While you can still sign up for our „Catch the Silvers“ party game and take part in an exciting chase through San Diego it’s time for our first „real“ post of the „Month of the Silvers“. To introduce you a little more to the „Flight of the Silvers“ universe, we asked author Daniel Price to answer a few questions about the story, the series as a whole and about himself. In the first part of our interview (you will find part II on itsallaboutbooks.de on January, 14th) Daniel tells us a little bit about the origins of „The Flight of the Silvers“, the writing process and the extraordinary setting of the story. Have fun!

About Daniel Price:

I’m an L.A. author with two very different novels to my name. One’s a comedy set in the world of public relations. The other’s a sci-fi saga about superpowered people on an alternate Earth. I’m not entirely sure how that happened. (Source: Goodreads)

 

If someone has never heard of „The Flight of the Silvers“ before, how would you describe the book in just one sentence?

I absolutely suck at synopses, so I’m stealing my answer from a Goodreads review: “Six ordinary people survive the end of the world and find themselves on an alternate Earth, one where the discovery of a new temporal energy has changed the way people live.”

Obviously there’s a lot more to it than that, but it nails the opening premise pretty well.

How did you come up with the idea for „The Flight of the Silvers“ and did you plan right from the start to tell the story over several books?

I actually came up with Silvers back when I was a screenwriter. I thought it would make a great TV series. But the more I developed it in my head, the more I realized that it had to be books. I needed the freedom of prose to really get into the characters’ heads and expand on the world I was building.

Of course the irony now is that Silvers is being shopped around as a potential TV series. We’ll see what becomes of that.

And yes, I definitely knew from the start that it would be a multi-part saga. I just didn’t know how many parts.

For many authors it’s incredibly difficult to find a publisher for their stories. Did you make the same experiences and was there a time when you thought about giving up writing and stick to sth. else?

It’s weird. Silvers got snapped up in the first round of submissions, unlike my first novel Slick, which was rejected by 35 different publishers before someone finally bought it. It really is luck of the draw. Silvers just hit the right guy at the right time. I’m incredibly grateful to Blue Rider Press for giving it a home.

As for giving up, I had about a million crises of faith between Slick and Flight of the Silvers, which is probably why the books were published ten years apart from each other. I wasted a lot of time in doubt and self-paralysis. I wouldn’t recommend it.

On your website you mention that you made a two-book-deal with Blue Rider Press but also that there will be probably three to five books in the Silvers saga. Can you already reassure us that the whole series will be published as planned?

I can’t speak for the publisher. All I can say from conversations is that I’m not worried about the story ending at Book Two.

Whatever happens, whether the series is three, four or five books, it’ll have a full ending. No question marks. No “to be continued…?” Everything will be wrapped up. This I swear.

What was the hardest part of writing this book? /What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

The hardest part was writing it without starving. As you know, Silvers isn’t a short book and I’m not Speedy McWriterGuy. There were many, many times I thought “Oh crap. I’ll never make it to the end.” But somehow, God knows how, it all worked out.

The part I enjoyed most is watching my characters develop to the point where they actually surprised me. There was a romantic coupling in Silvers that wasn’t supposed to happen at all. But they insisted on it and so into the book it went.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

“Read more. Write more. Do less of the things that keep you from reading and writing more.”

I probably wouldn’t have listened to Older Me, but it’s still good advice.

Which writers inspire you?

Kurt Vonnegut, first and foremost, because he was a true humanist. He loved all his characters, no matter how flawed or pathetic they were. In fact I think he had more love for the pathetic ones. He also wasn’t afraid to go batshit crazy with his concepts. Though he never liked to consider himself a sci-fi writer, a lot of his ideas are right up there with the genre masters. He was a real innovator.

Stephen King is another one, because he never stops writing and he never forgets that a story is nothing without strong, believable characters.

If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why?

The Dictionary, just so I could have editing power. There a lot of changes I’d make to that book.

Why did you choose an alternate earth as the main setting for your story and not just a futuristic version of this planet?

That’s a really good question. The main reason is that the apocalypse plays a huge role in the series. The Silvers aren’t just aliens on a alternate Earth, they’re survivors of a global devastation. That affects them all in crucial ways. It wouldn’t be the same story if they simply got zapped to another era.

The other reason is that I’m endlessly fascinated with 20th century history. One of the biggest pleasures of Silvers is rewriting the world from 1912 on. It’s just an endless source of fun for me.

Do you have a favorite character in the book or someone you find quite annoying (like maybe Amanda^^) but you can’t get rid of it because of the storyline?

I’ll have you know, smart guy, that Amanda is one of my favorite characters. You couldn’t pay me to get rid of her. She’s so flawed and well-meaning at the same time. I love her. But I can see how others might get annoyed.

The good news is that she improves dramatically over the course of the series. The Amanda you see in The Song of the Orphans is much stronger (and mellower) than the one you saw in Silvers.

But to answer the question, my absolute favorite is everyone’s favorite: Zack. How can he not be? I get to wisecrack through him.

(to be continued)

In part II of the interview you will get to know a bit more about the characters, the current progress of the sequel „The Song of the Orphans“, a possible German version of „The Flight of the Silvers“ and more about Daniel himself.

You can also visit his website where he has some pretty detailed FAQs where he answers a lot more questions about nearly everything related to the Silvers series. Keep walking! 😉