Space Opera Fans discussion

Greetings Space Opera Fans!

One of the coolest things about belonging to a community is when the author of a book we're reading stops in and tells us a bit about the inspiration behind the book. This month we have Jonathan Bergeron, author of Android Hunters come to give us the secret sauce beneath the hyperdrives.



So ... gods and androids? Space Opera doesn't get any better than that :-) So here's the scoop, and remember, Jonathan is one of US, a long-standing member of this community, so don't be shy and shamelessly pick his AI brains.

Be epic!

Anna Erishkigal
SOF Borg Queen

P.S. - discussion is HERE: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...


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1. What books have most influenced your life?

American Gods has influenced me the most in writing, and coming in at a close second is The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Both books are by Neil Gaiman. I actually studied the writing in American Gods. I attempted to read and study every sentence in the book, and did a great job at it too, and then I got to the House on the Rock part. The writing in American Gods is something I aspire towards. When I got to the House on the Rock part, I tried to continue studying each sentence, but thirty pages later I realized I had gotten swept up in the story. I could go on and on about American Gods and Neil Gaiman…


2. How do you develop your plots and characters?

What’s a plot? Joking, seriously though I don’t put my stake in plots. They tend to make books boring and feel by the numbers. I share Stephen King’s philosophy that plots are useless, just concentrate on the story. And the story I let come organically, no outlining here. However, I do create little backgrounds on characters before writing. I need to know something of their background, or they end up no more fleshed out than a name on the paper.


3. Tell us about your Space Opera Fans book?

Android Hunters and The Corli Saga (AH is the first book in the saga), tells an epic story that covers a war between titans, heroes and gods. Let me explain.

I’ve been obsessed with mythology since I first learned about it back in elementary school. So I decided to write a book that encompassed two things I love: science fiction and mythology.

The titans of myth are androids (every android is named after a titan). The android hunters are named after mythological heroes. The secondary characters who help them are named after gods. And Corli…well, she’s something special. Every location in the entire series is named after a mythological place or is a Latin word for something.

It is without a doubt a science fiction book, though. Cool spaceships, awesome weapons, amazing tech.


4. We all need a hero! Tell us about your protagonist(s)? Was there a real-life inspiration behind him or her?

Corli! There is no real life inspiration behind her. I don’t want to give anything away, but this is what I thought of when I created her: Can a weapon be used for peace?

I wish I could say more, but until book 2 comes out, I’ll just be spoiling book 1.


5. A good villain is hard to write. How did you get in touch with your inner villain(s) to write this book. Was there a real-life inspiration for him/her/it?

I read up on how much of an asshole Zeus and those rules in ancient myths are. They really are some very terrible characters. So cruel, the torturers back in the Middle Ages would say, “Too much, man. Too much.”


6. What real-life inspirations did you draw from for the worldbuilding within your book?

I didn’t draw from real-life, truth be told. Elysian is derived from Elysian Fields, a paradise from myth. Hesperides is derived from a collective of nymphs that tended a blissful garden in the far western corner of the world. It’s why Hesperides is such a beautiful city. I thought of what that garden would look like and then wondered what a city on a world governed by a people who practiced being green more than they preached would look like.


7. Sci-fi fans love techno-porn! What real-life science (or pseudo-science) did you research for your book?

Oh God, I have probably a hundred saved webpages in Evernote from my research. I researched quantum computers. Ion-crystal computing. Theoretical types of power sources. Theoretical space travel.

And then for the two most used pieces of tech in the book, Augmented Reality lenses and foldlets, I tried to imagine what would come next in wearable and carry tech. The AR lenses I thought up when I used a Nokia Lumia with the City Lens app. The foldlet came to being because I love the phablets but they are so damn big, how could you make something big be little at the same time?


8. What was the hardest part of writing this book?

Removing that other book that was in it before submitting to agents. I literally removed a 90,000 word book from Android Hunters. I didn’t really want to, but the story line was so far removed from the main arc that keeping it in had a great chance of just confusing people. One of these days, I’m going to release an authors preferred text and it’ll have that other book in it.


9. What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

The final chapters. It was so much fun writing that battle scene, jumping around between characters. I think I had something like five different view points in one chapter. It was a delight to write.


10. Did you learn anything from writing this book and what was it?

Just to keep writing and not take breaks, no matter what. Sometimes you have to force yourself to continue on a story. The words will come. Just believe in yourself and your ability.


11. Is there a message in your novel that you hope readers will grasp?

I have often thought of this very question. To be honest, I just don’t know anymore. At the end of the day, as long as the reader is entertained, that’s all that matters.


12. What are your future project(s)?

I’m working on another book in the Android Universe, which Android Hunters falls under. It tells a story of one of the first android hunter teams. Once I’m done with this one, I’m going to get on the sequel to Android Hunters.


13. If you couldn’t be an author, what would your ideal career be?

Easy. A nature/wildlife photographer.


14. What is your preferred method to have readers get in touch with or follow you (i.e., website, personal blog, Facebook page, here on Goodreads, etc.) and link(s)?

Email is the best, writer.jon.b [at] outlook [dot] com
Twitter is @writer_jon and @androidsarereal
Facebook is https://www.facebook.com/scifijon
My website is http://scifijon.wordpress.com


15. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to the Space Opera Fans community members?

Fantastic group, best on Goodreads. Keep up the great discussions and KEEP READING!!!!

SOF Author Interview granted 2015.10.05

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Don't forget to scope out this great book and join the discussion over HERE:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

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