New Author Spotlight: B.J. Keeton

B.J. Keeton is a writer, blogger, gamer, teacher, and a lover of all things sci-fi. He is the author of Birthright, the first book of the Technomage Archive which I recently read and enjoyed (you can see the review here!), as well as co-author of Nimbus, described as a serial steampunk novel for people who don't know they like steampunk, as well as being steampunk for those who already love steampunk! Today, we are happy and excited to feature B.J. for our New Author Spotlight!

What made you want to become a writer?

I wanted to become a writer because I've always loved stories. I loved it when I was a kid and my parents told me stories before bed. I'd make them read and re-read my favorite ones over and over again, and I'd just laugh at the same jokes over and over again because I just loved them so much. As soon as I could hold a pencil, I was marking up old, blank journals lying around the house with squiggly lines and saying I was writing Spider-man short stories, and then I'd read those to my parents (they were different each time, of course). That love of hearing people's stories and telling my own never really left, so I guess that's why I wanted to become a writer. I really do just love stories.

What are your favorite books and how have they influenced your writing?

I love fluff. I think I'm breaking some kind of English teacher rule by saying that, but I love fluff way more than I love the classics. I've always loved fun, silly, and pulpy books--media tie-ins were the best. Dragonlance novels, Star Wars books, even graphic novel adaptations and movie novelizations. I just couldn't get enough. So with my writing, I look at it very much the same way. I don't purposefully add in tons of subtext or literary themes. If they're there, great. If readers find something to latch onto, awesome. But I'm a fun story and fluff guy, and I think it came from reading so much of that when I was younger.

Which authors have inspired you?

Oh, man. All of them? Maybe? I guess if I had to boil it down to a few authors, Stephen King would be at the top of the list because reading him really helped me understand the economy of language. Same goes for Hemingway. Teaching Hemingway to my students has honestly helped me as a writer because he says only what is necessary and nothing more. Like everyone else in my genres, I'm probably somehow contractually obligated to say I was inspired by Tolkien's worldbuilding. Reading Tobias Buckell's Nascence gave me the kick I needed to get my first pro-rate short story sale (and to actually go ahead with the Kickstarter for Birthright after seeing his leap of faith regarding The Apocalypse Ocean). And probably most recently, Brandon Sanderson. The man's a machine, and if I can one day be half the writer and worldbuilder he is, then I'll be doing okay.

Describe your writing process. Where do you get your ideas?

I give myself a daily/weekly quota, and I meet it. No questions asked. I try for 2,000 words a day, or 10,000 words a week when I'm in the middle of a project. If I'm planning or editing, I make goals for that--I get X chapters planned out or edited by the end of the week. By having concrete goals and deadlines, I have something to hold myself accountable to.

As far as getting ideas, where don't I? I don't know the answer to that, really. I see something that reminds me of something else, and I think "That'd make a fun story." Most people say they have to wait for inspiration to strike, while my problem is exactly the opposite. I have a hard time focusing enough on a single project or idea to actually finish it. I tend to have so many ooh, shiny moments that I'm always in the process of coming up with an idea that would probably be workable if I ever have the time to sit down with it.

Do you ever get writer’s block? What other challenges have you come across?

No, never. I don't actually believe in writer's block (plus, like I said above, I think I have Idea ADD). I'm a big proponent of the butt-in-chair writing style, where you put your butt in a chair until you write something. If you're having trouble, you just write through the hard parts and go back and fix what needs fixing later. Honestly, I also think it helps me that I see writing as craft more than art. The more you do it, the better you get at it, and the less mysterious it becomes. To me, the idea of writer's block mystifies everything too much, like there's something out of your control that's staunching your productivity. Some days are harder than others, but as far as major blocks, nah. Pound out the words, I say.

What are your future writing plans?

Well, I'd love to make this my day job. So as far as long-term plans go, that's what I'm working toward. But given that's just a tiny bit uncontrollable, I figure I ought to keep myself busy. First off, I intend to finish out The Technomage Archive with two more books (Lineage and Legacy). Austin and I have toyed around with Nimbus sequel ideas, but we don't have anything concrete planned out. I've got a couple of ideas for novellas I want to work on (maybe even between the last two Technomage books), and a hard SF literary novel called Where Angels Fear To Tread that I've started doing research for. I'd also love to do a superhero/detective series about a character with a name I can make puns on. I've always wanted to be that guy, you know?

