Ask the Author! (Please!)

[Songjohn007]

Hi Jude, what really inspired you to cross the fence from being a reviewer to a writer?

[raindropreader]

Hello Jude! Did you ever believe that there could be a possibility something like your book could actually happen in the future? When cloning technology is advanced enough, do you believe there could ever be experiments done to humans to try to further the human race and prepare our race for any other races such as beings from other planets? Also- do you plan to write anymore sci-fi in the future?

[Jude Austin]

Hi Jude, what really inspired you to cross the fence from being a reviewer to a writer?

Hi Songjohn!
Honestly, there was no specific moment that I can remember. I'd been a reviewer with OBC for about 6-7 months, and it was about two years after I'd taken the plunge and published Project Tau. Since I'd worked as a reviewer and editor here, I knew the standards of reviewing were very high, so I decided to give it a try

Hello Jude! Did you ever believe that there could be a possibility something like your book could actually happen in the future? When cloning technology is advanced enough, do you believe there could ever be experiments done to humans to try to further the human race and prepare our race for any other races such as beings from other planets? Also- do you plan to write anymore sci-fi in the future?

Hi raindropreader!

Yes, I do believe that. Part of the reason (explained in the book) why Mason wants Kalin isn't just so he can make a quick buck; it's because he wants to see if GenTech is ready to take the next step, and Kalin's his lab rat. If it works, they can start advertising his particular mutations for those who can afford them and sell him as a Project. If they don't, well, too bad, but he's officially dead anyway so there's no real harm done

I've written plenty of sci-fi and will keep writing more The sequel to Project Tau, "Homecoming," was BOTD on April 2 and is now available at Amazon. I think the writing style is a bit different though, since - despite the publication date - about 12-13 years passed between writing the two books I also have three more books planned (and possibly more) along with some spin-off novels, and a spin-off series focusing on Amy Saunders and some of the undercover missions she went on before taking on the assignment to spy on GenTech

[Songjohn007]

What a great move Jude, from a reviewer to being an author. Wish you all the best.

[Katherine Smith]

Hi Jude,
It is so cool to talk to someone that was where I now as a contributor on this site. Your book reminded me of a variety of things from history and from movies. The use of cloning made me think of the film The Island. The way in which the clones were treated made me think of the conditions that the enslaved Africans endured in this country. My question is what made you decide to become an author?

[Jude Austin]

Hi Jude,
It is so cool to talk to someone that was where I now as a contributor on this site. Your book reminded me of a variety of things from history and from movies. The use of cloning made me think of the film The Island. The way in which the clones were treated made me think of the conditions that the enslaved Africans endured in this country. My question is what made you decide to become an author?

Hi Katherine!

I wish I could give you an amazing answer to this question, a kind of "Eureka!" moment, but the truth is that I've never not been writing. When I was a very little girl (about 4-5) I had all these little Spot the Dog notebooks that I used to fill with short stories. Back then, you could also these huge blocks of post-it notes with a hole in one corner to hold pens, and I used to take a wadge of those and make them into little books.

I sold my first story to a magazine when I was 12 (kind of; there was a running serial in that magazine and a contest for you to write the next episode, which I was fortunate enough to win) and finished my first sci-fi novel trilogy between the ages of 18-20. I'm not sure if that will ever be published though; it needs a lot of work doing to it I kept going with screenplays, poems (I did manage to get a couple of those accepted) and, of course, novels

The sequel to Project Tau, Homecoming, is the second novel I've published (third if you count Tsunami, which I hardly ever do ) but it's the eighth novel I've actually written

[NatRose]

I get my covers from 99designs. Basically, this means that instead of commissioning one artist, I set up and run a cover design contest with a certain amount of prize money. I also have to create a brief for designers about the kind of cover I'm looking for, which tells them the style (via sliders), describe what I want, and what I don't want. And yes, one of the questions I have to answer is that of the main color; Project Tau was green, black and white, and Homecoming was yellow, black and designer's choice

Oh, I never thought of using a contest to find a cover design. That seems like a fun way to go especially if you don't have a really specific vision in your head of what you want. Though I'm pretty sure I'd get caught in the trap of being unable to make a decision between different submissions.

While there are no paperback versions (actually, there are, but they're not available through normal channels ) I admit I was also thinking of how they might look on a shelf

Can't blame you for that. Ebooks are very convenient (and ecofriendly), but physical books look so much better. Are there plans to release paperback versions for the general public in the future?

