Name:

Hometown: Loveland, Colorado

Book Title: Parachute Minds: Leap of Fate

Genre: Sci-Fi/Adventure

Dorrance Publishing (DP): Describe your book in 10 words or less.

Jeremiah Sanchez (JS): An exploration beyond the unknown through biological light travel.

DP: What made you want to write your book?

JS: I’ve long been fascinated by the explorers of old, who looked across the horizon and braved the unknown by venturing where no one else dared. That was real. That was visceral. And, in our modern world, it’s something that no longer exists. We’ve mapped out the globe. Adventure has been whittled down to tourism. As the adventurers we innately are, we’ve begun exploring into our solar system, which is incredible! But it’s slow.

Obsessing over these floating details, I remember I was staring at a beam of light breaking through a window, marveling at the intricacies too small for me to see or understand. In a moment of unexpected inspiration, I remember wondering what possible properties of light are yet to be discovered. We’re always learning more of the scientific workings around us. So, the first “what if” of many in my “Parachute Minds” adventure hit me: What if light had elasticity properties? And furthermore, what if we could biologically harness it and leap impossible distances at amplified light speed? From there, the book flew out of me, and I’m currently working on the fourth installment.

DP: How long did it take you to write your book?

JS: The first book took about half a year.

DP: How do you choose the names of your characters?

JS: My main protagonist, Gideon, is a name that has been on my heart since I was in my teens and one of my friends randomly asked me, “Hey, if you ever have a son, what would you name him?” The name “Gideon” hit me out of nowhere. I thought it sounded trustworthy and adventurous. Like, “Hey, mom, can I go over to Gideon’s house?” Who would say no to that? His name was ready before the story even existed.

My second of three protagonists, Traveler, is the representing embodiment of the call to action in the book. While I do have a first name for him, I wanted him shrouded in purpose. He is an observer, a recruiter, and a traveler, and he prefers title over birth name. And lastly, Dumakleiza, my third primary protagonist, was pure universal inspiration. I needed a new and unique female character that inspired fear and respect, admiration and wonder, and I spent days going over forced names until “Dumakleiza” just popped in my head. Her name is by far my favorite invented name of the series.

DP: What do you do when you have writer’s block?   

JS: I have a small group of trusted individuals whom I call “my parachute minds.” I have shared the plotline with them, all the way through my planned five books of the series. I’ve insisted upon honest, critical, and creative feedback. Whenever I’m stuck or unsure, their perspectives and guidance have given me fresh eyes and inspiration moving forward. It’s all too easy for us writers to hide away as hermits and covet our art, but one of the best decisions I’ve made on this journey was asking for help from other creative and critical minds along the way.

DP: What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

JS: In the first book, my favorite chapter is easily the first. While it has nothing to do with the scope of the story’s plot, it wholly exemplifies the story’s heart. The majority of the book is saturated in epic adventure, mystery, and danger, but the first chapter is a simple view into Gideon’s soul. Exploring his unconditional love for strangers has changed who I am as an author and a person.

DP: If you were stuck on an island and had to have one person from each category with you, who would they be and why:

a. One character from your book:

JS: Ha! Easy! Dumakleiza. She’s a medieval pirate, who’s lived on an island for most of her life, so she’s well versed in fishing, cooking, and survival tactics. And, not to toot my own horn, but she is passionately brimming with confidence, faith, and perceptive intelligence.

b. One fictional character:

JS: Jack Sparrow seems like an easy answer since he’s a master of getting off islands but after thorough consideration, I would say Raymond Reddington from “The Blacklist.” His intelligence, survival prowess, and calm demeanor in dangerous situations, make him an ideal survival buddy. And between James Spader’s captivating voice and Raymond’s poetic darkness, he would be spellbinding to join staring up at uninhibited stars from our isolated beach.

c. One famous person (living or dead):

JS: This one came to me instantaneously. Mark Rober, the NASA engineer turned YouTuber. His vibrant charisma would make him a pleasure to be stuck with, and his ingenuity would make life fun and efficient, and he would be a great teacher to learn from. If I ever made it off the island, I’d have gotten the equivalent of a college education!

