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Welcome back to Noahan Author, the best place to get to Know-an Author two! We have a few big things going on here this week. First of all, I would love for you to take a moment and check out our newest feature:
You may know Dana as the cover artist of my first novel, The White Hairs. He and I are going to be doing a series of quick cartoons. Basically, he's illustrating interesting things that I have said. Some of these things have been very wise! And some have been very foolish... but in either case these comments are now very well drawn!
The first installment is now available, and we will be posting the second this Wednesday September 29th. With a little luck, we will be putting a new one up once a week for a long time.
We also have brand-new interviews with two science fiction authors for you this week.
Additionally, I have been moved to write a review of one of their books. You may know that this is very unusual. This is not a review site, and I do not plan on doing many reviews. First of all, that takes a lot of time. Secondly, I'm not in a position to write a negative review of anyone's work at this point. I'm an author doing his best to coax everyone into giving his own work a shot - it would be an incredible risk for me to review a book that I honestly didn't enjoy! I could risk retaliation from less mature artists, and maybe even their friends... Maybe I'll think about writing a few negative reviews when I have 100 or more positive reviews for The White Hairs, but you know, I'm only at 11 so far....
However, I really enjoyed this one.
If you are capable of enjoying Sci-Fi, you will love this book!, September 26, 2010
This review is from: Forbidden The Stars (Paperback)
It took a rare level of writing ability to author this book. It's about 100 pages in that it becomes clear who the protagonist is. In any other book, this would be a weakness because we would feel like we were drifting and unable to find a character to grab a hold of. It isn't the case in Forbidden The Stars.
The first hundred or so pages are so full of gigantic revelations that it allows Mr. Daniels to use a story-telling style reminiscent of the 1970 and early 1980 blockbusters; like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, or 2001: A Space Odyssey. It's becoming more and more unusual for a story to take the liberty of having a real first act. More and more we are moving in the direction of beginning the story at the turning point - essentially the start of the second act. There are lots of cheats that authors use to get around the ever-increasingly short attention spans of our audiences. Sometimes we get around to telling the first act later, in flash-backs. However, Valmore Daniels manages to do it the old-fashioned way - and in his hands it works!
In fact, there's something wonderfully old-fashioned about the whole science fiction tale. Alez Manez feels like a character straight out of Gene Roddenberry's original Star Trek. I could imagine Captain Kirk butting heads with him. In a different era, William Gaines would have called on Mr. Daniels to contribute regularly to Weird Science!
The amount of research that obviously went into this is also worth mentioning. The writer demonstrates a top-notch understanding of the science behind what he's talking about, and yet at the same time has obviously read and understood the Popul Vuh.
I really enjoyed this story. I read it in paperback, and as I was finishing, I went and ordered the paperback version of Daniels' Old Fashioned Folk Tale. I only hope it's anywhere near as much fun as this one was.
If I had to point out room for growth, I would say that Alex's character could have used a bit more depth. The story moved along at such a quick pace that his internal changes happened a little too quickly and cleanly. We never really felt grief for his loss. If our Valmore can manage to add that more emotional component to his next work, then we'll really have something that everyone will have to sit up and take notice of!
In the meantime, if you're capable of enjoying Sc-Fi at all, you'll love Forbidden The Stars!
Noahan Author Interview – VALMORE DANIELS
NOAH MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Please tell us about Forbidden The Stars.
VALMORE DANIELS: When I watched the Space Shuttle Columbia’s maiden voyage (nearly thirty years ago), my very first thought was: How would a teenager, such as myself, get on one of those flights? Simple, hijack the shuttle! That was the kernel of the story, and as I began to plot out the story, I added a few more what-if thoughts that had been mulling through my mind. What if there was a new element found only in the asteroid belt that could fuel faster-than-light travel? What if there was an alien society beyond the solar system that was waiting for us to reach them?
NOAH MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Tell us about Alex Manez.
