We've discovered a tenth planet in our solar system. @RaphyelMJordan, what do you call it?
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To kick off the week long Prossia blog tour, we have a fantastic interview with the author of Prossia, the witty and talented, Raphyel M. Jordan.Follow @RaphyelMJordan
3
words that totally describe the man who is Raphyel M. Jordan.
Artistic, Passionate. . . and Stubborn :P
Well,
check it out! We’ve discovered a tenth planet in our solar system.
Lucky you! You’ve been chosen to moon bounce your way to space,
stick a flag in the big ball, and name it. What do you call this new
planet?
Wait, so not only do I get to name a planet, but I get a free ride across the solar system while touring numerous moons to check it out. . . (faints)
Since it's in our solar system, I think it would only be fair to name this 10th planet after one of the Roman gods. Continuity, ya know? I'd probably name it Minerva, since she's based off of Athena in Greek mythology, and she was always my favorite.
What
is your favorite Science Fiction book? Movie?
That would be Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, the first sci-fi novel I ever read. I was around Ender's age when I read it, so it was so cool seeing all of these people, even grownups, looking up to him. The universe Card made was also stupendous! I read a lot of fiction novels that had other books to follow the story line, but Ender's Game was the only one that made me read other books in that universe. . . and I really hated having to read as a kid. Hey! Give me a break! I was a kid of the 90's so I had Sega and the Super NES. :P
As far as movies are concerned: the Force is my ally, and a powerful ally it is. George Luca utilizing classical Greek mythology to take us out to a galaxy far away in Star Wars is astounding and inspiring. Some guy jokingly told me one time that my novel, Prossia, could be the next Star Wars. I told him it was Sir Isaac Newton that said if he ever saw further than others, it was because he was standing on the shoulder of giants. In that regards, to me, George Lucas is a titan.
Have
you ever considered writing a book in another genre besides Sci-Fi?
If so, which one?
If I branched off to another genre, it would definitely be fantasy, but the next lineup of stories I'm really interested in pursuing are all sci-fi. It's the world building that I can't seem to get away from within this genre. I'm fascinated with science, especially astronomy and psychology.
So, being able to build civilizations from scratch, unique civilizations that people have never seen before, is so challenging and rewarding once you build a strong enough foundation to build off of. If I did a fantasy novel, I feel I'd probably have to use elements like magic, elves, dwarves, etc., and that's just not where my passion lies right now.
If
Prossia were a movie, what would be the perfect first song on the
soundtrack?
Prossia already has a theme song, actually. It's called "the Moment," composed by April Reaux.
"The Moment" was inspired by a scene in Prossia. Not wanting to give anything away, but my protagonist, Aly, realizes for the first time that the war she's about to find herself in isn't going to be a glorious spectacle that she's trying to hype it up to be. My slogan for Prossia is "Where were you when you had to grow up?" That's a theme always popping up in the novel, so I asked Reaux to interpret what she thought a song in the first scene where the question is asked would sound like after reading the book.
A
publisher tells you they would love to release Prossia, but only if
you rewrite it for an older audience. What do you tell them?
I'd love to get picked up by a traditional publisher some day, but I'm not willing to sacrifice that much for it.
I didn't write Prossia for children, per se, even though the prequel coming out is closer to a Middle Grade audience. However, I definitely didn't write it for grownups either. My book is for people right in the heat of that transition in becoming an adult, those whose eyes are like a newborn child, completely reopened to a new world, trying to take in all of its wonders and splendor while realizing there's a darkness to face as well. Evil is real, and so is good, but the difference isn't as black and white as it appeared to be when we were younger.
Prossia is about a war, and yes, I don't leave much to the imagination when depicting how horrible it can be on a graphic level, and some characters will use some more colorful words from time to time. Even so, that doesn't take away from its coming-of-age message. The violence in Prossia isn't so readers can get a kick out of blood and guts like in an over the top action movie or video game. If anything, it's used as a motif.
The beginning of Prossia is so colorful and innocent. I had a few readers tell me they thought they were in a Disney story at the beginning. However, slowly but surely that innocence in the world gets hinted at being an illusion until reality rushes in, without warning.
That's what growing up is like. It isn't graceful. It doesn't care if you're ready for it or not. It's inevitable, and it will grab and devour you if you aren't willing to face it.
