SPSFC 3 Author Interview - Bryan Wilson

What inspired the world, characters, or core concepts of your story? Was it a particular event, piece of media, or a speculative scientific idea?

My story began as a personal passion project when I was much younger. I developed the idea for it almost twenty years ago. I wanted something that combined the elements of the literature I loved at the time, as well as all the entertainment media I enjoyed. Ender’s Game, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Halo (games and books), Independence Day (Film); I attempted to create a mash of all of my favorite science fiction and fantasy stuff, and tie it together as its own novel and universe. The end result was The Forsaken Planet.

How did you approach the creation of your main characters? Were they modeled after real-life figures, or did they evolve organically as you explored the world of your story?

Again, I started writing this in my late teens, so the main protagonists were heavily influenced by myself and my friends. I modeled them this way because I want people who read my story to feel that the characters are believable in being from our contemporary world. Some of my favorite stories have involved taking place in our world and thrusting ordinary, average Joes into fantastical settings and events. And that is certainly what I’m going for with my own.

With that said, they also evolved of their own accord as my writing progressed. I suppose molding characters from the many personalities of my friends provided the template, and then they adapted and matured to the story as IT went.

Science fiction often delves into questions of ethics, technology, and humanity. What central theme or moral question does your story grapple with, and why did you feel it was essential to explore?

While my story is mostly a simplistic good-vs-evil one, there is a central theme of bigotry surrounding it. As a slight spoiler: in my novel, Earthlings realize they have been left in the dark and ignorant of other worlds that have grown around them since the dawn of our time. When this changes, and they begin to intermix with these cultures, they face a level of prejudice, being cast as lesser for their ignorance, lack of technology, and inability to wield what is the magic system within my story. I made this a heavy theme of my novel because I think the resulting feelings are something many on our planet can relate to, from multiple cultures. And I liked the idea of displaying it bringing the Earthlings together, regardless of background or skin color. I believe us Earthlings coming together and forgetting those things would be a realistic reaction to aliens attacking our planet and endangering our way of life, as well as a hopeful thought. So, I made it a point to have in the story.

How did you approach the integration of futuristic technology or scientific concepts in your story? Did you base them on existing theories or let your imagination run wild?

I pretty much let my imagination run wild. My novel is a soft sci-fi one, so while I discuss a fair amount of tech that is just theory on our world today, I don’t dive too deeply into explaining how it all works. This is also a fantasy book, which helps me because much of the tech is intermixed with the magic system involved, so it doesn’t have to necessarily align with the requirements of our world’s tech.

The sci-fi genre provides a canvas to depict diverse cultures, species, and worlds. How have you incorporated representation and diversity in your work, and why do you think it's vital for the future of science fiction?

I’ve tried to diversify my characters because I want everyone of all backgrounds to hopefully be able to read my story and enjoy it. As I said earlier, it’s very important for me that my characters are believable to our world, as I’m not sure how well the story will work if the reader isn’t buying into that. So, I attempted to make characters of a wide range of attributes. But with that said, I don’t focus heavily on those differences. Again, once the aliens attack in my story, those “diverse” characteristics kind of go out the window. It becomes work together or fall together, turning the story into Earthlings vs everyone else.

And I think it’s vital for all literature because everyone should get to feel a part of stories. Reading has been my getaway since I was a teen riddled with anxieties, through adulthood and the problems and hurdles I’ve had to climb in my life. And everyone, of all backgrounds, deserves to have an outlet like that, if they so choose. And the best way to offer it to the most people is to try and incorporate as many as we can into our novels.

 Every author has a unique writing process. Can you share a bit about yours? How do you manage world-building, plot progression, and character dynamics in such a complex genre?

My first series here is tough to go on because it started as that passion project. I wrote the bulk of the manuscript over a decade ago. And I have heavily edited and altered scenes sporadically since, only sitting down and giving it one focused push at the end of last year, leading to it being published in June.

Given that, how have I managed it? With a heavy set of notes and a self-made table of contents. I’m very much an outline-and-go-from-there type of person. I’m 98% done with the first draft of book two, and wrote it in two and a half months. I did so by having it thought out and heavily outlined well in advance.

 What's next for you after SPSFC? Are there any upcoming projects you can share with us?

As a brand new indie author with little following, my main goal is to finish the second book in the series and publish it. Hopefully, that will be sometime within the front half of 2024. Other than that, I will keep marketing and attempting to connect with other indie authors in the book community. I am on Instagram and X(Twitter) if anyone is interested. Feel free to reach out!