1. What draws you to the science fiction/fantasy genre?
I have always loved reading, thinking, and writing in the speculative fiction arena because of the imagination that sparks for author and the reader in ways that good fiction of other genres just can’t match. When I curl up with a nice science fiction or fantasy novel, I know my brain is going to be full of images that have never been there before. Who could not be drawn to such a splendid genre? In my Power Rising trilogy, for example, I intended to write a women’s contemporary fiction novel but an alien child showed up, insisted on being included, and pretty much took over the story. Couldn’t be helped. And then, wouldn’t you know; in the second book of the trilogy, an intelligent, serious dragonpanther decides he must be heard. What started out as a serious work became a work I had so much fun writing that stopping for incidentals like sleeping and eating was a major annoyance.
2. What authors/titles have inspired your work?
Anything and everything that sets my imagination free inspires my work. Everything from Star Trek to Alien, Lord of the Rings to Brandon Sanderson. I don’t try to follow any one author’s style, though, or write worlds that follow the pattern of other authors. On that score, I’d rather the voice and flow of my work be mine alone.
3. Please tell us about Power Rising and any other work you'd like to share about.
There’s a lot going on in my books, all at the same time. The first book of the trilogy, Power of Three, is the story of a whale, a woman and an alien child.
The whale is a beluga whale held in captivity in a SeaQuarium who longs to be free. Her name is Juneau and she is modeled after a particular beluga I befriended named Mauyak. I dedicated the first book to her. I came to really love her.
The woman is a government attorney who volunteers on the weekends at the SeaQuarium and befriends the beluga. She rather doesn’t care for being an attorney anymore and prefers spending time with Juneau. She will do everything in her power to free the beluga.
Coincidentally I was an attorney, now retired, and I volunteered at a zoo for eight years. After paying my dues shoveling musk ox shit and cleaning smelly fish remains out of the drain at the bottom of the otter enclosure, I finally was allowed to work with the belugas. At the time I was there, we could be in the water with the belugas, participate in giving hand signals and feeding during shows, and spend time with them after our volunteer shifts were over. It was a most excellent time.
The woman, whose name is Shannon, has trouble getting close to people, especially boyfriends, and has prided herself on her extreme independence. She has a mastiff named Independence, Indy for short, in fact, as well as a cat named Narcissus for obvious reasons, Narci for short.
One evening when Shannon goes down to the whale enclosure to visit with Juneau after her work is finished, an alien child, Essi, accidentally falls to earth exactly where Shannon and the whale are located, in an unusual shape and substance, and – as they say – complications ensue. Paranormal and physical complications. Also some quite nasty aliens follow Essi to Earth, endangering not only the child and Shannon but the entire world.
Along the way, she meets an impressive police officer, Luke, whom, predictably, she resists. And yet he perseveres.
In the second book, Power Multiplied, Essi is back, this time unwittingly carrying a virus that, if unleashed would be lethal to all living things on Earth. This book came out before Covid, but I felt bad about it, because I didn’t want people to think I was trying to capitalize on the real virus. A giant dragonpanther arrives, searching for Essi, because he needs the virus to make a cure for the virus, which is already at work on his planet. But he has competition for the virus, and his competitor is a deadly rival. And the book progresses from there.
In this book a strange tension arises between Shannon, Luke, and the dragonpanther, whose name is Roebor.
Why a dragonpanther, you might ask? I love dragons, dragons of all shapes, sizes and dispositions, but I wanted one with fur instead of scales. And his cat-like nature allows for some fun with the little Narci. Plus, as all cat owners know, cats can be both forces of good and forces of evil. And so it is with the dragonpanthers in the second and third books of the trilogy.
The third book of the trilogy, Power Stabilized, begins with Shannon heading off to Roebor’s planet to save him from a false accusation that has led to his sentence of death. Shannon attempts to use her paranormal skills to solve that dilemma but another terrible tragedy on the planet all but dooms Shannon and sets her up on the quest that will take the reader through the book, but with many interruptions as Shannon must get Essi, yes, the alien child, out of trouble yet again, something involving sharks, and must help stop the killer of endangered Northern Pacific Right Whales.
I have just started a free novella that I plan to give to those who sign up for my newsletter but that’s under wraps for now. And the trilogy has all brand new fresh covers coming out soon as well. When I introduce the new covers, I will reduce the series price to 99 cents on all the major online retailers, so anyone who might be interested in the books might want to keep their eye out for that.
4. Where can we find more information about your work?
My website is AuthorCathyParker.com, but once again, it’s about to get a refresh. Still there is a ton of information on there now, some of which will go away after the refresh for simplicity’s sake, so someone may want to poke around there. I try to get a blog up both there and, same text, on bublish.com, every week, but alas, my laptop died, I was without one for a while, and the phone doesn’t work for bublish, arranged a loaner laptop, but it too decided to be obstreperous and only this week will I likely get back to posting in time to make bublish’s deadline. These posts, however, are mostly about Costa Rica, where I am living now, and other places I have been and animals I have loved. I touch on the books a bit but try not to overdo it there. I have a broken thumb at the moment—don’t ask--but it doesn’t seem to interfere with my keyboarding too much.
Appropos of absolutely nothing, but to give you something interesting to look at, here is a bird I photographed last month, a quetzl from San Gerardo.
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