Please welcome to my blog, Jennifer Anne Seidler, science fiction author of Dry Land.
Blurb:
When mankind toys with nature, nature fights back. Astronaut Ted "Shakespeare" Hardiston is setting off on the adventure of a lifetime -- for the rest of his life. He reluctantly leaves behind his wife, an android/human hybrid, to command the first base on the surface of the moon. Ted and the crew of Space Shuttle Liberty complete their mission, gifting the Moon with gravity and an atmosphere. In doing so, they cause mass destruction on the Earth below. By Ted's side during this ordeal is Codie-5, another hybrid and a genetic duplicate of Ted's wife. Ted, Codie, and the crew must work fast and make sacrifices to save the world -- and for Ted, to return to the love of his life.
Excerpt:
I twisted my body around, easing back on the suit’s throttle, and watched, with a combination of fascination, awe, and abject terror as Liberty coasted in its lower orbit away from us.
I stayed there for a long moment, my arms waving as if I were swimming, treading water in the wide oceans of space. The Earth curved beneath me in a striking parabolic arc -- the whites of the clouds and the blue of the oceans, the greens and browns of the land, and the purplish mist of the stratosphere simply drew out the deepest awe within me; took my breath away in a metaphorical sense.
We passed over Europe. I caught sight of England, and gasped. I always did. Couldn’t help myself.
The moon lay behind me, immense, bright, shining silver and grey and white; the faintest rainbow of sunlight shimmering at its north polar region.
This was, and always has been, the most beautiful thing mankind could ever see, and I was blessed and deeply honoured to be able to see it.
“Singh to Hardiston,” Jeremiah said. “It’s weird out here, isn’t it?”
“I think it lovely,” I replied. “If I had the time and the means I’d float out here as long as possible. Maybe forever, if I could.”
“You’re an odd fucking bird, Shakespeare.”
“You’re only noticing that now, Singh?” I laughed. “Engage your thrusters, friend, we’ve a moon to transform.”
Video Trailer:
You can get Dry Land here:
Amazon
Audible
Bio:
Jennifer Anne Seidler lives with her husband, three children, dog, chickens, rabbits and one very cute (according to her daughter) hamster on the shores of the scenic Wisconsin River. She is an alumna of Millikin University where she studied theater and creative writing, as well as DePaul University where she earned her Juris Doctor. She is a brown-stripe belt, next stop black belt in American Taekwondo. Jenn's technical and scholarly work has been printed in publications such as the DePaul Law Review, the FDCC Quarterly, and Fire and Arson Investigator. Jenn has been writing stories for as long as she can remember, but "Dry Land" is her first foray into the world of published fiction.
Interview:
1. Your book looks really interesting. It's the kind of "real" Science Fiction I rarely see anymore. Tell us about your early reading influences and what led you to write in this genre.
1. Your book looks really interesting. It's the kind of "real" Science Fiction I rarely see anymore. Tell us about your early reading influences and what led you to write in this genre.
Thanks! I don't know if Dry Land really stems from any of my early reading influences. Those were mostly Nancy Drew and Meg mysteries. :) But more recently I've read a lot of Diana Gabaldon and Jasper Fforde. What I enjoy about those is they are reality based with a dose of fantasy mixed into it. It's as if they take our world and make it more interesting, peel those layers back. I really enjoy reality based sci fi. Most recently, I read "The Martian" by Andy Weir (albeit I read it after I released Dry Land) and that story was exactly up my alley. While I do love, and I mean love, the made up worlds, the stories that take our world and envision a future (such as Star Trek) and that are rife with possibilities are the stories that really draw me in.
2. I notice you have some terrific reviews and a lot of them are verified purchase. What's the secret?
I don't know if there's a secret. :) Perhaps it's because the book is priced as low as it is (only fair as it's a novella), or that I've had a few successful weekends of free giveaways using the KDP Select feature. Dry Land did get to #2 in Science Fiction Romance and #3 in Hard Science Fiction free during their free weekends. Many of the reviewers did download Dry Land during those periods. I've been really happy with the reviews thus far. Even the negative reviews have been really, really helpful to me -- especially those that pick apart the science.
3. What led to your decision to self-publish. Did you try to find an agent or publisher first?
I did not. I looked into self publication from the get go. Maybe with my next one I'll try to find an agent, but I really wanted the control over the work and the writing and the editing process. I know that the marketing and sales is a tradeoff, but I never really went into this venture to make a mint. I wanted to do something for me, something I've always wanted to do in writing and publishing a book. And I did just that. :)
4. What have you learned since you first published your book that you wish you knew beforehand?
Going off the last answer... just how much work goes into the marketing aspect of it. But it's fun.
5. For those that are reading about your book, what would you say to them to try and convince them to give it a try?
It depends on who is asking. I like to think that there is at least something to appeal to lots of readers in my story - whether they like space travel or artificial intelligence or intrigue or global disaster or romance or a little sex, or politics, or terraforming, or humor, or a good cry, or that moment when you scream at me - "oh no you didn't!" (quoting Cheri Lasota, LOL). There's a lot packed into a shorter read or listen. I know it could have been longer, but I wanted to create something someone could be immersed in for a few hours and let it stick with them for longer. I can only hope I've done it.
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