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08-10-07: MilSciFi.com interviews author Danielle
Ackley-McPhail, contributor to the upcoming military science fiction
anthology "Breach the Hull".
MilSciFi: “Welcome. What was your
inspiration for your story, In the Dying Light?”
Ackley-McPhail: “Originally, this was supposed to be a Mythos
story. Cthuthlu in space. I was driving back from Balticon one year with my
husband, Mike McPhail, and our friend CJ Henderson, and as it was a long drive,
you can imagine the topics we came up with. CJ challenged me to write a Mythos
sci fi/romance...I know...WHAT a combination. Anyway, as I work best under
challenge, I went at it full force. It took a while and there were a lot of
different versions before I reached the end, but with CJ's inspiration and
Mike's technical policing, I completed my first full length science fiction
story. True, by the time I reached the final version it was less a Mythos story
and more of a science thriller. Basically, an officer on a transport vessel
retrieves a bit of space flotsam that turns out to be an ancient artifact. And
after that...things get REAL interesting. But if you want to know more, you'll
have to read the story, because I know I hate it when people give the plot
away.”
MilSciFi: “Do you have any future
plans for stories set in the same universe?”
Ackley-McPhail: “I was toying with the idea of perhaps a prequel,
based on some of what happens in the story. This would focus mainly around
characters that are mentioned, but don't appear "on stage" in this
one, with the possible exception of Yakata, the main character. But in the
prequel she would be a secondary character. Hard to say if I'll ever get it
done, there are so many projects bouncing around in my head.”
MilSciFi: “What other upcoming works
are on the horizon for you?”
Ackley-McPhail: “Well, projects that are awaiting release are,
Sails and Sorcery (The Fantasist Enterprises), The Fantasy Writer's Guide: The
Author's Grimoire (Dragon Moon Press), and my second novel, Tomorrow's Memories
(Mundania Press). All of those are in the can and just waiting for publication
in the Fall. As for things I am still writing. I have a couple of military sci
fi stories underway, the first is Building Blocks, which I hope to submit to
the upcoming anthology Barbarians at the Jump Gate, the second is Falling Stars,
which is tentatively slated for So It Begins, the sequel to Breach the Hull,
and in the beginning stages I have a military science fiction novel I'm working
on with my husband Mike. It is called Progenesis and it is set in the universe
he has created for his gaming series, The Archives Martial Role Playing Game.
Mike has already written several stories in this same universe; Chimera, which
appears in the anthology No Longer Dreams (Lite Circle Books) and Wayward
Child, which appears in Breach the Hull. We are very excited about Progenesis. You could
say that it's the story that started it all, even though it's barely begun.”
MilSciFi: “What advice would you
give the aspiring military science fiction writer?"
Ackley-McPhail: “Find a REALLY good technical consultant...unless,
of course, you have technical training on your own. I have been a fan for a
long time, and read and watch a lot of sci fi, so I am able to babble right
along with the best of them, but Mike keeps me to pausible babble. If what I am
writing is something that has a basis in real technology or at the very least
established theory, he feeds me whatever details I need to flesh it out, if
what I am coming up with hasn't even been proposed, let alone researched, then
he helps me to make sure it doesn't sound like a bunch of bunk. And that is
just the technical bits...since we are talking military sci fi, you need
someone to keep you straight on the military protocol and procedure. Fortunate
for me, Mike can handle both! And finally...don't focus completely on the
firefight and technical gadgetry, make sure your characters are as fully
developed as the weapons they are using or the universe you are using as a
backdrop. Characterization tends to be the first thing neglected, if anything
is. At least that is what I have found in a lot of sci fi that is out
there...not all of it, but enough for me to advise against new writers
following that trend.”
MilSciFi: “Who is your
single-most influence in science fiction and what impact have they had on our own
work?”
Ackley-McPhail: “My husband Mike; he keeps me honest and helps
me to shine by providing all the technical data I need to produce really sharp,
accurate sci fi. I never even would have thought of trying my hand at the genre
if it weren't for his initiating me in military sf through role playing his
game.”
MilSciFi: “Do you write under any
other names?”
Ackley-McPhail: “Not yet...but we will see. I am actually toying
with the idea of trying to publish some children's stories and then I would
write under another name just because Danielle Ackley-McPhail would be a cruel
mouthful for a three-year-old.”
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