Author Interview with

C.L. Gaber

Author of The Ascenders Saga

Please tell me a little about your current work in progress.

 Thank you so much Stanley! I’m the author of the Ascenders Saga. I’m currently doing final edits for Book Five, which will come out in March, 2021. The sage is about 17-year-old Walker Callaghan who is in a car crash in Chicago. She wakes up in a much nicer house and finds out she has to attend a swanky private Academy for high school now. At school the next day, the music teacher is Kurt “who used to have this band,” the drama teacher is Robin and Dr. King insists he’s just a humble former principal from Detroit who was gunned down in a school shooting.

Walker finds out that she died last night and has been sent to an in-between realm for those who died young. The rules? There aren’t any. No SATs. No homework either. You must attend The Academy: High School for the Recently Departed, but you’re there to learn what you need before you ascend.

The only real rule is you can’t go back and check on your former life. Walker falls hard for tat-covered bad-boy Daniel Reid who is in charge of his sisters (ages 12 and 14) and brother (16). They died together in a plane crash, but are missing their youngest brother Bobby (6). Daniel insists he will return to the living realm to find the little boy at the site of their plane crash. Bobby is an earth-bound spirit – waiting forever at the site of his death.

Walker and Daniel must find the portal back to life and then deal with soul destroying demons who are waiting upon their return.

Ascenders is an adventure of an after-lifetime.

Book Five comes out in Feb. 2021!

Where did you get the idea for this book or series?

 I know it sounds impossibly, but I’m a journalist who covers film. I was on assignment in LA and had a dream that played out like a movie in my mind. I did know enough to get up at three in the morning and write the first chapter, plus sketch out the story.

Do you write in more than one genre?

I did do a teen detective novel several years ago, but found I love epic fantasy. I love creating rules for new worlds with hopefully relatable characters in them.

 

 Tell me about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of attention.

I’m a film journalist for the New York Times wire, a job I’ve done for 30 years. It mostly consists of interviewing A list stars and writing interviews/profiles of them when new films are coming out.

There are many dead celeb teachers….Heath, Kurt, Alan, Robin, Steve, Carrie, Walter, Liz, Janis, Amy ….. in the Ascenders world. The words they say about life are from my interviews over the years.

Is there anything about your personal history or personality that manifests strongly in your writing?

Well, Walker, my protagonist, is from Chicago like me. She dies one night in this one spot where in reality deer cross the highway all night long. All you see if the glow of their eyes in the headlights of your car. Really creepy. God forbid they jump out at the cars…people are killed all the time and cars are destroyed as well as gorgeous animals.

Walker is a student journalist who dreams of working for the New York Times one day – totally me.

Her superpower is asking a lot of questions like all journalists do.

She’s also super not-athletic – me, me, me. But she has to find scary demons despite it all. (I’ll leave that to her.)

What else would be helpful for readers to know about you?

I grew up in Chicago, went to school in Arizona and now live in Nevada. I love my hometown, but feel really grounded and free in the west. I like wide open spaces, which is a topic in Ascenders 5. Otherwise, I’d have 20 dogs, but in reality have two of the best: Georgie and Auggie.

 

Excluding your own work, what underrated author or book would you recommend that more people read? Why?

What a great question – I always say Stephen King and I’m going to say it here. I think the poetic beauty of his writing is underrated because he writes horror. I love his non-scary work best of all including his book about JFK’s assassination. Some of my friends don’t read King thinking it’s just horror writing. Not true. By a long-shot.

Which of your books do you most highly recommend? Why?

I’d love for people to read the first Ascenders book. I’m just really proud of how it came out and love the characters. It was as exciting for me to complete book five recently as it was to finish book one. I love playing in this afterlife world.

Which break, event, decision, or fortuitous circumstance has helped you or your writing career the most?

As a journalist, my biggest break on the same day was being hired by both the New York Times wire and the Chicago Sun Times to be their film writer. Both have been amazing over many years and have resulted in so many inspirational interviews with film and TV A-listers.

As an author, I believe independently publishing Ascenders and learning that world before I did it was a huge break. I love working on the covers with amazing artists and the inside design, too.

Of course, my biggest break of all was having a wonderful Dad who always told me I was  a writer and read my work in a serious way. He was the only father around who said not to get “a real job” and work on my writing. Thanks, Dad.

