Sunday, March 23, 2008

Sinbad's Last Voyage


Why did you pick the setting you used in your story? I'm not looking for -- "because I live there". I want you to dig deep and tell us...

I definitely do not live in any of the places described in my book! If I did, I wouldn't have time to write about them! I wanted it set partly on Earth and partly on other planets so contrasts could be shown, as seen through Andi's eyes.

Why you chose that particular setting?

It's a couple of centuries in the future so technology would be advanced enough to allow for planet travel, also also for crime to have followed explorers into outer space.

What does the setting add to the story?

Sinbad lives in Old Town in the Thieves Quarter. By unwritten law, the Federation stays out of Old Town because they have no jurisdiction there. When my hero and heroine have to leave, they leave the planet because Andi's likeness has been posted on every continent on Earth. There are loudspeakers on the highways blasting out her description as she speeds away from a pursuing Federation Marshal's Drone.

Could you write the same story in a different setting?

I imagine the basic story--man wrongly arrested, escaping from jail, wife and hunter searching for him while unconsciously falling in love with each other--could be set anywhere.

Why or why couldn't you use a different setting?

Because I have an SF frame of mind and I saw this as a futuristic story and never anything else.

Did you use a real place as a basis for your setting?

None whatsoever.

Or, did you create the setting from scratch?

I'm certain there were unconscious influences somewhere along the line, but as far as I know, everything--from the Thieves Quarter in Old Town to Antilla City with its five miles of shopping malls to the jungle planet of Albegensia--was made up out of whole cloth, in my imagination.

Please provide your website link.

www.tonivsweeney.com


What is the link to buy your book?

www.lulu.com; www.doubledragonbooks.com.

Tell us some specific details about your setting.

On Earth, the people are still much the same, struggling to get along. There's so much pollution now, however, that one group has retreated into an area inland where they've established a cult, the Naturals, growing their own food, making their own clothes, using herbs to cure their ills. They don't use anything that wasn't used by their ancestors in the mid-twentieth century and this, along with their doctrine of "Everyone is created equal," they've been placed on the Federation's Suspects List. Because they also provide the country with two-thirds of its flood supply, they are soon taken off the List, however. They also don't believe in space travel or even air flight and when Sinbad takes Andi up in th mariner, it's the first time she's ever been off the planet and she's terrified. Prisoners are kept in Penal colonies on asteroids and political prisoners are sent to the Toxic Zone, the area which used to be Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri and was later turned into a gigantic asbestos disposal area, and then into a prison. Sinbad has the dubious distinction of being the only man ever to escape from the Toxic Zone.

What would we see? What sort of people are there?

Besides the Naturals, there are the city dwellers, and the Federation people--both of whom are much more affluent--and the prisoners in the Toxic Zone. Earth hasn't become a very nice place to live if you're "different." It's become a holier-than-thou place, where to be considered "human" or Terran, is to be desired. Conquered people are considered "animals" until they've been admitted into the Federation, and accepted the Faith of Earth. The first thing done to a conquered planet is to send in soldiers and missionaries. The farther from Earth one gets, the freer and more friendlier the planets are.

If we were traveling to your setting, what should we bring with us? For visitors, what do they need to know to visit your setting?

On Earth, you'd better bring a pollution mask and your ID card and don't talk back to anyone wearing a uniform with the Federation "Stars and Planets" on the sleeve! You don't want to go to Felida. They don't like humans!

Thank you for sharing details about your book setting. Now, what's the title of your book and where can we buy it?

Sinbad's Last Voyage, (Book One in the Adventures of Sinbad) available from www.lulu.com or www.doubledragonbooks.com

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