...SONYA CRAIG!
This week's 7 Questions come from Sonya Craig, SciFi writer of the The Pawn series, artist, spit-fire Texan, and keeper of FANG, the Kitten of Destruction. Think Sandy Cheeks meets the Rancor Keeper, if Sandy wrote SciFi, and the Rancor Keeper posted drawings of meditating sloths on Twitter. Without further ado, the awesome Sonya Craig:
1. Who is an artist that has recently inspired you and motivated you to write?
Who has *recently* inspired me? I am inspired to write – and to write better - every time I read an excellent book. I’d like to mention two authors here, both different in genre and style, both exceptional, and who I have recently read: John Scalzi and John Green. I read John Scalzi’s LOCK IN and immediately longed to write an extraordinary philosophical sci-fi thriller with keen social commentary. Except replacing the thriller part with adventure because I rather suck at writing whodunnits. I know, I’ve tried. I read THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and I immediately longed to write a deeply philosophical novel with witty and honest dialogue and endearing characters. Reading great writing makes me want to write. And to write better.
2. What made you first want to create fiction?
I can answer this with an emphatic I HAVE NO IDEA. I daydreamed constantly and wrote a lot of short stories when I was a little kid but then teenage-hood grabbed me and then came the years of Making Ends Meet and then I was able to attend college and then my life took a major turn when my first daughter arrived. Throughout these busy years, I didn’t think about writing. I don’t know why I wrote stories as a kid, but I can tell you what re-sparked my writing as an adult; I saw something happening in the world that really bothered the crap out of me, something I had zero control over, yet desperately wished that I did. That something was the Iraq War. I watched as our leaders tricked our populace and sent our young men and women into a misguided war. A war based on lies. I thought about soldiers and how they can be used by corrupt or incompetent leaders. With this topic as the theme, I processed my anger with words and paper. I wrote a science fiction novel based in a futuristic world with a young soldier as the protagonist. Then I shelved it. A couple years passed and I reopened the manuscript, reworked it (a zillion times), built upon it, and expanded it into a series.
3. How do you know when you’re in the middle of writing something terrific? Or do you know at all?
A flow exists when I’m writing from the heart. Depth of feeling drives the work. When I’m in this very personal, very raw, and open space, I do my finest writing. One can’t always be in this space though. I’m a firm believer in Butt In The Chair, Make Writing Happen Regardless Of Stuff Like Inspiration Or Muses.
Sit. Write. Rewrite. Rewrite some more. That’s my personal mantra. Some of what I write when I’m not in that ideal creative space will inevitably be sucktastic. And that’s okay. Some of it will also be small nuggets of gold. I can revise sucktastic stuff and morph it into, hopefully, fantastic stuff. And I can take keep those nuggets of gold and build on them.
4. If your pet gained sudden command of the English language and the finger dexterity to manipulate a keyboard, what story do you think they would write? Who’s the protagonist? Who's the antagonist? What’s the central conflict?
Fang The Kitten Of Destruction would write an epic adventure in which he blasted through the world leaving a wake of utter destruction behind. Antagonist? Ha! No antagonist would dare stand against him. The only conflict in Fang’s life would be deciding which sunbeam to nap in after a blissful day of DESTROYING ALL THE THINGS.
5. Tell us about a fiction project you're working on or just finished.
I’m currently revising the seventh and last book of my science fiction series. Here’s the blurb: Taiga and her small crew must face their final battle, the one that will determine the fate of humanity and the greater universe. Embattled from within and without, and massively outnumbered, they stand little chance of success. But failure has never been an option. The protagonist of my series is Taiga Chavez. She serves as a lowly soldier for the State, a rigid and cruel totalitarian regime that rebuilt Earth in its image after an engineered plague wiped out ninety percent of the population. My books are classic underdog stories with tons of action, danger, humor, awkward character interactions, fantabulously quirky aliens (and one really hot one), heartache, loss, gain, bravery, and the occasional profound insight.
6. Any blogs, columns or non-fiction projects?
My blog is located on my website: https://sonyacraig.com/. Check it out and enjoy!
7. Where can we find what you've written?
The first book in my science fiction series will be published in 2017 by Glass House Press. I also have a collection of my short stories on my website.
Sonya Craig is a Science Fiction author who lives in the music capital of the world, Austin Texas, despite having zero musical talent and questionable taste in music overall. The city of Austin graciously allows her to stay because her geektastic weirdness fits in perfectly.
