Fusion Heart author Andrew J Cole

1. You don’t have an amazon bio yet, so tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m Andrew Cole, the creator of Fusion Heart, the first volume in a new sci-fi space opera series of novels called STAR EPIC ONE.

Raised in the quiet town of Versailles, Kentucky, my parents introduced my older brother and I to reading at an early age. Library cards were a right of passage. Combined with a steady diet of music, movies, games, cartoons and time to be left alone to use my imagination, it created a fertile bed for the seeds of creativity to grow. It made sense that one day I would write my own stories. I don’t remember what the catalyst could have been, but I went to sleep that one night in August 2004, I had the vivid dream that would ultimately become a labor of love

STAR EPIC ONE is an anomoly in the writing world in that the entire saga, spanning 11 full length novels was written and completed in its entirety during a span of ten years before moving to market. An interesting aspect of working on a project this large was the ability to look at a larger panorama of work and make dynamic changes in story and character arcs that will ultimately create more memorable and “a-ha!” moments for the reader to enjoy. The twists, hidden clues and added layers littered throughout the story will keep readers guessing. Feedback is already pouring in from reviewers who thought they had the story figured out by the first few chapters only to be surprised, some fan letters too. Its intent from the beginning was to tell a familiar story but to take the tropes, concepts, character stereotypes and plot devices that people love about science fiction and give it a 21st century upgrade. Multiple main characters, mecha, cyberspace, dynamic villains, comedic robots, artificial intelligence, teleportation, and magic, are deeply intertwined in the tales of love, regret, revenge and redemption make STAR EPIC ONE a true original

2. Describe Fusion Heart for us.

Fusion Heart opens in in mid-22nd century Oklahoma and begins the story of the first of the main characters, fifteen-year-old Fennius Taylor. Fennius lives with his father Alexander on the outskirts of town and daydreams of someday joining the SLED circuit, a 300mph racing slug fest on brightly lit courses in the biggest cities around the world. Alexander regularly works off world as an engineer on space freighters many days of the month so Fennius must learn to grow more independant with only a foul mouthed, alcoholic but kind hearted, old man next door to keep him in line. Mostly alone, Fennius dedicates his time to his own virtual reality SLED trainer rig where he competes to become the best pilot in the online leagues.

But its not all about racing.

Enter Akiko Chiyo: A 16 year old japanese girl who’s a world famous pop star with billions of fans around the world wrapped around her finger. But she’s not human, she’s an artificial Intelligence who maniests her physical body as a hologram. When fate sets their paths to cross, Akiko and Fennius are caught in a whirlwind of events that will change their lives, and the lives of billions of others forever.

3. Tell us about your writing, do you write full time?
Yes and no. Since i started writing i 2004 i’ve had to keep a full time job during the day while I wrote at night. WANTING to be a full time writer doesnt put food on the table. But I can personally account for the full time like hours i’ve committed to writing. You have to put in the work. And WANTING to be a writer doesnt put words on paper. You have to commit to your craft, and hopefully in time, like me, you’ll be counting the minutes until you can sit down actually put those words on paper. Its a great thing to be consumed by. When you get that burning in your tummy to write, all other things will take a back seat. I had the opportunity to meet Neil Gaiman a few years ago duing a book signing and in the few seconds I had to speak to him before the line pushed me out of the way, I asked “What advice can you give someone like me who’s trying to break into the industry?” he smiled and said “Create a body of work that can’t be ignored.” I took it to heart that since I’d already done that in creating this series that I was on the right track.

4. Did you grow up reading/watching sci-fi? what were your favorites?
In addidtion to reading of all the classics/masters, (Connie Willis, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein) almost nightly trips to the video store helped to reinforce my passion for sci-fi. The Running Man, Blade Runner, Total Recall, Freejack, Logan’s Run, Strange days, Star Wars, Star Trek, X-Files, Ghost in the Shell (1995), Akira, The Running Man (anime short film) Back to the Future, The Martian, The Matrix, Alien. I could go on.

5. What SF books or authors do you enjoy?
Neuromancer and the sprawl trilogy by William Gibson is my absolute favorite and my autographed copy is one of my prized posessions. I also love the works of Connie Willis and Phillip K. Dick. I got a real kick out of Earnest Cline’s Ready Player One as well.

6. What are you writing at the moment?
In 2014, I had another dream similar to the one that gave me S.E.O. and from it has come the framework for the series Star Epic Two, which will be a harder science fiction series and i’m finalizing the notes for the entire series as we speak. In the meantime, I’m stepping out side of my science fiction comfort zone to write novella entitled “Four Serpents” which follows the devil attempting to figure out his purpose in a post-rapture/post-revelation world. I’m also editing another novella entitled “The City” which is a sci-fantasy novella about a young boy who visits a megaopolis where nothing is forbidden. A kind of thinly veiled, dystopian, social commentary piece about navigating the digital excess of life in 21st century America. In the meantime I’m concentrating on moving the S.E.O. books to market 90-120 days at a time so readers who enjoy the story don’t have to wait. Book 2: Flight of the Lazarus and Book 3: Two Phantoms, are out now and a new volume every three months through december 2018. Formatting for all currently available paperbacks is happening now and will be available soon for all readers. And as if this week, all three will be enrolled in Kindle Unlimited for at least the next 90 days

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