Ian Martin’s Danjay Stops By To Visit With The Pukah

Major Danjay and his captains, Agreb, an elf, and Mizon, a centaur, and the Byzantine sector forces are on the planet of Kwasang, quelling an uprising led by the fanatic Jakan. Danjay is badly injured. Only his smartsuit, his bionanotech and the prompt action of Agreb and Mizon save his life. Elves and centaurs had visited earth in man’s formative history. They then retreated, ensuring their presence on earth passed into myth. When eventually man reached out into the galaxy, the elves and centaurs were there to greet them. Fifteen standards after Kwasang, the three heroes are once more on Jakan’s trail. However, unknown to them, Jakan is under the control of another mythical creature, who with other members of its race, also visited earth in prehistoric times. Their intentions however are far from altruistic. For Danjay, this will not only mean confronting man’s ancient foe but also his own ancestry.

Welcome back to the Character Interview series.  Today, Ian has returned, and brought one of his friends with him.  Ian, do you wish to introduce the gentleman?

• [This is] Danjay (just Danjay)

No last name?

• [No.]

Then, Danjay it is.  Danjay, since I know Ian writes science fiction, and since you are in an unusual uniform, I am going to stick my neck out, and ask if you are human, or alien.

• Human with a partially non-human ancestry

That’s an interesting mix.  Do you work closely, or have human friends, or are they as unusual as you are?

• My two closest friends are an Elf and a Centaur (yes, this is still science fiction)

I can bet that makes finding accommodations for the night a rather interesting prospect.  Would you change anything about your circumstances if you could?

• Rid myself of those non-human genes

Your ancestry is not the most respected then?

• One of my ancient ancestors is a Fairy – a two metre tall alien with telepathic powers that can be used to control others

That could be a bit disconcerting, all right.  Do you have any fears related to this?

• That without my knowledge I have used the vestiges of those same powers on others.

That is definitely understandable.  Perhaps, in time, you will know enough to understand when (or if) you are using your talents.

Ian, Danjay, thank you so much for stopping by today.  Danjay, it has been a pleasure to meet you.  Ian, it has been fun once again to learn more about the way you think.

If you enjoyed the interview, and wish to learn more about Danjay, the image above will take you to Amazon, where you can pick up his story for yourself.

If you enjoyed the interview, and wish to connect with Ian, you can find him on his website, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

If you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.  Discussion is always welcome around here.

Ian Martin’s Gunther Kleim Stops By To Visit With The Pukah

Planet Earth is in trouble. At the end of the twenty first century, the population is still increasing, climate change has not been arrested, sea levels are rising, millions are suffering death and starvation. Then a treatment is discovered that will allow people to live hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. Gunther Kleim leads a team of fifty top scientists, economists and sociologists tasked with modelling the world’s uncertain future. Their conclusion is the inevitable breakdown of human civilisation. Gunther has a proposal. It won’t stop earth’s decline, but it might give it hope: ‘Project Noah’ the most audacious and ambitious project of science and exploration since man first set foot on the moon. The aim – to preserve a piece of civilisation, taking thousands, eventually hundreds of thousands of people, to the stars.

Ian, welcome back.  And, welcome back everyone else to our ongoing Character Interview series.  Ian, who do you have with you today?

• Gunther Kleim

Gunther, since you are working on preserving civilization, I’m sure you are under a great deal of pressure.  Are you someone who handles it well?

• I hope so, I’m trying to persuade tens of thousands of people to join me in a project that could take a hundred years and will end with us travelling to the stars.

Are you having to deal with a particular class of individuals you consider your enemies?

• People who refuse to see what we humans have done to the world and that all the evidence points to us destroying our own civilization.  People who want to stop ‘Project Noah’.

Do you have anyone special in your life to turn to when things become overwhelming?

• No, it wouldn’t be fair.  And ‘Project Noah’ is a jealous mistress.

Do you have any fears that you wish to share?

• That I’m leading people on a hundred year project that is doomed to fail.  At the beginning we don’t have most of the technology we’ll need.  So much of it is an act of faith.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention.  And, it may seem cold comfort now, but I’m sure this is the grandmother of invention for the technology you are seeking.

To counterbalance your fears, do you have any hopes, or achievements that show how you’ve already overcome some of that fear?

