Ask the Author: Stephen W. Bennett
Answered Questions (27)
Stephen W. Bennett
For alien worlds and species that live there I use terms like "orbits" for a year, cycle for a day, because otherwise I'd have to explain the orbital and rotational periods for no useful gain to the reader. When I have planets that orbit a red dwarf or similar, the cooler star moves the habitable zone in, for shorter years. Tidal drag from a closer star might slow the planetary rotation. I don't want to explain all that, so Orbits and Cycles serve. Using minutes or hours works for my humans, but for an alien it's harder. I think researching info about exoplanets, their mass, and the type stars they orbit helps me build a picture of how their society might be influenced, and what a species might look like that lives there. That said, it's still fiction! :-)
Stephen W. Bennett
Thanks, Karen. We both have had some health challenges. Hers is ongoing, mine was a clumsy accident that gave me a concussion and beautiful shiner (purple looks good on me), 13 lucky stitches in my right hand, and a bruised chest and right knee. That cost me several weeks of restricted activity. I have done a bit of writing, and my next Kobani book is at nearly 95,000 words. When I finish the chapter I'm on, and one more, I'll get a cover made and proofreading and editing done. The Kobani are venturing into the Andromeda Galaxy using a loaned wormhole transportation system, going as protection for the Olt'kitapi on a subtle and long term project supported by the more gentle elevated species. The local residents are not all that friendly, and one set wants the intruders dead. That's a bad idea. The older elevated species that arose from more aggressive peoples might not support the plan the Olt'kitapi and Kobani have agreed to implement. That could get tricky.
Stephen W. Bennett
Thanks for reading my stories. I have a follow on book at ~81,000 words (~80% finished) that tells how the Kobani are doing 300 years later. It is Koban Universe 3: Galactic Police Force. Moving to a smaller house, and my wife is in a hospital for a week days so writing is paused for now, but I will finish it when I can.
Stephen W. Bennett
It proved to be a tactic that only worked until the new and unsuspecting target species discovered that a rapid shutdown and redeploy of the trap fields reset the ability to capture low energy tachyons for a short Jump to escape. I had a short description of that solution by the PU military in book 2, when the story line cycled between Koban and the PU. However, the paragraph appears to have been edited out when I tried to shorten the second book to counter complaints I explained too much. :-)
Mirikami almost tried the reset in Book 1, but he'd wasted so much time in analyzing what had happened that he let the single ships draw closer, and they had promised to destroy his passenger ship if he reset the trap fields. If in the military, he'd have done it anyway with no passengers to protect. He had no expectation that being captured was effectively a death sentence, since the Krall were an unknown factor. I did give it some thought, and decided it wasn't an effective long-term tactic if you knew the solution. The Krall preyed on species with less experience, and who were less warlike. Humans learned faster, and are rather good at war (unfortunately for us, in our real world).
Mirikami almost tried the reset in Book 1, but he'd wasted so much time in analyzing what had happened that he let the single ships draw closer, and they had promised to destroy his passenger ship if he reset the trap fields. If in the military, he'd have done it anyway with no passengers to protect. He had no expectation that being captured was effectively a death sentence, since the Krall were an unknown factor. I did give it some thought, and decided it wasn't an effective long-term tactic if you knew the solution. The Krall preyed on species with less experience, and who were less warlike. Humans learned faster, and are rather good at war (unfortunately for us, in our real world).
Stephen W. Bennett
I wanted a deadly and intelligent Koban predator that humans needed to fear, and that even the strong and fast aliens (The Krall) that captured my characters would fear. I thought first of tigers, but as the idea matured, I wanted a society of tigers, more like a pride of lions so that it wouldn’t be a single or only a mated pair of tigers in the story.
To provide for a means of learning about one another, humans and rippers needed to communicate quickly enough for the story plot to evolve in less than a lifetime, and telepathy was the means I selected to speed that along. I didn’t invent that idea, I recalled the Beast Master TV series, and the Andre Norton book, which had a man that communicated telepathically with animals. I’m constrained by a scientific sense of responsibility to my stories (with limits, of course), and decided a broadcast mental signal was improbable and has never been detected in humans. That left me with the superconducting nervous systems of all life on Koban for inspiration.
Rippers employed their superconducting nerves along with a mutation in their brains that allowed thought exchanges via physical contact. I devised a means for how this could happen for the rippers. The nerve sensitive neck ruff was where the most sensitive area would be, because that is where contact with a prey animal was likely to happen as the jaws bit down and the animal struggled to escape. I extrapolated how the minds of rippers might have evolved to employ this ability, and what it would do for the personality and eventual culture of an intelligent and self-aware predator who killed to survive, but experienced the pain and terror of the prey animals. In a balance of nature, wanton killing is bad for predators when prey becomes scarce and their cubs starve.
