Joseph Robert Lewis was a great interview. He’s a good example of the new generation of Indie Authors putting out quality work. His ethos and professionalism are impeccable, as is the book. Oh, yeah, it’s a great story too! If classic sci-fi is your thing, or you just love a good story with interesting characters and a cool plot, then this one’s for you.

“Indie publishing is just like industry publishing. A handful of people will skyrocket to wealth and notoriety, partly by talent and partly by luck, but most of us will just grind away with small audiences and small profits, if any. The benefit, however, is that there is no gatekeeper preventing you from trying.” – Joseph Robert Lewis ~ 1 Nov 2010

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The Back Flap

The dream that was Mars has become a nightmare for the children born there.

To save New Troy from falling birth rates, Asher Radescu secretly clones people in the back of his old truck. To save New Troy from despair, Claudia Cruz hosts the most popular racing show on two worlds. And to save the city from destruction, they’ll rally persecuted cloners, resurrected colonists, and racing celebrities to fight homicidal AIs.

HEIRS OF MARS follows the lives of six men and women through the final days of the first war on Mars, a war between humans, machines, and the resurrected souls who aren’t truly one or the other.

But even if they survive the war, there is no escape from the red planet.

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About the book

What is the book about?

The short version: Paranoid robots invade Mars and with no military to protect them, a group of citizens decide to fight using advanced neural cloning weapons and high-powered motorcycles.

The long version: If we were to colonize Mars, the colonists would probably have to stay a long time to make it cost effective, and that lengthy stay would probably render them physically unable to return to Earth. So the colonists have to stay, and then their children have to stay. But the reality is that Mars will never be a comfortable Earth-like environment. So all of these people who were born on Mars are trapped in a hostile environment and forced to perform the same maintenance work all their lives just to survive. Not ideal.

Into this scenario, I introduce neural cloning. Essentially, this means copying a human brain into a synthetic brain to create a cyborg doppelganger who retains the donor’s critical technical skills (medicine, engineering, etc.), as well as their memories and personalities.

On top of that, I added actual artificial intelligence – robots who see the cloning technology as a threat to their survival. As a result, we have an army of robots descending on the miserable human and clone citizens of Mars, and a lingering guerilla war between the two.

My protagonists are all Martians suffering life on the red planet. At the beginning, they’re all just trying to survive.  But one by one they are drawn into this military conflict, and some emerge as bona fide heroes while others crumble into victims or villains. But they’re all explored as fully rounded people.

When did you start writing the book?

I did the early research and outlining in spring of 2010 but I didn’t start writing until August 2010.

How long did it take you to write it?

Almost exactly three months to draft, revise, edit, and publish. Very fast, I know. But while this is the first novel I’ve published, it’s actually the fifth that I’ve written.

Where did you get the idea from?

Heirs of Mars is a combination of ideas that I’ve been thinking about for several years: colonizing the solar system, artificial intelligence, cloning, identity crises, life in a predominantly digital culture. I’ve always wanted to do something similar to Dune, combining epic tragedy with thoughtful political commentary. Sadly, Heirs is not like Dune. It’s far more personal than epic. But I think it has the same spirit.

Also, I’ve always been intrigued by the notion of a robot civil war because it implies competing robot ideologies and other human characteristics, but distorted by centuries-long lifespans and very different survival needs. Naturally, this idea came to me from the 1980s cartoon, The Transformers.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

Toward the end, the story began falling apart in the first draft. I had made the story too character-driven and essentially, I lost the plot along the way. So I had to go back and lay down some solid plot structures and then mold the character experiences onto that framework to hold the story together. It was a lot of head-scratching, but I think it came together really nicely in the end.

What came easily?

The first half of the book was very easy. I do a lot of planning and character development before I start writing, so the first ten or twenty chapters are all full-speed ahead to introduce the characters in compelling ways. In the case of Heirs, most of the characters are introduced at dramatic moments in their careers: cloning a dying woman, watching a colleague die, attacking a group of celebrities, begging for help, etc.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

Most of the time, my characters start out as actors or characters from TV/movies. I need a face and a voice to make them real in my head. Then I start clumping my ideas and backstories onto those bones and when I’m done, I have someone wholly fictitious.  And no, I won’t say what actors I use!

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

Recently, I’ve been most influenced by three writers. Charles Stross writes very complex and compelling science fiction (notably Accelerando), which inspired me to at least try to apply rigorous scientific concepts in my own work. Michael Flynn’s The Wreck of the River of Stars is a powerful character study in a story with very little real action or plot, which strengthened my resolve to focus on my own characters over plot. Lastly, George RR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series impressed me with its ability to convey an epic plot through the eyes of numerous protagonists, a technique I obviously stole for Heirs of Mars.

Do you have a target reader?

