ELLE ANDREWS PATT

Get Doug Dandridge's Prometheus Saga story, 'Marathon', for free today at the Kindle store!

Q: What inspired you to launch / join the Alvarium Experiment?

DD: I was asked to join by one of the other authors, whom I had met at a writer’s conference in my home town. I’m always looking for new ways to promote, and had just recently put a short story in an anthology by Kevin J Anderson, so, as this seemed interesting, I jumped at the invitation. I still don’t know what the result will be of participation, part of what makes it an experiment, but it was a lot of fun writing the story.

Q: What are some of the benefits and challenges of writing “into” an existing framework for Prometheus as a character? How did that shape your creative process for your story story. Is it different from your usual writing process?

DD: Well, to start off, I had to discard some of the ideas I had for the character, as they didn’t fit in with the ground rules. Things like making Prometheus a veritable demigod, giving him advanced technology, etc. I also had to write in a real historical world, something I want to do in the future with alternate history, but really didn’t have a lot of experience with on entry into this project. I had to work with real settings, in this case, the Plains of Marathon in Greece, and people who really existed. Of course, what we know about the people is cursory at most, so they could be fleshed out as I thought best. I’m also more of a novelist, and am used to writing sweeping tales that lend themselves to long descriptions. With the ten thousand word limit to the stories, I was forced to cut back on the description and just focus on the action. As I’m planning on doing more short works in the future, this was useful to my development as a writer.

Q: Tell me more about your other work(s).

DD: There are really a lot of them, so I’ll have to be brief. I have quite a few standalone works that came from the years I was submitting to publishers. Most came back with good rejections, so I thought I should self-publish them. These books include The Hunger (an urban fantasy), The Scorpion (a scifi technothriller), Doppelganger (high fantasy), The Deep Dark Well (far future scifi) among others. I also have some standalones I wrote for self-publication, We Are Death, Come For You (military scifi), Aura (high fantasy), Afterlife (near future scifi). I eventually wrote two more novels as sequels to The Deep Dark Well, To Well and Back and Deeper and Darker, and may do a second trilogy added on to that Universe. In 2010 I wrote two very long novels, Exodus and Refuge. I thought that 200,000+ word books might be a little long for self-pub, so I turned both of them into two books, and released both in the Fall of 2012.

I really thought that Refuge, a genre crossing technothriller/fantasy, would be the breakout series. It was the more imaginative of the two series, and had characters from our time and space, which I thought would be more interesting to readers. While the first two books did fairly well, 9,000 sales across two books, it never took off like I hoped. There are now four books in the series, which I continue to write for the fans who love the series. Exodus was retitled Exodus: Empires at War, because I did not want people buying the book, thinking it had a Biblical theme, and hating it. There are now seven books in the main series, Empires at War, with over 80,000 sales. Books 3 through 7 all hit number one in multiple categories on Amazon.UK, and went up to the top ten on Amazon.US, book 3 rising to number 3. Exodus: Tales of the Empire, a line that journeys off the main storyline, got to number two in Space Exploration at Amazon.UK, and number nine in the same category at Amazon.US. This series is what allowed me to become a full time writer, and will be the focus of my time in the foreseeable future.

I recently placed a 15,000 word novelette set in the Exodus Universe in Kevin J Anderson’s Five By Five military science fiction anthology. I consider that another breakthrough, into the world of traditional publishing through Kevin’s Wordfire Press. Hopefully that will lead to more anthologies. I have also written six short stories for Dean Wesley Smith and Kristin Cathryn Rusch’s Writers of the Coast Anthology Workshop, coming in March. There is a chance that any or all of those stories will be published

Q: Tell me more about your short story in the Prometheus Saga. Why did you pick that episode in history?