• The vision, ingenuity, tenacity and brilliance of human beings.  Without that ‘Project Noah’ would never even have got started.

That definitely counts as a wonderful achievement.  Gunther, thank you for coming by today with Ian.  It has been a pleasure sitting down and talking with you.

If you enjoyed the interview, and wish to learn more about Gunther, the image above will take you to Amazon, where you can pick up his story for yourself.

If you enjoyed the interview, and wish to connect with Ian, you can find him on his website, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Don’t forget – stop back often to see who else has come to Visit with the Pukah.

If you have any comments or questions, please leave them in the area below.  Discussions are always welcome here.

Ian Martyn Stops By To Visit With The Pukah

Welcome back to our Author Interview series.  Today, we have Ian Martyn joining us.  He is another author I’ve met through Facebook.  (Yes, if you haven’t figured out, most of the ones I’ve met I’ve met through Facebook.  A great place to meet and greet.)

Ian, why don’t you get us started by telling us a little about yourself and where you are from.

• I’m living in Surrey, but I’m a Lancashire lad who grew up in the beautiful Northumberland.
• I graduated in Zoology and spent thirty years working in the pharmaceutical industry.  The last twelve of those was working with some fantastic people in the WHO, Medicines for Malaria Venture, Gates Foundation, Liverpool and London Universities looking for cures for malaria which still kills over half a million children in Africa every year.

I’m going to break in here.  You did say Zoology, yet you have been working in pharmaceuticals, right?

• [Yes]

I just wanted to make sure.  Those are just slightly different fields, if I remember my own recent college experience.  Please  go on.  I didn’t meant to take over your interview.

• I’m married with two grown up sons.  When not writing or blogging I play golf, play guitar, also now banjo (to amuse myself and annoy the rest of the family), cycle, read (of course) and do the garden (I’m told I enjoy it).

I’m sure you enjoy the produce, though the work to get there may not be the most fun.  It does get you out in the sun, though.

I may regret this question, but do you remember what inspired you to start writing?

• Six years ago the company I worked for made big organizational changes which gave me the opportunity to take redundancy.  In the last 6 months of work I had little to do so used the time to see if I could actually write one of those science fiction stories I had been telling everyone I was going to write.  The rest as they say is history.

I’m safe!  Thank you.  ::Grins::  I think I detect a little of the British humor, so wasn’t sure if I was straying into unsafe territory there.  Was the change in employment the definitive event that inspired you to write your first book?

• Not really.  I always had ideas for stories buzzing round my brain, it was having the time to do something about them.
•  Reading both some excellent and also some mediocre science fiction over the years inspired me to see if I could write.  As for the first book it started with a simple idea, a ‘what if?’ In my case ‘What if our mythical creatures were aliens who had visited the earth thousands of years ago and as a result passed into legend.’

Do you remember any specific event that led you to know you were an author?

• Good question.  To start with I used to describe myself as a ‘would be’ or ‘aspiring’ writer.  But then when I was close to publishing my first two books I thought, no, I am a writer.  This is what I do.

So, writing is now your only career?

• Definitely – even if it’s not paying me at the moment.  I hope it will give me a modest return (OK, I dream about selling the rights to one of my books to Sky Atlantic).  I know I will always write

Are you to a point in your project you can share some of your latest news, maybe a little about the project itself?

• I’m finalizing my third sci-fi novel Bleak for sending to agents and of course for self- publishing.  It should be out in a month or so (unless of course some publisher thinks I’m worth the risk).  Soon I will also be publishing ‘Dancing with the Devil, ten science fiction and fantasy stories of the weird and wonderful for those short of time.’  The idea here is to charge a small fee and hope that people like the stories enough to give my novels a go.  I have also completed a follow up to my first book ‘Ancestral Dreams’ and am working on the third and final volume in the series (I didn’t know it was going to be a trilogy when I started).Finally, I blog every week on writing and science fiction and have just completed a giveaway ‘A Companion to the Future’ based on the blog.
•  In my soon to be published ‘Bleak’ I explore something of what it is to be human.  Bleak is the name of the main character and he is human, but not human. Confused? Good.
•  As I say above I’m getting my latest novel ‘Bleak’ ready for publication as well as working on the second and third volumes of ‘Ancestral Dreams’.  Oh, and that volume of short stories.