I have no idea who my target readers are. That’s a terrible marketing plan, isn’t it? Logically, Heirs of Mars might appeal to readers of hard science fiction, space opera, and general action/adventure. But if you get past the robots and Martian colonies, it is really a group of very personal stories about broken families and surviving tragedy, which might appeal to more mainstream readers or even literary readers.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

I do have a writing process, which developed over the years writing my trunk novels. First I do tons of research about anything and everything I might possibly use. Science, technology, history, politics, biographies, etc. Then I sit around mushing ideas together until a sort of logical patterns pops up. Aha! This technology could solve that social problem, but cause that personal problem, and so on. Then I obsess about who my characters are and why anyone should care about them, or enjoy reading about them. When I have enough ideas and a really strong sense of who my characters are, I just jump in and hope for the best.

And I force myself to write at least 1,000 words a day. Good or bad, I need to be productive.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just Chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

I do outline, but only vaguely. I know my chapters average 3,000 words, so I need around 30 chapters for a whole book. So I make a list of 30 bullet points of vague ideas like “Bob meets his real dad” and “Susan kills Janet” and then revise as I go along.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

I edit lightly as I write. I’ll stop and glare at a word if it’s really wrong and needs immediate fixing, but otherwise I hold off until the first draft is done.

Did you hire a professional editor?

Yes, in the sense that by day I am a professional editor and I took advantage of my own expertise. In theory, it’s poor practice for a writer to edit his own work, but I’ve been doing this long enough to feel confident about it, though not so long as to feel over-confident about it. Paranoia is an editor’s best friend.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

No, but I do keep the TV on in the background. It helps me to hear real voices in the room. They are so much better than the voices in my head.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

I have submitted my work to agents in the past, but I did not submit Heirs to anyone. I had already made the decision to go indie at that point. It went straight from final draft to published on Amazon.

What made you decide to go Indie? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

I sent my first book to one editor, and then sent the next three books to dozens of agents and editors. Over time, I got better feedback. I got requests for partials and fulls. But over the course of 3-4 years, my impression of the industry soured. It seemed too slow, arbitrary, and unstable. So when I learned about the indie author movement, I figured I had nothing to lose.

But also, my professional expertise over the last decade has included writing, editing, illustrating, formatting, and publicizing books for employers and clients. So if anyone was going to go indie, it should be me, right? After all, I was actually trained to be a one-man publishing house.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did it you do it yourself?

I did the cover myself. As noted above, I have years of experience doing cover art.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

I have a flimsy plan. No blog tours, no contests, no carnivals, no giveaways. Just a lot of announcements and some interviews like this one. My personal approach is to focus on building a backlist of quality work, making it professionally visible, and then hoping for the best. An old friend of mine used to say that “Hope is not a plan” and I agree wholeheartedly with that, but I’m a writer first and foremost. Any marketing work feels like it’s stealing time from writing my next book.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

It’s work. Real work. After you become highly proficient as a writer, you need to treat the rest of the process like a job as well. Editing, illustrating, formatting, and publicizing are all work. You put in a little money and a lot of time and effort, and then move on to the next project. Don’t become one of those desperate people with a car full of paperbacks begging anyone to read one. Focus on doing excellent work, make it professionally visible to the world (your blog, website, forums, etc.), and then hope for the best. Writers write. Never include in your business plan: “Get rich and famous,” because I promise you that particular bullet point will kill your writing career.

Indie publishing is just like industry publishing. A handful of people will skyrocket to wealth and notoriety, partly by talent and partly by luck, but most of us will just grind away with small audiences and small profits, if any. The benefit, however, is that there is no gatekeeper preventing you from trying. At least my book is out there. Maybe it’s good, maybe it’s bad, but it’s out there.

And I can sleep easier knowing that I’m in control of my own destiny and I’m making some progress rather than being stonewalled by a few dozen agents and editors. Besides, an agent or editor will tell you “no” once and then you’re done, but the market can go on telling you “no” for years until suddenly it says “yes”! I’ll take my chances with the market.

About You

Where did you go up?

I grew up in towns all around central Maryland, between Baltimore and Washington, DC.

Where do you live now?

Shockingly enough, I live in a town in central Maryland, between Baltimore and Washington, DC.

What would you like readers to know about you?

I’d like people to know that I take my writing seriously, but not too seriously. I want to produce a quality book that people will genuinely enjoy and appreciate. I don’t think I’m Captain Awesome-Pants, but I do think I’m a highly competent professional. I want to have thoughtful discussions about technology and society and history. I also want to make the world a slightly nicer place. And I plan to keep writing for a very, very long time.

End of Interview

The book can be purchased at:

Amazon.com – http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0049H94G6/

Amazon.co.uk – http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0049H94G6/

Download free short stories from the Heirs universe:

http://josephrobertlewis.wordpress.com/books/heirs-of-mars/