fact and fiction in the space opera, The Spanners Series, utopian sci-fi with romance/ paranormal (psi only)/ multiverse/ Buddhist/ Jewish components. She meditates, writes, swims, blogs, reads and hosts her Google+ Hangout On Air (HOA) *CHANGES* conversations between authors, broadcast from St. Louis, MO, USA. Sally has worked as an educator and upper-level, nonprofit manager and has a BA, Master’s & Doctorate in education.

When I asked her to describe her work, she had this to say:

The Spanners Series is a 10-volume (planned; Volume I released Nov., 2013; Volume II released June, 2014), original, science-fiction/ romance/ multiverse/ paranormal/utopian/speculative fiction ebooks series for adults/new adults/young adults.

I was halfway through Volume III in early April, 2014, when I had a terrible accident, resulting in a concussion and broken nose. With Post-Concussion Syndrome, all my fiction writing had to come to a halt and hasn’t resumed, yet, for my series. I hope to return to The Spanners Series soon (June or July, 2015) and release Volume III later this year. I had also already started Volume IV, which I hope to return to and complete for release in spring, 2016.

Volume I, This Changes Everything, “spans” the entire series’ time frame, moving freely and non-linearly between events that occur [the series is written entirely in the present tense, remember, to remind us all that all time is simultaneous] many millennia prior to Clara’s meeting with the first five alien holos from the MWC in late 2012 and extend throughout Clara’s entire term as Earth’s CC, about thirty years. As the introductory Volume for the series, it lays most of the groundwork for all ten books.

Volumes II and III cover the same time period as each other, the five years of Earth’s “Transition.” These five years are the time that starts with Clara’s revealing her visit with “The Band” of alien holos and the deadline given to Earth for deciding whether or not to join the Many Worlds Collective. Each of the Volume’s narrators come mostly from the two different age groups, so we get their perspectives. Volume II also includes “Snapshots” from ten Octobers in Clara’s life, about one every five years for a while then one every year after the aliens visit her, starting in her childhood and extending beyond the Transition, to allow readers to get to know her and her generation better.

Volume II also provides more details and scenes that show both her and her nephew, Moran’s, Excellent Skills Program trainings, Moran’s “Interludes.” The main Chapters for Volume II are the interviews Espe conducts with Clara’s son, Zephyr (32 when the series begins), and each of Clara’s nephews, nieces; her grandnieces and -nephews make a few appearances.

Both Volumes II and III refer to Earth’s internal Psi-Wars, the extreme consequences from the problems that occur when Fragmenters and Trenchers protest Earth’s accepting the MWC’s invitation. There is more about those conflicts in Volume III than II.

Volume III has more narration and scenes from the older group of narrators, including Clara’s siblings, friends and her mother, Epifanio, and a few new characters, some not human, while also including Espe and Moran as well, providing more stories from the five years of Earth’s “Transition.” Some allusions to later Volumes and their events appear in Volume I and each of the earlier Volumes, leading to Volume IV, which is entirely set at the Earth’s first Campus’ Excellent Skills Program (ESP) trainings.

The stories in Volume IV focus on the experiences of the youngest and youth/young adult students, human and not, but Clara, Moran, Espe and a few others appear again, including a new/returning love interest for Clara, Steve. Epifanio, as her husband (and not), depending on what timeline Clara happens to be experiencing on any given day, also keeps appearing.

Whew! Time related stories are certainly complex. What was the biggest challenge you faced writing this series and how did you overcome it?

Still working to “overcome it,” I guess. Meditation was also affected, and losing my ability to meditate for almost 8 months was worse than not being able to write fiction. I have coped by focusing more on nonfiction, writing short pieces for my own blog and creating guest blog posts. I also began an online talk show, *CHANGES* conversations between authors, in August, 2014, that I still do almost every Wednesday (10 AM Eastern USA time), and which is how I met YOU, Raymond! Thanks for being a guest!

What else have you written?

The two Volumes I’ve released in The Spanners Series are my first two fiction novels. I am a produced playwright, a published short-story and feature articles writer and nonfiction co-author, an uncredited ghostwriter and editor of several other nonfiction books.

Have there been any awards, productions, videos or anything else of interest associated with your work?

