Interview with author L.S. King

 

Jimbo: Welcome to Jimbo’s Awesome Science Fiction and Fantasy Reviews, where we’re all about promoting Science Fiction and Fantasy content creators. Seriously, if I didn’t love to tell you about  all aspects of Speculative Fiction I wouldn’t have put up over three hundred posts doing so. Today, we’re talking to author L.S. King, author of the new novel Raising the Stakes, the third installment of the Deuces Wild series. She’s very excited to share the news with all of us. Say hi, Lee. Drop a link to your author website and anywhere else you might tell the world about all of your work.

LS King: “Hi, Lee.” (Well, you said to say it!) Thanks for the interview! 

My website is https://loriendil.com

On the Contact page, all my social media, my newsletter, and my email are listed. So anyone who wishes to find me or my work can easily do so there.

I have two series at the minute. The one is space opera and the other is epic science fantasy. No magic, just forgotten ancient technology.

I do have a few stand-alone short stories in one series or the other, and a couple that are completely independent, although some of them are not currently available. That will change, eventually.

Jimbo: Great to see you Lee! So, before we get to the latest book in the series, tell us a bit about the first two, Beginner’s Luck and Stacking the Deck for those who may not have had the chance to read them yet. Try not to spoil too much for those that don’t like that kind of thing.

L.S. King: Beginners’ Luck is the story of how our two heroes meet and must work together to escape the bad guys. In the process, they end up getting in the way of more bad guys and some Very Bad Things happen. Spoiler: by the end of the novel, they have started to forge a friendship.

Stacking the Deck adds some flavor with some additional characters, some of whom cause headaches and some of whom are headaches. They are drawn unwillingly into various dangerous situations, such as attempting to break a planetary blockade with their lone ship.

Jimbo: Terrific. So tell us a little bit about each of your main characters, Slap and Tristan, and what makes them do what they do. I mean, a cowboy and a space pirate seem like a bit of an unlikely pair.

L.S. King: The two main characters are indeed complete opposites. One is altruistic despite the tragedies that have devastated him, while the other is cynical.

Slap is a rancher from a pioneer planet which uses “sustainable” ways rather than hi-tech. So when I say he’s a cowboy, I mean it. A gangster, in a drive for power, is trying for land grabs and kills his family, burns his ranch, leaving him for dead.

Tristan is a bit of a drifter from off-planet with a mysterious background. Is he a mercenary, pirate, assassin? Regardless, he proves he is a deadly adversary.

The two men discover this same gangster is after them both, and they are forced to work together to survive.

The idea for this broadly came from my favorite Western book, Shane.

Jimbo: Awesome. So I hear that the first novel, Beginners Luck, was serialized in Ray Gun Revival magazine. Tell us a little bit about how that works and what the experience of working with Ray Gun Revival was like.

L.S. King: I was involved (rather reluctantly at first, the phrase “dragged kicking and screaming” comes to mind LOL) in the creation of Ray Gun Revival. The idea was to bring back the old SF serial magazine with the fun of space ships, ray guns, and just fun science fiction stories. We had stand-alones we published every issue, but we wanted serial novels that would run a chapter a month, just like in the Old Days™.

Getting four people to do that was a bit of a problem. So my co-founder Johne Cook suggested I do one. I honestly wasn’t interested, but he hounded, er I mean, convinced me to do one of them as a proof-of-concept.

Sure. Just as a proof-of-concept. I guess I can do that. So I turned in the first three chapters and made it possible for the whole silly thing to end there if folks didn’t like it. 

And they did. So much so that when the storyline was finished a year and a half later, the publisher backing Ray Gun Revival released it as a novel.

The experience of working on Ray Gun Revival was extraordinary! I met so many talented writers and forged some amazing friendships that have lasted to this day. 

Jimbo: Thanks for that, Lee. Science Fiction owes so much of its success to the magazines that have promoted it since day one. It does my heart well to know that they’re still going strong. So, with Raising the Stakes recently released, tell me what Slap and Tristan are up to. How much trouble are they in this time? Remember not to ruin any big surprises.

L.S King: “Tell us about the novel, but no spoilers.” Oh sure, a piece of pie, as Carter would say! LOL

In this novel, several groups of bad guys are after our heroes (naturally). Some for obvious reasons, others...well, let’s just say it’s a bit of a problem when an entire galactic government is gunning for you.