[Jude Austin]

Oh, I never thought of using a contest to find a cover design. That seems like a fun way to go especially if you don't have a really specific vision in your head of what you want. Though I'm pretty sure I'd get caught in the trap of being unable to make a decision between different submissions.

It's a lot of fun Since it's only the final designs that get the money (the winner gets the bulk and I think there's a consolation prize for the runner-up; I have no control over how the funds are distributed) there's a lot of motivation from the designers to really produce something spectacular. Of course, you get bad entries where the designer just skims the blurb and doesn't bother with the "Must include" or "Must NOT include" parts that I add (facial hair and tattoos are both big no-nos for Tau and Kata )

The hardest part is having to tell a good designer that they're not going through to the final. The very first entrant for Homecoming's design was a joy to work with, he/she took on all my suggestions and did their very best. Part of me wanted to put them through just for that, but on the other hand, it seemed cruel to send them through to the final, all the time knowing that I wouldn't be choosing their design.

That said, the two finalists I picked were amazing and it was very, very difficult for me to choose. For me, it was the planet and Kata's design (and several votes from family and friends, who were all unanimous) which sealed the deal. I did download and keep the other design though, purely for my own enjoyment

Can't blame you for that. Ebooks are very convenient (and ecofriendly), but physical books look so much better. Are there plans to release paperback versions for the general public in the future?

Honestly? I'd say that's very much up to you guys

I can release paperback versions of Project Tau and Homecoming via Amazon. That's not hard.

What I can't do is control the pricing. Amazon has a minimum price that authors have to list all their books at (I can charge more, but not less). In the case of ebooks, that isn't an issue; I consider $2.99 for Project Tau and $3.99 for Homecoming (it's nearly twice as long, and I think the writing standard is higher ) to be fair prices, particularly as Homecoming's available on KU. It also lets me drop the prices for advertising; KDP select books (Homecoming) must be at least $2.99, whereas non-KDP select (Project Tau) can be priced as low as $0.99.

However, the minimum Amazon will let me charge for a paperback version of Project Tau (they don't let you make hardbacks) is $13.99. That's almost five times the cost of the ebook, and that's before you get into S&H costs. Unfortunately, the majority of readers don't realize that self-published authors don't get to set their own prices, and I think I'd wind up with a lot of comments/reviews along the lines of, "This unknown author is charging $13.99 for a paperback?! Who does she think she is? I'm not paying that!"

Personally, I wouldn't pay $13.99 for a paperback either, but if everyone is reading this and thinking, "No! I'd definitely pay $13.99 plus S&H for a paperback copy of Project Tau!" then let me know in the comments and I'll get the ball rolling

The only other way, if there are people out there who want paperback copies for their shelves, is proof copies. These are paperbacks with no ISBN and a "Not for Resale" watermark on the front cover; otherwise, they're completely identical to the public paperback. Even then, it costs me $6.45 per copy, so anyone who wanted one would have to pay that much via Paypal or something (honestly, I'd want to charge about $6.99, so I'd make about 50 cents per book) plus S&H. I'm not sure how the whole "not for resale" thing would fit in with that either (I've given copies to family and friends, but not to readers) I can also get author copies, but only after the paperback is published and available.

There's also hardbacks - people might be willing to pay more for a hardback in good condition - but the only big distributor I've found is Lulu, and they seldom pay their authors royalties (I want to say it's not all about the money, and it's really not, but at the same time, it is a little bit about the money, if you see what I mean )

[DragonLight877]

Hello Jude. I really love being able to speak with the authors who write such awesome books! My question is about the world you've created. I'm curious if there are other worlds of civilization besides the three main super power worlds? And if so, did you have a planet that you really liked, but never made it into the book? (Or books.)

[raindropreader]

Hello, Jude! I loved your book! So far cloning has been used in two different avenues: reproductive cloning, mainly to improve livestock breeding; and therapeutic cloning aimed at growing cells, not whole humans, that could be used to treat diseases. Do you think whole humans will actually be cloned at some point in the future? Or do you think the ethics of doing that will prevent that from ever occuring? Thanks!

Hi, Twylla! Thank you so much!

