Bringing Back The Noble Science Fiction and Fantasy Hero: Interview with author Kevin Domenic

Today I'm talking with science fantasy adventure author Kevin Domenic about his book, KEY TO THE STARS, the first in his Fourth Dimension series.

-----

1) Tell us about your series.

The Fourth Dimension is a story that has dominated my imagination since I was fourteen. It started after playing Final Fantasy III, a video game for the Super Nintendo. It was such an amazing and fantastic story, with themes more in-depth and emotional than most movies. When the game was over, I was disappointed because I wanted more. So I figured I'd make my own story. After writing a brief sequel to the game, I decided to try to write something original. I took the sword and sorcery of Final Fantasy and combined it with the interstellar excitement of Star Wars to write three books: THE FOURTH DIMENSION, THE FOURTH DIMENSION II, and THE FOURTH DIMENSION III (how I came up with such creative titles is anyone's guess). After toiling with other stories for a number of years, I decided to rewrite the original Fourth Dimension back in 2007. The book became the three volumes currently available for sale: KEY TO THE STARS, ALLIANCE OF SERPENTS, and EYE OF THE TORNADO.

More than anything, I wanted to bring back the traditional hero. Over the years, I've noticed a severe decline in the morality and integrity of protagonists in everything from books and movies to video games and anime. I wanted to write a hero that, while not without conflict, knew right from wrong and stood up honor and nobility. That's what The Fourth Dimension is about. It's about growing up, taking responsibility for your mistakes, and doing the right thing for no other reason than it's the right thing to do.

2) What are some of the central themes your series explores?

Responsibility, love, sacrifice, justice, forgiveness, and redemption to name a few. As I said, honor and nobility are a central focus. Eaisan Lurei fights for truth and justice. Kindel Thorus fights for peace no matter what the cost. Sartan Truce fights for the survival of his race and will trample over anyone who stands in his way. Lines of morality are blurred as each side fights to see their agenda succeed.

3) You've said that your series is influenced by anime and manga. A casual review of your cover certainly is reminiscent of anime and manga. That being said, anime and manga are mostly visual media, whereas your work is a prose novel. Could you elaborate a bit on how those sources influenced your work?

Justice and honor have always been big themes in anime. In Dragon Ball Z, for instance, the main character is a hero who wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice his life standing up for what's right. That's the kind of hero I think should be presented to readers. The character you're rooting for should set a positive example for others to follow. I actually wrote a blog entry about this subject on my website  last November. Too often, I think we underestimate just how much our characters and stories can affect people's lives. Storytellers have the ability to inspire, uplift, and encourage through their work. Whether it's a movie, a video game, a book, or a cartoon, many people draw strength from watching our characters struggle and grow through the trials set before them. Because of that, it's important to me that I put a positive and uplifting message out there.

4) You've said you were inspired to write your own stories after playing the Japanese role-playing video game, Final Fantasy III (Final Fantasy VI in the Japan). Tell us about that.

Final Fantasy III was amazing for its time. Nowadays, people might look back at that game and feel it was cheesy or poorly translated from the original Japanese, but I still adore the story for what it achieved back then. Remember that this was a time when video games were still seen as nothing more than kids toys. There was no life-like CGI or in-game voice acting to bring the characters and stories to life. But Final Fantasy III managed to be more than that in spite of those limitations. The characters all had distinct personalities, conflicts to overcome, and even musical themes that played during their parts of the story. Each character's journey was woven together with the main plot so perfectly and beautifully that you really felt as though you knew them by the time the game was done.

And Kefka, the game's villain, was far different from any villain I'd ever encountered. You know how most evil-doers are out to destroy the world? Well, in Final Fantasy III, Kefka succeeds. Halfway through the game, he succeeds in unleashing such destruction and devastation upon the planet that when the smoke clears, you don't recognize anything anymore. Continents are spit, mountains crumble, land masses sink, and millions die. For the rest of the game, you travel through the broken world trying to help people pick up the pieces of their cities, towns, families, and lives while preparing for the final confrontation against Kefka. The themes of perseverance, redemption, and brotherly love run strong as the story heads for its final conclusion.

I love the story so much that I wrote a novel version of the game's introduction last year just to see how it would come out. You can read it here if you'd like.