VALMORE DANIELS: Alex Manez is a manifestation of me as a teenager; many of his mannerisms and curiosities were mine at his age. Since I imagined myself on a space flight, I used him as my proxy for that adventure. I also shared some of his social awkwardness as a teen. As a young man, I always dreamed of having a unique power that would change the world or universe, and I was able to explore that fantasy through Alex Manez.
NOAH MULLETTE-GILLMAN: What research did you do for the book?
VALMORE DANIELS: Being a science fiction aficionado, I was acutely aware that faulty science would completely ruin the believability of my story, so after I outlined the basic plot, I spent months researching the periodic table of elements, Pluto, astronomical terminology, asteroids, and astronavigation. I showed my research, as well as the first draft, to a nuclear physicist friend, who assisted greatly in correcting any factual errors I made.
NOAH MULLETTE-GILLMAN: I’ve read Forbidden The Stars all the way through. One of the things about the book that really impressed me is that it is actually quite late in the story when it’s clear who the protagonist is. I would expect this to be an obstacle to involving the reader, but you manage to keep a sense of immediacy throughout a traditionally long first act. Can you talk a little about how you accomplished this?
VALMORE DANIELS: As with our own progression from childhood, where we are protected, through adolescence, where we begin to explore our capabilities, to adulthood where we finally take charge of our lives, I wanted the character of Alex Manez to mirror this development through the novel. At the beginning, he is very much a child, and as such, is not very proactive. I didn’t want to feature him prominently at this stage, so I focused on the two other main characters, Justine Turner and Michael Sanderson who, as adults, were already very proactive. As Alex goes through the development of his powers and his role in the evolution of space travel, his role also becomes more prominent and proactive.
NOAH MULLETTE-GILLMAN: In C.S. Lewis’ Space trilogy he articulated an argument that humanity is meant to live on Earth, and that nowhere else in the Universe will ever be our home the way the Earth is. In Forbidden The Stars one gets a sense of destiny, that we belong in outer space. Do you think that another planet could ever be home for us the way that Earth has been?
VALMORE DANIELS: From a scientific perspective, the chances of there being the perfect conditions to support human life somewhere in the universe are remote, but not impossible. I personally believe the chances of an alternate life form developing under different biological conditions are highly probable, and I do not discount the possibility of humans evolving physiologically to adapt to new environs.
NOAH MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Is Pluto a planet? What are your thoughts on this controversy?
VALMORE DANIELS: The IAU classifies Charon as a moon. A “moon” is defined as a celestial body that orbits a planet. Whether you want to split hairs and call it a minor planet or a dwarf planet, Pluto is the primary celestial body in that group and, for the purposes of Forbidden The Stars, serves as a beacon defining the outer limit of Sol System.
NOAH MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Forbidden The Stars is your second novel. Can you tell us about the first?
VALMORE DANIELS: An Old-Fashioned Folk Tale grew out of my second love, fantasy, and more specifically, my love of classical fantasy from such greats as C.S. Lewis, L. Frank Baum, and Lewis Carroll, all of whom got me hooked on fantasy at an early age. One of the reasons I believe fantasy is so popular is that writers are able to examine basic human psychology from a completely different approach: by dropping very human characters in an alternate society, we can see how they solve problems and develop under different conditions to our own.
NOAH MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Despite what one would guess, I understand that ‘Valmore’ is actually NOT a pen name! What do you know about the origins and meaning of your own name? Is its origin, in fact, Terran?
VALMORE DANIELS: I am named after my grandfather. I haven’t been able to find a “meaning” for Valmore, but it may be a variation of Valmont, which is a popular French name derived from “vale” and “hill”.
NOAH MULLETTE-GILLMAN: What can we expect from you next?
VALMORE DANIELS: Currently I am in the first draft stage of a paranormal drama concerning a young woman who, cursed with pyrokinesis, accidentally killed her parents in a house fire, and how she tries to re-integrate back in her home town ten years later. I am also in the outline stage of the sequel to Forbidden The Stars.
