First Saturday Sci-Fi May 2018

Here we are in May... time to blow up that pool ! This month we're talking with Dalton Cortner all the way from Pennsylvania !!

1. Tell us about your favorite work… what makes it special ?

That's tough to say. Right now my only published work is "The Athena Operation", but I'm almost done with its sequel (due for release this year) and I have tried to up the ante in nearly every aspect, so I want to say it's going to be my favorite and better. I always try to push forward and move from book to book with an intent and purpose, but the one common theme is I'm always trying to improve and challenge myself to be better. To answer the question, though, I'll have to say "The Athena Operation" for now because it's my only published work, but that will change very shortly!

2. What do you think makes for good Sci-Fi ?

I think it's a potent mix of seeing things we don't necessarily have access to right now intertwined with problems and challenges that we face on our own. Having likable characters in a world that isn't like this one can be a really tough challenge, and I think it's something truly special when an author can make us truly identify with someone even though they might not be like us or even our species.

Then, there's the setting. Sci fi has always had such potential for setting that a lot of other genres don't. When an author crafts an extraordinary world (or worlds) that is a unique place with memorable sights to behold as we read through the novel, it's always fantastic. The sci-fi aspect of it shouldn't just play the background, either. Having it tie into the story either through technology, discovery, or what have you is just as integral.

3. Do you think your books can help shape the future and if so how?

I don't know if they will, but I certainly hope not! Unfortunately, the way things are in "The Athena Operation" isn't how I'd like to see humanity in the near future. I think that part of me writing it was trying to portray a very horrific scenario, but in a world that could be conceivable not too far from now. Is it possible? I suppose, but I hope that nobody reads my book and comes away wishing for the world to become like it is in that novel.

I have some neat technologies in there and some alien species that I personally find fascinating, but the circumstances would certainly not be ideal.

4. Do you have inside jokes or true events hidden in your writing?

I think every author ends up cementing fractions of themselves in their writing, whether it's in the form of inside jokes or true events or just character traits. I don't have any specific inside jokes per se but there's certainly some "true events" in the sense that I base some of the character's stories off of my own past. It's never in a direct way though. Most of my characters are war-weary soldiers and I don't have any experience in that field, but a lot of their history and who they are have some neat little intertwines with some of my personal experiences.

I'll give you an example. One of the main characters is a teenager who really struggles to find his place while the war is going on. He ends up not always telling the truth about who he is or where he's from. That's something based off of a very real event that took place when I was 9 years old. I wasn't in a war and I wasn't fighting for survival, but my family moved and I really struggled with finding a way to fit in with people and would often end up exaggerating things to make myself fit in more just so I wasn't left out.

5. Which do you prefer… model your characters after people you know or just make them up?

I like to mix those two. Part of the pull of sci-fi to me is the idea of these larger-than-life characters. But giving it all a human element, and especially making the characters flawed and relatable, is incredibly important. So there are absolutely things I draw from as far as people I know, myself, and situations I've encountered. At the same time, a lot of the traits my characters have are significantly different than anything I've encountered and those are some of the funnest to write.

6. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to take away?

I think it's important for each reader to draw their own conclusions from the story. I had a whole lot of different things going on during the writing phase and a lot of that bled through into the writing, but each character's arc kind of ends in a different way and has its own message. Some are more hopeful, and some are more bleak. Ultimately, I want everyone to decide for themselves what the message of this story is, because the way I wrote it, there isn't a black-and-white lesson to be learned.

7. What is your favorite review?

That's a tough one to answer. I try not to be, but I'll always be a perfectionist. I'm thankful that most of my reviews offer both pros and cons. I enjoy that. If someone can tell me what worked for them and what didn't work for them, and not just leave me a rating, I appreciate it all the more. I like to know what my readers enjoyed. I don't write for good reviews, but a detailed critical review is always more helpful than meaningless praise. But I'm also thankful enough to have gotten some legitimate reviews that heavily praised my work, and it's always nice to see that as well. But to answer the question, I don't have a specific favorite per se, but instead I just really appreciate detailed and insightful feedback.

What comes next?

I'm proud to announce here that the sequel to "The Athena Operation" will be debuting later this year. I can't confirm a specific time, but it's definitely coming. It's similar in a lot of ways to the first book, but much broader in scope and it has a new perspective I think fans of the first novel will truly appreciate. We hit the ground running in the sequel, but there's also a lot more substance to the novel—you're going to see these characters exposed to situations they were never exposed to in the first book.

Where can we learn more?

Definitely check me out at my site www.daltoncortner.com and you can always hit me up on Twitter

https://twitter.com/@daltoncortner