5) People can be leery of series for a variety of reasons. Can your books be enjoyed as stand-alone works? Are the various books separate adventures or episodes in a more tightly linked plot?

The three books that are out now can be read as one stand-alone story. Because the story grew so much from original conception to final manuscript, I split the original one book into three. I took a cue from Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time in that each book ends with a climactic showdown, but the overall story continues. And even though the third book wraps up most storyline threads, the story is left open for future volumes. I'm actually working on the story for Volume IV now. The Fourth Dimension itself, which isn't introduced until the third volume, will play a much larger role in the future.

6) Your book, BUILDING BLOCKS, is extremely different from The Fourth Dimension series. Instead of an anime-influenced science fantasy tale, it is a intense contemporary exploration of personal relationships and Christian theology. What inspired this story?

BUILDING BLOCKS was something completely different for me. It's the first book I've written that is set on Earth, and it's also my first attempt at writing a book in first person. The biggest difference, of course, is that it's the first Christian novel I've ever written.

One of the most frequently asked questions regarding Christianity is "Why does God allow bad things to happen if He's all-powerful and all-knowing?" That became the theme for BUILDING BLOCKS. I wanted to show first and foremost that I COMPLETELY understand this question. The events of my own life have left me asking this question on countless occasions. But with each tragedy comes experience, knowledge, and strength. What would any of us learn if our lives were nothing but sunshine and rainbows? How would we grow? BUILDING BLOCKS attempts to answer those questions by examining the life of Herbert, a fictional character loosely based on myself. Many of the things that happen to Herbert in BUILDING BLOCKS have actually happened to me, so I used my own experiences as a blueprint to show how good can come from bad, how triumph comes through struggle, and how perseverance breeds success.

7) What should we expect to see in your future work?

Right now, I've returned to the universe of The Fourth Dimension. I'm currently writing some short stories set a few years after EYE OF THE TORNADO while I plan Volume IV. As it stands right now, the entire Fourth Dimension series is set to go for nine volumes. That may change depending on how I feel and what I come up with, but my overall ideas span about nine books. I will likely take breaks to do other things; I have a fantasy book on the backburner called THE ABSENCE OF LIGHT that I'm eventually going to rewrite, and several other ideas I'd like to explore. I'll probably stick to the sci-fi/fantasy realm, but I won't rule out anything - including more Christian novels. It all depends on what God calls me to do!

-----

Thanks, Kevin.

If you want to see more from Kevin, you can find him at http://kevindomenic.blogspot.com and http://www.facebook.com/kevindomenic.

KEY TO THE STARS is available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords.

Fantasy with a Greek Twist: Author Interview-Parrisha Martelly

Today, I'm talking with Parrisha Martelly, author of the YA paranormal fantasy, Fox.

1) Tell us about your book.

Every year, Pandora's Box calls out to one corrupted being on the planet and drives its victim, named the Chosen, to insanity until they open the box. If they don't open it by January 1st of the next year, they die. Fox centers around a group called The House of Lords, whose job is to protect this artifact from the Chosen who seek to open it. In the story, this year’s Chosen has captured the Leader of The House of Lords, and his daughter, Fox, goes on a journey to find him.

2) It's 2011, yet stories with links to ancient Greek mythology still resonate with readers. Why do you think this is?

I think Greek mythology holds an air of intrigue. It contains fascinating people, mythical creatures, legends, and heros. Sometimes, it’s nice to have an escape from what we deem the “norm”. Fox contains light Greek mythology that becomes more prominent as the series goes on.

3) Your story mixes both elements of different types of supernatural beings and elements. How did you go about doing your world building?

World building was particularly difficult. It’s very important to be consistent within your own world and to understand what is and isn’t possible. It took a lot of brainstorming. I had to decide on things that wouldn’t seem to be a big deal, but would have had a huge impact on how the story played out. For example, is there electricity? How would electricity impact other aspects of the world? The world itself went through a variety of changes before I was finally able to settle on the environment that I wanted to create.

4) Fantasy, by its very nature, involves the unreal. What do you think is most important in getting a reader to suspend disbelief and accept such settings?

There are a couple of things that are important in this regard. First, I think having realistic characters is key. We may not be able to understand a character’s life (I can’t even imagine protecting an object that could cause the ultimate destruction of the world!), but we can identify and empathize with emotion. I think staying consistent within the world that you have built is critical.

