Angela Cavanaugh Science Fiction Author New Release

My guest today is Science Fiction author Angela Cavanaugh who just launched her debut novel “Otherworlders”. She is also author of several short stories also featured in other anthologies.  She has received an Honorable mention in L. Ron Hubbard writer’s of the future contest and has a story in the upcoming anthology series The A. I. Chronicles, the next installment in Samuel Peralta’s Chronicle series.
 

Welcome Angela,

1. Tell us about your main character in your novel “Otherworlders”.

My novel has an ensemble cast, like the show Lost did. It’s tough to say that any one person is the main character. But there are a few contenders:

Kara – Even before the virus, she did anything it took to survive. She isn’t above a con or violence to get what she wants.

Levi – The Autistic Savant who created the technology that allows them to travel through worlds. He’s connected with everyone.

Tomas – he loves his wife and would do anything to protect her, but fate is constantly dealing him a bad hand.

Jackson/Jaxon – A hero in the first universe, he is the one who saved the uninfected. But in the new universe, his double hates the Otherworlders and is determined to hunt and kill them all.

The goal of the multi-protagonist cast was to show different aspects of the new universe. They each have a different experience with it before being brought together in an effort to survive.

2. What is the premise of your novel?

When a virus threatens humanity with extinction, the desperate and dwindling number of uninfected seek refuge in a parallel universe. The technology is untested. The other universe is unprepared and one thing is made violently clear: they are not wanted.

3. What made you want to become a writer?

I’ve always loved writing. I remember writing stories in elementary school. Sitting in a circle and sharing our stories was my favorite part of the week. I kept at it. I used to carry a journal around with me in high school and write between classes. I won awards all throughout school for writing – had a poem published, won essay contests, and all conference short story contests, too.

But I lived in a place where the arts weren’t really encouraged. Any time I entertained the idea of a career in the arts, I was met with “that’s fine, but what’s your fall back? What are you going to go to college for?”

I believed them. I was taught that arts was something you did in your free time, and not something that you try hard for. I still wrote here and there for fun, but I never had any intention or expectation that I could publish.

It wasn’t until my boyfriend (who I had just started dating at the time) decided to leave his PhD program to pursue writing that I realized that was something that I could do. He was determined, committed, and completely certain he could do it. He inspired me. And that was when I decided to stop working jobs I hated and really give writing all my effort.

I’ve always wanted to be a writer. But it wasn’t until 2 years ago that I realized I could.

4. Do you have any other projects in the works?

I have so many projects in the works. Next month I have a story coming out in the anthology The A.I. Chronicles. And later this year, I have another in The Z Chronicles. I’m working on a short story collection called Sleep Saga which I hope to release late March. And I have a Silo Saga Kindle Worlds story, titled Witness, which I hope to release soon.

I just released a short story of mine that received an Honorable Mention in The Writers of the Future Contest. It’s on Amazon and Audible, and it’s called Human Network. I also post flash fiction on my blog angelacavanaugh.com every week.

5. Do you prefer writing the short story or longer story of the novel?

I can’t say that I have a preference. I’m a big believer in the saying “a story is only as long as it needs to be”. I’ll write a story that is 1,000 words, 10,000 words, or 100,000 words, and love every bit of it. I think long and short both have challenges unique to them, and things that make writing that length easier.

6. Do you have a special place you like to write or ritual?

These days I mostly write at my desk in my living room.  Otherworlders was primarily written in Panera and Corner Bakery. I listen to music when I write, usually it’s modern alternative.

7. Any tips for readers who might also be writers about self-publishing?

Research and be patient. It’s really easy to hit publish, but it’s also really easy to get lost among the millions of books already on Amazon, and the thousands published the same day as you. Build up a following offering things to your readers – stories, advice, a look at your life… then ask those readers to read your book before you publish it. Reviews are really important. And get advice from people who have self-published. I found Kboards to be amazingly helpful when it came to the marketing side of being an author.

8. What do you like to read? Is it the same type stuff you write?

I love to read scifi. Sometimes I’ll be reading and think, “I’d like to write about nanites or space or virtual worlds”, and maybe some day I will, but as much as I used to be influenced by what I’ve read, my current works aren’t. I’ve struggled to relate Otherworlders to anything that I’ve read before. Same with my Sleep Saga. Which is great for originality, hard for marketing.

I do tend to get a taste for subjects, though. I’ll read a book with a certain subject, and I’ll just keep going with the subject, reading book after book, until I run out of stories to read.

9. Do you have anything you think you have to eat, drink or do, before you can write?

Coffee is essential to writing. I sometimes like to have a little chocolate as a pre-reward before I write.

10. What is the top thing on your bucket list?

In life? I guess it’d have to be traveling. I’d like to see and experience the world. I haven’t made it off of this continent yet.

11. Anything you would like to say to the readers, before we leave?

Thank you for reading this interview. I hope you’ll check out Otherworlders. For more information, news, and the occasional free thing, subscribe to my newsletter. You can find it on my blog- angelacavanaugh.com I’m on Twitter sometimes @fictionbyangela and facebook.com/zangela

 

LEARN MORE ABOUT ANGELA BELOW:
HER WEBSITE
FOR PURCHASE  AT AMAZON  .99 CENTS FOR A LIMITED TIME OtherWorlders 
Blog links – same as website – angelacavanaugh.com
Goodreads
twitter: @fictionbyangela      facebook.com/zangela

BRIEF BIO:

I’ve always enjoyed writing for fun, even writing full length novels, and never expected them to see the light of day. I didn’t imagine it as a career until late 2012. One of my greatest influences in writing is my fella, who left his PhD program to give his all to writing. It was his passion and determination that inspired me to give my own writing real dedication.  Once I decided that I was going to go for it, I did all in my power to learn more about the craft and art of writing and the business of publishing.

Otherworlders is my first published novel.  During the two years it took to write, revise, and edit it into something worth reading, I began a blog, fell in love with flash fiction, and found an amazing group of author friends.