Interviews

Darrell Bain Interview

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I recently conducted an interview with science fiction author Darrell Bain. He’s currently promoting his newest release, Savage Survival. So, we discussed his newest novel as well as some of his favorites…

Angela/SciFiChick: In your own words, tell us a bit about Savage Survival.

Darrell Bain: This is a story of survival, of an eleven year old girl, kidnapped along with millions of other humans by invulnerable aliens. It goes from her first horrifying experience after being thrown among undisciplined humans with no parents or guardian to help her, and on through a succession of terrible and harsh environments, where her only means of survival are her innate sense of honor, her bravery, and an unwavering belief in the goodness of most humans. It is a coming of age novel, describing her struggles to survive as she grows into a young woman, always wondering what the aliens have in mind for the few who will live through the cruel winnowing process. I love this heroine, Lyda Brightner. She is the epitome of a strong female character.

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13 Questions with Gail Martin!

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Back in July I reviewed The Summoner, by Gail Martin. And just recently I was able to interview her and discuss her debut novel as well as the upcoming sequel.

And come back tomorrow to sign up for a giveaway for The Summoner!

Angela/SciFiChick: For those who haven’t read The Summoner yet, can you give us a brief synopsis?

Gail Martin: In The Summoner, Tris Drayke discovers his rare magical talent as he flees for his life after the murder of his family. He is a Summoner, a mage who can mediate among the living, the dead and undead. In a world where ghosts are real, the undead respect an uneasy truce with the living and an ancient evil is about to reawaken, Tris is the Winter Kingdoms’ last best hope—if he can keep his new-found magic from destroying him.

Angela: Where do you get your ideas for your unique characters?

GM: Sometimes there’s a hint of a historical person in a character; that’s true with one of the minor characters in book 3 that I’m working on now. But most of the time, strange as this sounds, the characters kind of walk on stage in my mind and demand to be written into the story. When I need to know more about them, I picture them in my mind and ask them and they “tell” me. They have very distinct personalities, and I can’t force them to do something that isn’t right for their personality; it wouldn’t work.

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James Maxey Interview

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Back in June, I reviewed Bitterwood which fast became one of my favorites books of the year. Author James Maxey agreed to an interview… and an extra bonus:
Check back tomorrow to enter a giveaway for a signed copy of Bitterwood!

Angela/SciFiChick: For those who haven’t read Bitterwood yet, can you give us a brief synopsis?

James Maxey: Bant Bitterwood’s family was killed by dragons twenty years before the novel begins. Since then, he’s led a silent and deadly campaign of revenge against the dragons who rule his world, striking from the shadows whenever the opportunity arises. Bitterwood has become a legendary figure; a hero to humans, a bogeyman to dragons, but no one is even certain if he’s real. Some dragons think that any human who kills a dragon just places the blame on the mythical figure. When the novel opens, the dragon king Albekizan’s favorite son is killed and Bitterwood is blamed. Albekizan decides that there’s only one certain way to rid his kingdom of the danger of Bitterwood–by killing every last human in the kingdom. The novel unfolds against a backdrop of impending genocide as a small handful of humans and dragons work to avert the tragedy.

Angela: How did you decide to make dragons such major characters in your story?

JM: Dragons are just cool! I didn’t want them to be simply big scaly monsters. The story is more dramatic because my dragons are capable of love and anger, hope and despair. If a dragon were to pick it up and read Bitterwood, he’d be able to think he’d be reading a book where the dragons are the protagonists and Bitterwood is just a terrorist. It’s not a book with clear-cut lines of right and wrong; hopefully readers will find some of the moral situations within it thought provoking. To me, the greatest drama happens not by setting good guys up against cartoonish bad guys, but to pit sympathetic characters with conflicting yet understandable goals against each other.

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