I think yes, we will clone whole humans in the future, as there are always people out there who want to push the boundaries in the name of science. That's not necessarily a bad thing. As you say, therapeutic cloning can help cure disease, and in the book's universe, most of GenTech's financing comes from cloning things like bone marrow and organs for transplants; Projects are a very new development and Projects that can think and talk are even rarer. Tau is only the second such to be created, as most Projects have been incapable of speech and any real coherent thought (think Project Epsilon but without the crazy )

Unfortunately, I also think that clones will have no rights to begin with. I think the whole procedure will go something like: "Ha-HA! Success! Ladies and gentlemen, today we have successfully created the first human clone! Erm...what now? It's got no ID, no history...wait, which country does it belong to again? Because we're all Country A, but the clone was created from a Country B national and it was done in a lab that was funded by Country C." Then they'd want to check if it was a success (are allergies carried over in cloning? How does a clone react to being shown a spider or a snake? What's its learning capabilities? Let's test it! Let's see if we can mutate it, because if a clone can take the mutation, so can a normal human! No more tests? Okay, well, we got a few dozen diseases that we don't have cures for. Let's pick one, give it to the clone and get as much research from it as we can to save lives!)

On the other hand, I don't know how the future will pan out. The history of the human race in the book's universe is explained a little more in Book 2, but part of GenTech's rationale for creating Projects is that robots and AI are both a huge cultural and legal no-no on every single world and space station. And I do mean HUGE, as in even the worst of the worst or the brightest minds or most extreme zealot would never even consider trying to create one. Since our future might not pan out the same way, we might not have the same reasoning and, once we've created a clone just to prove we can do it, we'll turn our attention to refining robots and machinery.

I'd hope that the issue would be seriously discussed before any real attempt was made, and the results of that discussion presented to the world before the men and women in the labs even pick up a test tube. Success carries with it just as many consequences as failure, after all

On a less serious note, thank you even more for listing Project Tau as your favorite book Suffice it to say there was much squeeing when I first saw it

On the subject of cloning- I think you did a wonderful job portraying a cloned character. The way that you wrote his dialogue and described his mannerisms helped me to truly put a picture in my mind and imagine him. Great job!

[raindropreader]

Hi Jude,
It is so cool to talk to someone that was where I now as a contributor on this site. Your book reminded me of a variety of things from history and from movies. The use of cloning made me think of the film The Island. The way in which the clones were treated made me think of the conditions that the enslaved Africans endured in this country. My question is what made you decide to become an author?

Hi Katherine!

I wish I could give you an amazing answer to this question, a kind of "Eureka!" moment, but the truth is that I've never not been writing. When I was a very little girl (about 4-5) I had all these little Spot the Dog notebooks that I used to fill with short stories. Back then, you could also these huge blocks of post-it notes with a hole in one corner to hold pens, and I used to take a wadge of those and make them into little books.

I sold my first story to a magazine when I was 12 (kind of; there was a running serial in that magazine and a contest for you to write the next episode, which I was fortunate enough to win) and finished my first sci-fi novel trilogy between the ages of 18-20. I'm not sure if that will ever be published though; it needs a lot of work doing to it I kept going with screenplays, poems (I did manage to get a couple of those accepted) and, of course, novels

The sequel to Project Tau, Homecoming, is the second novel I've published (third if you count Tsunami, which I hardly ever do ) but it's the eighth novel I've actually written

You sold your first story at 12???? That is absolutely incredible. That inspires me.

[raindropreader]

Hello Jude! First of all i want to say, that as a doctor, the mere idea of a book about clones turns me into a child on christmas eve. That being said. What do you think that is more likely to happen first, a scenario the likes of your book where humans take a hold of genetic ingenierie to create a supply of servants (not to say slaves), or another where something too similar (and at the same time completely different) like artificial intelligence takes place for the same purpose.
Granted, probably neither is going to happen within our life spawn. Alas, entertaining to think about

I'm praying we get robots. Those can be programmed to follow instructions and work tirelessly, while clones are organic with biology similar to ours. Since they would technically be able to feel pain and get tired like we do, I think the ethics would get messy pretty quickly. Also, robots are simpler it sounds funny when I write it but cloning an entire human with a working brain would be much harder.

I really wanted to ask Elon Musk why we don’t have robots yet but then I realized it’s because he’s focusing on making us an inner planetary species by getting us to Mars. Honestly I need to find another engineer besides Elon to be obsessed with lol. With that said, I definitely believe that we will have robots in the future and when you really think about it isn’t it crazy that we don’t yet???? With how advanced our technology is, the cloning technology in Tau seems so far off for us honestly.

