UFI welcomes Authors AdriAnne Strickland + Michael Miller. Thanks for Joining us!!
What can you tell my readers about yourself that they might not know from looking on your bio or reading in another interview?
AdriAnne: I love to play video games, if I don’t always have much time. My current favorites are the Witcher III and Final Fantasy XV, and my forever-favorite is Skyrim.
Michael: I grew up on horseback, so I ended up really loving horses. One of my many potential alternate careers would involve them somehow. I haven’t figured out how to work spaceicorns into the series yet, but mark my words, if I could, I would.
What do you enjoy doing on your down time?
AdriAnne: Gaming (see above), reading, hiking, figure drawing, dancing, and the occasional TV show binge-watching.
Michael: Whenever I have actual downtime, it takes the form of either a lot of time spent outdoors being as active as possible, or time indoors being as inactive as possible. My wife and I love to hike and canoe, and if I’m indoors I’ll be playing Starcraft with friends or attempting to catch up on Dr. Who. Reading is on the list, of course, and if you start playing music, I’ll dance. It’s an unfortunate compulsion.
What is your Favorite part of writing?
AdriAnne: Creating worlds. There’s nothing more thrilling and fulfilling than playing god!
Michael: The moment you hit your stride, the floodgates open, and you’re no longer fighting yourself. It’s a struggle for me to get there, but it’s almost physical relief afterwards.
Do you have any certain routines you must follow as you write?
AdriAnne: Wake up, work out, dink around on social media for an hour or so in an attempt to get focused, and then write all day in a quiet spot in my house with many tea/coffee refills.
Michael: It seems that after work, and everyone has gone to sleep, I’ll sit and stare at the screen, planning to pound out a few pages by a reasonable hour. At 1 am, I’ll have written a page. Then somewhere around 2 am my brain finally kicks into gear. I don’t know if it’s being tired or the length of time staring at a page, but it’s fairly predictable.
What are some of your Favorite books or Authors in the Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Genres?
AdriAnne: Neil Gaiman, particularly his AMERICAN GODS, and the LUCIFER graphic novels, both the original and the reboot, by Mike Carey, Holly Black, and Richard Kadrey.
Michael: Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files and Robin McKinley’s SUNSHINE, absolutely. I’m excited to dig into the EVERYTHING BOX by Richard Kadrey next.
How would you pitch SHADOW RUN to someone who has not heard of it before?
Firefly meets DUNE with a pinch of Star Wars on top!
Can you tell us a little bit about the world that SHADOW RUN is set in?
It’s set so far in the future that the technology to reach other galaxies has been lost and civilization has collapsed into what amounts as another Dark Age—though it’s still one far more technologically advanced than we are now! There are royal families that control different planetary systems, unfairly colonized worlds, mining drones that no one knows how to control anymore, and the ruins of great portals that once connected this galaxy to others long gone. Oh, and there are swords in space.
Do you have a favorite scene in SHADOW RUN?
We share the same one. With minimal spoilers, it’s when Qole, our seventeen year old starship captain, finds herself very out of her element on a world very different from her own. It’s really fun making incredibly confident characters into fish out of water.
Which one character out of all your books was your favorite to write about? What about the hardest to write about?
AdriAnne: Basra was my favorite, our genderfluid accountant. I haven’t had a character I’ve loved more. S/he was also the hardest to get right!
Michael: Telu, because HACKER. It was also just nice to write someone who perpetually refuses to be appropriate.
What Other Projects can we look forward to reading from you?
Book 2 in this series (Kaitan Chronicles) will be out in a year. We’re working on copy edits right now, and also starting Book 3!
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Shadow RunKaitan Chronicles #1
"Firefly" meets DUNE in this action-packed sci-fi adventure about a close-knit, found family of a crew navigating a galaxy of political intrigue and resource-driven power games.
Nev has just joined the crew of the starship Kaitan Heritage as the cargo loader. His captain, Qole, is the youngest-ever person to command her own ship, but she brooks no argument from her crew of orphans, fugitives, and con men. Nev can’t resist her, even if her ship is an antique.
As for Nev, he’s a prince, in hiding on the ship. He believes Qole holds the key to changing galactic civilization, and when her cooperation proves difficult to obtain, Nev resolves to get her to his home planet by any means necessary.
But before they know it, a rival royal family is after Qole too, and they’re more interested in stealing her abilities than in keeping her alive.
Nev’s mission to manipulate Qole becomes one to save her, and to survive, she’ll have to trust her would-be kidnapper. He may be royalty, but Qole is discovering a deep reservoir of power—and stars have mercy on whoever tries to hurt her ship or her crew.
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