She is published through Glass House Press and her first novel in the Pawn Series comes out in 2017.
She obtained her Masters of Science from University of Colorado and is a rabid Science Fiction geek who has not had her SF rabies vaccinations.
1. Who is an artist that has recently inspired you and motivated you to write?
Who has *recently* inspired me? I am inspired to write – and to write better - every time I read an excellent book. I’d like to mention two authors here, both different in genre and style, both exceptional, and who I have recently read: John Scalzi and John Green. I read John Scalzi’s LOCK IN and immediately longed to write an extraordinary philosophical sci-fi thriller with keen social commentary. Except replacing the thriller part with adventure because I rather suck at writing whodunnits. I know, I’ve tried. I read THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and I immediately longed to write a deeply philosophical novel with witty and honest dialogue and endearing characters. Reading great writing makes me want to write. And to write better.
2. What made you first want to create fiction?
I can answer this with an emphatic I HAVE NO IDEA. I daydreamed constantly and wrote a lot of short stories when I was a little kid but then teenage-hood grabbed me and then came the years of Making Ends Meet and then I was able to attend college and then my life took a major turn when my first daughter arrived. Throughout these busy years, I didn’t think about writing. I don’t know why I wrote stories as a kid, but I can tell you what re-sparked my writing as an adult; I saw something happening in the world that really bothered the crap out of me, something I had zero control over, yet desperately wished that I did. That something was the Iraq War. I watched as our leaders tricked our populace and sent our young men and women into a misguided war. A war based on lies. I thought about soldiers and how they can be used by corrupt or incompetent leaders. With this topic as the theme, I processed my anger with words and paper. I wrote a science fiction novel based in a futuristic world with a young soldier as the protagonist. Then I shelved it. A couple years passed and I reopened the manuscript, reworked it (a zillion times), built upon it, and expanded it into a series.
3. How do you know when you’re in the middle of writing something terrific? Or do you know at all?
A flow exists when I’m writing from the heart. Depth of feeling drives the work. When I’m in this very personal, very raw, and open space, I do my finest writing. One can’t always be in this space though. I’m a firm believer in Butt In The Chair, Make Writing Happen Regardless Of Stuff Like Inspiration Or Muses.
Sit. Write. Rewrite. Rewrite some more. That’s my personal mantra. Some of what I write when I’m not in that ideal creative space will inevitably be sucktastic. And that’s okay. Some of it will also be small nuggets of gold. I can revise sucktastic stuff and morph it into, hopefully, fantastic stuff. And I can take keep those nuggets of gold and build on them.
4. If your pet gained sudden command of the English language and the finger dexterity to manipulate a keyboard, what story do you think they would write? Who’s the protagonist? Who's the antagonist? What’s the central conflict?
Fang The Kitten Of Destruction would write an epic adventure in which he blasted through the world leaving a wake of utter destruction behind. Antagonist? Ha! No antagonist would dare stand against him. The only conflict in Fang’s life would be deciding which sunbeam to nap in after a blissful day of DESTROYING ALL THE THINGS.
5. Tell us about a fiction project you're working on or just finished.
I’m currently revising the seventh and last book of my science fiction series. Here’s the blurb: Taiga and her small crew must face their final battle, the one that will determine the fate of humanity and the greater universe. Embattled from within and without, and massively outnumbered, they stand little chance of success. But failure has never been an option. The protagonist of my series is Taiga Chavez. She serves as a lowly soldier for the State, a rigid and cruel totalitarian regime that rebuilt Earth in its image after an engineered plague wiped out ninety percent of the population. My books are classic underdog stories with tons of action, danger, humor, awkward character interactions, fantabulously quirky aliens (and one really hot one), heartache, loss, gain, bravery, and the occasional profound insight.
6. Any blogs, columns or non-fiction projects?
My blog is located on my website: https://sonyacraig.com/. Check it out and enjoy!
7. Where can we find what you've written?
The first book in my science fiction series will be published in 2017 by Glass House Press. I also have a collection of my short stories on my website.
Sonya Craig is a Science Fiction author who lives in the music capital of the world, Austin Texas, despite having zero musical talent and questionable taste in music overall. The city of Austin graciously allows her to stay because her geektastic weirdness fits in perfectly.
She is published through Glass House Press and her first novel in the Pawn Series comes out in 2017.
She obtained her Masters of Science from University of Colorado and is a rabid Science Fiction geek who has not had her SF rabies vaccinations.