After that, I had rippers meet humans, who are noted for their mental gymnastics, and deceptions. When the Kobani gained ripper telepathy, it modified them mentally. They killed an enemy to survive, but became more honest and moral as they did so.
Intelligence guided ripper notions of the circle of life, to kill and eat, but never wastefully, and to crave the hunt and thrill of the kill, but not only for the pleasure of the deaths. They don’t waste what they need to survive. The lifetimes of shared thoughts handed down meant that the concept of lying and mental concealment would be unknown to them, and were undesirable traits for raising their cubs to be open to the parents. They became innately “honest,” even painfully so to a human, with their blunt assessments of us.
To provide for a means of learning about one another, humans and rippers needed to communicate quickly enough for the story plot to evolve in less than a lifetime, and telepathy was the means I selected to speed that along. I didn’t invent that idea, I recalled the Beast Master TV series, and the Andre Norton book, which had a man that communicated telepathically with animals. I’m constrained by a scientific sense of responsibility to my stories (with limits, of course), and decided a broadcast mental signal was improbable and has never been detected in humans. That left me with the superconducting nervous systems of all life on Koban for inspiration.
Rippers employed their superconducting nerves along with a mutation in their brains that allowed thought exchanges via physical contact. I devised a means for how this could happen for the rippers. The nerve sensitive neck ruff was where the most sensitive area would be, because that is where contact with a prey animal was likely to happen as the jaws bit down and the animal struggled to escape. I extrapolated how the minds of rippers might have evolved to employ this ability, and what it would do for the personality and eventual culture of an intelligent and self-aware predator who killed to survive, but experienced the pain and terror of the prey animals. In a balance of nature, wanton killing is bad for predators when prey becomes scarce and their cubs starve.
After that, I had rippers meet humans, who are noted for their mental gymnastics, and deceptions. When the Kobani gained ripper telepathy, it modified them mentally. They killed an enemy to survive, but became more honest and moral as they did so.
Intelligence guided ripper notions of the circle of life, to kill and eat, but never wastefully, and to crave the hunt and thrill of the kill, but not only for the pleasure of the deaths. They don’t waste what they need to survive. The lifetimes of shared thoughts handed down meant that the concept of lying and mental concealment would be unknown to them, and were undesirable traits for raising their cubs to be open to the parents. They became innately “honest,” even painfully so to a human, with their blunt assessments of us.
Stephen W. Bennett
My biggest complaint after becoming a writer, is that I have nearly ceased to be a reader. Between work and writing, I put in 60 hour weeks, and have little time left for reading. I still follow Taylor Anderson's Destroyer Man series, an alternate/world/history tale. I also pick up stray books from writers I like, such as John Scalzi's (The Collapsing Empire). I like Orson Scot Card's Enders universe stories. I read each new book of David Drake's RCN MILITARY SF SERIES with Captain Leary and officer Mundy. From time to time, an individual book from writers I've not read will appeal to me. Aliens and first contact, military SF. I don't have books planned out to read. I'm an opportunist, and seek stories I might like.
Stephen W. Bennett
I don't see mystery in my own life. Nothing suitable for a book, in my opinion. I have a logical mind, but I don't plan everything I do, yet I do follow a general life plan where I prepare for low points so they don't lay me low. To some that know me, it seems good fortune (called "luck" to those that don't prepare) follows me. If a good opportunity arises, and I'm able to take advantage, that isn't luck. If misfortune comes, and I'm able to overcome that with little loss, that isn't luck either.
If my life were too full of personal mystery, something mysterious would happen to me and mine, far too often.
I'm enthralled by the mystery of how the Universe works, and what it contains, but I read daily the threads of many branches of science, and follow the explorations. Those are the mysteries of my mind, and they apply no more to me than to anyone. However, not everyone pays attention, and things that are NOT a mystery, like climate change, are too easily dismissed by those too incurious to learn, and so it seems mysterious to them, and "bad luck" for the world. That is but one example of so many, which willfully ignorant people claim are unpredictable mysteries, and they remain unprepared for what will clearly happen if they stay willfully ignorant.
If my life were too full of personal mystery, something mysterious would happen to me and mine, far too often.
I'm enthralled by the mystery of how the Universe works, and what it contains, but I read daily the threads of many branches of science, and follow the explorations. Those are the mysteries of my mind, and they apply no more to me than to anyone. However, not everyone pays attention, and things that are NOT a mystery, like climate change, are too easily dismissed by those too incurious to learn, and so it seems mysterious to them, and "bad luck" for the world. That is but one example of so many, which willfully ignorant people claim are unpredictable mysteries, and they remain unprepared for what will clearly happen if they stay willfully ignorant.
