Saturday 4 February 2012

Please All Welcome Aubrie

Hello Kristal McKerrington readers,

Today I would like to introduce the wonderful Aubrie.

Hello Aubrie. 


Your latest release is called Tundra 37. Where does the inspiration for this story come from? The sci fi inspiration comes from the countless times I watched Star Wars and Star Trek TNG as a kid. I love space opera and the endless boundaries that come with it. I’d never, ever, go on a real spaceship- too scared- so I travel there in my mind. 



As for the ice planet inspiration, that’s all from living in NH, where the temperature can drop below zero. I wear pants under my dress all through the winter, along with two sweaters, a hat, gloves, and scarf every day. It takes me ten minutes to leave the house! So, I don’t like being cold, and I thought: what a wonderful way to create tension in a novel! 


What was the hardest part of writing Tundra 37?
I started to get so interested in the Seers, the people that drive the ship, that their backstory began to take over the book. I found it fascinating to delve into the mind of a person who has lived for hundreds of years attached to a ship, someone who’s merged with the computer mainframe to the point of losing their own identity. 


I had to make sure Gemme and miles story was told as well! 


Can you tell us about your research process? 


I researched minerals and energy sources. I based the mineral they are seeking in the book, hyperthium, after the real energy source, Lithium. Since their ship is nuclear power based, I researched that as well. 
Because of NH’s frigid winters, I needed no research to know how it feels to have your eyeballs freeze, or to almost pass out because you’re playing piccolo in the marching band at a football game in freezing weather at the Turkey Bowl. 


Do you feel that you grow more as an author with each book that you write?
Oh yes, you can read my very first book to attest to that! I actually wrote “he said” “she said” a lot. And I had five million points of view, a different one for each chapter. My, was I naive. 


To date, which of your own works is your favourite and why?
Actually, it’s Tundra 37. I knew I had to write something better than Paradise 21, the original book that sold the series. So, I worked my butt off on Tundra 37. I feel like it’s my masterpiece. Everything came together so well in the end. 
Do you have any hobbies away from writing that you would like to tell us about today?


I’m a professional flutist as well, so I’ve developed my hobbies into two careers. I also have a ton of guppies and goldfish, and I like to go to the movies! 


Thank you for joining us today, Aubrie.


You’re welcome! Thank you for these awesome questions that made me think! (Always a good thing) 


http://www.entangledpublishing.com/tundra-37/


Prologue
The Seers

I’m losing her.


Abysme guides the vessel in silence, her blind eyes rolling as she senses our course, two hundred years away from Paradise 18. She’s scattered her thoughts among the stars, and her mind drifts farther from the sister I once knew. I fear the machine has engulfed her individuality. She’s forgotten the meaning of our goal, the oath we took three centuries ago. Most of all, she’s forgotten me, creating an emptiness inside me more profound than the desolation surrounding us.


If I had my arms, I’d reach out to comfort her and usher her back from the black abyss spread before us. As children, I kept her alive through the destruction, signing us up for the Expedition and winning two tickets off Old Earth before it succumbed to hell. But can I save her now?


I send impulses through my brainwaves and into the ship. Bysme, do you hear me? 


Unlike her, I have one operating eye and can see the control chamber we hang from. Twisting my head, I search her features. Her skeletal face twitches. She writhes and the wires holding her in place stretch taut. I wonder what I’ve done to us, the shock of our disembodiment jolting me. Every input hole drilled into my skull snakes with activity. The ship surges through me, a vast intranet of information, names, status charts, and infinite trajectories. If I couldn’t feel the cold, regulated air on the remnants of my torso, I’d be lost in the machine too. I remind myself of our mission and the perseverance flows into my veins.
She doesn’t respond and the fear wells up from within me. 


Can I guide the ship alone? I realize I’ve left her at the helm for too long while I drifted into memories.


Status of Beta Prime? Bysme speaks in monotone computer speech as she turns to the corner of the main control deck where the orb glistens, tempting us with the mysteries hidden in the cosmic swirls within its core. Sometimes, I wish we’d blasted the ball off the hull after its tendrils attached to the outer frame instead of recovering it for study. We’ve guarded it for so long, Project Beta Prime has become part of us, yet we’re further than ever from unlocking its secrets. All I know is the insistence of my memories, like ghosts that refused to be ignored.


Unchanged. The weight of my voice in our mindspeak reflects my disappointment. Like everything else. Bys me falls silent, and I scan the systems searching for answers that aren’t there.

Aubrie’s Website
 http://www.authoraubrie.com/my-short-stories

Aubrie’s Blog
http://authoraubrie.blogspot.com/


  Well I would like to thank Miss Aubrie for being here and hope she has the best of luck with her book in the future.

Kristal McKerrington