On my YouTube channel (Sally Sue Ember is my Google+ ID and Youtube Channel name) are four self-made book trailers (via Animoto.com): three for Volume I and one for Volume II (concussion, remember?); also, two author public readings from The Spanners Series, and one author Q & A (with almost no “A” because the feature didn’t work!) as well as all the *CHANGES* Episodes (as of this week, up to Episode 29). https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqnZuobf0YTCiP6silDDL2w/videos?view_as=public

What else are you working on?

I do some editing/proofreading and write reviews occasionally, but mostly I write for my blog and host my show, waiting for my brain to return to full enough function for me to resume writing my novels, again. My sci-fi series is immensely complicated; even with a spreadsheet I had created prior to my accident (THANK GOODNESS!) that only hints at all its components and overlapping, multiple timelines that span over 80 years for the main characters and grab historical events from “past” millennia up to the present as well.

The novels are also all written in the present tense, which is a meditation-while-writing that takes an enormous amount of concentration, since it’s not the way we usually write (or think or speak, either). Suffering still from memory problems, aphasia and other brain deficits makes that kind of writing impossible, still.

I also can’t yet quite access my full memory of what I planned to include in this and future Volumes, so I keep exercising, meditating (which I was recently made able to return to and it’s working almost completely, now), writing short pieces and trying to be patient.

I have some research topics for the series and my own interests which I regularly blog about: physics, astronomy/cosmology, the multiverse and parallel universes, medicine/health, meditation/brain mapping, feminist topics, book reviews, movie reviews, and much more: whatever I’m in the mood to learn and write about, I do. I also have created and will write some more guest blog posts (most are about writing or indie publishing), some more interviews like this that are really more writing projects than interviews, per se, and who knows what else?

What inspired you to write your series?

Unrequited love. Really. I needed an outlet and a place to write the life I wish I were having with the man I love who does not return that feeling. BUT, I also wanted to write him OUT of my life. So, I’m doing both!

Furthermore, I feel a deep despair about Earth’s future, including extreme disgust with many humans. I recognize the need for better interspecies communication here and with beings from off-planet.

Combine all that with a life-long keen interest in and belief in quantum physics, astronomy, multiverse existence and life elsewhere, and BOOM: sci-fi/romance.

I am writing the future I wish us all to have. Somewhere, somewhen, not just because I’m writing it, all of this IS happening because, as physicists are fond of reminding us, everything that can happen is happening in the multiverse.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I am “Crowdcreating” Volumes VIII and IX of The Spanners Series, so I seek YA-aged and -themed and NA-aged and -themed writers, readers to contribute to Vol VIII and I seek adult authors/readers for Vol IX.

I am also requesting readers’ suggestions, questions and ideas for what I’ve left out of or you’d like to see of alternate timelines’ versions of stories in any previous Volume to put into Vol X (the final Volume in the series).

Please contact me (sallyember AT yahoo DOT com) no later than Jan. 1, 2016, if you want to participate in Crowdcreating by offering suggestions and even writing portions or entire Chapters of Vol VIII or IX. The deadline for submitting questions and ideas for Vol X is January 1, 2017. Share!

Now that’s an uncommon approach. Tell us, Sally, what motivates or inspires you?

Dreams, visions, meditations, experiences.

One night in February, 2012, I was awakened by a very clear voice that said: WRITE. I went to the computer, hearing sentences and seeing scenes in my mind. Five hours later, most of the first Chapter, all of the summaries for all the Volumes, and the Chapter outline for Volume I were drafted. I kept going from there and finished the first draft of Volume one in 8 weeks.

TCE went through 19 other drafts via my own ideas, consults with friends and family,and letting it “sit” over an 18-month period to reach the final version. During that time, I started Volumes II, IV, and V and sketched out parts of the others as well. I feel very driven. Part of the reason is that I identify a lot with Clara.

The line between fiction and nonfiction is very blurred in these Volumes, intentionally, and my life seems that way sometimes as well. I’m curious as to what the readers will decide is “real.”

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

I strongly believe that Earth is in serious trouble, politically, economically, environmentally, socially: in every way. I do wish we could be rescued by stronger, more intelligent, compassionate, capable beings! I wanted to show how things would change, and especially, how things would improve, if Earthers could be certain that we are not “alone.” Then, there would to be some dissenters of various types and intensities, so the psi Wars came about, with the Psi-Warriors and Psi-Defiers.