Stephen W. Bennett
Thanks, I'm happy you enjoy them.
I have passed the 80, 500 word point. That is as long (or longer) as the majority of novels on Amazon, but I always exceed that level, and I will do so this time.
I have passed the 80, 500 word point. That is as long (or longer) as the majority of novels on Amazon, but I always exceed that level, and I will do so this time.
Stephen W. Bennett
Of the Sci-Fi I've read, I've not found very many couples, at least that I can recall . I wanted such funny he/she interactions in my stories, so I created them. I do see such amusing interplay in my own life, and with my sons and their wives, so I write sharper versions of their lighthearted teasing, and joking, into my stories. It's often corny, or comprised of puns, but it's how we kid each other, and sound like we're threatening (if all you did was hear the words), but it's harmless and results in laughs. I take it as well as I dish it, or else it wouldn't be much fun.
Stephen W. Bennett
Thanks,
I'm not very hopeful that we will find ways to create artificial gravity, since I believe it will involve some means to warp space-time enough to do that, which involves a great deal of mass. I give my story that means, via catching high energy tachyons, and warping our space-time, but doing it precisely enough to control it on different decks of a ship, is a stretch of the imagination even greater than catching a tachyon. However, I need my characters to be able to travel between the stars, and survive the accelerations involved.
I'm not very hopeful that we will find ways to create artificial gravity, since I believe it will involve some means to warp space-time enough to do that, which involves a great deal of mass. I give my story that means, via catching high energy tachyons, and warping our space-time, but doing it precisely enough to control it on different decks of a ship, is a stretch of the imagination even greater than catching a tachyon. However, I need my characters to be able to travel between the stars, and survive the accelerations involved.
Stephen W. Bennett
Holidays, travel, and wife's illness set me back a bit, but I'm at the 50,000+ word level on Book 7 (no title yet).
The Federation is drawing the PU into the war (they send some of their own Kobani), but capability, and prior experience fighting as a Kobani, are not the same thing. They learn fast however. The three security forces find out what they will face if they obey the Thandol, and the Thandol learn as well.
The Federation is drawing the PU into the war (they send some of their own Kobani), but capability, and prior experience fighting as a Kobani, are not the same thing. They learn fast however. The three security forces find out what they will face if they obey the Thandol, and the Thandol learn as well.
Stephen W. Bennett
Book 6 is currently at 99,152 words, and I think about 80% complete. That would make the book ~120K to 125K words long (if that estimate holds true). I should finish before mid September, POSSIBLY in August. I'll post on FB for the series, and on my author's page in Amazon for Book 6's publication date (Koban: Conflict and Empire).
This will be somewhat shorter than the other books in the series, and priced accordingly. Shorter is relative, since most novels on Amazon are around 65K to 85K words in length. I wrote K2:Have Genes, Will Travel between book 5 and 6 (107K words), so this has pushed back the next series book. I'm trying to shift to writing "long" books versus "very" long books, in order to have new installments published more frequently.
This will be somewhat shorter than the other books in the series, and priced accordingly. Shorter is relative, since most novels on Amazon are around 65K to 85K words in length. I wrote K2:Have Genes, Will Travel between book 5 and 6 (107K words), so this has pushed back the next series book. I'm trying to shift to writing "long" books versus "very" long books, in order to have new installments published more frequently.
Stephen W. Bennett
Thanks. Although, producing more books per year with the same continuing story might keep the wait time down. :-)
Stephen W. Bennett
Thanks Brandon. I was on travel this week for work (I write part time). I'm over 80,000 words on Book 6, which is as long as most novels are, but shorter than I normally write. I'm yielding to reader requests to get new stories out sooner, so I'll make them a bit shorter and price them lower. I hope to have the next series book out before, or by mid September. I wrote Have Genes Will Travel after Book 5 (that was 107,000 words) which put me behind for Book 6. Then my wife and I both had some health issues that kept me from the computer for a couple of weeks (accumulated time). I have a week of vacation this week (my grandkids may keep me too pooped to write very much at night). However, I have some interesting alien's to meet yet, and some internal conflict to foment within the Empire, so I have more to write on this book. I posted a short excerpt on my Amazon page, for the Book 6 discussion thread, about a week ago.
Audio books typically are finished about 90 days after the eBook is published.
Audio books typically are finished about 90 days after the eBook is published.
