Interview With Author Terrence King
1. What
inspired you to write this book? With so much sci-fi being so
grim and dark--and much of that sci-fi being great, by the way--I wanted to
bend and break some tropes in the genre and incorporate some authentic fun into
it. The darker the sci-fi that I came across, the more motivated I became.
Darkness is real, but so is overcoming it.
2. What exactly is
it about and who is it written for? As
a devastated world recovers from war and plight, an unlikely heroine emerges
and attempts to rescue distressed rebels from the government’s corruption
controlling the rationed food supply and from a rogue general trying to steal
the only known honeybees. And Earth itself fights back. I
wrote it for fans of Star Wars, Cowboy Bebop, The Hunger Games, and Buck
Rogers.
3. What
do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? That
engaged readers will be transfixed on the non-bleakness of taking on a
bleak world, and find inspiration in how certain characters dig deep within
themselves. Critical Habitat is my contribution to
"hope."
4. How
did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? Before being
called Critical Habitat , its working title was Killing
Honey . The working title just didn't fit with the genre, and I didn't want
it confused with Bill O'Reilly's "Killing" books! The artwork had to
be hopeful but with ominous details, and not suggest it would be necessarily
solely character-driven like so much fiction now . . . so no characters are
shown. There was quite a bit of indecision at first, but I'm thrilled with the
cover's end result.
5. What
advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than
run!? Run faster if you can. And if you decide to write anyway, I
think you're amazing. If you agonize over not writing, I'm happy to know you.
6. What
trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book
publishing industry is heading? With the advent of Amazon's scope and
curren dominance, and self-publishing's omnipresence and expansion,
writers have more power than ever before with their work, and outright owning
it, as publishing continues to eat itself with fewer top-shelf publishers and
their numerous imprints. Writers can create their own ecosystems. Some of the
work out there the big publishers won't touch, or its quality may be less than
what the publishers believe it to be. Many times the publishers will be right,
sometimes they will be wrong, behind the position of preference. Also,
publishing charlatans will continue to proliferate and prey on desperate
writers, but there is also a lot of great advice and good intentions in
certain spaces. There will continue to be helpful and innovative
entrepreneurs that help writers, you just have to find them. So like with
everything, as a writer you must be your own diligent advocate as the
industry--like all industries--shifts to stay profitable.
7. Were
there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when
writing this book? Of course! I love taking negative traits I see in
people and curating them into characters. Though, any resemblance to any
specific person living or dead is entirely coincidental.
8. How
would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing
similar to? Your first question is one of the most interesting I've
ever been asked . . . perhaps, casually literary?? I've been inspired and
uninspired by so many works, I have no idea. But I've loved Neil Gaiman and
John Kennedy Toole so much, I'd bet you could find pinches of their spices
somewhere in my work.
9. What
challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? After 6
years, countless rejections, and even being picked up by a newer indie
publisher before being dropped nine months later, I didn't lose sight of the
prize. Publishing Critical Habitat was happening , and
I became more motivated during the process rather than discouraged. The writing
became better because of it. I call the publishing process, "boot
camp." Those who struggle going through it benefit most.
10. If
people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be
yours? Critical Habitat aspires to bend sci-fi tropes
and The Hero's Journey 's archetypes, so when it succeeds,
the book is additive to the sci-fi, dystopian, and action-adventure
genres. While it has its own what I think is a satisfying conclusion, the story
blows up in a big way in Book 2. So you want to read Critical Habitat first.
(smiling).
About The Author: TERRENCE KING is
the author of the award-winning urban fantasy novel, The Silent Partner :
the Eric Hoffer Award for Best Commercial Fiction, the Eric Hoffer First
Horizon Award for superior work by a debut author, and Focus on Women
Magazine’s La Femme De Prose Books Quill Award. Critical Habitat ,
book one of his new sci-fi action-adventure series, is his second novel. For
more info, please see: terrencekingauthor.com
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