An old friend of Tristan’s shows up, and causes some distractions in a manner only a woman among men can (for reference, see Heinlein’s Tunnel in the Sky), but they aren’t sure they can truly trust her.

In a strange twist, they discover that some planets are watched over by these strange beings with the ability to protect their planets. Tristan ponders if they are some sort of strange, noncorporeal aliens or something else. The natives of these planets claim these beings are not gods, but they certainly appear to have godlike powers. 

Slap and Tristan find themselves embroiled in a war between these ‘gods’ and the corrupt government that is trying to kill them.

Jimbo: That sounds like a lot of fun,but you have to picture this: I’ve read all about your books. I’m excited. I want them. But I don’t know what format they’re available in or where to get them. How about you save me from his galactic scale tragedy and fill me in on all of the relevant details.

L.S. King: All of my works can be accessed on my website, both in print and various ebook formats. From my site, you can click through to Amazon, Apple, Google, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and also Smashwords.

https://loriendil.com

Jimbo: That’s all good to know, but here at Jimbo’s we don’t believe in letting authors off that easily. Why don’t you tell us about some of your older works? I particularly enjoyed your Sword’s Edge Trilogy. Don’t be shy, Lee. I know you can be a bit modest, but you’re a good author so feel free to go on a bit and fill us all in on what you’ve done prior to your latest series. 

L.S. King: Sword’s Edge started from a dream I had circa 1985. It simmered for years before I started writing it down. When I finally did, I ended up with a world that had thousands of years of backstory as well as what was happening in their present day. 

The series has an epic fantasy feel but with forgotten ancient technology being rediscovered instead of magic. The books have some danger and derring-do (I must get in my quota of swords and capes), but also some soul-crushing moments of internal reflection and decisions which impact their entire world.

Jimbo: Sounds amazing. Let’s get a bit personal. Why Speculative Fiction and not some other genre. Seriously, what led you to the world of rockets, ray guns, elves and trolls?

L.S. King: ahem There are no elves or trolls, thankyouverymuch! LOL I’ll leave them in Middle-earth!
I was heavily influenced by Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits as a wee lass, and then by Star Trek when it came out in 1966. I remember reading The Runaway Robot by Lester del Rey and Forgotten Door by Alexander Key while in elementary school, and then I discovered Heinlein’s juveniles. 

I read other genres too, everything from Enid Blyton to Zane Grey to Tolkien (of course) to C.S. Lewis (I’m partial to his space trilogy) to Agatha Christie to Edgar Allan Poe.

I was also heavily influenced by Zorro which I openly admit is the source of my love for capes and swords.

Jimbo: Thanks for sharing. And if I were to, say, already have all of the L.S King books and needed something else to read, what authors/series would you recommend and why?

L.S. King: I have many favorite authors in so many genres, but since your site is SF/F, I’ll stick to those. 

I know these are a given, but: Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, Bradbury, Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick, Pohl, Sturgeon, van Vogt,  E.E. "Doc" Smith, Anne McCaffrey, Zelazny, Zahn, Cherryh, Le Guin—I could go on forever! And oh, yes, I cannot forget to mention Lois McMaster Bujold. Her Vorkosigan series is amazing! 

I have discovered some newer authors (or at least, they’re new to me, okay?):

P.A. Piatt. His Walter Bailey Misadventures are a hoot, and I love his space marine novels. I recommend starting with Honor Flight! DINLI! (Language warning, folks!)

Sarah A. Hoyt’s work is great. Her Darkship series is a delight. I think they’re only available in print right now, not ebook.

Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter series is fantastic (Language warning again!). He hooked me on the first book with his blurb about his protagonist tossing his boss out of a fourteenth story window!

Jimbo: I’ll have to check some of those out. Last question: I’m always afraid that I didn’t get to everything, so what did I forget to ask that you wish I had? Don’t forget to answer your own question, Lee.

L.S. King: I can’t really think of anything. I do have a couple of events coming up, and they can be found on my Events page for anyone local to the Mid-Atlantic area:
https://www.loriendil.com/events.php

And, thanks again, Jim, for this interview. 

Jimbo: Thank you! L.S. King, ladies and gentlemen! Don’t forget to pick up her book and show some love in the comments!