Fascinated by physics, multiple timelines/multiverse concepts, alien life and psi phenomena, family relationships, world affairs and the environment, and unrequited/requited love, I have incorporated all of these themes and topics into my sci-fi novels. I have and continue to do extensive research for each Volume. The parts that are scientific and authentic are the most fun to fictionalize.

I also subscribe to the optimistic view that their are inherent intelligence and value in all species, so interspecies communication among equals, both on Earth and off-planet, becomes central to the Series.

Because I am very interested in the Excellent Skills Program (ESP, or psi) aspects. I look forward to and have enjoyed writing the parts about each character’s ESP training and experiences, uses of the Excellent Skills and the ways having access to these Skills changes Earthers.

Finally, my erstwhile love is not with me, just as Clara’s is sometimes not with her, so I empathize with that situation and write scenes in which she and Fanio are together as a sort of wish-fulfillment. Then, I introduce other interests, romantic and personal, for Clara, to show how a strong, independent woman does NOT need a lover to be happy.

I always conclude with a Lightning Round. Please answer in as few words as possible:

My best friend would tell you I’m…

intensely loyal and forgiving, but once I write you off, we’re done.

The one thing I cannot do without is:

Buddhist dharma principles and practice.

The one thing I would change about my life is…

I wouldn’t have had an affair with one of my college professors as an undergraduate.

My biggest peeve is…

incompetence.

The person I’m most satisfied with is…

my son, Merlyn Ember; he’s an amazing man (he’s 35).

For those who’d like to learn more about Sally and her writing, here are some links:

Author Central Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Sally-Ember/e/B00HEV2UEW/

Purchase and other Links all on http://www.sallyember.com Look right; scroll down.

Vol I (PERMAFREE):

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HFELTG8
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/376197

Vol II ($3.99):

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/424969
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KU5Q7KC

Facebook personal page: https://www.facebook.com/sally.ember

Spanners Series’ page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSpannersSeriesbySallyEmber

Twitter: @sallyemberedd

Spanners Series’ page on Google+ http://goo.gl/tZKQpv

Sally Sue Ember on Google+ http://www.google.com/+SallySueEmber

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/sallyember

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7237845.Sally_Ember

The Write Stuff – Monday, March 16 – Interview With Matt Pallamary

March 16, 2015March 17, 2015 raymondbolton Leave a comment

Over the months since I began this series, I have been privileged to interview several award winning authors. Few of them, however, have garnered as many awards as this week’s guest, Matthew Pallamary. His awards, and the works that earned them, are as follows:

International Book Award – Award Winning Finalist – A Short Walk to the Other Side
USA Best Book Awards – Award Winning Finalist – A Short Walk to the Other Side
International Book Award – 1st Place – Nonfiction New Age – The Infinity Zone
San Diego Book Award – Finalist – The Infinity Zone
Award Winning Finalist – National Best Book Awards – Spirit Matters
San Diego Book Award – Best Spiritual Book – Spirit Matters
San Diego Book Award – Land Without Evil
San Diego Writer’s Monthly Man of the Year Award 2000
2002 Independent e-book award — 1st Place horror/thriller category – Dreamland with Ken Reeth

Matt’s work has appeared in Oui, New Dimensions, The Iconoclast, Starbright, Infinity, Passport, The Short Story Digest, Redcat, The San Diego Writer’s Monthly, Connotations, Phantasm, Essentially You, The Haven Journal, and many others. His fiction has been featured in The San Diego Union Tribune which he has also reviewed books for, and his work has been heard on KPBS-FM in San Diego, KUCI FM in Irvine, television Channel Three in Santa Barbara, and The Susan Cameron Block Show in Vancouver. He has been a guest on nationally syndicated talk shows and a frequent guest on numerous podcasts, among them, The Psychedelic Salon, and C-Realm.

He has taught a fiction workshop at the Southern California Writers’ Conference in San Diego, Palm Springs, and Los Angeles, and at the Santa Barbara Writers’ Conference for twenty five years. He has lectured at the Greater Los Angeles Writer’s Conference, the Getting It Write conference in Oregon, the Saddleback Writers’ Conference, the Rio Grande Writers’ Seminar, the National Council of Teachers of English, The San Diego Writer’s and Editor’s Guild, The San Diego Book Publicists, The Pacific Institute for Professional Writing, and he has been a panelist at the World Fantasy Convention, Con-Dor, and Coppercon. He is presently Editor in Chief of Muse Harbor Publishing.