DD: I am a military fiction writer, both science fiction and fantasy, so a martial themed story was a natural. I was trying to think of a good story from antiquity, since most of the other tales in the saga seemed to be in more modern times. Leonidas and the 300 has been done to death, and the Roman conquests did not have the right feel to them. Marathon, though, was an outnumbered army of Athenians standing against the Persian army for their democracy. Not really a democracy as we think of one today, but still quite a departure from the kingdoms and empires of the day. I thought Socrates had fought in the battle, but found in my research that he hadn’t been born yet, which emphasizes the importance of good research. But, even better, I found out that the playwright Aeschylus, the father of modern theater, was at the battle, and he wrote a famous play called Prometheus Unbound. The connection was perfect.

Q: What are your writing plans for 2015? What does the new year hold in store for you?

DD: I am currently working on the second book of the Tales of the Empire imprint, this time a novel, which should be out at the beginning of March. I have the basic plots for the next three Empires at War books, and plan to get them out early summer, late summer and mid fall. And I am working on a Renaissance era fantasy for submission to publishers, to be followed up by a near future science fiction novel set on Mars, also to be sent out on the traditional path. If both or either don’t land, I still win, because there’s always self-publishing. The dream is becoming a true hybrid author, making most of my income on my indie efforts, while both bringing my reader base to traditionally published works, and expanding my reader base for my indie series, especially Exodus.

To read more about Doug Dandridge, visit him at dougdandridge.com.For links to all the Prometheus Saga stories, go here.

Today, I have another author interview from The Alvarium Experiment's Prometheus Saga.  Bria Burton is the author of "On Both Sides", which is available in the Kindle store for free download through tomorrow.

I had the honor of second edit on this story and, as always, it was privilege to be allowed into a writer's process at an early stage of writing. It's so interesting to watch a story progress into a finished product. Bria is open-minded and gracious as a writer and thorough and patient as an editor, as I found out when she turned around and edited my Prometheus Saga novelette, "Manteo", for me.

Q:  Tell us, what inspired you to launch / join the Alvarium Experiment?

BB: At the FWA Conference in 2014, Charles and Ken approached me about the idea, and I absolutely loved it. The author collaboration, the story premise, and the new way of reaching readership really drew me in. Not to mention I love science fiction.

Q: What are some of the benefits and challenges of writing “into” an existing framework for Prometheus as a character? How did that shape your creative process for your story? Is it different from your usual writing process?

BB: For me, this story began with Point of View. Typically, I begin with a plot idea or a character, but I wanted to know where I would be coming from in the framework given. According to the guidelines, no one was to write in Prometheus’s first person perspective, but limited third POV was permitted. The reason: there would be too many discrepancies in the stories regarding the character. I wanted to focus on an outside character observing Prometheus, and so my story is told from that outsider’s perspective (two, in fact). The difficulty was making sure I didn’t step out of the parameters. The benefit was that the parameters allowed for a great deal of creativity and freedom.

Q: Tell me more about your other work.

BB: I have several speculative fiction pieces published. Most recently, “In Line at the DMYV,” science fiction, appeared in the Welcome to the Future anthology. “The Darkness Below,” science fiction, appeared in The Colored Lens Autumn 2014 issue. Also in 2014, “Switching,” fantasy, aired on the Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine and “Ligeia,” science fiction, aired on the Journey Into… podcast. Both of these podcasts use voice actors, sound effects and music, and the episodes are free, so that was really fun to hear my stories in that medium. “The Mute Girl,” fantasy, appeared in eFantasy (now New Realm) in 2013. My epic fantasy manuscript, Livinity, won a First Place RPLA in 2011.

Q: Tell me more about your short story in The Prometheus Saga. Why did you pick that episode in history?

BB: Here’s the story description: When a mysterious woman vanishes during the American Revolution, young Robby Freeman searches for answers from a cryptic sharpshooter who deserted Washington’s Continental Army.

I chose the American Revolution because American History has always been one of my favorite subjects. The opportunity to select any period in history was daunting at first—so many choices!—but as soon as it occurred to me, I knew I wanted to write about that time period.

