This week our On the Spot guest is James Somers, author of The Chronicles of Soone: Heir to the King.

Patrick: I am here with James Somers, whose debut novel The Chronicles of Soone: Heir to the King has recently been released by Breakneck Books. So James, what is this book all about?

James Somers: The book is meant to be an action sci-fi epic in the tradition of Star Wars and so far that appears to be coming across nicely from all the comments I’ve heard. The story revolves around a devastating interplanetary war that has been instigated by cursed spirits. These fallen ones have been curse to exist in half physical forms, a condition repugnant to them, and they are seeking to usurp dominion over all humanity. The protagonist is a young Barudii warrior, Tiet Soone, whose family and entire clan were betrayed and then all but wiped out. The Barudii are psychokinetically enhanced, fierce warriors that served as the guardians of peace between the clans of humanity for millennia. Their absence has allowed the war to rage between the clans and the leader of the fallen ones to gain great power and dominion. As the story begins, young Tiet Soone has returned from exile to avenge his people, but a greater journey awaits him.

Patrick: In reading your first book, the obvious struggle was good versus evil, but I found there to be an underlying theme behind those sides. Can you explain that in a little more detail?

James Somers: The Good characters in the story are actually not all “clearly” good; at least not in the beginning. There are some that seem to be villains, but when the circumstances surrounding their actions becomes more clear, then these characters turn out to be allies. Motives are the big discerning factor, I suppose. We all make choices based upon our circumstances and motives, but if someone doesn’t see it from our perspective then they can’t understand. Tiet Soone has to come to understand why his enemies are his enemies before he can really know how to best deal with them. He matures in the story and we see that process for him–he becomes wiser. Now that’s not to say there aren’t truly some evil characters, because there are. Think Darth Vader, for instance…until we got more insight into Anakin Skywalker and his motives, we just thought he was an archetype for evil.

Patrick: Based on comments from fans, your hope for a story that holds to a tradition of Star Wars is evident. That is a huge statement, especially with Star Wars transcending other tales. How do you feel The Chronicles of Soone matches up to arguably the greatest “space story” ever told?

James Somers: Well, you’re right, Trick, those fan comments are very high praise indeed. I’m a fan of Star Wars and have been. In fact, The Chronicles of Soone actually began as a fan-fiction creative writing story, with Jedi and Sith of my own naming. But after developing the characters a bit, I decided to start over with an original tale for the characters. Now, the Barudii are clearly similar to Force users in Star Wars, but it’s not the Force. Instead it’s a power given them by God as ordained guardians of peace. Also I would point out that the Barudii warriors are more passionate fighters like the Sith than the docile Jedi. Before anyone gets offended by that statement, I only mean that the Barudii are emotional, and passionate warriors, where the Jedi have tried to remove themselves from these things and I think this was why a passionate young man like Anakin had to conceal his emotions, his love and so forth, and it led to his seeking a path with the Dark side because he couldn’t find understanding with the Jedi in these things. The weaponry of the Barudii is a little different, but based on similar ideas. Instead of a beam of light for a sword, I have given them a sword enveloped in a molecular dispersion field; same effect, just trying to appear more science than fantasy. I also try to keep the action pumping and this is a Star Wars quality as well.

Patrick: R. A. Salvatore stated “It’s almost impossible to break in…” in an interview with Jay Tomio of FantasyBookSpot.com in regards to becoming a published author. Looking back on the experience of getting your book published, how was it for you?

