Today we have the author of ALONE ON THE EDGE on the blog, and he brought a copy of his book to giveaway, just comment for a chance to win.
Liana: Welcome to the blog! I’m so excited to read your new book, can you tell us a little bit about it in under 200 words?
Patrick: ALONE IN PARADISE picks up almost immediately where ALONE ON THE EDGE leaves off. Anna has crash-landed on the Earth-like moon she discovered and now struggles to survive in an alien wilderness while trying to repair the ship and return home. As she does so, she uncovers some of the moon’s secrets and quickly learns that she is not as alone as she originally thought. Fights against alien creatures and a harrowing encounter with space pirates push Anna to her limits and threaten her very existence before we reach the exciting climax in the second book of the trilogy.
Liana: Tell us a little about Anna, your main character, what kind of person is she?
Patrick: In general, Anna a warm, kind person who is highly skilled with machines. At least, she seems that way during the prologue of the first book. As time goes on, we find that her patience has grown thin when it comes to computers that talk back. Although her talents lie are more technical in nature, she does have a more artistic side to her. She enjoys a wide variety of music and has an appreciation of the visual arts, some of which can be seen throughout the first book. Needless to say, Anna is an extreme introvert; she would have to be to survive being by herself for an extended period of time.
Liana: In your synopsis you mention that Anna does some “creative reprogramming” of a computer, where did this idea come from? Do you have a temperamental computer at home?
Patrick: Yeah, I suppose “creative reprogramming” is a term for what she does. I have a technical side to me as well. I have repaired computers and a variety of household appliances. In that regard, I suppose you could say that Anna and I have a lot in common. (Write what you know. Right?) My history with computer repair definitely came into play when I wrote that particular scene. As for temperamental computers at home, I do have one where the mouse will either double- and triple-click anytime a single-click is done or not click anything at all. Needless to say, it can be really frustrating when playing World of Warcraft.
Liana: Where did you get the idea for Anna’s story?
Patrick: A lot of Anna’s story came out of the dark recesses of my head. For most of my life, I have been an avid player of tabletop roleplaying games, such as Dungeons & Dragons. In fact, I spend more time as a game master than a player. Through those experiences, I developed an ability to create plotlines on-the-fly and make them stick. The idea behind the first novel started as an experiment, asking “What if I put a woman by herself on a space station in the middle of nowhere?” The rest, after drafting a rough outline, simply used my roleplaying skills to fill in the details and move the story on from there. The second and third books are following the same basic process. As it is now, an idea for a fourth, originally unplanned novel is assembling in my head.
Liana: Is there any other projects on the horizon or good news you’d like to tell us about?
Patrick: In addition to the third (and possibly fourth) novel I mentioned earlier, I have plans for two other books, one of which will be set in the same universe as the Chronicles of Anna Foster series. I also like to keep my hand in game designing, like I did when I wrote for the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, Saga Edition. My current project involves creating products for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game through Super Genius Games. As an added plus, I fully designed the board game Anna played in my first book. It is called Datsu-Shutsu! and is available as a free download through my website.
Liana: Thank you so much for coming!
After accepting a job as a robotic engineer that sends her to a mining station at the edge of explored space, Anna Foster finds that her position is not what she expects and must adjust to life as the only living being aboard, struggling to keep her freedom and her sanity while a relentless computer lords over her existence.
On Good Reads, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble (available in both e-book and paperback)
Ohh, sounds interesting!
ReplyDelete