Q: What are your writing plans for 2015? What does the new year hold in store for you?

BB: I’m waiting on a beta reader to give me feedback for Book One of Livinity. Once I receive notes and do some more editing, I’ll be following the traditional publishing route of submissions to agents/publishers. That can be a long process of waiting and resubmitting. I’d like to get several more short stories written this year and continue submitting to literary magazines. Like I do every year, I plan to attend the Florida Writers Conference in October.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bria Burton's short stories have appeared in anthologies such as Welcome to the Future and speculative fiction magazines such as The Colored Lens. Her novella, "Little Angel Helper", was written for her sisters, one of whom has special needs like a character in the story. She also has a collection of family-friendly pet stories called Lance & Ringo Tails. Her epic fantasy manuscript, Livinity, won First Place in the RPLA Unpublished Fantasy Novel category in 2011.

At St. Pete Running Company, she works as a blogger and customer service manager. Find out more about her upcoming and past publications by visiting her at briaburton.com

ABOUT THE PROMETHEUS SAGA

The Prometheus Saga is the premier project of the Alvarium Experiment, a consortium of accomplished and award-winning authors. Links to all the Prometheus Saga stories are HERE.

In October, I was asked to join the Alvarium Experiment. The Alvarium, Latin for "hive", became a group of thirteen writers with the common goal to experiment with fiction projects that would improve our craft, provide inspiration, and support our publishing efforts as individuals. Charles A. Cornell and Ken Pelham conceived the Alvarium Experiment, invited the writers to join, and wrote the premise and guidelines for our first project, the Prometheus Saga. 

The Prometheus Saga consists of thirteen science fiction stories ranging from 5,000-12,000 words. Each story includes 'Prometheus', an alien probe that is, for all intents and purposes, completely human, except for its quantum computer brain which holds all its memories and a complete database of knowledge. Its only mission is to observe human kind, but as its AI develops, with its human body subject to all its own human biochemistry, Prometheus also sometimes acts. The only limit on time period is 'within current human history' so we ended up with a very wide range of settings from 40,000 years ago to modern day. 

For the Prometheus saga, I wrote a novelette, 'Manteo', which you can read about here. 

I'd like to welcome M.J. Carlson to my blog today! I served as an early editor for his Prometheus Saga fic, 'Ever After' and M.J. and I have been developing our writing skills together for about eight years now.

Q: What inspired you to join the Alvarium Experiment?

M.J: When my friend, Ken Pelham contacted me prior to the 2014 FWA Conference and asked if I was interested in joining a dozen other writers in “something never done before,” I was intrigued. Since we hear so much about publishing being in a flux right now, I decided to meet with Ken and Charles A. Cornell, the co-conspirators, as it were, behind the Alvarium Experiment. In preparation for that initial meeting, Ken sent me two papers describing the concept. One was the guidelines for the character and story premise behind the saga, the other was the publishing paradigm outline – the Experiment itself. The more I read both, the more interested I became, especially since I not only write science fiction, but have also written a couple of time travel stories that explore our history. Meeting with Ken and Charles and some of the other talented authors they had approached I signed on.

Q: What are some of the benefits and challenges of writing “into” an existing framework for Prometheus as a character? How did that shape your creative process for your story story. Is it different from your usual writing process?

M.J.: Writing into a framework wasn’t a challenge for me. My writing style involves a lot of preliminary planning, often a twenty or thirty page outline, before I ever start a novel. In this case, having a framework in place provided structure similar to how I usually begin anyway. The challenge was how to best utilize the Prometheus character in my story. I decided early on to separate the protagonist and main characters, so I could use Prometheus to move the story, but allowing the reader to enter the story through other characters. This is a well-known technique in fiction which has worked well for authors from Harper Lee to Arthur Conan Doyle. It allows the reader an emotional entry point into the story while keeping the protagonist (Prometheus) shrouded in mystery. This also allowed me to tell the story without giving any of Prometheus’ internal mental workings away that might conflict with the other stories.

