AUTHOR INTERVIEW
A little introduction:
Fun Fact: When I was six years' old. doctors thought I was developmentally disabled. To confirm that, they gave me an IQ test, which surprised the hell out of everyone. That wasn't it. Looking back through adult eyes, it was PTSD, but that term did not exist back then. There was a perfunctory effort at finger-painting for therapy, and that was that. At any rate, I've had an oddball life largely outside of the social fabric. I've wrestled with existential angst and The Big Questions a lot. Studies of philosophy and Mesoamerican shamanism, along with Western science and engineering have--right or wrong--given me a holistic understanding of what we call existence.
In 1985 I was able to hook something big in the aether--an amazing story.
When did your love of books begin?
A few books really resonated with and hooked me, such as: "The Forgotten Door," by Alexander Key; "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach; all of Carlos Castaneda's books; "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," by Mark Twain; "The Hardy Boys" series by Leslie McFarlane; "Doc Savage" series mainly by Lester Dent; "Remo the Destroyer" series by Murphy and Sapir; several of Isaac Asimov; etc. Love them!
When did you start to have the wish to become an author?
Honestly, I only had written journals/diaries as a child. These tended to get violated by relatives and so I did not feel safe to write for a long time. But this amazing story found me in 1985. I did not know how to write, in the sense of telling a story. BUT IT WAS SO AMAZING!!! It was the story I always wanted to read. WOW. And so, the way it all seemed to work was that I had to write down the scenes I had, to get more scenes. In the beginning, I did not know how it would end...AND I NEEDED TO KNOW.
So I have never approached it as a job/vocation/livelihood--and as such have never been disappointed, lol. It has been a hobby and therapy...and even something of an obligation. To me, it is such an amazing story, that it would be ugly in some way not to try and pass it on. It has been a worthwhile way to invest my life.
How have you found the process for becoming an author?
It has been challenging of course. I wrote about 2.5 books and printed those out in 1991 as manuscripts...but they were never published. They sit in a box next to me right now. They embody the initial germ of the eight-book series of today (five published, plus a sixth "thread-book" excerpted from the eight-book series; yes, the other 3 are essentially completed but will never be published--that is actually part of the story).
The challenges are several. For one, lacking resources, I have had to develop all the necessary skills at a high level in order to turn out an excellent product. These include graphic arts, editing & grammar, proof reading...book design, and marketing. Oh, and story-telling. There is no question that the story is good. The question is: can I do a good job telling it?
Another thing...? The scenes did not come to me in order. They came to me as they came to me. I had to make sense of them and glue them together. In a sense, I also had to translate at least part of the broader abstract essence into the human experience. At any rate, it meant that I was writing all eight books at the same time, in parallel. Yes, the next book in the series to be published got a bit more attention, especially in the final passes in prep for publishing. But the last three books were essentially done while wrapping up the last two books or so. It is like painting dabs on a canvas, where you have a bit of yellow mixed up just right and so you use it everywhere that needs it on the whole canvas before moving on to the next color. So...I have known how the books end for a long time, now. I forget exactly when, but maybe since sometime in third book? And it blows me away! I cannot help but revisit it in everyday mundane things. There are scenes I can see as clear day and wish someone could see them with me.
What would you say to those wanting to become an author?
Don't quit your day job. The gatekeepers are no longer necessary or even desired. No one has time to court gatekeepers for 5-10yrs in the hopes of winning their favor. People can self-publish or indie publish and do. Lots of people. Lots of people hoping for easy money. Lots of people with no skills and nothing to say. Finding a high-quality book has become a needle in a haystack situation...meaning that even if you do everything right and have true gold to offer...? Chances are slim that your audience can even find you. Besides the glut of books...? There is a drought of people willing to go off the beaten trail and dig for buried treasure! People tend to be moving away from print media and attention spans tend to be getting shorter. People wait for something "vouched for and known" to come across their radar.
So to summarize, it is both the best time and worst time to be a writer. You absolutely can get published. Getting a readership is harder than ever. That means, you better have something worth all the work to say--and you better not have any expectations. You should write only if you cannot not write.
Tell us about your book/books:
So it has been 36 years now, off and on, working on this same 8-book series. Wow! After 1993 or so, life happened and I stopped writing to work on a career in the computer industry with the federal government and Hewlett-Packard (as a contractor). But in 2001 life happened again and I had to reinvent myself. Ayn Rand would say I "went on strike." Then in 2011 life happened again, and for a time writing was physically about all I could do. That amazing story was still there, waiting to be told! Rather than take off from the previous attempts, I started over. The first volume of the Scout Report sub-series trilogy was born. Then came the two volumes in the "The Final Gate" series. Then, finally, the three in the "The Lost Oracle." (Plus the thread-book, "SORYANA'S SPEAR," available now in the book box.)
This epic sci-fi/magical realism series could be summarized a different way every day, lol--by me, nevermind by readers. Today, let me take a stab at it. The Story is actually far bigger than people or a planet, or even a Universe. It impacts everything. The books happen to be largely about a planet and people--how The Story affects that context. As such, it is fair to say that humanity is dethroned in them--humans in the Big Picture (hue-men in this particular Universe)--are bit players, like electrons running along the surface of a wire and not much more.
But the books are about The Story on a particular planet. So the books are very anthropocentric. In them, there are these huge space-faring discarnate dragon-like creatures, whose wingspan is a mile wide. They hyperdimensionally inhabit the core of the planet. They are how life is spread through a Universe. They "grow" biospheres on planets once they arrive, using a vast library of genetic templates and an awareness-based type of physics--nahualistic physics--as opposed to photon/electron based. These beings--The Builders--then created deities to manage life on the planetary skin. You see, The Builders feed on the emotional soul energy that life on the surface generates, by transmuting material resources and sunlight.
One of these deities, Lord Uman, was the first created by them. He is the oldest. His lease on life with them is running out and he knows it. In an effort to win their favor a bit longer, he wants to solve a pesky problem for them: entropy. To do so, he contrives a type of new soul being they can create that may be able to hunt down the information they need to reveal a solution. It involves growing a hue-man soul over eight lives and then balloon-animal twisting it into a four-dimensional tesseract-like soul: star-sail being. This star-sail being in theory--if configured in a specific way--can get the needed information.
But, but, but...The Story is bigger than all this. Something Unimaginable is in the works, and as often happens...all these machinations are unwittingly a part of The Story, not vice versa.
What do you love about the writing/reading community?
I love the freedom to get to speak my truth and let others experience it as they may. There is no need to defend it or explain it or interpret it, actually. The experience stands on its own. In fact, these books are layered in such a way that anywhere from a cursory weekend glossing to a decade fixation are both acceptable. The story one finds will be totally different...yet totally valid, either way.
If you could say anything to your readers what would it be?
Books are like one-way gateways. I did not appreciate this as a teenager, that a book can permanently change you or at least reveal-slash-define who you are. I'd say to be careful what you read. In fact, I'd say that these invisible gateways are all around us. Even a conversation is a gateway to a new dream, in a sense. Be mindful.
Where can people connect with you?
Twitter: @SamRoseAuthor
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