Maze: A Sci-fi Novella

Awareness leaping is all the rage.

Ten players.

Memories wiped, their bodies each dropped into a tank. Their consciousness thrown into the Maze—a virtual reality where anyone is anything and anywhere. Battles are fought, riddles are solved. To win a lifetime of riches one has to escape the Maze. First, they have to remember who they are.

Some never do.


INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR

WHY THE NOVELLA? JUST WRITE A FULL LENGTH NOVEL ALREADY.
Maze was a contribution to a multi-author anthology. However, delays sidetracked the project. In the meantime, Maze led me into my next full length novel titled MAZE: THE WAKING OF GREY GRIMM and then I decided to stop sitting on this novella. So there. In fact, the Grey Grimm novel is part of a much bigger boxed set title DOMINION RISING which includes 23 scifi/fantasy novels. Look it up.

HOW IMPORTANT ARE NAMES TO YOU IN THIS BOOK. DID YOU CHOOSE THEM BASED ON SOUND OR MEANING?
Almost all of my books have names with special meaning, some foreshadowing a big twist. While the names in Maze don’t have any hidden meanings, one is important to the twist.

WHERE DOES YOUR TOMORROW SPRING FROM? IN OTHER WORDS, HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE CRAZY WORLD?
Sometimes, I can’t remember how the story started by the time I get to the end. Like most of my other novels, the Maze started with the premise of identity. I like a story that questions who we are and explore life, death and creation.

GIVE YOUR BOOK THE BECHDEL TEST. IT HAS TO HAVE AT LEAST TWO (NAMED) WOMEN IN IT WHO TALK TO EACH OTHER ABOUT SOMETHING BESIDES A MAN.
Pass. Unfortunately, I can’t prove it until you read it or I risk giving up the twist. And that’s the delicious part.

WHAT SORT OF BODY COUNT ARE WE TALKING HERE?
A lot. A lot, a lot. But not necessarily death. Chew on that a second.

DO YOU WANT YOUR TOMORROW TO MAKE IT BIG, AS IN JK ROWLINGS-BIG? WHY OR WHY NOT?
Believe it or not, no. Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to make enough cash to pay off this house and send my kids to college, but I’ll pass on fame and fortune. Anonymity is a blessing.

HAVE YOU WRITTEN IN ANY OTHER GENRES BESIDES SCIENCE FICTION? WHAT DREW YOU TO YOU THIS GENRE?
I’ve been fascinated by consciousness, identity and what this all means since I was young. I would read my grandfather’s science fiction books with elements of artificial intelligence and alternate realities and wonder what happened when they died? I suppose that’s why all of my writing deals with the big mysteries of life in one way or another. In a way, I write for my own exploration, in a sort of thought experiment approach, pulling apart our identities, exploring what makes us who we are. If I lost my memories, would I still be me? If I had my body parts replaced with synthetic replications, at what point would I not be me? Do I even need a body?

What am I?

A few years ago, I figured I’d write a romance novel. Since all of my books have a romantic element, I thought it would be fun. Halfway through the novel, I found myself thinking more and more about the next project—a dystopian idea. So 40,000 words in, I scrapped the romance novel and got back to what I love. Science fiction.