James Somers: I’ve actually corresponded a little with R.A. Salvatore and commented on that interview. He’s a very nice man and took time to talk with me, even as a new author. My experience so far has been that Mr. Salvatore is right on target. And the more industry stats I see on book sales and being published, the more right I find him to be. I had a very difficult time finding a home for Chronicles. Most trade publishers are either not accepting unagented submissions or they are swamped with them. And it’s apparently the same with agents. Many don’t accept the kind of story I’ve written–they told me so in my many rejection slips. So, It’s quite difficult. I feel very fortunate to have come into contact with Jeremy Robinson, the author of the bestselling, Didymus Contingency and now Raising the Past. His influence, after reviewing my book, led to a contract with Breakneck Books Publishing. This publisher specializes in the kind of book I’ve written as well as contemporary thrillers and so forth and they gave me a chance. I’ve been very pleased with their work on the book and I look forward to publishing the second Chronicles book, Sons of Perdition, with them in the future. Personally I’ve read a number of awesome books that big publishers, for what ever reason, did not grab up and it’s a shame because they are great stories, yet the authors had to self publish or publish with a small publisher to get out there. It’s still hard though, because these books are not able to get onto bookstore shelves where visibility is the highest, so they will suffer with less sales in most cases; only because they aren’t visible to the public eye in retail bookstores.

Patrick: You mentioned on your blog that you like Sons of Perdition (the second book in the Chronicles of Soone series) more than the first. Why is that? How many books do you foresee being in this series?

James Somers: The reason I say, “I like Sons of Perdition even better,” is basically the same reason I like Empire Strikes Back better than A New Hope. Star Wars: A New Hope is a wonderful movie and it sets the foundation for everything else, but Empire is punchier and builds upon all that ANH set down. In that same way, Sons of Perdition, which is already finished and with my publisher, builds and intensifies what is already laid down in Heir to the King. Empire Strikes Back brought new revelations and tragedy to the Star Wars storyline and Sons of Perdition is very revealing and there will be great tragedy by the end of the book. All is not lost, but everything intensifies greatly and I like that gripping conflict in a story. It’s interesting and compels me to keep reading. At this point I have three books planned, but there are definite possibilities for more. It really depends on how readers respond to the first three, I suppose, since that’s what my publisher is looking at.

Patrick: Per your own statements, Star Wars obviously had a heavy influence on your story. But were there any other factors that played a role?

James Somers: Oh yes, and the main factor being that I am a Christian. I parallel many ideas in Chronicles with the bible…now what do I mean by that? For instance, the story is set in an alternate universe, another creation of God. My fallen ones are basically fallen angels but they have been punished in a different way and have to dwell in partially physical forms among humanity. This allows them to shape the human war in various insidious ways, but it also creates the opportunity for actual physical showdowns with the heroes as well. In the story, God is leading the events by providence and prophecy and this will really become apparent in Sons of Perdition with the introduction of a prophet that is able to shed light on the spiritual conflict playing out behind the scenes. These elements are less pronounced in Heir to the King, but they are there. Everything is meant to build and intensify as the whole story progresses through the books. I also admit that I love a good kung-fu movie and stylized fighting, like you see in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, really shaped my writing for fight scenes. I’m a big sci-fi fan and all sorts of things have probably found their way in.

Patrick: You also mentioned on your blog about putting together a comic proposal. How is that going?

James Somers: The comic book proposal is coming along fine. I managed to team up with a wonderful comic and graphic artist, Ed Watson, who is a graduate of the Joe Kubert School of Comic and Graphic Art. I’ve finished the script writing aspect on our 10 page proposal and Ed is currently doing the panels and pages. We are hoping to submit to Dark Horse Comics, which also handles the Star Wars comic books, by December 31st as part of their “New Recruits” program. It’s a wonderful opportunity and hopefully we’ll make the cut. There are others like Image Comics as well that are possibilities if that doesn’t work out. I’m a very visual person and when I saw Ed’s full color character design for Tiet Soone, I really got excited about getting this comic project published. I’d love to see Chronicles move to other mediums as well including video games and even movies, Lord willing, but we’ll see what happens.

Patrick: Among some future projects that you had mentioned, which I believe is not related to The Chronicles of Soone was Perditions Gate: Escape From New Eden. What is this tale going to involve, and is it going to be a stand alone novel or a piece of another series?