I could go on for pages with more of his accomplishments, but I’d rather introduce you to the man and talk about his recent release, CyberChrist, a science fiction thriller. This brief introduction will give you a feeling for it:

Ashley Butler, a prize winning journalist at the San Diego Times receives an email from a man who claims to have discovered immortality by turning off the aging gene in a 15 year old boy with an aging disorder. The email has pictures showing a reversal of the aging process and the names of a scientist and a company to investigate. Thinking it a hoax, she forwards the email to friends. Though skeptical, she calls to investigate and gets a no longer in service message. When she leaves her office she overhears a news story about the death of the scientist mentioned in the email. Ashley checks out the company mentioned in the email and discovers a gutted building. At the deceased scientist’s address she has a confrontation with an unfriendly federal investigator. Returning to her office she finds him, subpoena in hand, confiscating her computer. He tells her that the scientist who sent the email is a killer that they need help catching. When her own investigators do more checking, none of them return. The forwarded email becomes the basis for an online church built around the boy, calling him the CyberChrist. The church claims that the Internet is the physical manifestation of the group mind of humanity and the boy is the second coming of Christ online. The federal government tries to shut down the church, but its website replicates faster than they can stop it. While church and state battle over religious freedom online, the media and the state battle over freedom of speech. Ashley battles to stay alive.

Matt, I can’t begin to tell you how pleased I am that you dropped by to talk with us. Will you tell us how CyberChrist came to be?

CyberChrist grew out of my fascination with the subject of immortality, genetics, and the too early death of a close friend, who I “immortalized” in print.

What was the biggest challenge you faced writing this book and how did you overcome it?

Keeping up with the rapid pace of technological change which I overcame by keeping abreast of breaking technological advances. CyberChrist needed to be as up to date as possible while being as timeless as possible.

What other novels have you written?

Land Without Evil, DreamLand (With Ken Reeth), Eye of the Predator, Night Whispers. I have also published two short story collections, a nonfiction book, and a memoir.

Do you have another job outside of writing?

No. I write, teach, and edit.

In this day and age, that is highly unusual. Are there any occupational hazards to being a novelist?

Eating.

That was unexpected. Would you care to elaborate?

I was referring to the inconsistency of income. Sometimes it’s feast, but more often than not it’s famine. Being a novelist, you can’t depend on it for steady income, (unless you’re Stephen King or someone like that.), so if you are dedicated to it, you have to be doing it for the love. I write full time, but I also teach and edit to make ends meet and even that goes in feast and famine cycles.

Most of us imagine life as a successful novelist somewhat more romantically. This takes some of the blush off the rose. Clearly, you know it on a more intimate level. Getting down to the nuts and bolts—if you’ll allow me to mix metaphors—what is your single most powerful challenge when it comes to writing a novel?

Staying focused and avoiding distractions.

Boy! Do I know that one. Distraction can come at you from all directions and in all sorts of disguises. You’ve come a long way as a self-published author. Will you tell us about your path to publication?

I have been through a few publishers and agents and now take great satisfaction in doing my own thing.

CyberChrist is a thriller and thrillers usually involve loss of life. If you were going to commit the perfect murder, how would you go about it?

By not telling a soul about it, or how I would go about it.

I hope you don’t have anything of that sort in the works. Have you ever dispatched someone in a book and then regretted it?

I never regretted it as it was necessary for the story, but it broke my heart on more than one occasion.

How many people have you done away with over the course of your career?

Thousands.

After CyberChrist, what else are you working on?

I have another nonfiction book titled Phantastic Fiction – A Shamanic Approach to Story, which will be released this coming June at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference where I have been teaching a Phantastic Fiction workshop for twenty five years.

Very nice. Will you tell us what has been your greatest success in life?

My novel, Land Without Evil and the amazing aerial stage show that came from it.

Here is a link to the preview.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUftl-0AqAI

What do you consider your biggest failure?

One of my best friends is a huge fan of the Mythbusters show. I have watched it a number of times with him. They have a motto, which I will paraphrase here.

There is no failure, there is only data.

Who have been your greatest inspirations?

My Mom, Ray Bradbury, Sparky Schulz, Barnaby Conrad, Chuck Champlin, as well as Sid Stebel and David Brin, who is a good friend of mine.

