Can you tell us a bit
about your newest release, Time’s Tempest,
and how The Chronicles of Xannia are different, and similar, to the Lost Chapter series?
First
off, The Lost Chapters are a part of The Chronicles of Xannia. Effectively
the Lost Chapters are a collection of short stories that take place before the
action of the book Time’s Tempest.
These lost chapters are stories that have been mentioned in passing that deal
with a time in either Taya or Dezmind’s past that influence who they have
become when we meet them in the main book. It’s not necessary to have read the Lost Chapters in order to understand Time’s Tempest, they are simply meant as
added enjoyment to the tale.
What can you tell us
about the main character, Taya, and her best friend, Zaith?
Taya
is a bit of an anomaly. What I mean by that is there really is no one quite
like her. She’s fierce, determined, tenacious, stubborn and a bit bitchy when
she doesn’t get her own way. On the other hand, she’s loyal, has a huge heart
and can’t stand when innocent people get hurt. She is a Contractor with the
Training Facility directly linked to the Kronik. Taya met her best friend Zaith
on the first non-probationary assignment she was allowed to choose as a
Contractor. Zaith’s a top reporter for National News Now, a title due in part
by her own tenacity and stubbornness but also in part due to Taya’s help breaking
an important story during their first assignment together. Zaith not only
challenges Taya’s beliefs (in a good way) but tries her patience as well – she
tends to be late and is a massive girly-girl to Taya’s tom-boy tendencies. They
work like yin and yang.
Please explain ‘verrin’
and ‘coltish’.
Verrin
is to the people of Xannia as Water is to Humans; without it they will die.
There is water on the planet Xannia and it serves its purpose in the cosmic
chain of life but when it all comes down to it, the thick orangey-pink liquid verrin
tops everything.
Coliths
are the tattoo-like markings which cover all Xannians. They are s-shaped and
cover the body randomly, like freckles. Some people have a lot, like red-heads
here on earth and some people have a few but no one is without them. Generally
there are less of them on the face and palms but there’s always an exception to
the rule. There is a different colour of colitsh to represent each of the races
of Xannia (along with various refractive skin-tones…think of the way a bronzed
beach-body looks with tanning lotion almost totally absorbed into the skin).
Only the elite race of the Talian’s have hollow coliths. Everyone else’s are
solid or coloured-in.
What can you tell us
about the Contractor Training Facility – CTF, the ‘Spoken Truth’ concept, and the
mission of ‘A Guide into the Deserts’?
The
CTF is an elite facility operated by a distant branch of the government. The
Contractors they train are of the fastest, strongest, and brightest among the
general population. They are respected and revered just as a Supreme Court
judge or navy seal might be. The only difference is that they are contracted to
do any number of long-term or temporary jobs required in the general populous –
it’s a glorified temp agency, lol! But they’re the best of the best.
The
Spoken Truth is a relatively new movement based on the idea that the past can
inform the present about the future. Think Nostradamus. Different Speakers who
have studied, reviewed, or researched old Xannian documents make connection
with what is presented in those pages to what is or is likely to happen now.
These Speakers then hold public Rallies to spread the word and ultimately try
to convince the citizenry of some forgotten Truth and alter the course of destiny.
‘A
Guide into the Deserts’ is a contracted job that becomes available in the CTF
database of potential assignments. At first glance, it’s a joke job – no one
would ever willingly accept it. The Deserts on Xannia span a large portion of
the equator and are known as a kind of Bermuda Triangle on this planet.
Technology doesn’t work properly, if at all, out there so if cell phones
existed you’d be screwed (what they have are watch-communicators that act very
similarly to our existing cell phone technology). In addition to the fact that
you wouldn’t be able to use a compass to know which way you were going or some
kind of communicator to call for help, there are numerous creatures that
inhabit the various Deserts, most of which are deadly. So the fact that a
contract would come up requesting a trained CTF agent to guide someone into
this death zone, means that if the job isn’t a joke at the very least it’s a
death sentence to think you could casually wander into the midst of this
chaotic place and come back home in one piece.
Who are the ‘Kronik’
and who are the ‘Talians’?
The
title “Kronik” has dual meaning: it represents both the man who leads the
government (like the President) and the twelve Advisory Councilors who make up
the governing body (the Parliament). The reason behind the interchangeability
of the honorarium is that while the man has the final say, he would be nothing
without his advisors and so they are literally an extension of the man.