So future writing plans? I guess it boils down to just "I plan to write." A lot. As much as I can stand and as much as people will read, honestly!

Book Review: Birthright by B.J. Keeton

Birthright by B.J. Keeton

In recent months, I have been taking a greater interest in fiction projects on Kickstarter, and I have the author of Birthright to thank for this. His book was the first project I've ever backed, and since then I've had the joy of discovering more authors, both independent and established, who have turned to such crowd-funding sites as an alternative to traditional publishing. 

Not to mention, sites like Kickstarter are also beneficial for writers with great ideas who plan to put out their work by themselves -- writers like B.J. Keeton, with his novel that plays with genre conventions. Birthright was successfully funded in the summer of  2012, and all the hard work came to fruition earlier last week when the completed book went up on Amazon and backers like myself found ebook copies in our inboxes.

Birthright is the first book of a planned science-fiction/fantasy trilogy called the Technomage Archives. It begins with main protagonist Ceril Bain's discovery of a mysterious sword buried in his grandfather's garden. Gramps identifies it as a Technomage sword and tells Ceril stories about these high-tech wizard-like members of the Charonic Archive. 

Six years later, Ceril is himself preparing to become a full-fledged Charon in his own right, after training and being educated aboard a space ship capable of inter-dimensional travel, called the Inkwell Sigil. However, right before he can begin the final step to become initiated into the order, the Sigil loses power and becomes stranded in space. Together with four of his fellow classmates, Ceril must embark on a mission into uncharted territory to find a legendary Technomage who may be the only person alive with the power to help them.

Know that famous quote from Arthur C. Clarke about any sufficiently advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic? I keep seeing this book's premise as an exploration of that very idea, with its creative blending of sci-fi and fantasy elements. This hybrid-genre book is unlike any I've read before. The "science-y" bits are fascinating and imaginative, always piquing my interest to find out more details behind the technology. At the same time, so much about the Technomages are magic-based and shrouded in mystery, enough to keep the hardcore fantasy fan in me happy and in her comfort-zone.

Like many self-published works, I think the book can benefit from additional rounds of editing and revisions just to sort out the pacing, tighten up the plot and tweak things up a bit, but I'd imagine writing and putting out a book on your own can't be easy or cheap. Bearing in mind it is an indie author self-published book, I really do think Birthright is quite fantastic as it is. The only real rocky part I felt was towards the beginning, before the "Six Years Later" kicks in and we skip ahead to Ceril's life aboard the Inkwell Sigil. Still, the marked difference almost makes me think this might be deliberate, to reflect Ceril's young age and innocence at this earlier stage in time, his simple and naive way of looking at the world and people around him. In fact, while reading the first few chapters of the book, the point-of-view and tone made me think Birthright was meant to be a Young Adult novel. 

However, this definitely shifts as soon as we skip ahead the six years, which occurs about a quarter of the way into the book. It is noticeable enough that it almost feels like Birthright has an unspoken Part I and Part II. For me, it's like the book actually starts at this point six years later, when the plot picks up, the action and adventure begins, and Ceril grows up to become a more complex and interesting character. 

Speaking of which, I find there really are no standard "cookie-cutter" protagonists in this book, and that's a good thing; like real people, they are multi-faceted and sometimes so hard to pin down. So many times I found myself shocked (for better or worse) with a character's decision when they do something completely unexpected, which keeps me wondering and on my toes. Ceril himself is not someone I would at first think of as a hero or even a leader (he's always saying things like how he has no desire to become a soldier because he doesn't want to risk himself, or that he doesn't want responsibility for other people's lives, not to mention he's the kind of person who would carelessly sleep through an alarm on the most important day of his life) and it's fascinating to see him grow into the role.

Finally, as a big fan of massively multiplayer online games, I was also really geeking out at the book's description of "Instances" and of the way the characters would travel to and between these "pocket-universes" that exist in the same physical space as one another by using swirly-looking portals. The author admits to being an avid MMO player on Birthright's Kickstarter page, and it's always such a treat to read books by a fellow gamer and see gaming references and nods to MMORPGs in their work. If he decides to do another Kickstarter for the sequel, I would definitely pledge my support again.

Final verdict:

4 of 5 stars