DLC: I'd like to welcome to my blog Kerry Nietz author of The Dark Trench Saga from Marcher Lord Press. Please introduce yourself to my readers.
KN: I’m a refugee of the software industry, meaning I spent more than a decade of my life flipping bits—first as one of the principle developers at a small but successful company called Fox Software, and then as one of Bill Gates’s minions at Microsoft. I’m a husband and father to three small children. I also have three published books: a memoir entitled FoxTales: Behind the Scenes at Fox Software and then two books in the DarkTrench saga: A Star Curiously Singing and The Superlative Stream.
DLC: I love the covers on your books. What are they about?
KN: My books take place in a future hundreds of years from now, where much of the world is living under sharia (meaning Islamic) law. It is dualistic society, where average people live on the streets in near-squalor and the powerful ride above them in cable-car-like conveyances. This latter group is shrouded in high tech, to the point of needing specialized human “debuggers” to handle their machines.
That's where my protagonist comes in. In A Star Curiously Singing Sandfly—a debugger—is summoned to solve the mystery of why a bot malfunctioned. The unusual circumstance? The bot has been to space. Deep space. Something about the trip made it malfunction.
Near the end of that book a couple of the characters were headed to deep space themselves. The Superlative Stream follows that story. Ultimately their quest is to find the True God of the heavens. I think it is a very unique and enjoyable tale, with lots of unexpected twists.
Actually, I think both books are distinctive—decidedly original in the realms of both Christian fiction and Science Fiction. And so far the critics seem to agree. There are sample chapters on the Marcher Lord site (www.marcherlordpress.com) for anyone to read. Check them out!
DLC: My type of book! =) If I asked you to pick one of your characters as your favorite who would it be and why?
KN: That would be my main character, Sandfly. He is this technologically-enhanced man whose entire life is spent fixing machines. The pressures he faces—trying to solve difficult problems, deadlines, having the boss breathing down your neck—are all very familiar to me.
DLC: I hear you and feel you. lol When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
KN: Not long after I started reading. My mother still finds scraps of things I wrote as a child—little story beginnings or plot summaries. It was a long time, though, before I had the skill and opportunity to make that dream a reality. It happened when it should have, though. All in God’s timing.
And I got little nudges along the way. For instance, while I was still a programmer, I happened to sit beside an elderly gentleman on a plane who was a published writer. When I mentioned that I hoped to write a book someday, he said “Well, start early! You might get published before you die.” I took that as a sign. I’ve been consistently writing ever since.
DLC: Too cool. I guess I can imagine the answer to this next question. If you could give advice to other authors or aspiring authors what would say?
KN: Be prepared to persevere. From the time I decided I was going to be a writer, to the time my first book was published was nearly four years. From the time that book (FoxTales) was published until the time my first novel was published was an additional six years.
Little of that time was wasted, though. It was spent writing, revising, studying the craft, submitting, getting rejected, making connections, more writing, more learning…then finally lightning struck.
DLC: I had a similar experience so I can relate to how that feels. You said that the time was well spent learning the craft;What source or sources do you draw from when creating a new story? IE.. your personal life, family, work, faith...
KN: Definitely all of the above. The heart of my saga involves the discovering of new faith and growing up in that faith. The main character, Sandfly, is a highly-skilled problem solver, so he borrows directly from my time as a software developer. And since the books take place in a world dominated by sharia law, they clearly draw from the world we live in today, where many countries are struggling with that issue.
DLC: What was your greatest challenge personally when writing your current story?
KN: Since The Superlative Stream is a sequel, the challenge was to make it just as unique and interesting as the original. My goal was to raise the bar for myself and surprise people. I hope I succeeded.
I thought the challenge was going to be something completely different, though. A good share of The Superlative Stream is written from a female perspective—an adolescent female perspective. Never having been an adolescent female, I wasn’t sure I could write such a character believably. It was satisfying to hear my wife say (after the book was already printed and available) “you wrote a girl exactly right.”
DLC: LOL That may have been something you could have asked her before sending off the manuscript. =) What factors do you use that tell you the manuscript is done?
KN: Done? The manuscript isn’t really done for me until the cover is wrapped around it. And even then I tend to second guess things. Should I have brought this point out more? Was that scene extraneous? Could I have written anything better? That said, I’m proud of everything I’ve had published so far. If nothing else, they’re unique.
DLC: Why did you choose sci-fi as the genre to write in?
KN: To be honest, I think the genre chose me. I’ve always been a science fiction fan, but I never thought it would be the focus of my energies. Most of the manuscripts I wrote before A Star were mysteries or thrillers.
After my memoir (FoxTales) was published, I received an email from a reader who encouraged me to write science fiction. I remember liking the idea, but thinking there was no possibility I’d ever get published that way. Science fiction is a tough genre to break into, especially if you’re a Christian. Two circles that rarely intersect.
Plus, I just didn’t have a good sci-fi idea at that time. Years went by before the right sci-fi story, and the right situation—the advent of publishing houses that specialized in Christian speculative fiction—came together.
DLC: Do you have any favorite authors?
KN: Tons. I’ve been an avid reader since childhood. Often books were my best friends. I was an early C.S. Lewis fan. Edgar Rice Burroughs and Ray Bradbury became friends in high school. Tolkien came later—in college—as did Isaac Asimov and others. I have a really long list of favorites. Some of them show up in my current trilogy. As swear words.
DLC: LOL I like that, swear words. =) Funny. Are you working on any new projects?
KN: Yes, I’m working on the third book in the DarkTrench series. It will pick up right where The Superlative Stream left off. I think it will be very cool. Lots of fun for those that have read the other two novels.
DLC: Kerry, I want to thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview with me. Your books sound truly interesting and I may be taking a peek myself at them. =) Anyone interested in finding out more about Kerry's books please visit www.kerrynietz.com.
Blessings,
Daniel L Carter
Author of The Unwanted Trilogy
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