First Saturday Sci-Fi - June 2018
Here we are at the beginning of June and the local Cherry Festival is in full swing!! This month we're talking with Stanley C Straub about his Sci-Fi book The Segmented Tail. This story is a gripping Science Fiction suspense thriller written in the vein of a Dean Koontz and Stephen King novel. It starts in the small fictitious town of Bounder, Arizona. Creatures are seen that make screeching sounds and they scare and kill people in Bounder. When people are murdered, two detectives are assigned to investigate. The detectives fear for their lives as they get deeper and deeper into the investigation. What they uncover is something that no one could ever have imagined, aliens created by two animal experts accidentally mixing up
alien DNA with Dinosaur DNA. The story winds its way from beginning to an exciting and unanticipated conclusion.
1) Tell us about your favorite work...what makes it special?
My favorite work is writing. I love writing and especially suspense thrillers. Writing is special because I can completely immerse myself in my work. It is something I can do full-time, part-time, or step away from and take a break. My genre preference is Science Fiction. I've always been interested in science for as far back as I can remember. My father and I talked about space and theories about the universe almost daily. I liked reading Science Fiction books ever since I was old enough to read.
2) What do you think makes for good Sci-Fi?
Good Sci-Fi has speculative future living conditions and mentions items or things that will be used for everyday living in the future. It also has a good story-line and character descriptions. I believe that good Sci-Fi should have a creative believable futuristic story.
3) Do you think your books can help shape the future and if so how?
I don't personally think that my books can help shape the future. I believe that my books can keep people entertained in the future. Some aspects of my books may foretell the future, but I don't believe that they shape it.
4) Do you have inside jokes or true events hidden in your writing?
I do try to inject some humor into my stories and sometimes an inside joke will creep in. I like to have talking or smiling dogs. However, I don't purposely try to hide true events in my stories.
5) Which do you prefer...model your characters after people you know or just make them up?
I prefer to make up my characters. That way I can give them characteristics that are different from living characters. I don't think of a living person and then create that person in my stories. However, with that said, I did characterize myself in one of my books, but I won't say which character or which book.
6) Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to take away?
Not really. Some writers might do that, but I have no hidden messages. I write only for reader's entertainment and not to push a particular personal agenda.
7) What is your favorite review?
I would have to say I have three favorite reviews. The first one I received many years ago and it was from a book publisher, which said my story was too detailed and went off in too many different directions. It was a negative review and it helped shape the way I write. A second review that I liked was from a reviewer that said, she started reviewing my book with little expectations of liking it and then she wrote in big bold words, "BOY WAS I WRONG." Another review that I really liked that had special meaning to me was the one I received from Mark Schultz that wrote a great honest review.
What comes next?
My next book, The Trail in the Woods, a Science Fiction thriller comes next and I'm currently working on it. I expect to have it finished, edited, and published in the next month or so.
Where can we learn more?
You can learn more about me and my writing by visiting my Author's Page on Amazon.com at
https://www.facebook.com/Stan-Straub-Author 148170742511131/
Twitter @Faststan
https://www.amazon.com/Segmented-Tail-Stanley-C-Straub/dp/1983646377/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1527984921&sr=1-1