NOAH MULLETTE-GILLMAN: What are you doing and what have you done to promote your work?
VALMORE DANIELS: For the most part, I have made myself accessible through social media (Facebook, twitter, etc), and joined a few communities that specialize in readers and authors, such as mobilereads.com and kindleboards.com. Through those boards, I’ve met dozens of wonderful and encouraging book bloggers who are extremely helpful in providing a spotlight for up-and-coming writers. I am also participating in a blog tour for November 2010 with the help of Dorothy Thompson at pumpupyourbook.com.
NOAH K MULLETTE-GILLMAN: If you could leave your body and travel astrally, would you? Where would you go?
VALMORE DANIELS: The shorter list would be, where wouldn’t I go? I love to travel and do so at every opportunity. One of the items on my bucket list is to visit every country on Earth at least once; astral projection would certainly aid in that.
NOAH K MULLETTE-GILLMAN: If you could ask any one character in your novel a question, what would it be?
VALMORE DANIELS: My question would be directed at Alex Manez at the conclusion of the novel: You have proved that we have the technological ability to travel to the stars; as a society, is humankind ready for the Interstellar Era?
VALMORE’S QUESTION FOR NOAH: Do you believe in aliens?
NOAH K MULLETTE-GILLMAN:Well, I do believe there is non-terrestrial life out there, but the first question that we have to ask ourselves is: What is life?
I think our artists and writers have generally been really unimaginative when considering the forms that that life might take. I don’t expect we’ll find humanoids. Perhaps life is when matter achieves a certain level of complexity and then becomes useful to the spirits? Are crystals minerals beginning the process of ordering themselves? Is the ocean constantly experimenting with shape and mathematics? Perhaps there is non-physical life in outer space. Just as the rivers and oceans and trees and rocks on our planet have been possessed by spirits, I imagine that the galaxy would be filled with similar beings.
What would be very interesting is if I’m a little bit wrong. If we do find the same forms of life occurring again and again throughout the universe, we might have to re-think the engine behind evolution. Are we simply changing in a way that’s practical, or are we aspiring to something? Is there a goal? Does life, once generated, have an ultimate form? If it does, we would expect that form to eventually be achieved wherever life is found.
Noahan Author Interview - Martin Ingham
NOAH K MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Please tell us about Guns of Mars
MARTIN INGHAM: The Guns of Mars tells the tale of the first Martian colonies being founded during the first half of the twenty fourth century. It primarily follows Morgan Asher and his wife Lorna, as they venture to the Red Planet and try to make a life for themselves there. Things get complicated for them when a subversive group of Scientific Fundamentalists seek to impose a new ruling order on Mars, and Morgan & Lorna find themselves caught in the middle of a political tug of war. They have to stand up and fight in different ways for the sake of their own survival and the future of humanity itself.
NOAH K MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Tell us about Morgan Asher.
MARTIN INGHAM: He's certainly a unique character. He was born into a wealthy family who made their money with an addictive form of Virtual Reality technology, but he rebelled against his birthright and became a rancher in Montana. After a while, though, he ended up getting drawn back to the family business, and did some pretty amazing things. During those adventures, he was inadvertently frozen in suspended animation for a hundred years, so now he finds himself in a strange new future, where mankind is finally reaching out into space.
Morgan is at heart a rugged individualist, and someone who isn't afraid to venture into the unknown or fight for what he believes in. That's why he's willing to live on Mars at the request of his new wife, whom he loves dearly, even when it goes against his better judgment and self-interest.
NOAH K MULLETTE-GILLMAN: What one or two elements do you think are most important for a good sci-fi story?
MARTIN INGHAM: The first part of any great sci-fi story is the characters. The reader must be able to relate to them in some way, and appreciate their motivations. If you don't care about the characters, you can't enjoy their story.