What question do you wish you would get asked more often?

I wish I’d get asked….What moment since 2015 when the first Ascenders book was published touched you the deepest.

I’ll never forget being asked to Outlander.com to sell books. Two women approached my booth and both were crying. One said, “Go talk to her. You really need to talk to her.” The second woman had some trouble finding the words and finally said, “I just wanted to meet you because my son was a victim in one of the recent school shootings. I’d like to think he’s in a lovely place like The Midst in Ascenders.”

It only took seconds before she was crying and I was crying.

Just knowing your book meant something to someone else is beyond.

 

Do you have a catch-phrase or quote that you like? What is it? And why do you choose it? Yes, my tat-covered, bad boy Daniel Reid often tells his love Walker Callaghan to “Embrace the Vole.” It means to embrace great risk in order to find great rewards. One of my amazing Ascenders fans actually sent me a handmade quilt with the words Embrace the Vole on it. It’s the coolest thing EVER.

I love to speak with readers. Please reach out at CLGaber@yahoo.com

Thank you for this interview!!

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Thanks to C.L. for participating. The Ascenders Saga sounds intriguing--not your run-of-the-mill fantasy. This is the first time I know of that anyone has named Stephen King as an underrated author. I guess we travel in different circles.

I'm about 18 chapters into my editing of Promise of Carnage and Flame, book 4 in the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire series. It's an exciting story and I love it. However it's not the story I set out to tell. I had two major breaks with the original loose outline. They both work back into the plan in a super-fantastic way, but...it's complicated. I still want to tell the story I wanted to tell. The diversions were 40-60K work detours as I got into them and developed them. I'm already in the 100K word neighborhood, and I don't want to give short shrift to some important elements in my original story. There were a couple of nice breaking points after some climactic events in the mid-20's chapters, and the original ending now makes a separate story. I think I want to develop that separate story in more detail and expand Lucette's role in some key events.

The Tomahawks and Dragon Fire series is sort of Last of the Mohicans meets The Patriot, and Star Wars. It's an action-packed alternate-history fantasy set during the American Revolutionary War. The fantasy elements include dragons, magic, and other dangerous creatures. 

(This post was originally published Feb 28, 2021, but cancel culture squeaked about it -- I have no idea why -- so it was censored then uncensored but now only shows as a draft, so I'm putting it back up).

 

I've been doing a lot of reading recently. I ripped through John D. Brown's book on creating story ideas that beg to be written. I finished Cedar Sanderson's The East Witch, and I completed Cornwell's The Winter King.  I read a Rafael Sabatina book about a pirate (and I can't remember the name of it). I also started two other books, but I could not finish them. Of these latter two, one told an interesting story, but was so poorly written, continuously jumping from character to character and using the word "felt" in every other sentence, that it finally drove me away. The other was very well written but the lesbian overtones directed me to the exit sometime in the second chapter; it wasn't for me.

Let me begin with the best.

I was reluctant to try this book. I came across it while I looking for a different Cornwell book. I knew it was about the Arthur legend, and, frankly, I've read enough of that sort of thing. A couple years ago I re-read Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, so why did I need to read another version? The book was on sale for next to nothing, so I gave in to the very low level of temptation and purchased it. That was a lucky day for me. I loved this book.

While most accounts of the Arthurian epic that I have read tell a tale of pageantry and knights errant in plate armor, The Winter King clothes the tale in the ashes, mud, and blood of the Britons. The story is told by Derfel who is now a Christian priest, but he was a pagan in this first book of the trilogy. Arthur is a warlord entrusted with protecting Uther's son Mordred. Uther has died. Petty kings, Saxons, druids, Christians, Irish, and more complicate Arthur's task. Nevertheless, all is well--until Arthur meets Guinevere. As always, Cornwell handles the battles magnificently, but I'm more impressed with Cornwell's vision of Arthur and his struggle to adhere to his conflicting oaths and noble code--that is a fundamental feature of the Arthur story. I haven't been able to find the next book either in the library or the used book store, and as much as I want to read the next books in the trilogy, I'm not inclined to fork out $13 or more each for the privilege of reading electronic copies of them.

***

Now I remembered the other book, it was Sabatini's The Sea-Hawk. I actually finished this earlier in the month, but I don't think I've posted any review. 

