“I’m a binge writer. When I go on a binge, I write 12 or 14 hours a day. Nothing else happens. I snap at my family. I order a lot of pizza. I’ve described the feeling as “I wait for the first reel of the movie in my mind to start and then I type like mad trying to keep up with it as it plays.” When the closing credits roll, I stop.”
– Nathan Lowell 22 May 2011
The Back Cover
The Golden Age of Sail has Returned — in the Year 2352
When his mother dies in a flitter crash, eighteen-year-old Ishmael Horatio Wang must find a job with the planet company or leave the system–and NerisCo isn’t hiring. With credits running low, and prospects limited, he has just one hope…to enlist for two years with a deep space commercial freighter. Ishmael, who only rarely visited the Neris Orbital, and has never been off-planet alone before, finds himself part of an eclectic crew sailing a deep space leviathan between the stars.
Join the crew of the SC Lois McKendrick, a Manchester built clipper as she sets solar sails in search of profit for her company and a crew each entitled to a share equal to their rating.
About The Book
What is the book about?
It’s a simple coming of age story about a kid who gets tossed off the corporate world he’s grown up on and who needs to find his way in the universe. He’s lucky and gets a job on the mess deck of an interestellar freighter. He brings an outsider’s viewpoint to the closed world of shipboard life and tries hard to fit in.
When did you start writing the book?
Jan 12, 2007
How long did it take you to write it?
About two weeks.
Where did you get the idea from?
I wanted to tell a science fiction story about the “little guy” – the ones who aren’t in charge, aren’t rich, aren’t deposed princes and the like. I wanted to see what kind of universe would exist if we explored the universe with freighters instead of frigates, with an airline instead of an air force.
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
This one flowed very easily. Once I figured out the basic universe and who my main characters were, it was mostly a matter of typing fast enough to keep up with the movie that was playing in my mind.
What came easily?
The mess deck scenes. I worked on a ship at sea for about a year when I was younger and life on the mess deck came directly from those experiences.
Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?
Nobody directly but we learn about life from our interactions with others. From that perspective, they’re all bits and pieces of people I know, but I can’t say that any one of them is somebody specific.
We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?
Robert Heinlien is probably the person I’m most closely compared to. I grew up on his stuff and I think there are certain parallels in this work. He wrote about people and how they relate to the universe. L. E. Modesitt and his Order War series is another one. Each of his books is about a character who has a job and a lot of the book has to do with how the character learns his job as he’s learning about his magic.
Do you have a target reader?
Not as such. Mostly people who want to read something besides the “blow up something every twenty pages” and “save the universe twice before breakfast” books. Some people have criticized the books because “nothing happens” but I think that’s mostly because they’re looking for a particular kind of action story. This isn’t that kind of story.
About Writing
Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?
I’m a binge writer. When I go on a binge, I write 12 or 14 hours a day. Nothing else happens. I snap at my family. I order a lot of pizza. I’ve described the feeling as “I wait for the first reel of the movie in my mind to start and then I type like mad trying to keep up with it as it plays.” When the closing credits roll, I stop.
Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just Chapter headings and a couple of sentences?
No, I have no idea what’s going to happen when I start. I have a situation – a setting, and some characters – and I know what they’re doing in that setting, then I write what happens next.
Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?
I only edit if I fall into a plot hole. If I find that I’ve done something unfortunate, I’ll go back to where the story was actually working and write what should have happened to avoid the dead end.
Did you hire a professional editor?
Not at first. The original works are all published first as podcast novels – that is I read them aloud, record them, and publish them as a free podcast down load. I have a set of beta readers who read as the books develop and then listen as the episodes are created.
For the text based editions, Robin Sullivan at Ridan Publishing is my editor. She does a great job of getting the stories in shape for the page.
Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?
No. I can’t listen to anything while I write because it interferes with the movie sound track in my head.
About Publishing
Did you submit your work to Agents?
Yes. For about five months in 2009 I played the agent game. I had some positive results and then realized that the best case scenario was that I’d get a book deal that would most likely result in getting the first book out in 2011 and then needing to start all over again in 2013 for book two, while in the meantime I’d have written four or five more books. Not only would the publishing company never catch up with me, I’d never make enough money from it to make it worthwhile.
What made you decide to go Indie? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?
Keep in mind that my “self pub” is only for the podiobooks. My text versions are through Ridan Publishing—an independent publisher in Fairfax, VA. The books were always written to be read aloud and given away free as podcasts.
The decision to put them into text came about in 2009 when I had so many people asking for the books in physical form so they could give them away, or read them themselves, that I got tired of all the emails asking for them. I promised my fans to get them text versions in 2010 and set about learning about self publishing. Near the end of 2009, Ridan Publishing approached me and after about three weeks of discussions, I signed with them to do Quarter Share on Jan 7, 2010.
Did you get your book cover professionally done or did it you do it yourself?
The podcast cover came from me. Michael Sullivan of Ridan Publishing does my print covers.
Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?
Ridan has one although I’m not sure, exactly what it is. My plan for the podiobooks is to produce it as quickly as possible, get it up onto the podiobooks.com site so that the people who are waiting for it can find it quickly. Then I talk about the production on my blog, tweet about it a bit on twitter, and basically get out of the way and let my fan base talk about it.
Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?
Do it. There’s very little downside any more and there’s no better way to find out if there’s a market for your work than to put it out there and see if you can build one.
You started in Podcasts (is that correct?), is that something that you would recommend to “new indie” authors?
I HIGHLY recommend this. It’s a great way to hone your skills and find an audience before investing time and energy in print work.
Do you think Podcasts are particularly suited to Science Fiction and Fantasy, or any genre?
I think they work for any genre. It’s a chance to return to the oral traditions of story telling.
Do you think reviews and being on book blogs are important?
I think it depends on the blog and where the review is. Some are very influential. It’s not something I pursue, but if it happens, that’s good.
What do you think about pricing – it seems that there’s a whole rush towards .99c?
I think it’s important to keep in mind the goal and that each person’s goal is different. More, each niche and genre — perhaps each book — has a ‘best price’ for whatever the goal is. If the goal is to increase sales, then 99 is a good one. If the goal is to maximize revenues, then it might not be as good. My books are currently selling for 4.95 and I’m very pleased with the level of sales.
More important than price is having a solid platform to leverage. If you have an audience, the demand curve for your work is considerably less price sensitive than if you’re an unknown. That’s where podcasting really helps.
Do you pay much attention to Amazon rankings?
Only my own. I can’t do much about them and a lot of the fluctuation seems to be in factors that are unrelated so sales, but they help me get a feel for how the market is moving. I think the important thing is to get on a genre list that matches your work.
About You
Where did you grow up?
Southern Maine, USA.
Where do you live now?
On the High Plains east of the Rocky Mountains, north east of Denver, Colorado.
What would you like readers to know about you?
I’m something of a contrarian and curmudgeon. I have some odd opinions about stories and story telling and those show up in my writing.
What are you working on now?
A novella to explore part of my Solar Clipper universe that I haven’t written about before and a novel – the sequel to South Coast, a story about a South Coast shaman and a culture based on the idea that “the son of a shaman is a shaman.” I’m also working on getting my next book – Full Share – into text formats and recording a book for an Audible.com producer.
End of Interview
You can buy Quarter Share (Solar Clipper Trader Tales), here
Hot off the Press!!! Full Share has just been released and is on Amazon here
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