Is there anything we haven’t touched on you want to make sure potential readers know?

I have been writing for over thirty years and have been teaching and leading writing workshops at major writer’s conferences for over twenty five years, so I am not someone who jumped on the self-publishing bandwagon without any skills or experience. I was blessed to have Ray Bradbury as a mentor as well as Charles (Sparky) Schulz, Barnaby Conrad and the late, great Charles (Chuck) Champlin, the L.A. Times leading film critic for twenty five years. I was very pleased to see Chuck honored at the 2015 Oscars tribute. Together they adopted me into the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference family.

Very nice. Before we present a sample from CyberChrist and tell our visitors where they can get your books, let’s do very quick Lightning Round. In as few words as possible, answer the following:

My best friend would tell you I’m…

Nuts

The one thing I cannot do without is…

Breathing

The one thing I would change about my life…

The last woman I was married to.

Here is a quick peek at CyberChrist, followed by various links you can use to learm more about Matt and his work.

CHAPTER ONE

Ashley Butler set her chamomile tea and bran muffin down on her desk and hit the power button on her computer. While the little electronic monster under her desk beeped and chattered to life, she brushed ringlets of long brown hair from her face and pulled them into a pony tail, then she leaned back in her chair and watched the never-ending activity from The San Diego Times newsroom through the tinted glass wall of her office.

Mounted close to the ceiling above the doors, half a dozen TV monitors lined the far wall showing CNN, MSNBC, local, and national news. Smaller computer screens glowed from rows of cubicles below them. The steady clicking of keyboards filled the air while phones rang and people scurried in and out of offices.

Less than a year ago Ashley had occupied one of those cubicles until her prize winning story about the murder of an environmental terrorist brought her from reporter to feature writer. Her editor and mentor Scott Miller had worked through the assignment with her, pushing for more revisions. His suggestions helped pull things together, sparking a close father-daughter relationship that made her eager to please by giving him nothing but her best work.

Her computer played the opening strains of Virginia Woolf by the Indigo Girls, signaling the log-on screen. Ashley nibbled her muffin and tapped in her password with one hand. Her email popped up showing seventeen messages. She recognized sixteen of the names. She had never seen the seventeenth. It had an enclosure.

Dr. Justin Stephens — Subject: Immortality

“What’s that all about?” she muttered, double clicking the mail icon. The message screen appeared, but it had no words. She clicked on the enclosure. Pictures and algebraic equations filled her screen.

The first picture showed a wizened sexless countenance with wrinkled, ashen skin, no eyebrows, and a bald head that seemed too large for such a small face. A beaked nose and receding chin looked as if the mouth would swallow them. Jagged teeth sprouted from red gums and milky blue eyes protruded under lashless eyelids.

Ashley’s breath hitched when she read the caption beneath it.

Diagnosis/Prognosis: Chris Daniels, age 14 presents with Progeria, an acceleration of the aging process to approximately seven times the normal rate. Symptoms include heart disease, arteriosclerosis, arthritis, stunted growth, and premature aging. Applied gene therapy has resulted in the isolation and turning off of an inverted insertion in the long arm of chromosome one. The miraculous results of the administered protocol are shown in the following photos.

More pictures followed, their sequence appearing to go backward in time. In the second picture, Chris’s eyes looked clearer. His or her skin appeared softer with a flush of color; as if it now held moisture, and the child’s teeth had evened some. Ashley thought she saw peach fuzz where eyebrows should be.

The child’s face looked fuller and more feminine in the third picture and the teeth looked straighter. Ashley saw hair on Chris’s head and the kid definitely had eyebrows. The fire in Chris’s now ice blue eyes burned brighter.

The two pictures that followed looked younger and more perfect somehow; androgynous with brighter eyes, a normally proportioned face, and fully formed eyebrows. Feathery lashes, a thickening head of long hair, and healthy skin tone accented everything else, giving Chris an angelic countenance.

I’ve seen this trick before, Ashley thought. They Photo-shopped these to make it look like the person ages at warp speed.

In the last picture, Chris’s hair had grown down to his or her shoulders. Other than tiny crow’s feet around the kid’s eyes and indeterminate sex, Chris looked like a normal teenager, only this kid was beautiful. Ashley couldn’t believe the caption under the picture.

