Today’s interview is with science fiction writer– and scientist– Felicia Watson.
LQ: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
FW: I started writing stories, poems, and features for the school newspaper in grade school and then did the same in high school and into college where I finally took my first official Creative Writing course. I considered becoming a fulltime author but ultimately decided to earn my bread as a scientist, always with the determination to someday be a published author. I finished my first novel in my late twenties but I really honed my craft through years of fanfiction writing. It was a great way to learn to incorporate the classic arc of story-telling, how to plot, outline, edit, and revise. I learned what worked, and more importantly – what didn’t. Best part was that you received almost instantaneous reader feedback – often pretty brutal feedback, but that was a lesson in and of itself.
My dream of becoming a published author finally came true in 2011, with my first novel, a romance, Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela. I still yearned to publish some of my science fiction work and that finally happened in 2019 with We Have Met the Enemy. That is the first book in a character-driven sci-fi series, The Lovelace Series, set in the 31st century. The 2nd book in the series, Spooky Action at a Distance, was just published in March.
LQ: What does your writing process look like?
FW: There’s a lot of headwork for me before I actually put words on the page. I usually start with some dialogue since that’s how my characters come to me. That’s how Naiche Decker, the main character of We Have Met the Enemy found me. I heard this young woman fighting with a family member in my head. I started asking: Who is she? Why is she so angry? What challenge is she facing? What kind of world does she live in?
The other main characters come to me in the same way. Then I start to construct a story and setting around them. When all of that has percolated long enough, I start outlining – I outline the entire book, with a short synopsis of what needs to happen in each chapter. I then write character sketches of all major characters, and make drawings of rooms, and, in the case of my sci-fi novels, space ship layouts. Only then do I sit down and start writing the book.
LQ: What was your favorite book to write so far?
FW: We Have Met the Enemy – I loved the world-building aspect of writing about the 31st century. Deciding what it will look like when humans finally conquer the light-speed barrier and go out into the stars was such fun. So many questions to answer: What will spaceships be like, what aspects of humanity have changed, while which remain the same? Designing new worlds and alien races, ensuring they fit together, and made sense as a species while still serving the plot was a fascinating challenge.
I also enjoyed tackling the concept of being your own worst enemy – the large question of humanity being that as a whole (our own worst enemy) was echoed in the two main characters who had that very issue as one of their major character flaws.
LQ: Who is your favorite character to write about?
FW: Naiche, the main character of the sci-fi series who is such a compelling figure to flesh out. She’s definitely flawed, volatile and impulsive, but such a loyal, determined, and honorable figure. Designing a realistic character arc for her, where she could find a measure of peace and happiness has been fascinating. She’s also a Chiricahua Apache woman and I have really enjoyed the research I’ve done to ensure as much as possible that she accurately reflects her culture.
As the first book, We Have met the Enemy, opens, Naiche has suffered some hard blows: her world is at war, her mother has been murdered by an alien enemy, she feels driven to leave her culture behind to exact revenge – all of this leaves her angry and bitter. And those are qualities which don’t serve her well in what is essentially earth’s military. But she has two loyal friends, finds some more along the way, and learns a lot about herself – not all of it pleasant – and ultimately overcomes her challenges. I love her – she’s strong, brave, kickass, and funny as hell.
LQ: Who are your favorite authors? Have any of them influenced your work?
FW: My three favorite writers of all time are Ursula K. Le Guin, Jane Austen, and Hunter S. Thompson. I realize that’s a strange mix and haven’t really figured what it says about me other than my taste is somewhat eclectic.
I think Le Guin influenced my style of science fiction writing the most. Her work was ground-breaking and her world building without equal – but it was her characters, and the very the human stories underneath those otherworldly tales that stayed with me.
LQ: How are you doing during the current pandemic?
FW: Fortunately, I’m able to do my day job from home so I’ve been working remotely for close to a month now. As is my husband with whom I share an office so there are definitely challenges with conference calls and the like. I’m an introvert so overall it hasn’t been as bad for me as for some but I definitely miss seeing my friends and family and getting out at least once in a while. Also, I have a good friend and a niece in the medical field and that’s a constant source of worry.
As for writing, I have been banging away at my next novel (the third and final book in the Lovelace series) despite everything but then I hit a wall a few days ago. I gave myself a couple of days off to recharge and regroup and it really helped. And now I’ve returned to my writing with renewed vigor. I think all of us have to calibrate our self-expectations with the stress, uncertainty, and chaos which is now a feature of our daily lives.
LQ: What are you currently working on?
FW: I’m working on the third book in the Lovelace Series, The Risks of Dead Reckoning.
It opens with the Lovelace happening upon a heretofore unknown colony of humans, which resulted from the crew of a generational ship that had set out from Earth 400 years before. As with all my titles “Dead Reckoning” has a dual meaning. The immediate conundrum for the Lovelace crew is that they know for a fact that these humans they’ve just encountered, are the same ones who died hundreds of years before – though the people seem oblivious to the fact that they should not exist. Therefore, the crew finds themselves literally reckoning with the dead.
At the same time “dead reckoning” is the term for a form of navigation whereby you calculate your current position by using a previously determined position – a process which is subject to cumulative errors. In the course of the novel, we find several characters going a bit astray in navigating their current life challenges. The novel asks the question: will the characters figure out the paradox of the “dead human” colony while also finding a way to right their own course?
LQ: Anything else you would like to share?
I love to hear from fellow writers, and especially readers – both current and potential – so feel free to connect with me on Facebook or Twitter or by e-mail: feliciatheauthor594@gmail.com