This book was available at my favorite price - free- although the copy I read did not have any picture on the cover. Most people prefer Captain Blood over The Sea-Hawk, or so I understand. I'm of the opposite opinion. Contrary to the opinion of the ill-informed, Sabatini's novel is not about a wayward Seattle football player. The first part of the book is a little slow. Sir Oliver is in love, but there are complications. Finally, the brother he was protecting betrays him. Oliver survives as a galley slave, and rises in the ranks to become the Basha's right hand pirate man. Nevertheless, all is not well in the Basha's house, and someone is jealous of Oliver's influence there. Meanwhile, back in Cornwall, Sir Oliver has become the prime suspect in the death of his love's brother, and his apparent flight from justice has strengthened the case against him. It's a fun read of romance and revenge. I particularly enjoy Sabatini's telling of the mind games between Sir Oliver and his antagonists.

***

Last but not least, in fact it's east rather than least:

Cedar sent me a copy of this book when I interviewed her a few weeks ago. The East Witch is a tale of an Alaskan woman who is transported to the land of the fae. It's not so much a fairy tale, as a tale of a woman in the land of fairy tales -- Russian and East European fairy tales. It all begins when she releases an elf (or was it a sprite, I can't remember, but he was from the Spruce clan) from a steel trap. The elf transport system goes on the fritz and our heroine encounters Baba Yaga, and soon becomes a murder suspect. I think this will be very popular with the intended audience. It's fast paced and well written. It just doesn't happen to be my particular cup of tea. I gave it 5 stars on goodreads because it is good. Young women, and those interested in the fae or East European fairy tales should love it. I found it exhausting--like I was trapped in the head of a 13 year-old girl--and yet, I'm wondering about reading some of Cedar's other stories.

***

Now for something completely different. Promise of Carnage and Flame had a rough week. I didn't get to write as much as I had intended, but I did finish chapter 29. I did have to move and re-write a couple paragraphs. That almost never happens. Usually the story unfolds without requiring me to juggle the order or to re-write things, but this part was a little fuzzy and writing some following paragraphs helped the earlier stuff better come into focus, and I had to go back and make modifications. I may give a sneak-peek of some excerpts from the book in my next newsletter--which you can sign-up for here:

My Newsletter.

 Author Interview with Matthew Cox

Author of

The Ubergirl series, Temporal Armistice series, and the Vampire Innocent series

Please tell me a little about your current work in progress.

At the time of filling this out, I’m in-between books. I suppose the fourth Maddy Wimsey novel, which is presently in the editing stage counts as a work-in-progress, but it’s also a co-writing project with JR Rain. I’m preparing to release Dr. Infinity and the Soul Smasher as soon as the cover art is done, which is the fourth novel in my Übergirl series. The next project I will start on is either going to be another novel in my Temporal Armistice series or the thirteenth book in the Vampire Innocent series.

Where did you get the idea for this book or series?

Since I’m not presently working on a WIP, I’ll answer this question in reference to my Vampire Innocent series which I am trying to promote with these interviews. In mid-2018, my then-publisher began to deteriorate. I won’t go into nasty details, but simply put, they were going down. I’d been considering going the self-publishing route and as such, put out The Forest Beyond the Earth as my first self-pub release. After, it occurred to me it might be a good idea to have a series on the self-pub side as at the time, all of my series were mired with the publisher.

I still can’t really explain where the idea to write a vampire-themed series came from. While sitting around trying to come up with an idea to base a series on, it randomly hit me to juxtapose the concept of a vampire with a teenage girl still living at home with her parents. From the start, I wanted to keep a humorous tone to the story. It really did surprise me how well people received it. When I started writing this series, I never expected it would make it to twelve books (and counting.

Do you write in more than one genre?

Yes! My books span cyberpunk, science fiction, post-apocalyptic, fantasy, urban fantasy, superheroes, paranormal, and a handful of horror. I’ve written books for adults, young-adults, and middle-grade readers as well.

Tell me about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of attention.

This is something I’ve always struggled with. Answering questions like this feels so much like bragging to me it’s a challenge. To respond here, I’ll use things I’ve seen in reviews. Readers tell me I capture characters’ emotions and thoughts realistically and create deep, fully realized characters that they truly empathize with and come to know almost like real people. I’ve also had people tell me my writing is ‘cinematic,’ allowing them to visualize the scenes and such as if watching a movie.

