FELLOW AUTHOR and photographer F.C. Etier started a blog hop called Paying It Forward, in which tagged authors have to answer four questions and then tag another three fellow authors. I was tagged by Teresa Cypher, fellow sci-fi/fantasy writer and one of the founders of the Weekend Writing Warriors, a blog hop dedicated to sharing eight sentences of your WIP every Sunday (it’s a lot of fun: sign up to share your WIP or simply follow the links if you’re looking for some awesome reads).

So, here are the questions:

What am I working on?

I just finished revising MOSAICS, Book 2 in the Track Presius Mystery series. MOSAICS will be released in September but in a few weeks I will be sending out ARCs — free eBooks for early readers willing to write a review on Amazon. If you’d like to participate, you can read the details and sign up here. I’m also editing GENE CARDS, a mystery set in a near future, while mulling over a possible sequel.

How does my work differ from others of its genre? 

I’m a scientist, in fact, I’m more than that, I’m a science nut, and when I write, I can’t keep the science away from my writing. I’ll go to a seminar and find the topic so fascinating that next thing I know, a story using those concepts pops in my head. A lot of science fiction borrows concepts from science and genetics in particular, and even though the stories are terrific, most of the time the science is not plausible. I don’t mean this as a critique. What I mean to say is that I believe I can offer a different point of view because I know the science in my stories is plausible and that, to me, adds a new layer to the story, as you can always ask yourself: what if this happened for real?

Why do I write what I write? 

That’s a great question! I guess I like to imagine things and I ask a lot of ‘What If’ questions.

How does my writing process work?

Usually characters come first. I let them ‘simmer’ in my head so I get to know them better. Then comes a scenario, one of those ‘What If’ questions. And then I start to write…

Please click the top photo to read more about Chimeras.