An Interview with January Bain

We recently sat down and asked Rough Edges Press author January Bain some questions about her most recent thriller series, her favorite part of being an author, and more. Check out the full interview below!

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Why did you decide to set the Connor Hale series in a post-apocalyptic setting?

• A post-apocalyptic setting is one of the most exciting backgrounds to write against that I have discovered. It’s so raw, so real, and so vital to the human experience. Just imagine what it would take to stay alive with the world disintegrating around you? And it doesn’t stop other human problems from occurring either. The world still throws family dynamics along with what other issues you had before the event even happens. Backstory is what drives characters to make the choices they make, just now it’s more critical than ever as their choices can lead to life or death.

The Connor Hale series describes a sentient AI that plunges the world into chaos. Do you view this as a warning to readers?

• Ah, a soapbox to stand on. Stephen Hawking issued a warning a few years back that stuck with me. He said the development of advanced, superintelligent artificial intelligence could spell the “end of the human race because humans, constrained by slow biological evolution, wouldn’t be able to compete with machines that could rapidly self-design and improve.
  
  It was the concept of “self-improve” that stood out for me. If they could think circles around us, what would a sentient computer come up with? Safeguards are essential in any enterprise of this vast an undertaking. We have never stood on a more important precipice. Though we don’t have a good track record of ever standing in the way of progress throughout history, especially since the Industrial Age came about, I always have hope that things will unfold in such a way that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. But none of us has a crystal ball, so only time will tell.

Which tropes did you decide to play into or subvert with the Connor Hale series?

• Though post-apocalyptic fiction is science fiction, of course, and authors in the past have hit the nail on the head for what ended up coming about in the world, I decided I wanted to hold the story up against the light of the Western genre, giving it a fresh angle to write against. I also set it thirty years into the future, which further pushed the sense of uniqueness for me. Only the reader can tell me now if it worked, so I’ll leave it to them!

What kind of reader do you think would enjoy Connor Hale the most?

• I think the story could easily be enjoyed by a vast variety of different reading tastes. Though the three-book series is set in the future, it also heralds back to a time when the Code of the West spoke volumes of what a person stood for. Connor is even an aficionado of Westerns. And the books also have a technological edge with a character that I find fascinating and terrifying at the same time: Eastwood, the AI computer who desires to be human and to discover what it is to feel all the things human beings experience. I think sometimes we lose touch with what a miracle we truly are.

Is there a message you hope readers take away from reading Connor Hale?

• Yes, I believe that even under the worst of circumstances, a person must find the will inside themselves to fight for what they believe is right. Moral code is important and just because the world falls apart, it doesn’t mean you have to give up all that makes a person a decent human being. How we struggle to keep body and soul intact while protecting our loved ones with courage and honor is not something to ever give up on, no matter how difficult it is. In fact, I think it’s when fighting to save others that we find ourselves.

Of the books/series you've written thus far, which one is your favorite?

• I always have a serious soft spot for the current group of characters I’m working with. Right now, it’s the Mackenzie clan from Hardin Creek, Kentucky, as they struggle with the terrifying events of being separated from loved ones when the apocalypse happens! Good thing too, as their story will play out over a series of nine novels as they face their fears and triumphs while working against impossible odds in hopes of being reunited with their family. Stay tuned for World Gone Dark announcements.

Where do you get inspiration from for a new book/series?

• Stories and new ideas are always clamoring for my attention. I have more plots put aside that I will ever be able to write in this lifetime, unless I live approximately 300 years! Seriously, where the true test comes is in discovering which new idea has that extra sparkle that can carry the excitement through the entire time necessary to bring a story or series to full fruition.

Which part of the writing process do you dread the most? Getting started? Making edits? Something else?

• Actually, I can’t think of one thing I dread about the process! I live for story, for experiencing worlds and characters I would never get to know any other way. It’s a very personal entry into storytelling when I write a novel, and I’m always happy to revisit a story again, whether during edits or final drafts or just being asked questions about it like right now!

Have you ever included a nod in your stories to another one of your books/series?

• In fact, I have! The Connor Hale post-apocalyptic survival thriller series that’s in the process of being released right now, is connected very personally to my Anna Hale, P.I. series contracted by Rough Edges Press last year. Connor is Anna’s son, and the story takes place in the future: 2055. It was a fascinating and awesome journey to write the series from his POV, especially when he was talking about his famous mother. It made the journey of writing the story all that more intimate for me and satisfying.

What do you think makes a story spectacular?

• Though I imagine anyone who has read my books instantly knows how much I value action and fast-moving plots in my novels, I always come back to the vital importance of real-to-life characters being the most crucial arena for creating spectacular storytelling. I want the people who fill my stories to be as real as you and I. How else can I expect a reader to feel their hopes, their joys, and their pain if they aren’t as real to me as possible when I write their stories?

What's the most surprising part of being an author?

• That I get to do it full time! It’s been my dream since I was a child and my mother would read us a chapter a night, never realizing that one day I would be blessed with the time to give it my all.

What have you found readers want the most from you as an author?

• Good question! I think the same thing I want to demonstrate as a writer. To offer readers a story that the author cared so much about that they poured everything they have into. It means living through the experiences of the characters, some good, some terrifying and some so tragic it makes you cry. A writer struggles to find the truth of what it means to be human, on this planet, at this time in history. And yet, human truths never really change as they are universal: the need for family, acceptance and self-realization. And to know one is not alone.

Where can your readers reach/interact with you?

• I’m discovering I’m enjoying interacting with readers, more and more each day. I’ve recently got the bug for creating videos about my stories and posting them on Facebook and Instagram. I also belong to other social mediums, but those are the ones I head to daily.