Q: Tell me more about your other works.

M.J.: I use main characters who are generally average people in extraordinary circumstances. Often, these characters are academically oriented, but they always lack the borderline superhuman traits so common in much of today’s fiction and they are never “the chosen one,” except in that they are the ones who will not give up. My first novel was a story about a biochemist who accidentally discovers a compound that gives him limited, temporary, extrasensory perception, allowing him to establish contact with an individual from the future, sent back to help him develop his compound. My second novel (also still unpublished) is about an alien entomologist whose space ship is shot down, dropping him into the life of a young Air Force widow, told from the point of view of the alien.

Changed, my first published novel, tells the story of a twenty-six year old janitor in 2132, the unsuspecting subject of an experiment, who discovers computer processors have been wired into his nervous system without his knowledge – using technology that isn’t supposed to exist. Natural Selection, to be released this year, explores what happens when a molecular biologist who runs a small DNA testing laboratory in 2047 is given a DNA sample for testing. He discovers the gene for psychopathy in the sample, which happens to belong to a presidential candidate running on a mandatory genetic testing platform.

Q: Tell me more about your short story in the Prometheus Saga. Why did you pick that episode in history?

M.J.: As it turned out, I had written most of the story a few years ago with no plan for what to do with it, and in the process, did quite a bit of research into the story’s history. I rewrote it in several versions, including one setting the story on Mars 200,000 years ago with Earth as the main character’s destination, but nothing felt “right” until I met with Ken and Charles. The story jelled for me at that point, and it was a simple matter to move the Prometheus character into place, telling essentially the same tale to different authors over several centuries in various parts of the world and monitoring how each local culture changes the story in its retelling, revealing that culture’s true heart and soul.

I chose the Grimm Brothers because next to the Disney version it’s the one we’re most familiar with. Many people are also familiar with how very different the two versions are, further making the premise of the story (that the tale originates with one teller and is changed by each culture where it’s introduced) more believable. My other bookend, Giambattista Basile, is the first known Western author to write down and publish Cinderella (although it was actually published after his death by his sister). The story also references much earlier versions of Cinderella that the careful reader should easily pick out. As a caution, though, I would remind readers that while the main characters (Giambattista Basile and Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm) actually existed, this is not a historical essay on the differences in their versions of Cinderella, but a work of historical fiction to be enjoyed for its own sake.

Q: What are your writing plans for 2015? What does the new year hold in store for you?

M.J.: I plan to use the attention gained by The Prometheus Saga and Ever After to help market my current novel, Changed. I’m in the final stages of preparing my next novel, Natural Selection. Once it’s published, I have the first three books in a series I’ve been working on for a couple of years I’d like to bring to market this year. I also continue to submit short stories to various venues, and there are one or two contests I’ve had my eye on.

Q: Is there any special significance to the title 'Ever After'?

M.J.: Actually, yes. All my stories have titles with at least two meanings which apply to the story. In this instance, “Ever After” is the obvious nod to the traditional fairy tale ending, but it also literally means “until they died,” which relates to the same story being told, century after century, by a nearly immortal alien intelligence to the authors who, each in turn, grow old and die. On a deeper level, it refers to the timeless nature of myth. Or, it just pokes fun at fairy tales. I did grow up watching “Fractured Fairy Tales” on the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.

About M. J. Carlson: One of M.J.’s early short stories and an early, unpublished novel were finalists in their respective categories in the Florida Writers Association RPLA contest, and two other short stories have received honorable mentions in the international Writers of the Future contest for science fiction and fantasy.

M.J. is a frequent speaker at writer’s conferences and local writing groups on the subjects of writing believable injuries in fiction from the character’s point of view, choosing the best software for various aspects of writing, and how to successfully separate the protagonist and the main character, with references from famous historical stories.

You can find out more about M.J. Carlson at his website. 