Chris Daniels – Age:17

Friend Matt on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthew.pallamary

Visit Matt’s Author Page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MatthewJPallamary

Follow Matt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattpallamary

Visit Mystic Ink Publishing: http://www.mysticinkpublishing.com/

Visit Mystic Ink on Google +: https://plus.google.com/+Mysticinkpublishinggoogleplus/posts

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattpallamary

Favorite Matt’s Smashwords author page: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Picaflor

The Write Stuff – Monday, May 19 – Interview With Author Massimo Marino

May 19, 2014May 20, 2014 raymondbolton 1 Comment

I feel especially privileged today to host the award-winning science fiction author, Massimo Marino. After reading DAIMONES, the first volume of his trilogy, I knew I wanted to share this author with you. Not only is his story’s premise original, but his writing is subtly compelling. He manages to draw the reader in with intrigue, rather than the violence and fast-paced action so characteristic of the genre. And while it is not unheard of for a scientist to write science fiction, Massimo manages to interweave paranormal and mythological events into his tale. I asked Mr. Marino to begin by telling us about himself.

I’m Italian, and because even in Italy that means everything and nothing at all, I should say I am Sicilian. I was born in Palermo, and as it happened with countless Sicilians, I left it, back in 1986. I lived more years abroad than in my home country, and I have changed in many and different ways than my old friends there. It is always a pleasure to go back, but it is now 6 long years since my last visit. Saudade? Maybe, a little.

I lived in Switzerland, France, and the United States. I am a scientist as a background, and have spent over 17 years in fundamental research. Most of my writing are then academic stuff, and I always wonder at how much Google is able to find about everyone. I am sure one has to Google oneself so not to forget too much…

I worked for many years at CERN—an international lab for particle physics research near Geneva, Switzerland—then in the US at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Fantastic moments and memories from those years. In 2005 I moved to the private sector, worked with Apple Inc., and then for the World Economic Forum.

I wrote since I was a kid, short stories and novellas, but never had anyone read it. It was a personal thing. Then, work and life took their toll and I stopped. Slightly over a year ago, for various reasons, I started again with some burning inside that needed to come out. On the first weekend I got over 15000 words, then subscribed to critters.org for peer review, lurked a year keeping on writing and getting feedback.

On September 2012 my debut novel, DAIMONES, saw the light. It received the 2012 PRG Reviewer’s Choice Award in Science Fiction. Last February it was awarded with the Hall of Fame – Best Science Fiction by Quality Reads UK, and received over 64% of the 1600+ readers votes. To the day, DAIMONES has sold over 4,000 copies. Both novels are available as digital and printed editions.

The sequel, ONCE HUMANS, was published last July and has sold more than 1,000 copies since. I’m writing Vol.3, THE RISE OF THE PHOENIX. Its Prelude (chapters 1-4) has been published last November and readers can have a taste of what’s coming in the trilogy.

The novels have been optioned by an Independent Audiobook Publisher in the US, Sci-Fi Publishing LCC, and both DAIMONES and ONCE HUMANS are now available as audiobook, too. (From audible.com, Amazon and iTunes).

What you have told us about DAIMONES’ debut is tantalizing. Would you please detail a bit more about your path to publication?

I started as many others with query letters to agents and publishers. A good number asked for reading a few chapters. I only had two kind of replies: total silence, or personal words of appreciation for the story, my background, my voice, the “lyric of the prose”, and encouragements with the caveat that the market is looking unfortunately for something else. After a while, because the market is made of readers, I decided to verify myself if the market was looking for something else. Thus, I became the publisher of my work. I have a team supporting me, beta-readers, proofreading services, a copy editor, and a graphic professional for the covers. I’ve sold over 6000 copies of my books and critiques and readers appreciation are close to 90%.

I believe it would be the same even after 6 million copies, the sample I have is convincing enough.

I received two offers — since I published — from small publishing companies but the current standard of contracts is laughable. I said thanks but no thanks in both cases.

As I intimated at the outset of our discussion, your premise is unusual. What is the story behind the story?

The animal deaths around the world. Those intrigued me, they still happen, unexplained, targeting one single race at the time and leaving all others undisturbed. Don’t look like natural events and yet I’m not aware of any serious scientific investigation on what’s happening there. Who knows, maybe the Daimones trilogy is nothing but a premonition?

One would suspect that a scientist would write about, shall we say, down to earth matters. What made you choose science fiction?

