John and his wife Ellen in photo above. His website and ordering information here:
http://johnpatricklowrie.com/dancing.html
John Patrick Lowire lives in the Seattle area, where he is a
well-known voice actor who performs in video games such as The
Suffering and Half-Life 2. He also played Sherlock Holmes in The Further
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes radio show. He recently published
a science fiction novel titled "Dancing with Eternity" that takes
place in the 40th century.
When asked how he found the find time to
write the novel in between all his, other work, he told this blogger
in an email interview: "The book took
a lot longer to write than I would have liked. As you say, I'm pretty
busy with other aspects of my career. Also, the book is set in a far
future when death has been cured. Any book about a time when there is
no death is going to be about how we deal with death and loss. And in
the middle of writing the book, I was involved in a fatal car accident
where a close collegue of mine was killed. An event like this is so
transformative that any writing you do after it is going to be
profoundly affected. In all, it took almost seven years to write,
start to finish."
How did Lowrie arrive
at his time period for the novel?
I love quantum mechanics and how utterly weird it is," he said. "I was
thinking what kind of future science might be as unfathomable to us as
quantum mechanics would be to, say, Aristotle or Archimedes, someone
who lived 2,000 years ago, so I tried to come up with one."
"Dancing with Eternity" can be described as "a sprawling galactic odyssey"
that asks, "What would happen if Odysseus met Captain Ahab in the 40th
Century? Except that in Lowrie's book, Captain Ahab is a beautiful woman
named Steel who owns
her own starship and Odysseus is an unemployed actor named Mohandas
who’s stuck on the backside of a backwater moon because he won’t pay
his taxes.
The book is currently available in paperback and via all ebook platforms.
Lowrie, of course, loves science fiction, not only as a writer, but
also as a reader. When asked how it feels to have
his own sci fi book out in the marketplace, and which famous sci fi authors
played a pivotal role in his own development as an author, Lowrie
said: "It feels wonderful to have finally birthed the baby. I hope my
book has a long life and is enjoyed by readers for many years to come.
It's already being read in places as diverse as Norway and Chile.
Growing up, I was interested in space travel and going to other
planets from a very early age. This was back in the 1950s when we
still thought there might be civilizations on Venus and Mars. When I
was in the 6th grade a friend of mine introduced me to the works of
Robert Heinlein and Andre Norton. They were in our school library and
I devoured them. Then people like Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Aldous
Huxley, Samuel R. Delaney, Asimov, Clarke, Frank Herbert -- the list
is endless."
Why is sci fi such a popular genre? Lowrie's take: "Science fiction
has always served two purposes: to explore possibilities and to
express our anxieties about a rapidly changing world: changes that
were being brought about by the explosion of human knowlege as a
result of the scientific method. Mary Shelly's ''Frankenstien'' is an
example of the second area, Verne's ''Journey to the Center of the
Earth'' is an example of the first. But you had to have a society that
was being profoundly affected by scientific and technological
advancement. Before the 19th century technological change was still
very slow. Most people farmed and smithed the same way people had been
doing those things for centuries. It was the Age of Enlightenment
followed by the Industrial Revolution that brought about changes that
no one could have predicted: large scale migration from the
countryside and farming to the cities and factories. Up until the
1870s, hospitals were places you went to die. This unprecedented
explosion of capabilities and knowlege, most of which only a very few
people understood, started writers thinking about where it all might
be leading: good or bad. The 21st century is changing faster than any
time in history, so I think sci fi as a genre of literature and cinema
will be there to help us cope.''
The main themes of his book are egocentrism and unintended
consequenses, Lowrie says, adding: "As I said before, the
technological change that has taken place, and whose ramifications are
explored, is the curing of death. So a lot of the book is about
dealing with loss. I think anyone from high school age on up will
enjoy the book. It's quite an adventure."
Publicity for the book has followed Lowrie and his wife Ellen around
the country, too. He explains: "Because of our relative fame in the
computer game world, my wife, Ellen, and I have been travelling around
the country going to FanCons. These are wonderful opportunities to
meet the fans and get my book out there."
