Author Interview: Cindy Borgne

For my second interview, I talked with Cindy Borgne, author of the science fiction YA tale, Vallar.

1) Tell us a little bit about your novel.

Sixteen-year-old Ian Connors works for Marscorp, using his psychic ability to give the organization an advantage over other groups angling for control of the embattled planet. The people of Earth have abandoned the colonies of Mars due to a dwindling of their own resources. The leaders of Marscorp believe that by pooling the planets assets, they will be able to gain enough power to force their way back to Earth.

Ian's job is to use his visions to locate smaller organizations in order to plunder their valuables and incorporate their masses. But a disturbing vision and a horrible loss cause Ian to doubt his loyalties to a corrupt, dictatorial admiral.

Unwilling to be a pawn in the Admiral's dangerous game, Ian must find a way to escape and protect a girl he sees himself with in the future. His only hope may lie with a new organization known as Vallar - an alliance of rebel organizations willing to fight for their survival.

2) What inspired your current novel?

It was a combination of two things. In the story, the main character Ian has the ability to foresee the future. So I put him in him a situation where he uses his ability for the wrong reasons, but he doesn’t realize it at first because he’s being manipulated. When he doesn’t realize it, he has to get away from the people using him for their own greed. The second reason is in the beginning of the story Ian sees himself with a girl he’s never met. I enjoyed experimenting with his desire to be with her based on a vision. It’s also is a forbidden type of love, and I had fun writing it.

3) Though your story is ultimately focused on an individual, you have a very intricate setting with a lot of implied history. Is the setting something you carefully considered before starting to write the book or was it something that you developed as your story unfolded?

This story has been with me so long it’s evolved a lot. Originally the setting was a future Earth that was overcrowded with both people and factories. Then I began experimenting with the idea of it being on Mars and things grew from there. I wrote some of the scenes on Mars and I enjoyed the challenge of it. As the story progressed, it became tied to the setting. Now there are scenes that won’t work anywhere else. So yes, you could say I carefully considered the setting.  

4) Tell us a little bit about your writing process.

I always flesh out the plot and characterization first, so my first drafts are light on description. Once I know the plot is solid, I go back in and add all the details. Then I edit it several times. I put it up for critique, and I continue to edit it. I even listen to it on my Kindle to catch errors. I pretty much pound the thing before I publish it.

5) What made you decide to self-publish?

Mainly I liked the idea of price control. I see so many traditional publishers pricing their e-books way too high. I’m still not certain if I went the right route, and I will know more eventually because I do have one novelette out from a small publisher. I wish there was a different way to submit to agents and traditional publishers where you don’t have to write a whole book before finding out none of them want it.

6) If you had one piece of advice for an aspiring author, what would it be?

Waiting for inspiration doesn’t always work. You have to keep working until you find it.

Cindy's novel, Vallar, is available at Amazon.