I grew up with brother and dad buried under sci-fi novels. Dad received Astounding Stories magazine and I wasn’t allowed to read those but I looked at the pictures and fantasized. Later on, I started reading sci-fi, too.

In your own words, why is your writing different from other sci-fi authors?

Sci-fi is considered by many a minor, less valuable genre, not good for good, discerning readers, full of crazy ideas with little ground on reality, shoddy characterization and the equivalent of a B-series, low budget Hollywood movie. I think sci-fi can be of the highest literature, allowing the author to stress the boundaries of the society and the universe where the characters interact to explore any and every major high literature themes. I look after Literary Science Fiction.

I agree. Will you tell us what you are working on now?

I’m working on the launch of Vol. 3 of the trilogy: THE RISE OF THE PHOENIX. At the times of posting this interview it might be already available as ebook and paperback from major retailers and the audiobook being produced.

When you’re not marketing your work, what is your writing day like?

When I write a new book, I write every day. I aim at 2500 words. Good or bad doesn’t matter. Inspiration has to find me while I write, not while I’m attending other stuff.

Are there any awards you’ve received you haven’t mentioned above?

The novels have received the PRG Reviewer’s Choice Award in Science Fiction and Best Science Fiction Series. They have been awarded the Awesome Indies Gold Seal of Approval and the Seal of Excellency in Writing by the IndiePENdents.org association. But the greatest honor is when the stories touch the heart and soul of readers and prompt them to share their feelings with a 4 and a 5 star review.

I’ll be more direct. Aside from these, why should someone buy your books?

To spend good time reading immersive novels, to be provoked and questions beliefs and certainties, to daydream together.

Excellent answer! Let’s leave writing behind. I know you live in wonderful places in Europe—France, Switzerland and Italy. Many would consider these ideal. What is your dream location?

In a villa overlooking the Ocean in Big Sur, California.

Not a bad choice at all. In view of your marvelous career to date, what would be your dream job?

Being able to earn enough royalties from my books every month to pay for all I and family need. And writing new novels for new readers – sharing the visions and gifting them with pleasant reading times, moments of evasion and fulfillment.

Would you care to share something about your home life?

I have two furry, rascal cats who are the reasons for my pauses during a writing day, otherwise I’d forget about lunch, physiological rests, and any other task requiring my attention at any moment. When I write, I’m no more there. My cats arrive, place their paws on my hands or walk over the keyboard and stare at me. They give me the look: “Time to take a break.”

Even though your life may seem ideal to many of those visiting today, no one’s is perfect. So I have to ask, how do you pick yourself up in the face of adversity?

Panting and huffing, and with the support of my family.

Do you have a favorite quote?

“’Tis the good reader that makes the good book; in every book he finds passages which seem to be confidences or sides hidden from all else and unmistakably meant for his ear; the profit of books is according to the sensibility of the reader; the profound thought or passion sleeps as in a mine, until it is discovered by an equal mind and heart.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thank you. That’s a new one for me. Before we bring this interview to a close, I have a few Lightening Round questions.

The one thing I cannot do without is:

My tool for writing and doing research: my Mac Book Air

In one or two words, what is your defining trait?

Compulsive, passionate

Hard copy or ebook?

Both. There are moments for both.

Vice? Virtue?

It’s no virtue to have no vice.

Favorite book:

The one I’m reading at the moment.

Do you have a parting thought you would like to leave us with?

A note to readers: Sales are great, press releases, interviews, live radio guest appearances are exciting, climbing the ranks and entering the Top 100 Authors for my genre is exhilarating, but nothing beats the support of all readers and friends and fellow writers who share the thrill with me. You’re the best readers any writer could ever have. Without you giving my stories a chance, nothing would ever be possible.

Links:

http://Author.to/MassimoMarino

http://myBook.to/Daimones

http://myBook.to/OnceHumans

http://myBook.to/PhoenixPrelude

http://youtu.be/ROnM9qPRXJU

http://youtu.be/ty6oCzWx-o4

Press Releases:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/12/prweb11406686.htm

http://www.12newsnow.com/story/24050894/award-winning-post-apocalyptic-science-fiction-daimones-audiobook-now-available-on-amazon-itunes-and-audible

http://www.wireservice.ca/index.php?module=News&func=display&sid=9540

http://www.wireservice.ca/index.php?module=News&func=display&sid=10926