How long have you been writing? For writing in general, I started when I was about 8 years old—I wrote small things like poems and short stories. I wrote my first novel when I was 16. I have been writing for about 24 years, but as a novelist for about 16 years.
What is your favorite color? Black—it looks great on and it adds boldness to other colors when it is a backdrop.
What genre are you most comfortable writing? For the most part, science fiction and fantasy action adventure. I am on the verge of dabbling with thrillers and mysteries since they are almost the same as action adventure. Even playing with nonfiction a bit.
What is your favorite food? Chocolate! It’s something I can’t get enough of or ever tire of. I’m a certified chocoholic/addict. If I had to have an addiction or be a –holic of something edible, it would be chocolate!
What is your favorite place in the entire world? In the middle of the woods beside a creek, river, or a waterfall.
What inspired you to write your first book? Nature and my own pretend adventures I had in the woods and the backyard as a child.
Did you intend to make writing a career? Probably when I first started writing I knew I would be a writer, but I had my doubts of doing it professionally. I first started doing it as a release and an escape. It was encouragement from others and from trying to “find my way” in life did I realize this was my chosen path.
What is your greatest strength as a writer? My ability for world building and character creation; I was doing this before I learned my ABCs, write my name, or learned HOW to write. Since I am such a visual writer I can see the places and “people” (not everyone is human) in my head and they just come to life.
How did you come up with the title? For Escape from Ancient Egypt I tried to find a catchy way to summarize what the book is about in a few words and the general clue about what the idea of the book is: People are trying to escape from ancient Egypt. To find out how they got there, you have to read the book :P. I also had a little help from a couple movies with Kurt Russell for inspiration: Escape from LA and Escape from New York
How did you develop your plot and characters? A lot of the plot was based off of a lot of “what ifs”. Native Americans never crossed paths with the ancient Egyptians, but what if they did? It can be summed up as Back to the Future meets The Ten Commandments with a twist. There is no science experiment and sans Moses and many must cross the path of pharaoh with the sake of one. Love instead of hatred and prejudice is the driving factor for Pharaoh’s actions. Time machine not included--we have a time crystal instead. The man antagonist has the way back to the future instead of the protagonists.
As for the characters, we have some of the familiar faces from Book #1 Neiko’s Five Land Adventure and some new faces, some of which are products of a mystery explore from Book #1. Others are fictional people from a real place (ancient Egypt). There are a couple of real people in the mix: Ramesses II and Nefertari.
Can you tell us about your main character? Neiko is a Native American Warrior from the hidden land Hawote. She is from the Desert Storm Falcon tribe and serves as its lead warrior and commander of their forces. She is also the chosen one foretold from a lineage of great chiefs. She is cocky, funny, but very strong and courageous. She also gets into trouble A LOT.
What was the hardest part about writing this book? For Escape from Ancient Egypt I would say the research. I was only 17 when I wrote this book, and my knowledge of Egypt has expounded since then. Trying to piece together an ancient culture just by reading is a challenge and trying to figure out how a group like the Native Americans, who have never been there, would fare there was a bit of a challenge. Trying to keep things as historically accurate as possible even though this is a fantasy was a challenge too—this is a fantasy adventure taking place in a REAL ancient place!
How much of this book is realistic? I would say that about 70% of this book is realistic even though this is a fantasy. Real ancient place, real ancient culture, real cities and geographical locations, and a couple real people, and one of them being a significant historical figure representing that real ancient place. Some of it is still speculation, but possible consequences, and it is only speculation since we haven’t been able to time travel yet.
How important do you think villains are in a story? In my opinion villains are essential. I know that the antagonist is not always an evil person, but I usually have a tough time plowing through. About the only exception are survivor stories about Man Vs. Nature, but it’s even better when you have Man Vs Nature Vs Villain. Villains just give a better edge to suspense. I crave suspense as much as chocolate.
Can we expect more books from you in the future? Oh yeah. I have many more of the Neiko Adventure Saga awaiting edits, rewrites and publication and others to be written—and I am writing another one right now, an idea for another nonfiction about bullying, and possibly a new ideas for YA thrillers and mysteries, but that’s something still bouncing around right now.
What do you do to unwind and relax? I go to the woods on a deep wood hike, go fishing, read a book, or play video games. I also write to unwind.
Do you travel much concerning your book(s)? At this present time, no not really. I’ve mostly stayed in my home state and local area. Maybe someday, though.
What contributes to making a writer successful? First and foremost, putting out a good professional product. This has been said ten thousand times--and this makes it ten thousand and one, but it is so important. Having a good, reliable network is another and this is something I had to learn on my own on the fly.
Have you started another book yet? Yes, I started writing Book #5 of the Neiko Adventure Saga Trapped in Ancient Qari and percolating on my nonfiction about bullying, and I may start writing it soon.
Did writing this book teach you anything and what was it? It goes without saying I learned a whole lot about ancient Egypt while writing this book and perfecting it over the years, and a whole lot about Ramesses the Great. When I worked on this book with my editor, I discovered something about myself that will be used for material for the bullying book.
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Genre - MG/YA, Fantasy, Action, Adventure (PG)
Website http://www.backwoodsauthor.com/
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