[Jude Austin]

Hello Jude. I really love being able to speak with the authors who write such awesome books! My question is about the world you've created. I'm curious if there are other worlds of civilization besides the three main super power worlds? And if so, did you have a planet that you really liked, but never made it into the book? (Or books.)

Hi DragonLight! Thank you so much; that's so nice of you to say

There are six worlds with confirmed settlements in the books: Atthiras, Trandellia, Basarr, Akkhen, Sedna and Drangyui. People in the Project Tau universe never, ever settle on any world that requires technology to make it habitable - ie, worlds with drastically different gravity or temperature or atmospheres - just like they never, ever build/use robots or AI. The new worlds were seen as an opportunity to avoid repeating the same mistakes. Space stations are considered an acceptable compromise, though There are also settlements on moons (like grounded space stations) but only on the moons which are orbiting already-settled planets, making it easy to evacuate in an emergency. 

This is because, several centuries ago, the terrorist group known as the Hive attacked the settled worlds by hacking into the technology used to make those worlds habitable. The settlements on all technologically settled worlds, from Mercury through to Pluto, were wiped out, with most people who survived attempting to flee to Terra. Of course, Terra not being equipped to deal with such a tremendous influx of people with different languages and cultures...yeah, it didn't turn out well. Wars broke out over resources, and the human race came very close to extinction.

Out of our original solar system, one of the dwarf planets (Sedna) is still inhabited. This is because Sedna has a really crazy orbital pattern (it takes 11,408 years to orbit the Sun) and low population, making it useless as any kind of target. These are referred to as the Old Worlds. While people do occasionally come and go from Sedna - Chatton was born there, and Tau and Kata visit Sedna at the beginning of Homecoming - Terra has been a no-go area for the past five hundred years. There's been no recorded contact, and it's now considered a dead world.

In the New Worlds (the five I mentioned earlier) there are only really two power worlds: Trandellia and Akkhen (GenTech is a corporation, not a world ) Atthiras is big enough to be considered one, but it has no settlements. Neither Trandellia nor Akkhen could agree on who was to have it, so they both agreed that it would remain strictly neutral. This is why, although Akkhen has a field hospital and training camp on Atthiras, and Trandellia uses it for the Challenge, their respective planetary governments (High Command and Core Central) have no legal claim to Atthiras itself.

Of the remaining worlds, Basarr is about the size of our moon, and famous for SACAS (home of the Phi Mu Alpha fraternity who sent Kalin to GenTech). That's about all it's famous for; outside the college town, Basarr is a very poor, rough-and-ready place to live. 

Drangyui isn't much better; the atmosphere is slightly thin, but not fatally so, and it's a source of ore. Again, very rough; it's the kind of place where traders and bounty hunters go to get drunk. Home to a lot of mines and quarries. So far, this is the only world not to have been visited in the books, for the simple reason that there's very little there I might visit it in future books, but for now I'm concentrating on the two main ones: Akkhen and Atthiras. Trandellia's also going to make appearances, but not as many. After the events of Homecoming, it's very unlikely Kalin will want to go back there

As for which world I'm most looking forward to, that has to be Akkhen. Kalin visits it briefly during Homecoming, but it's not until Book 3 that it really gets to develop

[freshbook]

Hey Jude! I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to read the next in the series! Really amazing work of futuristic fiction.

[Kenesha Latoya Fowler]

Hi Jude,

First off, you did an amazing job on this book. I really did enjoy it, reading late into the night. I found the whole thing interesting, and reading about the things the projects went through tugged at my heartstrings. I don't know that I could write stuff like that. Kudos to you for writing this marvellous piece. I absolutely look forward to reading the next book in the series.

Thank you for opening this topic. I appreciate this opportunity to talk to and hear from the author of a book I enjoyed. So, taking you at your word to ask anything, I have two questions: 1) The book is written from Kalin/Kata's point of view. It's through his eyes and experiences that we learn everything. I get that Project Tau is very important... I'm just wondering why you chose to title the book after Tau and not Kata. Can you say anything about that, please? 2) Dennison. The guy had it coming to him. I would have been very disappointed if he hadn't met his end. But I also couldn't help feeling like he got off too easily with that quick death. Did you consider making his death more gruesome and then changed your mind, or are you just not into that kind of thing? What were your thoughts writing that scene?

Wishing you every success!