https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LTXFJHG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIq5sXG-1ow
Relics of Dawn looks like an exciting series. What can you tell us about it?
Two civilizations are fighting for survival, but they aren’t
fighting each other, they’re fighting climate change—or so they think. Relics
of Dawn is a sci-fi saga following two scientists and extreme, top-secret
plans to save their worlds. Readers have said it feels like Dan Brown of The
Da Vinci Code wrote a science fiction mystery like Intersteller.
From intentionally setting off supervolcanoes to creating artificial meteor
impacts, the time-twisting tales of Kaia Badra and Alan Pearce explore a hidden
truth about the nature of life and the origin of civilization. The two stories
intertwine in unexpected ways as superstorms rage and cities crumble to dust. Their
worlds are dying, but who should they trust?
They each have amazing covers. Can you tell us a little about them?
Thank you! I love all of them, but my personal favorite is
the box set cover with an astronaut looking up into the sky as an upside-down
pyramid descends. I use a lot of symbolism in the stories, so wanted that to
come through in the covers. If you take a close look at each one, you’ll see
strong hints to what happens in each book—from a chaotic, destruction eruption,
and the astronaut seeming to call out in sadness as an asteroid hits the
planet.
What inspired you when writing Relics of Dawn?
One doesn’t need to look far these days to see natural and unnatural chaos
in the world. Despite all that, everyone still loves to be entertained. Instead
of letting it get to me, or worse, arguing with people on the Internet. I
decided to put a thought-provoking creative spin on ancient alien science
fiction mixed with climate change fiction to provide a fun way to reframe the
many important issues facing our society.
What will readers get out of your book?
Ultimately, I hope they will be entertained while also
learning new perspectives. The primary plot revolves around climate change,
which itself can be divisive. However, the way characters and institutions
respond, either by plotting against it, or plotting against one another,
provides a lot of fodder for a deeper conversation about how we’re addressing
our own climate change challenges. I hope readers give the story a chance to
play out and I think they will be pleasantly surprised by the end no matter
where they fall on the issue.
What motivated you to become a writer?
I hesitate to call myself a writer even though I’ve written
this trilogy! I work at a large technology company by day and people are always
shocked to learn I have a whole other side. However, in both jobs, my tops
skills are finding a common thread through a lot of disparate sources of
information and data, then bringing it all together around a common narrative. Relics
of Dawn is a clue-filled narrative puzzle that I hope readers will have a
blast solving, even if I still struggle to think of myself as a “writer.”
How did you come up with the story in Relics of Dawn?
I began writing Relics of Dawn in
2012, but it really began in 1993 in my grandmother’s sunroom. To my
little-kid-self, her enclosed back porch was a magical place filled with
National Geographic magazines and kooky ideas she shared from Art Bell’s radio
show, Coast to Coast AM, which aired long after my bedtime. I remember the 1977
cover with King Tutankhamun’s gold funerary mask and images of pyramids from
all over the world contained in the pages of others. We would always talk about
big mysteries, like bigfoot and Atlantis, or my favorite, ancient Egyptian
pyramids. Now, I obviously know ancient civilizations built pyramids because it
was the only way they knew to build tall, but it sure is fun to think about
other explanations like the one in Relics of Dawn.
Did anything stick out as particularly challenging when
writing Relics of Dawn?
While it is speculative fiction, I wanted to root the story
in hard science and real mythology. Both required massive amounts of research,
but what was amazing is the way the connections between them seemed to form in
front of my eyes. I felt like the story was writing itself. That said, I wanted
Relics of Dawn to be an easy read, so I spent a lot of to get the
balance right and walk the line between hard science fiction, historical
fiction, and mythology.
What do you like to do when not writing?
I love spending time with family and being outside, ideally
both at the same time. I also am still a technology nerd at heart, so I have a
mildly unhealthy obsession with the latest gadgetry and am excited about the
rapid pace of innovation happening on the Internet right now. Lastly, I love
helping other indie authors learn this business. I’ve sold over 17,000 books in
the Relics of Dawn trilogy and love sharing what I know, while freely
admitting I still have a lot to learn!
Where can readers find out more about your work?
I’m most active on reddit, username timetoscience, and twitter at @awdavids
Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIq5sXG-1ow