The other key to great sci-fi is believability. No matter how far-fetched or fantastic a story, it must have some hint of logic to it. Again, it's all about forming a connection with the reader. The reader must be able to set their present reality aside for a short time, and exchange it for your escapist fantasy. To do that, it's important for them to think that the story is possible, no matter how remotely. If they don't believe it, they won't care as much about what happens, diminishing their interest.
NOAH K MULLETTE-GILLMAN: Do you have any thoughts on the current state of America's space program?
MARTIN INGHAM: I can sum up our current space program in one word: Pathetic. I don't say that lightly, either. In recent years, America's space program has turned into a veritable joke, and recent political maneuvers have virtually gutted the program. The government bureaucracy has cut our wings, and left us playing at exploration. Oh, NASA may send a few more probes, and tinker around with the International Space Station, but there is no real mission anymore.
We have the technology now. If we wanted to go to Mars, and we actually have the right folks with the wherewithal to make it happen, we could land people there within the decade. Sadly, I don't see it happening; not with the current political climate and the apathy of the public. Nobody really sees the benefit of colonizing space these days, or broadening our horizons anymore. We're all so content to sit on this little rock.
If there is any hope for manned missions to the Moon or other planets anytime in the foreseeable future, it'll have to come from the private sector. Even that is looking remote at the moment.
NOAH K MULLETTE-GILLMAN: If you had the opportunity to leave Earth permanently and live on a colony on another world, would you want to?
MARTIN INGHAM: It would depend. If the planet in question was a place like Mars, with a lethal atmosphere, where you're stuck inside a handful of pressurized compartments, I might have reservations about going there for the rest of my life. I know mankind must venture out into space in order to survive and thrive, but it'll obviously be a tough sacrifice for the first colonists to pave the way.
On the other hand, if we found a way to travel to another planet with a hospitable climate, breathable atmosphere, and wide, open spaces, I'd be ready to go in a heartbeat. Still, I'd need to talk it over with my wife and children, because I'd expect to bring them along with me.
NOAH K MULLETTE-GILLMAN: From the preview, The Guns of Mars seems to have a strong theme of "escape." Characters are leaving Earth. Others are disappearing into virtual worlds for decades at a time. Can you talk about this a little?
MARTIN INGHAM: Escape is something people often seek in life. Vacations are often referred to as "escapes," and it is a natural impulse for people to seek some form of release from their everyday life. Though, I'm not sure that the colonization of space in The Guns of Mars is that much of an escape as an attempt at advancement, or a quest for progress. The characters are trying to better themselves, and push forward the frontiers of knowledge, seeking to advance humanity as a whole. There are differing points of view on how this should be done, which leads to the ultimate conflict.
In regard to people vanishing into virtual worlds, that is most certainly an escape, though after the preface that really isn't explored in this novel. That's another aspect of the future entirely, and a part of Morgan & Lorna's past.
NOAH K MULLETTE-GILLMAN: I understand that you have a few other books available. Please briefly tell us about them.
MARTIN INGHAM: The Guns of Mars was preceded by two other novels. The first was "Virtual Wiles," which follows Morgan Asher's exploits in a Sword and Sorcery Fantasy simulation. It explores a lot of the sociology and moral quandaries of virtual reality, even as the main characters explore an escapist fantasy land.
"Prisoner of Time," the direct prequel to "The Guns of Mars," brings Morgan back to the simulated world of Fantasan, where he ends up being frozen in time for a hundred years. This story has a bit more action and adventure than the first novel.
My other published book is "The Rogue Investigations," and it's unrelated to my other released works. It details the adventures of two paranormal investigators who seek out the truth behind the unknown in today's society. It's written in an episodic fashion, so each chapter is like a short story in and of itself, even though they're all connected.
NOAH K MULLETTE-GILLMAN: What have you done and what are you doing to promote your work?
MARTIN INGHAM: I try to advertise as much as possible, though it's hard on a tight budget. I've placed some internet ads, I post on a few message boards now and then, and I've contacted bookstores and libraries to inform them of my works.