DP: Besides writing, what are your other interests?

JS: In all aspects of life, I think of myself as a student (foreshadowing for book #2). I enjoy trying my hand at anything that piques my interest at all, even if I end up proving terrible at it. This year, my business partner and I started a card and board game company, “Alien Architects,” which will be launching soon. Since writing remains my favorite passion, whenever I’m not working on my books, poetry is still my first love. Day to day, I live in the gym, training under strongman influences such as Brian Shaw, Eddie Hall, and others. I’m an independent model and actor, amateur filmmaker, and voice actor. Check back with me tomorrow. I’m always up to something new!

DP: Do you keep a journal?

JS: I’ve always wanted to! However, I tend to put them down and resort to keeping my journal mental.

DP: How did you celebrate the publishing of your book?

JS: By getting to work. I am beyond excited to finally be able to hold a physical copy of my book, but it only makes me want the next steps of this dream even more, and now they’re within reach. I have a YouTube channel, also titled “Parachute Minds,” which discusses subjects similar to those in my books, where I’m promoting the release. And in addition to other promotional work, I’m preparing the second book of the series for publication. Expect more very soon!

DP: If your book was made into a movie, who would play the main characters?

JS: At this point, I would want Gideon played by Dylan O’brien, Dumakleiza played by Zendaya, and Traveler remains a mystery as to who I envision portraying him best. I’m open to suggestions.

DP: What did you enjoy most about working with Dorrance Publishing?

JS: The freedom. The professionalism, promptness, and guidance, were all ever-present, but at the end of the day, Dorrance ensured that this was my project and that every step met my standards and vision. This resulted in me getting a product I’m truly happy with and proud of.

DP: Five favorite books of all time?

JS: Frank E. Peretti’s “The Oath” inspired me as a young reader. Growing up, I loved the imagination and creativity of Michael Crichton’s “Jurassic Park” and Douglas Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” The book that most inspired me while doing research for my own books: “The Future of Humanity” by Michio Kaku still blows my mind! And lastly, while it seems like a lazy answer, my book. When I decided to write “Parachute Minds,” I decided not to tailor it to any audience or demographic beyond myself. I wanted to write the ultimate story I would want to read.

DP: One sentence of advice for other writers:

JS: Create your characters and then let them do whatever they’re going to do.

Are you ready to publish your book? Contact us today!

The post Author Spotlight: Jeremiah Sanchez appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Historical Fiction

Historical fiction involves a heavy amount of research into the time period where you’ve chosen to set your novel. What sort of clothes were people wearing during this time period? What were the rich people wearing vs. the poor? What sort of language was being used? What sort of customs were expected? Where would they get a cup of coffee in the morning? What would they do with their free time? Readers of historical fiction are reading in large part for the historical details, so you need to put the work into research and accuracy. It’s one thing to embellish a historical event for the sake of fiction, but the novel should overall be grounded by fact-checked historically accurate details.

Science Fiction

The science fiction genre often involves researching complex scientific concepts. Unlike the fantasy genre, the science fiction genre involves a world with a set of rules that can be explained. This means that the concepts that the world deals with should be able to be explained, oftentimes scientifically. So when you’re writing about high-tech gadgets and the discovery of aliens, make sure that the concepts that exist within your world could be supported scientifically. The last thing you want is to write a virtually impossible event or object into existence into your world, only to have the sci-fi community find out by doing their research (and they will trust us).

Horror/Crime

Horror is a genre most people would be surprised requires research. When we think of horror, we think of a killer walking slowly down the darkened road with a single knife held aloft. Or we think of a serial killer and a detective who is getting a little too close to finding him. That involves a lot of suspense and action… but research?

