Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Author Interview #169: Seer of Mars by Cindy Borgne



Our interview today is with Cindy Borgne, author of Seer of Mars(science fiction, 4.1 stars, 37 reviews) and its sequel “Visionary of Peace.”
Before we get to the interview, a brief description of Seer of MarsAt sixteen, Ian Connors happens to be the secret weapon of a powerful military faction bent on conquering all humans who have colonized Mars. His job is to use his psychic ability to uncover secrets or hidden bases of other factions. Ian not only uncovers a valuable hidden mine through his visions, but also Kayla, a woman he sees himself with in the future. The only problem is she’s on the enemy side.
Ian heads out into a battle to save Kayla. Instead, he discovers the death and destruction his visions can bring when in the wrong hands. Ian vows to never let anyone use him again. His goal is to escape and live in peace, but his superiors monitor him closely and defectors are known to mysteriously disappear. Deep down, he longs to be with Kayla. Despite his age, inexperience and few allies, he refuses to give up. He must outwit a cunning admiral and save Kayla from his own people or he will remain a pawn and forever separated from those he loves.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH CINDY BORGNE

Cindy Borgne lives in the Detroit, Michigan area with her two kids and one stubborn, yet somehow lovable basset hound. In 2011, Seer of Mars was a finalist in the Readers’ Favorite contest. She won an honorable mention for short fiction from Writer’s Digest. Her short story ThunderSnow was chosen as an editor’s pick at Eloquent Stories.
1.     How did you become a writer? I think it comes from having an overactive imagination that needs an outlet. I also enjoy the end result of a long project and enjoy sharing my stories with other people.
2.     What inspired you to write “Seer of Mars?” I started out wanting to write a story about a character with psychic ability. Then I thought what if he was caught in a situation of being used by someone with power. What if he didn’t realize at first, but when he did he was still forced to do things he knew were wrong? What would he do?
The idea of putting this all on Mars came about when I’d heard about companies building rocket-like planes capable of going into orbit around the Earth. I thought maybe one day it would be corporations that go to the moon or even Mars. I needed conflict, of course, so in my story the corporations were abandoned by Earth. In order to survive, they turn against each other.
3.     Tell us a little about your main character. Ian Connors is a psychic who struggles with the visions he sees of the future. His heart is always in the right place even though he makes mistakes. Ian is stubborn, but for the right reasons. He will go against anyone who is trying to make him do the wrong thing, even though he’s only one person against a huge corporation. 
 4.     What was unique about the setting of the book, and how did it enhance or take away from the story? Mars is a fun and unique setting. There were limitations because every time a character has to go outside they must be in a spacesuit, but as I wrote the story the plot became connected to this situation. I realized this because there were times I thought about moving the story to another location, but whenever I tried to do that it messed up the plot. Some of the dangers the characters experience is the risk of being exposed to the harsh conditions on Mars, such as the sub-zero temperatures and lack of oxygen. What if there is a leak in a spacesuit? How do you treat a wounded character while in a spacesuit? I came up with some things for these problems.
I also found that as far as anyone knows there is little to no sound on Mars because of the lack of atmosphere. I like to include sound in my description, so I had to work around it whenever the characters were outside. I used “vibrations” instead.

5.     What research did you have to perform to back up your story? There was a good deal of research involved. I studied the book “A Traveler’s Guide to Mars.” This book has the best detailed description of the various areas of Mars that I could find. I also have a geologist/engineer critique partner that helped me with some of the technical aspects. I studied any map about Mars I could find. Google Mars is a good resource.
6.     Why did you choose to write Seer of Mars in first person point-of-view as opposed to say, third person point-of-view? I wrote some scenes with this story in third person, but I ended up going with first person because I liked the voice better. It sounded more personal. First person helps me get inside the mind of the character. This led to the story being written in a way that lets the reader discover surprises and other things through Ian’s eyes.
 7.        Which is your favorite scene from your book? There is a scene where Ian finds out a secret about his boss (Sonny) at the elevator factory. I like it because it throws in a bit of a twist and adds to the characterization of Sonny. It also emphasizes more of the suffering caused by Marscorp.
 8.        Why Science Fiction? I like stories that are about something different or unusual, so my writing leans toward that genre. Although, my stories aren’t what I would call hard science fiction, they are more speculative and mainly about the characters and how they deal with the situations I get them into – the poor things. But don’t worry, I do cover the technology. I just don’t go overboard with too much info.
 9. What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel? Getting an idea that is unique and good enough. Plus bringing together all the conflict needed to go novel length. The hardest part of the story to write is the climax and ending. Everything has to come together. All the questions have to be answered. But oddly, I like writing the ending the most. Also I can’t always write at the best time of day for me, which in the morning. I have two kids, so I have to write whenever I get the chance and with interruptions.
10. Do you have any other projects planned? My next project is about a post-apocalyptic setting loosely titled “The Middle of Nowhere”. This would be about one-hundred years in the future where a manmade disaster drastically changes our world. However, I’m just starting it because I recently published the sequel “Visionary of Peace.”
Thank you, Anthony, for hosting my interview. It has been great to be here!
Connect with Cindy BorgneBlog/Facebook/Twitter
Seer of Mars: Amazon/Amazon UK
Visionary of Peace: Amazon/Amazon UK

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