Much of my promotion is word-of-mouth, so I need everyone who reads my work to talk about it. Write reviews, talk to friends, and ask your local libraries to stock copies of my books. Truly, the only way I will ever become a "popular" author is for my fans to recruit and spread the word.
NOAH K MULLETTE-GILLMAN: If you could leave your body and travel astrally, would you? Where would you go?
MARTIN INGHAM: Assuming I could come back to my body afterwords, I'd give it a shot. I'm not sure where I'd go, but there is an entire world to explore here, let alone the rest of the universe. The mind is a powerful tool, and if it's truly capable of traversing space faster than light, I would love to look around at other solar systems, and see what there is out there. At the very least, I could get a good look at some distant gas giants and different suns. The sky is not the limit, it's only the beginning!
NOAH K MULLETTE-GILLMAN: If you could ask any one character in your novel a question, what would it be?
Martin Ingham: That's a tricky one, for sure. As their creator, I should be able to answer any question I'd ask them. Any question I formulated would be answered by my own imagination, based on my own notion of who they are, and what I want them to be.
I suppose, if I had to ask a question, I'd ask Morgan why he gave up the perfect life on Earth for a treacherous life on Mars. His answer would vary, depending on when I asked him, for his point of view changes significantly as events unfold.
Martin Ingham: Lastly, my question for you, Noah, is: Who is your favorite Science Fiction author, and what do you most appreciate about their stories?
NOAH K MULLETTE-GILLMAN: You know, I am the kind of person who enjoys picking his ‘favorites.’ U2 is my favorite band. 8 is my favorite number; blue my favorite color, Mushroom & Pepperoni is my favorite pizza, etc., etc.
But I have never picked a single favorite science fiction author. Stephen Donaldson’s Gap series is one of the most brutally powerful things I’ve ever read – in or out of the genre. No character has ever suffered the way he punishes the people in those books, and then just when you think nothing worse could ever be imagined, he will create a new tragedy and the enemies he forged in the previous volume will have no choice but to work together. Most people should not even read it, because it is an emotionally painful work.
C.S. Lewis is best known for his fantasy work, but I think his Space Trilogy is a unique treasure. I remember getting really fed-up reading Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars. It’s a story about the colonization of Mars. What frustrated me is that NOTHING unexpected happened. There was no native life there. No one had any spiritual or metaphysical experiences… and I honestly found that deeply implausible. How could men and women travel to Mars and not be affected on that deep level? I don’t believe in a world like she described… C.S. Lewis’ series was a breath of fresh air to me because he returned that deeper level to outer space. No, I’m not on the same page as he is religiously – far from it – but I found myself sympathizing a lot more closely with his vision of the Universe than the purely mechanistic one that Kim Stanley Robinson gave us.
I also think that Sci-Fi is alone as a genre in that many of the most important works were not done in novel form. Oh, we can pretend that we get most of our sci-fi fix from the paperbacks, but Star Wars? Star Trek? Alien? EC’s Weird Science? Buck Rogers? Battlestar Galactica? Firefly? Farscape? As an artist I have been influenced far more by George Romero and George Lucas than Robert Heinlein. I think that this is probably true of most good writers working in this specific genre.
Now, at the same time, I think it’s important that we keep in mind Milan Kundera’s thoughts on novels and movies. I’m not going to look up the direct quote, but on his The Art of The Novel, he went to lengths to argue how important it is that novels exist for a greater reason than simply to provide fodder for Hollywood. I couldn’t agree more! If you would rather be working in the movies, work in the movies. Especially when writing a Sci-Fi novel, I think it is imperative that any writer considers what justifies his book being a book rather than a script. What are you doing that a movie couldn’t do better? I think this is paramount for any writer in this genre to consider.
That's all for this week! If you haven't yet, I encourage you to give Beyond Brilliant a look-see!
Only when you're done with that, maybe you'd like to take a look at one of our athors' works?
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