Is there anything about your personal history or personality that manifests strongly in your writing?

Here and there. Nothing major or overwhelming. Bits and pieces of my history and personality come through in various characters over multiple books. One character witnessing someone have an aneurysm is based on a real event when my grandfather died in front of me, for example. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) my real life has been kind of boring, so I don’t have an abundance of exciting material to draw upon.

What else would be helpful for readers to know about you?

I need character actions to make logical sense. Generally, I’m a fan of happy endings as the world has enough darkness in it already. I’m a cat person, a recovered WoW addict, and still a fan of video games.

Excluding your own work, what underrated author or book would you recommend that more people read? Why?

Malus Domestica by S.A. Hunt. Also his Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree. Another suggestion is the Mayhem Wave series by Edward Aubry.

Which of your books do you most highly recommend? Why?

This is like asking a parent to pick a favored child. My favorite character is Althea from the Awakened series. Not sure if I’d call Prophet of the Badlands my best book, but I like her the most. The more time I spend writing, the more polished my writing feels. If you’re asking about stuff in terms of inspiration or profundity, maybe The Eldritch Heart or Sophie’s Light. I got the idea to write the Eldritch series after hearing someone erroneously complaining about the movie Frozen “forcing” the LGBTQ narrative. Yes, the guy saying it was an idiot. But it got me thinking about a ‘Disney-like’ princess story where the girl got the girl. I jotted down some notes but didn’t do anything with it until a beta reader told me her daughter came out after months of being terrified to say anything. Upon the book’s release, she told me her daughter loved it and read it twice (which she does not do often). Soon after, I heard reading the book encouraged another teen to come out as bi to their parents. It’s a high fantasy adventure story with a love story going on as well. The main ‘message’ there is it’s okay to be who you are.

Which break, event, decision, or fortuitous circumstance has helped you or your writing career the most?

Haven’t really gotten anything I’d call a ‘break’ yet. I spent years dabble-writing but didn’t take it seriously. Around 2012, my immediate supervisor at the day job asked me if I had ever considered writing novels. (He’d been reading a few emails I sent out to customers and something about them caused him to ask the question). He’d written a book about his life experiences, and suggested I try writing a novel and self-publishing it. At the time, I had already written a draft of Of Myth and Shadow, but in hindsight, I realize it hadn’t been anywhere near ready for publishing. However, a few months after Chris (my supervisor) made the suggestion, I decided to give the novel-writing thing another shot and started again with a smaller book and idea.

What question do you wish you would get asked more often?

Hmm. Probably stuff about particular character’s mindset, actions, background, or the like. Granted, questions like that would tend to require the interviewer to be familiar with the book.

Do you have a catch-phrase or quote that you like? What is it? And why do you choose it?

I don’t really have a catch-phrase, but I find myself using a quote rather often lately: “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religions conviction.” – Blaise Pascal.  I choose it because our reality is far too full of people doing evil and thinking their religion justifies it.

You can connect with Matthew at:

http://www.matthewcoxbooks.com/wordpress/about/

__________________________________

As for me and my writing, I did very little this week, but what I did was pretty good. I attended this years Life, The Universe, and Everything symposium in Provo, Utah. Of course the symposium was online this year, so I didn't have to travel to Utah. I got to be on 4 panels and received some great insights and information from the presentations I watched. I've even started toying with a filk to the tune of My Darling Clementine. One should start simple. I particularly remember an interesting presentation about creating multidimensional characters, and an exciting presentation on plotting from John D. Brown. I also enjoyed a discussion about watching movies to be a better writer, killing characters, editing the early chapters of a novel, as well as a history of underwear.

Naturally, I am brimming with renewed vigor to finish my current project and to get started on a dystopian thriller which has been scratching like a cat at the screen door of my mind for two weeks now. The symposium provided me with some new tools and ways of thinking to better address the project.

 

Super Bowl Predictions

I think everyone else is watching the super bowl. The number of brain cells I've dedicated to following professional sports has continued to diminish over the years. So my prediction is that after the game, I still won't care who won. What I can predict are 5 winners of 5 autographed books. That's 5 books each for 5 winners. Click the link below for your chance to become one of the winners.

Click here to enter to win -- and share the link.