Interview With Author Terrence King

 

1. What inspired you to write this book? With so much sci-fi being so grim and dark--and much of that sci-fi being great, by the way--I wanted to bend and break some tropes in the genre and incorporate some authentic fun into it. The darker the sci-fi that I came across, the more motivated I became. Darkness is real, but so is overcoming it.  

2. What exactly is it about and who is it written for? As a devastated world recovers from war and plight, an unlikely heroine emerges and attempts to rescue distressed rebels from the government’s corruption controlling the rationed food supply and from a rogue general trying to steal the only known honeybees. And Earth itself fights back. I wrote it for fans of Star Wars, Cowboy Bebop, The Hunger Games, and Buck Rogers.  

3. What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? That engaged readers will be transfixed on the non-bleakness of taking on a bleak world, and find inspiration in how certain characters dig deep within themselves. Critical Habitat is my contribution to "hope."  

4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? Before being called Critical Habitat, its working title was Killing Honey. The working title just didn't fit with the genre, and I didn't want it confused with Bill O'Reilly's "Killing" books! The artwork had to be hopeful but with ominous details, and not suggest it would be necessarily solely character-driven like so much fiction now . . . so no characters are shown. There was quite a bit of indecision at first, but I'm thrilled with the cover's end result.  

5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!? Run faster if you can. And if you decide to write anyway, I think you're amazing. If you agonize over not writing, I'm happy to know you.  

6. What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading? With the advent of Amazon's scope and curren dominance, and self-publishing's omnipresence and expansion, writers have more power than ever before with their work, and outright owning it, as publishing continues to eat itself with fewer top-shelf publishers and their numerous imprints. Writers can create their own ecosystems. Some of the work out there the big publishers won't touch, or its quality may be less than what the publishers believe it to be. Many times the publishers will be right, sometimes they will be wrong, behind the position of preference. Also, publishing charlatans will continue to proliferate and prey on desperate writers, but there is also a lot of great advice and good intentions in certain spaces. There will continue to be helpful and innovative entrepreneurs that help writers, you just have to find them. So like with everything, as a writer you must be your own diligent advocate as the industry--like all industries--shifts to stay profitable.  

7. Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book? Of course! I love taking negative traits I see in people and curating them into characters. Though, any resemblance to any specific person living or dead is entirely coincidental.  

8. How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to? Your first question is one of the most interesting I've ever been asked . . . perhaps, casually literary?? I've been inspired and uninspired by so many works, I have no idea. But I've loved Neil Gaiman and John Kennedy Toole so much, I'd bet you could find pinches of their spices somewhere in my work.  

9. What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? After 6 years, countless rejections, and even being picked up by a newer indie publisher before being dropped nine months later, I didn't lose sight of the prize. Publishing Critical Habitat was happening, and I became more motivated during the process rather than discouraged. The writing became better because of it. I call the publishing process, "boot camp." Those who struggle going through it benefit most.  

10. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? Critical Habitat aspires to bend sci-fi tropes and The Hero's Journey's archetypes, so when it succeeds, the book is additive to the sci-fi, dystopian, and action-adventure genres. While it has its own what I think is a satisfying conclusion, the story blows up in a big way in Book 2. So you want to read Critical Habitat first. (smiling).  

About The Author:  TERRENCE KING is the author of the award-winning urban fantasy novel, The Silent Partner: the Eric Hoffer Award for Best Commercial Fiction, the Eric Hoffer First Horizon Award for superior work by a debut author, and Focus on Women Magazine’s La Femme De Prose Books Quill Award. Critical Habitat, book one of his new sci-fi action-adventure series, is his second novel. For more info, please see: terrencekingauthor.com

 

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.6 million pageviews. With 4,800+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.