A Q and A with Alex Dundass - Part 2

1. So what are you favorite TV shows?

Of late I have been straying back to my childhood, watching shows like the Six Million Dollar Man, A-Team, Hawaii Five-O (the original, with the hair co-starring), the Incredible Hulk.  All of these shows have solid writing and as such, are better than most of the crap in the last 20 years (Warehouse 13, Farscape and Stargate are of course exceptions).  I do look forward to Big Bang Theory, but not as much as I used to do.  I sure those kinds of people exist out there, but I have never encountered any in the faculty that I deal with.  Throw in documentaries on various subjects, like ancient civilizations, ancient mysteries, Border Security (both Canadian and Australian versions) and Alaska State Troopers.

2. So Conquest is coming out this month, what do you want to say about it?

About damned time it is coming out.  I only wrote it 16 years ago.  But in looking overall at the book, it is dark in different ways from Desperation, more sword fights that are quite vicious, the real antagonists come onto the scene, death of a few characters, less swearing I believe (I haven't actually checked), a battle sequence seen from the cockpit of a one man fighter.

3.  Who dies?

Go read the book.

4.  Any comments from people about those two scenes in Desperation, you know, the ones that have the sexual torture?

I had one fan at FanExpo loving it, and well I had a few people I know sent me gift certificates for shrinks.  What can I say, I am getting the impression that many people are tired of this feel good shit stories, even if BBC says otherwise in an article calling for feel good sci-fi.

5.  Have we seen the end of Lons and Skardo?

From the end of Desperation onwards, you wait and see.  For past stories, no.  There is a history there and while at FanExpo I plotted out the first full Anthology of the Guardians novel describing the death of the first immortal.  His name was Thadon.  Go make the connection to the Triumvirate Chronicles.

6.  Genesis has aliens in it, why does the Triumvirate Chronicles only have humans?

Didn't you ask this once before?  That question will be answered in Book IV, so be patient.  It will be released later next year, after Book III of course, unless I decide to do something weird and release Book IV before Book III (before I release Conquest I just might change the name of the book).

7.  Yes about that, you had said there was going to be a novella released before Book II.  Why did you change your mind?

I still have the same mind, believe it or not.  No, I looked at things and decided it was best to say no to a novella in the Triumvirate Chronicles (it is bad enough I have a novel started between Desperation and Conquest, but only part of it is within the Triumvirate Chronicles, the plan is one part in the Anthology of the Guardians, and the other part in the as of yet unnamed series set in the Galactic Empire (well I have about 3 series there I am playing with alone).  But it simply came down to what was the novella, was originally part of the second book, so I put it back in, and chose a spot in Book II to cut it.  As it is, in pocket book format, it is not allowed to make a book over 760 pages on Lulu, and well it works well for me to do this.  Besides, I need to win people over, and to do that, I need to show I am in it for the long haul, and have a good pace on getting the books out.

8.  Anymore stuff coming out this year?  Conquest makes 3 items so far.

If all goes well, another installment in the Anthology of the Guardians series is coming out, called Huntercats.  It is a 4 part story focusing on the Pruchocks introduced in Genesis.  There will be other stories on the other aliens yet, just be patient.  If everything lines up right, it will be available this year.

9.  Why September 30th for Conquest?

Random date, and it so happens it is 2 days after the Vocamus Book Bash that I will be at (Sep 28 2014 at the EBar in Guelph).  There is a really good chance I will have Conquest available at that appearance, and of course anyone that knows me in real life, can probably, for an alcoholic donation, get an advance copy of the book.  I will have the Prologue and Chapter 1 available this week off of my website, but the dedication is a bit of a secret.

Ok all, that is it for Part 2, we will do a Part 3 yet, in time.

Hmmm and what do you see here??