First, the horror genre may be heavy in suspense, but it should also be heavily researched. One of the most frustrating things for a horror reader is reading a character’s death that is absolutely preposterous in its absurdity. The kind of death that, even without any research, you’re absolutely sure can’t exist in nature. This type of character death can leave the reader both heartbroken and angry, even when it happens to the antagonist if you’ve written them well.

Even though it may leave you with a very questionable search history, you should be making sure that a character being stabbed in a certain area of the body isn’t fatal. You should be researching the states of decomposition of a body over time or how the body would react to being shot in the leg. There are no stakes, and therefore no suspense, in your book if the characters don’t feel real, and part of that involves accuracy.

Additionally, the horror genre often involves creating new and grotesque ways of murder. Doing so involves research in order to both brainstorm ideas (again, sorry about your search history) and make sure that they’d be humanely (or sometimes inhumanely) possible to carry out.

Fantasy

This one probably shocks you, but fantasy novels too require research. The level of research required depends on how removed your fantasy novel is from our world. For example, take the Harry Potter world which involves a magical world that is adjacent to or hidden from our world. This means the story still involves humans in a certain time period, the 90s. Therefore, although the world involves magic, JK Rowling still had to research how the character’s human bodies would react to certain injuries and time-specific details like the technology (or lack thereof) that would be available to the students at the time.

You might instead be writing a high fantasy book, or one that involves another world and oftentimes species other than humans. Research can still be helpful in this case as it can help give the fantasy details a bit more solid ground. For example, let’s say you’re writing about a character who is an elf, researching elf lore from other series and reading up on myths can help you find the details you want to include in your world’s version of elf lore.

The post Researching Your Fiction Book appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Seeing Our Reflections

Though Science Fiction readers yearn for fantastical drastically advanced worlds, they want themes that are culturally relevant in the present day. So, when you’re preparing to write a sci-fi epic, think about modern issues you care about or even worry about in the world and how (if left untreated) those problems could escalate in the future or in an original species that you create. For example, the science fiction book Ready Player One focuses on a future where we immerse ourselves in virtual worlds and let our planet essentially crumble to ruins around us. Another classic sci-fi book, Red Rising, illustrates where extreme classism can take us- especially when we begin colonizing other planets.

We strongly recommend, rather than trying to tackle several issues at once, that you hone in on one specific problem you see in the world or with humanity and flesh that out as much as possible. If you try to think about all of the different problems in the world it can be a) overwhelming, b) depressing as heck, and c) hard to trace into a possible future or species. In addition, sci-fi readers are all about detailed and intricate concepts where every possible question has been answered. It’s much easier to create a detailed species, world, or future for the human race if you’re focusing on all the in’s and out’s of one issue rather than hundreds. Ultimately, think about what you believe to be the biggest problem facing society or human nature and bring that into your story as a central theme.

Technology & Techno-babble

The main difference between science fiction and fantasy writing is this category right here. Rather than gloss over the inner workings of different pieces of technology you include or cultural concepts you create- sci-fi readers want to hear all of those details. They want to be thoroughly convinced that you did your research as an author and that the technology, medicine, medical procedures, government structure, etc. that they’re reading about is entirely possible and mapped out. While you shouldn’t go into these rants without character context and they shouldn’t be happening on every page, don’t shy away from those long explanations- for sci-fi readers, the devil really is in the details.

Exploration/Discovery

Another big theme that sci-fi readers all want to see is some form of exploration or discovery. Whether that be a character discovering that their world is bigger than they thought or characters discovering a big concept like time travel or parallel worlds- these readers long for those ‘aha’ and ‘oh my gosh’ moments that true scientists and innovators experience. So don’t make the mistake of revealing everything about the world and the trajectory of the story early on. You protagonist should get to grow and change as the scope of their world and its capabilities does the same.