Talians
are the only race on Xannia who can be a part of the Kronik – they run the
known world. They live in a self-imposed exile of sorts behind large Compound
walls near the sea. The only time a common citizen ever sees one in public, in
person, is when something goes terribly wrong (like the Nine Seas Massacre) and
there’s need of an infusion of confidence in those being ruled by those doing
the ruling. Otherwise only those in the governing body of the Kronik are seen
on the wire (a TV/radio device) and the rest of the Talians are not seen at
all. They live as a separate society completely apart from the rest of the
world.
Tell us about the role ‘Jadis’
the pet lynx plays in the story.
Jadis
is the perfect pet for Taya: she’s like a dog and a cat – loyal, cuddly,
independent and yet reliant upon Taya. Jadis is the one outlet for Taya’s
affection that can’t be taken from her or tainted in any way. Without Jadis I
truly believe that Taya would be dangerous-crazy. Jadis is one of the few
abandoned wild cats rescued each year who need a loving home to thrive in.
Essentially, by Taya rescuing this lynx she is metaphorically rescuing herself
– or trying to.
Can you tell us about
the ‘Ancients’?
The
Ancients are the first Xannians who travelled out of the Deserts over 2000
years ago and into the fertile and lush lands present-day Xannian’s live in.
They were forced to migrate from their city when the Deserts encroached on
their land making it unlivable. Their beliefs became the foundation for all
modern Xannia.
What background inspired
the creation of The Chronicles of Xannia?
I
briefly mentioned Nostradamus above when describing the Spoken Truth. I’ve seen
enough specials on the History Chanel and discussed his work in philosophy
classes to know that interpretation is everything. The idea that one man’s
writings can tell of future happenings always boggled my mind and I’ve never
quite come to terms with how I feel about it. I wanted to explore my skepticism
and contradictory need to believe in something almost mystical; Time’s Tempest became a vehicle for
that.
What was the easiest and
hardest part about writing Time’s Tempest?
The
easiest part was the writing. The hardest part was finding the time to write,
although revising the book from front to back three times in the span of a
dozen or more years comes a close second. I’m a vomit on the page kind of gal; I like to set myself up with a horde
of research and a solid structural plan and then just dive in and see where the
waterslide takes me – and it’s always a fun ride (puke aside). Finding the time
to write has always been a bane of mine. My studies came first, then getting a
job, then keeping my job, and what began as this cool idea back in college
lengthened into a marathon I was determined to finish but never could. Finally
when my life seemed to balance itself out for a quince of years (before I
decided to have a child), I found the time.
Are you happy with the
direction Time’s Tempest is going?
Yes,
most definitely. The version published today is 100 times better than the
scrawlings I did as a naïve 18 year old. My craft and my understanding of life
has grown to the point where I can now say with pride that I am an Author. Book two is fully outlined and 1/5th of the first
draft is written as of the launch of book one. I have carved out time each week
to devote to this story and it pains me every time I have to leave it again.
I’m excited to know that book two will take less than a year to get to the same
place it took book one to be in.
Interview provided by: Debra Mauldin
Synopsis:
Taya
A loyal and dedicated government contractor
extraordinaire, learns of the fate
of the planet while on a top-secret job
working as a lab tech for a disreputed scientist.
Dezmind
A Talian government dissenter who claims the
only way to save their dying world
is to trust a set of ancient documents lost
long ago in the forbidding Deserts.
Zaith
A reporter covering the story of a lifetime
following a lead that could mean more
than breaking the biggest story to hit the
planet since the Nine Seas Massacre.
Fate, destiny and truth collide with 2000
year old secrets the government will do anything to keep buried. When Taya is
forced to accept a contract that will be a death sentence for anyone involved,
she unwittingly becomes a catalyst in a game she never wanted to play. As she
leads a false prophet and his followers on a mission doomed from the start, she
learns far more about herself and her world than she ever thought possible.
About the Author:
M.J. Moores began her career as an English teacher in Ontario, Canada. Her love of storytelling and passion for writing has writing has stayed with her since the age of nine. M.J. relishes tales of adventure and journeys of self-realization. She enjoys writing in a variety of genres but speculative fiction remains her all time favorite.
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