Stephen W. Bennett
Most of all I liked Robert Heinlein's books, Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, Harry Harrison, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and in more recent times, John Scalzi and Orson Scott Card in particular, then David Drake, Taylor Anderson, and John Ringo. There were some individual books I liked a lot, but the author didn't have much else to offer, such as Warren Fahy with Fragment: A Novel. I enjoyed many dozens of others, but I wouldn't consider them an influence. Heinlein was the first and best I read, although much of his early work is now dated (Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Have Space Suit Will Travel), which were prior to the space age, and I was a teen.
Stephen W. Bennett
Gabriel, I have no editor to replace. Without a publishing house, I don't have one on tap to use. I have volunteer proofreaders (beta readers), who are fans of the series, which report goofs to me that they encountered before publication, and then I get added reports from readers after the initial release (like yours).
I appreciated your pointing out some of the errors for me, and I fixed ~15 examples of misuse of words (2/3 of those were capitol vs. capital). Those are now in Edition 3 on Amazon. There were many more corrections made before proofreading, such as my typing "that" when I meant "than" and stray omissions of "a," "of,” "and" or other words that were dropped when a paragraph or sentence is incompletely revised after backspacing. As a self-taught, two fingered typist (word mangler is more apt), I manufacture goofs as I hasten my typing speed, trying to get the books finished on time (as promised).
I'd welcome a publishing house contract, but I don't think I sell enough books to interest them, and I'm not a celebrity writer or infamous. I'm currently ranked #48 of the best selling SF authors (as I type this), and that's a reflection of the new book sales. As that rush of sales declines over time, so will my ranking. The same as for every author, including the best of the lot. It's "What have you published lately?"
I appreciated your pointing out some of the errors for me, and I fixed ~15 examples of misuse of words (2/3 of those were capitol vs. capital). Those are now in Edition 3 on Amazon. There were many more corrections made before proofreading, such as my typing "that" when I meant "than" and stray omissions of "a," "of,” "and" or other words that were dropped when a paragraph or sentence is incompletely revised after backspacing. As a self-taught, two fingered typist (word mangler is more apt), I manufacture goofs as I hasten my typing speed, trying to get the books finished on time (as promised).
I'd welcome a publishing house contract, but I don't think I sell enough books to interest them, and I'm not a celebrity writer or infamous. I'm currently ranked #48 of the best selling SF authors (as I type this), and that's a reflection of the new book sales. As that rush of sales declines over time, so will my ranking. The same as for every author, including the best of the lot. It's "What have you published lately?"
Stephen W. Bennett
Thomas, I'm hoping to get the eBook published by the end of July/Early August. The audio book "usually" waits for sales to prove it is worth a bonus from Audible, paid only to the narrator/producer, of $100 per finished hour (max $2500) to finish in 60 days. Waiting for eBook sales is a pain, since they don't tell you how long to wait, or what sales level must be reached. The book you are listening to NEVER got that bonus, even though all books before that one did. I suspect they are confident the series will continue, and keep selling well, so..., no stipend needed for the narrator to get him to work faster. I may try to get the audio book started sooner, after consulting with Eric, my narrator. However, it still takes ALL of 60 days, with editing, to get this done. A publishing house would coordinate the dual release, but then simply hold the eBook until all parts were ready for release (no actual time savings).
Stephen W. Bennett
Surely it was! Although I didn't mention a tall hairy companion, since those aliens haven't appeared yet in this story, although they might somewhere, in a galaxy far far away.
Stephen W. Bennett
Wayne, before I start each book I have a rough outline of where the story is going to go, but as random inspiration strikes, I might divert to a side stream before coming back to the main stream story of the outline. I often have done research on physics, biology, astronomy, or a culture, that flesh out the outline so I have it at hand while I write. That doesn't always make it into the book. If a neat solution to a problem I've posed (or inadvertently created) comes to me, I change the story on the fly, even if I need to backup to incorporate the idea earlier, or set up the "problem" better that I'll solve. Breakthroughs in Sci-Fi come more often than in the real world. But if we suddenly mixed older civilizations, with different insights and technology with ours, and if we had perfect wolfbat memory storage with a Mind Tap ability, I think new breakthroughs (new to humans, anyway) would come far faster than those we think of on our own, from our single species perspective.
Stephen W. Bennett
You likely already know this by now, but Book 4 appeared on Audible on 4/16/15, late in the day (today is 4/24). For now it's rated as the best seller in Contemporary Sci-Fi in the last 90 days of books >20 hours, and rated at 4.8 stars. I confess to being thrilled at how well its being received and reviewed. Eric Summerer did a fine job bringing the story to life. When you give it a listen, kindly reward Eric with a rating and a review. I like them too. :-)
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