James Somers: Perditions Gate: Escape from New Eden is completely separate from Chronicles and I’m in the middle of it right now. I’m very excited about this one and it is planned as a trilogy also. The story is set in the year 2091 and the background is the biblical tribulation period. People will probably conjure ideas of The Left Behind series when I say that, but it’s really nothing like it. The tribulation judgments happen “matter-of-factly” in the background of the story primarily relayed to the reader as newscasts. The main story revolves around a black ops secret agent named Jason Night, codename: Nightstalker. He’s part of The Organization which is the covert strong arm for a charismatic world leader named Oliver Theed. Theed has taken advantage of the economic collapse of the United States and its ongoing war with various world powers to institute The New Eden Alliance. This conglomeration of newly established mega-cities all around the world and their parent nations are led under this umbrella of peace and power. But nothing is as it seems and Jason soon finds himself a target of The Organization he once served and the black ops team he once led. Perditions Gate is part near future espionage and part religious thriller, but since I’m a sci-fi fan, I had to include some cool tech in the story as well. When I finish this first P.G. novel I will likely write the third installment of The Chronicles of Soone.

Patrick: As a self-pronounced fan of science-fiction, what other authors or series do you enjoy reading?

James Somers: I’m actually finishing Eragon right now. I’m listening to the audio book which is quite good. My drives home from work are more entertaining now. I loved the Star Wars Thrawn series, but it’s been awhile on that one. I really have enjoyed fellow Breakneck Books author, Jeremy Robinson’s Raising the Past. It doesn’t seem sci-fi in the description but it really is an unrelenting page turner. I also very much enjoyed Greg Vilk’s Golem and the wonderful young adult horror novel, The Takers: Book One of the Oz Chronicles, by R.W. Ridley. The funny thing about these books is that they are all small press or self published, but these are some of the best books I’ve ever read! I’ve read Steve Alten’s MEG recently and enjoyed it and I’m waiting for a reserved copy of Star Wars: Path of Destruction, the new Sith novel. I’m hoping to really enjoy that one. Star Wars: Betrayal is waiting in my trunk to be read also, but it’s so hard to find the time to read when I’m in the middle of a novel myself and trying to promote The Chronicles of Soone: Heir to the King; not to mention work full time as a surgical tech, serve as an Assistant Pastor and spend time with my wife and children. oops, I guess I mentioned it. I guess my plate is full at the moment, but I highly recommend those books–very original and page turners, all of them.

Patrick: Now James, it seems like you have a lot of projects on the table at the moment. Do you have a particular schedule that you stick to or do you just write when you feel like it?

James Somers: Yes, the plate is piled high right now. My writing schedule consists of a lot of late night writing and lunch time writing at work. So far I’m finishing a chapter every two days or so. When I write, I do it in scenes; like a movie. I try to come up with something compelling in each scene I write that would make me want to keep reading (and I bore easy). The result with Chronicles is that some have commented the book had enough action for a couple of books. I hope that was a compliment.

Patrick: Other than writing, what hobbies do you partake in?

James Somers: Right now, I’m so busy, I don’t really have any hobbies. I have played guitar and some other instruments for years, but writing has consumed the spare time I used for that. I really enjoy spending time with my wife and children. I’ve got five boys and they demand a lot of attention. So far I still win the wrestling matches on the trampoline, but my day of doom is coming.

Patrick: What is your favorite movie and why?

James Somers: My favorite movie switches often, so I sort of have a favorite of the month. I like action though. Star Wars movies are always good, but I’ve seen them so much it gets old. I really like the CG movies that have been coming out. Monster House was good, Cars and I really love Hoodwinked. It’s hilarious. I’m an Invader Zim fan too. I love cartoons–they relax me. I like my entertainment free from profanity as much as possible and the TV. guardian in my DVD player is set to the limit. It even cuts out stuff from Andy Griffith, but not sure what it is. When I think of a cool style for sci-fi I automatically come back to The Chronicles of Riddick. That movie was really done in a cool way with the effects and such and Vin Diesel makes a good anti-hero.

Patrick: Is there anything you want to say to a reader who is teetering on the fence about purchasing a copy of The Chronicles of Soone: Heir to the King?