Who
or what inspires you, not only as a writer, but as an artist as
well?
God, there's tons of inspiration! The foreword in my book even covers them. First and foremost, when I was going through my coming-of-age phase, I found strength through the support of all the other young people around me, going through similar unfortunate circumstances I found myself in from time to time. The media, often times, likes to depict my generation as a bunch of whiners who only want what our parents worked for. Prossia was written for those young people trying to prove those naysayers wrong.
Secondly, our soldiers. I wrote Prossia while the U.S. was in the heated and controversial war in Iraq. I had a lot of friends involved in that war, some even younger than me. Their humility in servitude is so astounding when they talk about what they had to do, and I think they're a mirror to what humanity, as a whole, strives to be. So yeah, part of me was inspired by some local patriotism.
Finally, my Christian faith was a huge factor with Prossia. A lot of people who follow a spiritual doctrine tend to forget our beliefs would have us encourage one another, not judge and condemn, even when others do not agree with us. One of Prossia's characters, Shanvi, is used to bring that point out. "Prossia" means "unity within diversity" in one of the alien tongues in the book, and I'd like to credit my faith for teaching me the value in that, even when so many of us tend to forget that quality.
Do
you enjoy writing or designing more? Why?
Blasphemy! HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME COMPARE! LOL!
How about I put it this way: I like cake, but I like ice cream too. However, you get a whole lot of awesome when you put those bad boys together. I've been drawing ever since I was three, when I could actually make passively identifiable objects. I've also been telling stories ever since I knew how to write the most basic, which was first grade for me. And guess how I told my stories? Through little graphic novels, which required both drawing and writing.
I just love to create, whether it's the visual or literary. Taking one is taking half of me. I get antsy when I can't hack away at the keyboard once I got a powerful scene in my head. I'll doodle something, anything, on a nearby piece of paper if I have to sit around and wait for something. I love to draw. I love to write. There's no better or worse.
A
blogger gives Prossia a pretty negative review on their blog. What
is your first thought?
Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?! Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy?! My day is over! WHYYYYYYYYYYY?! (mimics stabs to the chest)
"Ahem." Fortunately, I've had my share of bad reviews. . . wait, is that fortunate? Anywho, the good thing was this; these not-so-great reviews were honest, professional, and constructive, so I actually learned something out of them. Even so, I know the day is going to come where I feel everything someone said after giving Prossia that inevitable and dreadful one star will be wrong, wrong, and wrong.
However, I've learned several things from being an author and from being friends with other authors. It's a sad fact, but people are more prone to make a public complaint about something they don't like instead of publically praising something they really enjoyed. The other thing is this: people aren't critiquing me because they don't even know who I am nor what brought me into writing my book. So, they're dishing out my book, not me, even though a lot of us feel the latter since we do, after all, put a lot of ourselves into the heart and soul of our stories.
It's vital we don't take it personal, because once we do, we second guess our writing skills. So, whenever I read a negative review, I get right back to writing.
In
your DM3W (Don’t Make My Mistake Writers) series of blog articles,
you talk about a lot of things you wish you had done differently
before publishing for the first time. What is the most important
lesson you’ve learned since you began your literary journey? What
is your sweetest piece of advice for other new authors?
Oi. Now that's a tough one. I'd say it's important for indie authors to know that we don't pay others to get our books published. PEOPLE PAY US. I'll be republishing Prossia with a different ISBN soon because, in the situation I'm currently in. It needs some serious editing and a new cover, but I would have to pay hundreds of dollars to the company publishing my book for me. Authors don't have to do that.
To new authors out there, I would tell them what I tell aspiring authors. KEEP WRITING. However, since these are people who do actually have something published, I would add not to let the business aspect of being an author boggle you down too much. It's dreadfully time consuming, but we can't forget the one vital element that makes us authors, and once again, that comes back to writing.
Don't give up. Keep moving forward. We'll get that big break we're all wanting eventually. 'Kay, I know that was more than one sound advice. Sorry!
Thanks for stopping by and dishin’ it up with the Crew, Raphyel!
And thank you SO much for hosting my blog tour. You guys were epic epicness, especially Diantha. Think big on a galactic level. Unity within diversity! Peace!
Official Website – Blog – Goodreads
Now for the Giveaway! For his tour, Raphyel is giving away some really great prizes! Many ways to win! ENTER NOW!
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