Danielle Ackley-McPhail has talked to Jack Campbell about his new novel The Sister Paradox.
The Sister Paradox is a very different novel from those you’ve written before, where did the inspiration come from? Please tell us a bit about the book.
One day out of the clear blue I imagined a scene where a boy who doesn’t have a sister gets into trouble at school because of his sister. I liked the idea, but it wasn’t a story yet. I tried to figure out where the sister could have come from and what she was doing. Why would she be looking for her brother? Well, there must be a quest involved. The brother isn’t happy to have a sister show up out of nowhere, but he figures going along on the quest will get rid of her. He doesn’t realize that she isn’t just live action role playing with her sword. She really does come from a place where fantasy creatures roam, and the brother has little but his own knowledge of movies and TV to help him survive as his little sister drags him into confrontations with things like dragons.
How difficult was it for you to switch gears from military science fiction to YA fantasy?
Not too difficult. My stories are always built on a foundation of assuming that they are showing something that is really happening or could really happen. So, how could a fantasy scenario like that work? Figuring out the rules of the world is important, because knowing what people can do is one thing, but what often drives the hard decisions is what people can’t do, so they have to do the best they can. As far as YA, I hope I’ve been able to hold on that kid I was, and writers like Andre Norton have always been among my favorites.
Do you have any other series in a fantasy setting?
Funny you should ask! The Pillars of Reality series (which begins with The Dragons of Dorcastle) has been called “YA Dystopian Steampunk Fantasy SciFi Action-Adventure Romance” or more simply steampunk meets high fantasy. It’s the sort of blend of science and fantasy that used to be more common and lets me have fun with the story while also challenging the characters a bit more.
Can you tell us a bit about your short fiction works?
They are all over the place. Time travel, alternate history, space opera, military SF, humor, SF, and fantasy. Short fiction lets a writer explore fun or interesting ideas. For example, I realized that there were very few SF stories that featured the US mounted cavalry and very few SF stories set in Kansas (with the notable exception of The Gods Hate Kansas (yes, that was a real book)) so I wrote one called Swords and Saddles. Greg Bear challenged me to write a story about Joan of Arc, so I wrote the time travel story Joan. My novelette Lady Be Good is classic space opera and probably still the best thing I’ve ever written. Coming out soon will be a John Joseph Adams edited anthology called Cosmic Powers that will include by short story Waking Ouroboros, a tribute to Leigh Brackett.
Currently you are in the midst of a Kickstarter, created by the publisher, eSpec Books. Can you tell us something about that experience?
It’s a little unusual, but also fun to be actively promoting the story that way. eSpec is very good to work with. I’ve tried to support the kickstarter with my own posts and some excerpts of the story. And of course my book is paired with one by Brenda Cooper (POST) so it gives me an opportunity to work with her.
What is the next literary adventure you have planned?
I have two trilogies underway. One is The Genesis Fleet, a “prequel” for The Lost Fleet series set centuries earlier. Where the Lost Fleet takes place in long settled parts of the galaxy, The Genesis Fleet shows the initial colonization of those parts of space. It’s the Lost Fleet universe with a bit more of a wild west feel to it. The first book in that series (Vanguard) should come out in May. The other trilogy is the Legacy Trilogy, which is a follow-on to the Pillars of Reality series. The world of the Pillars series has been changed by the victory over the Great Guilds, but what will happen to the daughter of the man and woman who achieved that victory, and how will renewed contact with Earth affect their world?
If there was one thing you could change in the world as it is today, what would that be and why?
I will be selfish and wish that medical science was much farther advanced. There are so many things about our own bodies that we have barely scratched the surface on, and many ailments that cannot be effectively treated yet. Especially when it comes to the very wide range of auto-immune ailments, I wish we could jump ahead a few centuries and help all of those who need it.
To learn more about Jack Campbell’s The Sister Paradox, or to support the campaign, visit http://tiny.cc/Novels2016
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Interview by Danielle Ackley-McPhail
That SISTER PARADOX series looks great!!! When does it come out?