5) When you wrote this book were planning on a sequel?

I wrote this book over the course of four years. I wasn’t intending to write a sequel at first, but over time, I realized that it would take more than one book to tell this story. I wanted the reader to see the characters develop through different points in their lives.

6) What was your inspiration for this book?


One night, I was sitting on my bed with my new laptop and exploring different applications. I opened up Microsoft Word, intent on writing a poem, but ended up writing a scene between two men, Levictious and Smitten. Levictious had just found his old friend Smitten, who had been in hiding, and tried to coax Smitten for information on the man he was running from. This man was said to have unspeakable power and had never been seen by the eyes of man. That scene is not in the novel today, but it was the idea that sparked the rest of the story.

7) What inspired you to write? 

Reading good books probably helped spark my imagination. Writing exercises in school, particularly telling stories, was always fun to me. Both of my grandfathers were writers, so I think I inherited their passion for writing. :)

----

Thanks, Parrisha.

Check Parrisha's book out at Amazon or visit her at her web site at http://www.parrishamartelly.com/.

She's on blog tour this week, so if you're interested in seeing more from her, please check out her schedule at http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/631404.

Author Interview with Science Fantasy Author Jolea Harrison - Chosen

Today I'm talking with science fantasy author, Jolea Harrison, about her book Chosen.

Tell us about your book. 

Chosen is the first in a series, called The Guardians of the Word, and is about the journey of a young man to discover who he really is. He’s a twin – the less outgoing, less confident of the two. When he’s thrown, quite literally, into Hell, he has to figure out fast how to endure, relying only on his own wits, so he can save the soul of his ancestor, whose survival is key to keeping the world from falling to evil. On a larger scale it’s about good and evil and what throws the universe out of balance when one side, the Gods or the demon, gains more power than the other. 

This is the first book of a planned seven-part series. Did you always intend for this to be a series? 

No, but I realized quickly that the story wouldn’t be told in one book. I kept trying, but I couldn’t stuff it all in. 

"Science fantasy" means different things to different readers and authors. What does it to mean to you? 

The next writer or reader may think of it as something else entirely, but to me science fantasy is the combination of fantastical elements – in the case of Chosen, several of the characters are telepathic, others have the ability to change shape, there are dragons and wraiths, Gods and a demon – meshed together with science fiction elements like space flight and technology. Star Wars is a science fantasy story. There are laser swords and Jedi Knights capable of picking a spaceship up out of the water with the power of their mind. 

Although there's a long history of cross-over between the science fiction and fantasy genres, there are also more than a few readers uncomfortable with such mixtures. Why did you choose to genre mix, and how do you feel it enhanced the kind of story you were trying to tell? 

I think rigidly sticking to one genre and specific definitions of genre can be limiting to both reader and writer. When I started this book, all I thought about was writing a good story, not what category it would fit into. I knew what I liked to read about, what I liked to see in my head. I knew I had to have some element of technology and space flight in it, and I knew that there would be the fantasy elements with the Gods fighting off the evil demon. 

What inspired you to write this book? 

I was heavily influenced by Tolkien growing up - to the point of performing in a couple adaptations of the Hobbit. It was great fun! I also grew up loving the future Star Trek presented and I’m a huge Star Wars fan. I have a light saber. I have a few real swords on my wall too. I wanted to tell a story with both elements. Underneath all that, I had the story of this conflicted, uncertain boy in my head, and how he comes to find himself. Some of it isn’t especially pleasant for him. 

Some authors define everything about their characters in advance. Others start writing and find that the characters "take on a life on their own". How did the development of Dynan flow for you? 

I’m not much of a planner outside the basic storyline. I’m finding Dynan along the way, just like he is. 

You have six other books to write, so you'll busy for a while, but, after that, do you have any other series planned? 

Actually, they are already written. I’m in the editing and rewriting phase, so I may be less busy sooner than I think.  I don’t have immediate plans to start another book, but if I do, I’m going to try to keep it to just one.

-----

Thanks for stopping by, Jolea.

Chosen is available at Amazon.

Jolea's blog is at http://jm-harrison.com/

She's also available on Twitter as @Joleab and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/JoleaMHarrison?v=wall.