The StarChild Trilogy by James Courtney and Kaisy Wilkerson-Mills

It's great welcome writing duo, James Courtney and Kaisy Wilkerson-Mills, authors of the soon-to-be-released series, StarChild. First, what's your trilogy about?

StarChild is a science fiction/dystopian trilogy set around the year 3211.  The United States fell, and a new nation, City-State emerged.

City-State is a vile nation that aims to control its citizens through horrific government policies and regulations.  The President is moronic, citizens are labeled and identified by intelligence, and the health care system aims to destroy all of the S-Class geniuses (citizens of exceptional intelligence) to keep civilization somewhat ignorant to government control.

James and I have a blog that tells the stories of various residents of City-State: citystatewritings.wordpress.com

None of the narratives in the blog appear within the novels- the novels have separate plot lines.  The information in the blog will give you more insight into our creation.

What inspired StarChild?

James served in the United States Navy for a number of years.  His love and first-hand experience of politics inspired many of City-State’s rules and processes.

Plus, James and I love dystopian literature.  It is fascinating and intriguing to “foresee” the future of the United States.

If your trilogy was made into movie who would you cast in the lead roles?

Oh my!  That would be a dream!  I would love Kevin Spacey, Robert Downey, Jr., and Zac Efron to be part of StarChild.  However, that may become a little expensive, so up and coming actors (at this particular time) would be fabulous!

Do you find it difficult writing as a team?

Absolutely not!  We find it ten times easier to write together!  If I am stuck on a section or chapter, I send it to James and vice versa.  Brainstorming and prewriting are vital to the writing process, and we bounce ideas off of each other effortlessly!

 

Additionally, James and I are very honest with each other.  If either one of us does not like an idea, we communicate those thoughts and work together to make the storylines and the characters enjoyable, intriguing, and clear for readers.

James and I were friends in high school, so when he asked me to assist him with his writings, I knew the process (and the end product) would definitely be successful. 

What do you plan to work on next?

James and I are currently engrossed in the entire The StarChild Trilogy.  We are feverishly working on Book One: StarChild.  Obviously, this will take a while to complete.

Additionally, James and I hope to publish a separate anthology of short stories that connect to the novel: Tales from City-State.

Lastly, we have a few interesting characters from the short stories and the novels who can “take on” their own novels!

James and I intend on being very busy with City-State for quite some time!

What are you reading at the moment?

I am a full-time English Instructor at my local community college, so as of now, I am reading lots and lots of research papers, essays, and other various assessments.  Summer is coming, so I will be able to actually read a novel!

James is currently reading the Divergent series!  He says it’s great!

What do you like to do in your free time when you're not writing or reading?

James and I both like to spend time with our spouses.  He is married to one of my best friends, Kelly, and they live in Colorado (as stated before, we all went to high school together).  They love their three dogs, and they also love to bike around the trails of Loveland, Colorado.

I am married to my main squeeze, Randy.  He is just about to graduate from nursing school and take the final nursing exam to obtain his official certification as a Registered Nurse!  I am very proud of him!  Randy and I love to exercise and play with our pets, Amaya the cat and Molly the dog.

Where can readers find out more about you? 

The main blog on WordPress:  http://citystatewritings.wordpress.com

Google Plus - http://google.com/+jamescourtney

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/citystateshorts

Twitter:  Kaisy – SciFiWriter @KaisyWMills

             James – Dystopian_Scifi  @jamesacourtney

Many thanks and let us know when Book 1 is released!

Meet author Liam Taylor

I haven't had the chance (or the time!) to do an author interview for a while now, but today it's great to welcome Liam Taylor, author of The Shard Chronicles. First, can I ask what your book is about?

It’s about the life of Austin Cooper, a boy growing up in present-day Colorado. Loved and respected by his family and friends, he’s keeping a terrible, disheartening secret from them all. He’s not like everyone else. He has a unique ability that ensures his role as future protector of a powerful object, an object in the ownership of a man, the only other human like him. An object with a true origin lost over the span of time. An object that wants him dead.

After a troubling incident involving Austin, the man departs, searching for answers, and leaving the boy to deal with a new set of problems. He’s displaying more abilities... impossible without possession of the object... and the worst one yet, the school bully, intent on destroying the one person capable of stopping his vicious deeds.

If Women Ruled The World. Meet Lori Lesko

Today it’s great to have author Lori Lesko here to tell me abut her debut novel, Our Daughters. Over to you Lori!

Why I wrote OUR DAUGHTERS:

The idea came from a vivid dream, actually of an intense sexual nature. I was having relations with a man (don't know who) and quite enjoyed it. I then remember going out of my room and telling other women about my experience, because they have never had sex. But just then, another woman ran down the hall crying that our good friend (somehow we all lived in this mansion) had given birth to a boy.

We were devastated and grieved for her. Because we knew that wasn't allowed. However, when this woman recovered from her loss and faced her peers, they allowed her to at least stay in the senate as a member. We rejoiced at this news.

How to Create a Great Book Cover

A great book needs a great book cover.  However, for many authors, like me, designing a cover that is even half-decent can be a frustrating challenge. Therefore, when I saw H. S. St.Ours stunning book cover mentioned on my page, Great Book Covers, and found out that he had done it all himself, I asked him if he was willing to share his expertise and luckily he said ‘Yes’!  Below is one of the most useful and inspiring guides I have read on how to design a winning book cover.  I hope you find it helpful too.

Lisa's Way: Mixing Science Fiction and History

It's always great to hear from other authors and today I am rounding off the year with a guest post by Robert Collins, author of both history and sci-fi books.  Over to you Robert!

My second published novel, Lisa's Way, is available once again. It's a science fiction novel. As such you wouldn't think it had much to do with history. But it was history that went into making the story what it is.