My latest interview is with Science Fiction and Fantasy Author D.H. Aire!
Tell us about yourself! What would you like readers to know about you?
D.H. Aire: I’ve loved science fiction and fantasy since I was a kid, watching Star Trek and Lost in Space – which apparently never go out of style. I started writing my own stories as a teenager and began submitting stories to science fiction and fantasy magazines in college, but didn’t get anything published. The rejection letters were painful, so I stopped submitting for years. But that didn’t stop me writing and more often than not rewriting my favorite stories. Ten years ago I decided to submitted the first book of my fantasy series, Highmage’s Plight, to a small press. I was sent a contract in response. Within a few years I joined SFWA (the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America), which was my lifelong dream. I’ve published twenty books to date. My most recent are Knight of the Broken Table, Lessers Not Losers, and a novella, Nowhere to Go But Mars. My forthcoming book is Bigfoot Is Not Your Friend, which is coming out in May.
Cover of For Whom the Bell Trolls by D.H. Aire
What book or books have most influenced you as a writer?
D.H. Aire: The books that have influenced me the most include: Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern Series, Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover Series, and, of course, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. What the Pern and Darkover books have in common is blending what are normally magical elements, dragons on Pern, and psychic, quasi-magical abilities on Darkover, where crashed starship landed a human colony on a world they would never have chosen. The mix of fantasy and science fiction are something I love blending in many of my books.
Alexis Lantgen: I loved the Dragonriders of Pern series! Anne McCaffrey wrote some great books with such imaginative settings. I still love her depiction of dragons and fire-lizards.
What do you like to do other than read or write? Do you have any interesting hobbies?
D.H. Aire: Among my other interests are family history research, which have helped me research aspects of my stories, none more so than my novella, Nowhere to Go But Mars. I used what I’ve learned about the immigrant experience at Ellis Island to reverse engineer that experience and write a steerage class immigration experience to Mars. I explore what it might be like for desperate, poor immigrants hoping for a better life on a harsh new world.
Cover of D.H. Aire’s Nowhere to Go But Mars
What TV shows/Movies do you like to watch or stream?
D.H. Aire: I love the reimagined Lost in Space, Picard, The Expanse, the Mandalorian… and I’ve come to really like Star Trek Discovery, particularly the later seasons. I’ve watched The Stand, too, which felt a bit odd during a pandemic.
What’s your favorite animal?
D.H. Aire: My favorite animal used to be cats. I had one growing up, whose been the inspiration for a character or two—problem is that when I went away to college, I became allergic to cats. Now, my favorite animal, which I never expected, are dogs. I have to admit, my daughter has the cutest dog, who I like to go on walks with and who is far more affectionate than my cat ever was. Though, she’d jump into my lap and fall asleep as I read Lord of the Rings. I think reading bored her, but being a cat, she might have been reading along. You never know with cats.
Alexis Lantgen: It’s funny, because I do love cats, but we’re about to get a puppy, and I find myself super excited to have a dog. I haven’t had a dog since I was in high school, but I loved our golden retriever so much. She was an incredible dog. I will say the cats I have now are some of the sweetest, cuddliest, most adorable cats I’ve ever had. One is sleeping on my feet right now.
Cover of D.H. Aire’s Bigfoot Is Not Your Friend
What advice do you have for other writers or people just getting started in writing?
D.H. Aire: There are three important things to know. One, don’t take rejections personally. Write and submit what you write. Starting with short stories will teach you the submission process. Read the submission guidelines, noting that if the editor doesn’t want anything submitted in Ariel or they cannot accept docx files, don’t send them stories in Ariel or saved as docx. Those really will be automatically rejected. Editors I’ve met have shared this happens a lot and they skip to the next submission. Also, if the guidelines say “we want short stories about rabbits crewing starships” and your story isn’t about rabbits crewing starships, send it elsewhere. (Or write one based on what they’re looking for, if you want to. I could be fun.) Oh, you don’t know where you can submit your story? Check out online Submission Grinder, where you can search for open calls for stories, or Ralan.com, which posts specifically for science fiction, fantasy, or horror opportunities.
Most importantly, writing is a business. Writers do not pay to get published. Money (royalties and payment, in general) flows to the author. Self-publishing means the author, in the publisher role, hires for specific services, but once the book is published, royalties flow to the author. Beware Vanity Presses, which promise to provide all the services you could ever want, but not only will they not keep their promises, you’ll have to pay and keep on paying. Learn how to recognize publishers that are not legitimate from those that are. Learn the business.
Great places to learn about this are science fiction and fantasy conventions, where there are sessions and workshops for those interested in getting published and becoming authors. There is also the Superstars Writing Seminar (Superstarswriting.com), which is offered annually. It was founded about ten years ago by bestselling authors Kevin J. Anderson, David Farland, Eric Flint, Rebecca Moesta, and Brandon Sanderson. A year after I attended, I got my first book contract, the terms of which I understood… Lastly, read your contract, even if it is just for a short story. You don’t want to sign your rights away and find you don’t own your characters after signing that contract. Yes, that can really happen, especially to people who don’t read the contract they’ve been sent. And, if you say, that’s what agents are for, that’s another reason to learn the business of writing, which you should not expect to make you rich. So, please don’t give up your day job. That day job will help make it possible for you to pay your bills and write—and medical benefits are real important, too.
Alexis Lantgen: Great advice! Writing is an art, but it’s a business too, and you’ll only get hurt if you don’t learn how that business works.
More About D.H. Aire
Books: High Mage’s Plight, Knight of the Broken Table, Lessers not Losers, and Bigfoot is Not Your Friend
Website: Dhaire.net
Social Media: Twitter