Suspense

While not technically a suspense novel, sci-fi readers want to see a certain level of the suspense genre brought into these novels. Typically in science fiction books, we see one of two tropes: either the world is in danger (or put into danger) and in need of saving or the world is already in a bad place and needs rescuing. For example, in the acclaimed sci-fi novel 1984, George Orwell creates a very dystopian totalitarian world that the protagonist slowly becomes aware of. And if one of these two suspense tropes isn’t employed, science fiction writers will find other ways to create suspense. For example, in the novel Station Eleven, the reader knows an apocalypse of some kind has occurred in this world, but the ‘what’ and ‘how’ is withheld from us. Instead, the novel jumps back and forth in time and POV, slowly cluing the readers in on what happened. Ultimately, sci-fi readers want high stakes, drama, and to be at the edge of their seats. They should feel like they’re strapped into a spaceship flying at hyperspeed (even if they’re just curled up on their couch with their cat).

The post Writing For Your Audience: Science Fiction appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Imagine you’re walking around a bookstore looking for something new to read. Usually, you pick up a book when you’re intrigued by a cover that looks like it’s from a genre you’re interested in reading. As an author, that means if you choose a cover that differentiates from the genre of your book, the wrong readers will be picking up (most likely putting back down) your book.

So how do you know what kind of book cover would match your book? Obviously, you should do your own research by looking up other books in your genre and imagine similar covers for your book. But we’ve compiled some suggestions for you as well:

1) Contemporary

Typically, contemporary covers are rather simple. Many have little cartoonish illustrations of one or two of the characters or an object that’s significant or symbolic in the book. Others will have actual photographs, whether stock photo images or perhaps the author hires models to pose as their characters. Another common contemporary cover would be a photo of a landscape. Figure out what is most relevant to your content and highlight it keeping these ideas in mind.

2) Fantasy

This is a more imaginative genre and your cover should reflect that while still remaining relevant to the content of your book. A tell-tale indication that it’s a fantasy book is if the cover has one of the following: a crown, a sword, a helmet, a throne, or a dragon (Oh and don’t just stick with dragons–illustrations of animals like lions or phoenixes are also popular for fantasy books).  Another common choice is to have an artist hand-draw characters or a relevant scene from your book. This choice is very popular, especially for adult fantasy books…just make sure it relates to your content.

3) Science Fiction

The majority of science fiction works are dystopian and many have dark overtones. Typically, the covers reflect this. It’s also common for a science fiction book cover to depict some of the technology that a reader should expect to find within the book. Whether that’s a hand-drawn illustration of a spaceship, a space gun, a spacesuit, or even a circuit board. If your book takes place another planet, it’s common to depict that on the cover. You may even design the entire city landscape on the cover. Just remember that, while contemporary novels may be light and romantic, your city would need a darker overtone and the illustration would need to clearly show a technological difference between this city and one we’d be able to find in our world today. If none of this appeals to you, check out some old science fiction covers like Dune or The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and create a cover with a similar vintage feel. This is an especially good design route to take if you think your book would appeal to similar readers.

4) Romance

Obviously, these covers vary, but if you want readers to know right away that they’re picking up a romance novel, the easy solution is having a couple on the cover. There are various ways you can do this, whether it’s with an illustration or a photograph, so do your research and figure out what works best for your book. Another common choice is a girl in a beautiful, flowing dress (often running). Finally, a third good indicator of a romance novel is to have something either stereotypically romantic or relevant to the couple within your book. This could mean a picture of flowers, a butterfly, or (if your book involves letters) perhaps a set of letters. Think about what items are important to the couple in your story to help you draw some inspiration.

5) Nonfiction

When it comes to nonfiction book covers, less is more. A lot of covers depict simply the title and author in a nice font. They may play around with the actual color of the cover and font, but they will often not include an image or, if they do, it is very small. Any image or photograph that you include in the cover should be directly and clearly significant to the content. Whereas with fiction books these items can be elusive, with nonfiction they need to very clearly deal with the content. So, if the book is about the history of a city, having a photograph of the city as the cover would work. Or, if the book is about how to play the guitar, include a small photo or illustration of a guitar. You can play around with how modern or vintage it looks, but make sure the images are relevant. This isn’t the time to be imaginative. Just be simple, clear, and concise. Otherwise, you’ll have fiction readers picking up your book instead.

