I’m writing a science fiction, political intrigue novel. I may not be good at writing a blurb, so I’m going to do an imaginary interview. If you want, you can skip all this and buy a copy: leanpub.com/themoiety. If you click that link, it includes a coupon so that the first 10 people get the book free.
Excited Reporter (ER): What is your new novel about?
Adam Cross (AC): Imagine humanity has colonized a lot of other planets, and one big government controls everything. My story is about the people fighting back. In a larger sense, it’s about dynamic good versus static good.
ER: So it’s an action/adventure story, like Star Wars.
AC: I wish. No, I could never have written Star Wars. My book is more character driven. It follows one guy, Shem, who is one of the Rebels. And it’s about his relationships with other people, some who are rebels and others who are loyalists.
ER: Who or what is “the Moiety”?
AC: The Moiety is what the Rebels call themselves, among themselves. Outwardly, they pretend they don’t exist. My favorite thing to do is to think of these wonderfully interesting people—to discover them really. And then I just put two of them in a room together and see what they talk about. I love that.
ER: Who are your main influences as a writer?
AC: Robert Pirsig is a huge influence. His book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance changed what I thought a novel could be. It’s the book that made me think, “maybe I can write a novel that people will read”.
ER: Earlier you mentioned “dynamic good” and “static good” and we glossed right over that. But what were you talking about?
AC: It’s an idea I borrowed from Robert Pirsig. He talks about it a lot in his novel Lila. Think of something that is kind of a force that pushes things always in the direction of better goodness. That’s dynamic good. It comes from God or the Universe or the deep down Human Subconscious—somewhere mysterious and unknowable. Dynamic Good doesn’t care what it breaks in its progress toward the better good.
Static good is our attempts to keep the things we have already discovered, the things we know and like.
ER (sounding bored): So your characters sit around and talk about stuff like that?
AC: If I do my job right, and believe me I’m trying, the point will come across invisibly. You will understand the themes I’m trying to talk about, but I’ll never have to teach you anything. I’m not trying to teach. I’m trying to entertain. It will be entertainment from start to finish.
ER: So the book is done, right? I mean, when people sell books they are usually done.
AC: Actually, no. I am using a platform called Leanpub. Leanpub’s philosophy is to publish early and often. I’m about 35% done right now, and if you pay to buy my book on Leanpub, you get access and updates all the way to the end. Plus I’m on Twitter. You can talk with me and we can make it a community event. That’s really my dream of how this works.
ER (judgmental tone): So you aren’t going to publish in the traditional way, on paper, through a real publisher.
AC: Oh, I absolutely do want to publish through a legitimate, established publisher when the time is right. And I think that time is when my manuscript is as finished as I can make it without a professional editor. If you know any literary agents, hook me up.
ER: Where can readers go to buy the book?
AC: Right now, the book’s home is https://leanpub.com/themoiety. Leanpub lets the buyers download the latest version any time they want, and it’s available in mobi for Kindle, epub for Android or whatever, PDF, and directly on the Leanpub website.
ER: Anything else readers should know?
AC: I’m on twitter: @adamfgcross. I would love to get constructive feedback. Just don’t be too hurtful. 🙂 And if you like my book, tell your friends. Going viral would really help pay my student loans.
adamcross.blog 