Interview with Charles K. James

 

Interview - Charles K. James

Q. You’ve just released your first novel so I’d like to ask about that first. The premise is such a simple idea, and often they’re the hardest to come up with. Did it just come to you or did you work at it?

Thanks for inviting me to your blog Chris!

A: First Command is about a small group of astronaut cadets who crash land on an uninhabited planet following an encounter with pirates. With their flight instructors wounded and locked in stasis pods, the cadets are cut off from everything they know. The main character Cassi is forced assume a leadership role so the cadets can survive and ultimately find their way home.
A simple premise like that—isolating your characters from their support network and forcing them to survive on their own—comes from stories like Robinson Crusoe. In science fiction we see it in stories like Andy Wier’s The Martian, or the recent Lost in Space reboot. It’s simple but effective because it forces characters to take ownership of their circumstances. And that makes for interesting reading.

Q. The novel is aimed primarily at younger readers. How much did this affect the language used?

A: Well, I avoid explicit cursing in the book. But I don’t hold much back on the language otherwise. I wanted to create a book that would be exciting for adults, but one they could share with younger readers too.

Q. We’re engaged into the action right from the beginning. The characters immediately come to life. Was it a case of draft after draft with the prose becoming more natural each time or did it all come together quite quickly. How much did you plan it out before writing?

A: Thanks. I went through about two years of writing and editing the get to the final manuscript. This involved a lot of reading the work out loud to my writing group, listening to feedback and cutting out all the stuff that wasn’t working. When I was happy with it, I sent it to a professional editor. We did two more drafts before it was finally ready. (Incidentally, if anyone finds any errors in it, be proud of them—they’re survivors.)

Q. Lol. So tell us more about your writing group.

A: Sure. I’ve been a member of the Lethbridge River Bottom Writers group since 2015. We have a core group of about a dozen members with a greater extended family of writers who come to meetings from time to time. The members write in a wide range of genres from romance to poetry, to fantasy and science fiction. Writing is such a solitary hobby. It’s great to have friends who share the same struggles and aspirations. They’ve helped to give me confidence to move forward in my personal writing journey and I’m very thankful for that.

Q. One of the activities of your writing club is NaNoWriMo. (I imagine it as a kind of NaNoWriMo support group.) You’ve described First Command as your first ‘official’ novel – so have there been any others written over the years and months of November?

A: I’ve been doing NaNoWriMo since 2002. First Command was not a NaNo novel though. November can be an intense month for novelists. Sometimes by the end you just want to shelve the project you’re working on and start on something you can grow at a slower pace. That was where First Command came from.

Q. What is science fiction for you? Action adventure? Science? Or both?

A: Both, although First Command leans more toward the “pew pew” side of things. In my experience science fiction fosters a general excitement about the human potential for exploration and discovery provided the story is engaging. Whether a faster-than-light spacecraft would actually work, or what effects xenobacteria might have on humans are interesting questions to think about—and even more so in the midst of life-and-death struggles.

Q. I read that if you could have had things your way, your two pet Guinea pigs would be called Control and Number One. So tell us what sci-fi books and shows you’re a fan of. Which have been influential?

A: I read a lot of sci-fi. One of my all-times favourites is The Martian, by Andy Wier. I loved how he generated suspense through a series of mounting technical problems and focused on character who really took ownership of his situation, regardless of how bad it got. Series that I’ve really enjoyed recently include, Rick Partlow’s Drop Troopers, Marko Kloos’ Frontlines series, and Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet series. Skyward by Brandon Sanderson, also had a strong influence on First Command as well. I’m also a big fan of the recent Lost in Space reboot.

Q. You’re a scientist yourself, so I hear.

A:Yes, in my day job I’m a medical physicist, specializing in radiation oncology physics. I do research in areas like applications of machine learning to radiotherapy outcome prediction, the use of nanoparticles to enhance the effectiveness of radiation treatments, radiation interactions within magnetic fields, and even some work that relates to Covid-19. On the clinical side of things, I’m also responsible for making sure that our linear accelerators and other equipment operate properly and that radiation therapy treatments are planned accurately.

Q. First Command is very professionally put together. Both the cover and the formatting. Did you receive help with this? Can you recommend other indie authors to do the same?

A: Thanks. I have to hand credit for the cover to the folks at Miblart.com. I wanted a cover that would clearly convey that First Command is a science fiction adventure story. We started with a bunch of pictures of covers that I liked, a description of Cassi (the main character), and the themes of the story. They totally nailed the concept with the first draft they sent. Then it was just a case of tweaks. The final draft gave me chills when I saw it. It’s a surreal experience when you see something from your own imagination through someone else’s eyes.

Q. Megavoltage publishing – I’m assuming you’re the CEO. Do you have any plans to publish other authors?

A: I won’t say never, but not at the moment.

Q. So far First Command has been doing well in the sales. How do you promote? Any tips?

A: I’ve been quite happy with how it’s doing so far. One thing I’ve learned is that it really helps potential readers when they can quickly tell what genre the book is and what kind of story it contains. The cover, the blurb, and any advertising copy should be consistent with the story. That sounds pretty obvious, I suppose, but it can be tricky to get right.

Q. Okay, last question. If First Command is part one of a series, when can we expect the next instalment? Is a draft already in the works?

A: Stay tuned to my blog and join my mailing list at charlesjamessfauthor.com for announcements and updates.

Thanks again for the opportunity to be here, Chris!

Thanks very much for the interview Charles K. James.

You can find Charles’s amazon page here

and his website here