6) Suspense/Mystery

This genre’s cover is relatively easy. All you need is a bold font choice that takes up almost the entire cover and perhaps a backdrop of an item or place that relates in some way to the plot or title of the book. If your book involves someone drowning in a lake, throw in a photo or drawing of an eerie lake. Or, if your book involves a pocket watch, include one in the center between the title and author name. Keep in mind, though, not to accidentally give away a clue through the item you choose. For example, if the pocket watch is going to end up being the key to the mystery, choose a different item. Whatever is on the cover, astute readers will be on the lookout for it. Make sure you choose an item or location that’s relevant without being the key to solving your mystery.

The post Choosing the Right Book Cover appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

It’s also a genre with a lot of misconceptions.

Most people make the assumption, based on the name, that science fiction is just that: fiction about science. But that’s not exactly accurate. Expert sci-fi editors and writers have said they’d prefer to rename the genre as ‘Speculative Fiction’ to help alleviate this confusion. In order to write a sci-fi epic, you must understand the two main characteristics that define a science fiction novel…and science isn’t actually one of them.

1. The Question

Science Fiction poses one central question to the reader. Fantasy books, on the other hand, will probably have several separate themes scattered throughout like friendship, bravery,and loyalty. Science Fiction is distinct because it poses one single question and the whole book is an attempt to answer it.

Take George Orwell’s 1984, for example. The book begins by asking the question, “What if the government tried to cement power by eliminating choice?” Every facet of the book stems from that central question. In a world with no choice, what do people wear? How do they act? How do they view the government? The reader accepts every detail of the story as truth because it supports this central thesis.

When you’re writing science fiction and trying to figure out what your question will be, think of your story as a social commentary.Whether you’re setting your story in the future or in another world, in order to reach a present-day audience you have to think about the present-day human experience. How could it be improved upon? Hone in on a specific part of the current human experience and speculate on where it could go or what it could mean about humans as a whole. Consider yourself warned: this could send you careening into an existential crisis, but it also makes for a fantastic book.

So when you’re sitting down with this really complicated space odyssey in your head, remember to start by asking yourself: what’s your question and what’s the answer?

2. The Rules

Whereas a fantasy novel can have giants, fairies and unicorns with little to no explanation, sci-fi has to include a set of rules and those rules must remain consistent. Remember, sci-fi starts with a central question related to the human experience–this is what makes it believable. The world you create must be consistently framed around that question and there must be strict line between what’s possible and what’s not. To do this realistically, each facet of the world must be consistent, support your central theme and be supported with specific theories or research.

Take the classic Margaret Atwood book The Handmaid’s Tale. This book revolves around the central question, “What if reproduction became rare?” Margaret Atwood’s answer is that reproduction, and by extension women themselves, become property to be owned. The world she creates feels realistic because it’s supported by research on slavery, the current class system, the religious treatment of women and an overall understanding of misogyny as a construct.

A great example of a book making very strict rules for itself is Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. The question that this book poses: what if humans created clones to be their own personal organ donors? This raises themes about humanity, the sanctity of life and how far people will go to prolong it. But it also has rules: while you can prolong life, it’s still impossible to be immortal.

Sci-fi is highly revered because it feels realistic, so with this genre the devil truly is in the details. When you’re writing, it’s crucial you do your research and make sure there’s iron-clad consistency and continuity within the confines of the world you create.

Any fellow sci-fi nerds out there who are looking for some good reads, check out Dorrance titles Terralepus by Kathleen M. Hamilton and Superstars of the Galaxy: An Explosive Entrance by William Craig Eason II.

The post Genre Spotlight: Science Fiction appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.