Official Interview: Emmett Smith
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Official Interview: Emmett Smith
It's time for another Chat with Sarah! Today, I have the privilege of introducing you to Emmett Smith the author of The Shadow of Olympus.
Official Review.
Purchase on Barnes and Noble.
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1. Tell us more about who you are.
I am a voracious reader in many subjects and science fiction is one of them. I am also a student of the history of western civilization. I have seen how one determined person could set - or change - the course of history (especially in war or diplomacy). I have also seen how important it is to choose the right allies - or the correct person for an important mission.
2. What made you decide to start writing?
Probably because I like to exercise my imagination. I have also read some books that were about interesting subjects, but their writers had annoying writing styles or poor choices of words. I decided that I could do a better job, so I began writing. I soon learned that I could not please every reader, so I developed my own style and offered my stories to certain types of people - especially those who liked characters with some depth. Science fiction characters often have very little background information given about them, so I decided to change that..
3. Who have been the biggest influences in your life?
The biggest influences in my life were the great men and women of history. Some of them - like Napoleon Bonaparte - came from undistinguished family backgrounds, but they accomplished amazing things, due to personal skills and determination.
I also admire the great writers and I have seen how they created characters that the reader cared about - or detested. Some of these writers developed undistinguished seeming characters into people with great intrapersonal skills and a strong influence on other human beings (or animals). David Copperfield was one of them and the man who became The Count of Monte Cristo was another.
4. Let's talk about your novel The Shadow of Olympus. It's a science fiction story about a colony on Mars, another intelligent species and a war beginning on Earth. Why the future?
I am disappointed by the aimless and disjointed course(s) of multiple American policies for manned space flight since the end of Project Apollo. They have been underfunded and as changeable as the seasons.
The Shadow of Olympus proposes a bold course for the future of manned exploration of our solar system. As the bible says: "Without a vision, the people perish."
5. Do you see anything in your book that is a prediction of things to come?
I do not own a crystal ball and I am not a biblical prophet. Rather, I describe a future that *could* *happen*- if the right people were in charge of NASA and the rest of the American government. The Shadow of Olympus and its sequels demonstrate what ordinary seeming individuals could accomplish on a planetary frontier.
6. The reviewer mentions that the descriptions, especially of Mars and it's surroundings, were quite detailed. How much research went into that?
I spent about four years researching and writing T.S. of O. Every time some new information about Mars became available, I would modify some of the descriptions of places and machines that were in this first book. Finally, I needed to force myself to declare: "Okay, I must stop tinkering with this book and send it to a publisher, before real events overtake my story line!"
7. What do you want the reader to take away from your story?
I want to re-inspire the sense of wonder that our space program had in its beginning. NASA's press releases could bore the dead. I am also tired of NASA's determination to ignore the many pyramids - big and small - that are scattered all over Mars. As Jesus told us "There is no-one so blind as he who does not want to see."
8. What else are you working on?
Books Two and Three of The Lowellsville Chronicles are in the making. Book Two could be on the market in a year - if there was enough pent up demand for it.
Right now I must compete with all these Star Wars stories for the public's attention. They are tough acts to follow.
And how about ending with a few fun questions.
9. What is your favorite book?
In the science fiction category, it would be H.G. Welles' wonderful story The Time Machine. I prefer the movie version that was made in the nineteen sixties, because it closely followed the book.
10. Star Wars? Star Trek? Neither?
The Star Trek movie, The Journey Home, and Episode Four of Star Wars are my two favorite science fiction movies The characters are memorable in both of them and both have occasional bits of humor.
[Interviewer note: Admiral, there be whales here!]
11. Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip?
Neither - I prefer ketchup and honey mustard.
12. What's your favorite holiday dessert?
My favorite holiday desert is pumpkin pie-especially with vanilla ice cream on it.
Thank you so much for you time! We wish you the best of luck on the sequels to The Shadow of Olympus. Until next time, this is your friendly neighborhood interviewer, signing off!
—Neil Gaiman
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