In your writing, do you leave hidden messages for your readers to find?

• For ‘Project Noah’ possibly.  That if we (humans that is) keep going the way we are we will destroy the earth and our civilization, but also where there are humans there is always hope.

Has this helped you establish your own style of writing?

•  Not sure – I think it is developing, maturing.  I’m more confident than at the start.  My books are not ‘funny’, but I do like to use humour with my characters

With any of your books, if you could go back to the beginning of the project with what you know now and redo the entire thing, is would you make any changes to your finished work?

•  Nothing major, I’m happy with the story.  But, no matter how much you revise, there’s always things you spot that could be better, usually after you’ve just pressed the ‘publish’ button

::Wry grin::  Well do I know that feeling.  But, at least you are happy with the current form, which is always a big plus.  When you are writing, do you have a favorite way of selecting your titles?

•  Titles are difficult.  For the second book ‘Project Noah’ it was easier, more obvious.  ‘Ancestral Dreams’ is a cryptic hint at what the book holds (can’t say more)

What challenges did you run into and learn from during your journey so far?

• Knowing when to stop editing and revising.
• Not getting distracted by other ideas for other stories.  Also sometimes banishing that self-doubt.
•  That I can write stories that other people want to read – a great feeling.

You said you write science fiction.  How much of your work is based on reality or draws from your own experiences?

•  I hope ‘Project Noah’ comes across as credible (it starts at the end of this century) and I certainly believe some of the things in it will happen.
•  I do sometime base characters on people I know and yes I call on incidents/experiences from my own life, even though it is science fiction.  I think that adds to the ‘reality’.

Remind me not to wind up on your good or bad side then.  Not sure if I’d like being immortalized like that.  (If you do, please don’t let me know about it.)  Since you draw a little from your own experiences, do you have any books that have helped influence your choice in what or how you write?

• Easy – the first science fiction I read as a teenager was Arthur C Clarke’s ‘Childhoods end.’  The ending blew my young mind, I was hooked.

Do you consider him a mentor figure, or is there someone else that fills that role for you?

• Probably the late, great, Iain M Banks.  As for now perhaps Alistair Reynolds, Raymond Feist or Bernhard Cornwell (historical genre I know, but a great story teller)

Historical figures are wonderful people to learn from.  After all, there books are still around today and still appreciated, right.  Are any of these your favorites?

• Iain M Banks – the originality of the stories and the effortless style.

Are you reading one of their works now, or has someone of a more recent vintage caught your attention?

• [I am reading, now] ‘The Pygmy Dragon’ by fellow indie-author Marc Secchia
• Recently I’ve discovered Hugh Howey and Michael R Hicks, although, perhaps they are not ‘new’

From the interior of your work, to the exterior.  Did you design your covers, or work with someone else?

• My covers are designed by my son who is a designer.  We are aiming for a slightly retro sci-fi feel with a style that will be echoed across all my books.

Outside of your immediate family, do you have a support group who can step in to help if things get sticky for you?

• I must admit having joined ‘BooksGoSocial’ I think that’s the most supportive group I’ve found.

The big dreaded question, now.  What words of wisdom can you pass on to other “aspiring” authors?

• Keep writing, novels, short stories, blogs, anything.  And read as much as you can.  Oh, and read Stephen King’s book on writing – the most helpful thing I’ve come across.

Funny thing, I seem to be hearing that a lot in answer to that question.  Must be powerful advice, since so many keep repeating it.

Ian, thank you so much for stopping by.  It has been a blast, and I look forward to your return tomorrow and the day after with a couple of your characters to let us get to know them as well.  Any last words for the readers before I wrap it up today?

• Just that I hope you enjoy the tales I have to tell, I enjoy writing them.  And do try and support those indie/self-published authors – there are some great ones out there.  Finally if you do enjoy my stories please take a little time to write reviews, to self-published authors they mean a lot.

That goes for any story, though the self-published authors need the extra advantage more.

If you enjoyed the interview, and wish to connect with Ian, you can find him on his website, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Thank you all for coming out and supporting our independent authors and creators.  If you have any comments or questions, please leave them in the comments below.  As always, discussions are welcome here.