'Ever After' and my own Prometheus Saga story, 'Manteo', can be purchased for .99 cents at Amazon, just click the story titles or covers. Check out all the Prometheus Saga stories and the authors at the Alvarium Experiment. Ken Pelham's 'First World War' can still be downloaded for free through Friday Feb. 13, 2015

 In mid-October, I finally hit critical mass and decided to actually build that website I’d been thinking of for a while, this blog’s home. Fresh off a new anthology publication, and buoyed by the feedback of my critique group on my in-progress novella, I pulled my confidence up by the bootstraps and started practice pitching the freshly completed Billie Mae in preparation for agent interviews at the FWA conference.

About this same time, my twenty-year old daughter began experiencing calf soreness and mild headaches. By early November, I was sending my manuscript out for review, outlining my fic for the Prometheus Saga, and my daughter had progressed to migraines, serious leg pain, and stiff ankles. At Thanksgiving, I’d sent my novel off to a couple of agents, started the sequel, and it became obvious my daughter was in serious trouble. I published my novelette, 'Manteo', the same day my daughter was unexpectedly hospitalized a second time. At the end of January, an agent requested my full manuscript at the same time we learned my daughter would be receiving her first chemo infusion the next day.

Are these things related? No. But they complicate each other. Everyone’s lives are complicated in respect to the tangles formed between their work life and personal life. The boundaries for anyone who works from home blur even more. It’s a given that our schedules, in general, are more flexible, even more so when you are your own boss.

After years and years of writing and networking, my effort is shifting into publishing. I get paid on occasion, but I’m not making a living at it, yet, so it’s harder to justify the time I spend doing it. I’m very fortunate in that my hubby runs the business that gives us income while I stepped back to unschool the kids and then followed them into their later schools and sports as a volunteer. He’s provided for us and for the horses I have remaining from my successful barn business and the ones we currently have for the girls. The girls and the horses and writing have formed the purpose of my days for years now. As the girls have transitioned into their more independent lives, I’ve turned that freed-up time to my writing and it’s beginning to pay off.

But just as that shift is happening, my oldest has come home. She has an autoimmune vasculitis which has affected the blood supply to many of the small nerves in her body. We have been reassured that with treatment, she will regain the use of her hands and feet and ankles and wrists, but right now she requires full-time care. I have a new understanding of just what that means, full-time care. I have completely relied on friends to see to the horses. I spent two weeks out of town in December to see my daughter through the end of her semester at university. She’s been hospitalized out of town 17 days since Dec. 28. While we have managed to retain her university attendance with online classes, her schedule has become my priority at the exact same time my writing needs to be my priority in order to take advantage of my momentum.

There have been benefits to the situation. I have found a depth of emotional strength which I was unaware I possessed. I know this time with my daughter at this point of time in her life, and the things we have shared, has deepened our relationship in ways that will resonate for the rest of our lives. And I have realized that at some point there in mid-October, I truly committed myself to my writing. Despite everything during the last twelve weeks, despite the exhaustion of a medically oriented life, the grief and heartbreak of my daughter being so severely compromised at the height of exploding into being, into her adult self, into her purpose, despite time away from my own full life, I continue to write. With the help of new and old friends, I’ve met my deadlines and continue to reach out to readers and writers alike.

Part of that effort is to get back to establishing my blog. I’ve decided it won’t be a blog for writers in particular, though I intend to write about writing. It won’t be a blog for my readers, per se, though I’ll write about my work and others’ work and what I enjoy reading. It will be a blog about STORY. All kinds of stories. My story. Your stories. The stories of the people I meet everyday. The stories about people who used to be and will someday be. The stories of people who live in the real world and the stories of those who live only our heads.

My daughter is currently studying contemporary human communication. Since I’m her fingers right now, I’ve learned a lot of new terms. You, the reader, and I, the writer, are sharing the same field of experience right now. We both recognize and assign meaning to all these symbolic marks on a page. By sharing these symbols in public, I hope to learn about both your social reality and mine.