======================
THE INTERVIEW transcript
DANNY BLOOM: ........''Dancing with Eternity'', went to print in September. You are a
well-known voice actor who performs in video games such as The
Suffering and Half-Life 2, and played Sherlock Holmes in The Further
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes radio show. How did you find time to
write your novel in between all your other work? When did you
start the project and when did you dot the final eye, in terms of time
frame? 3 years? a year? from concept to turning in the manuscript
to your editor?
JOHN PATRICK LOWRIE: The book took a lot longer to write than I would have liked. As you say, I'm pretty busy with other aspects of my career. Also, the book is set in a far future when death has been cured. Any book about a time when there is no death is going to be about how we deal with death and loss. In the middle of writing DWE, I was involved in a fatal car accident where a close collegue of mine was killed. An event like this is so transformative that any writing you do after it is going to be profoundly affected. In all, it took almost seven years to write, start to finish.
> 2. Your book takes place in the 40th Century, about 2o centuries from
> now, so around 4000 AD.....How did you arrive
> at that time period for the novel, and did you always have that time
> frame in mind or did things change as you wrote the novel?
JOHN PATRICK LOWRIE: I love quantum mechanics and how utterly weird it is. I was thinking what kind of future science might be as unfathomable to us as quantum mechanics would be to, say, Aristotle or Archimedes, someone who lived 2,000 years ago, so I tried to come up with one.
> 3. Dancing with Eternity is described as "a sprawling galactic odyssey"
> that asks, "What would happen if Odysseus met Captain Ahab in the 40th
> Century?: Except that in your book, Captain Ahab is a beautiful woman
> named Steel who owns
> her own starship and Odysseus is an unemployed actor named Mohandas
> who’s stuck on the backside of a backwater moon because he won’t pay
> his taxes. SO far how are readers reacting to your setting and
> characters and theme? The blurbs have
> all been positive of course, but what kind of personal feedback have
> you been getting from readers, pro and con?
JOHN PATRICK LOWRIE: The reviews and reader feedback have been overwhelmingly positive. They love the story, they love the humor, they love the characters, they love the ending. It's really been very gratifying.
> 4. How did you hook up with Camel Press as your publisher? Did you
> use an agent to pitch your book and did you pitch it yourself? Is the
> book published in paperback and Ebook editions, and which format seems
> best for your readers, in your opinion?
JOHN PATRICK LOWRIE: The new aquisitions editor, Catherine Treadgold, sent me an email asking for genre manuscripts. I was submitting the book to literary agents at the time. I sent it to her, she read it and wanted to publish it. It was really as simple as that. It's available in paperback and all ebook platforms.
> 5. Sci fi has an honored place in American literature, from Isaac
> Isamov to Robert Heinlen, and now you. How does it feel to have
> your very own sci fi book out in the marketplace? Whcih sci fi authors
> played a pivotal role in yourn development as an author?
JOHN PATRICK LOWRIE: Well, it feels wonderful to have finally birthed the baby. I hope it has a long life and is enjoyed by readers for many years to come. It's already being read in places as diverse as Norway and Chile. Growing up I was interested in space travel and going to other planets from a very early age. This was back in the '50s when we still thought there might be civilizations on Venus and Mars. When I was in 6th grade a friend of mine introduced me to the works of Robert Heinlein and Andre Norton. They were in our school library and I devoured them. Then people like Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Aldous Huxley, Samuel R. Delaney, Asimov, Clarke, Frank Herbert--the list is endless.
> 6. Sci fi became popular in the 19th and 2oth century in Russia and
> France and the USA and has really exploded as a genre. Why do you
> thinkt here was so little sci fi before the 19th century, and now that
> we are in the 21st century of iPads and smart phones, do you think'
> sci fi will continue to be a popular genre in the future as well?
JOHN PATRICK LOWRIE: Science fiction has always served two purposes: to explore possibilities and to express our anxieties about a rapidly changing world: changes that were being brought about by the explosion of human knowlege as a result of the scientific method. Mary Shelly's Frankenstien is an example of the second area, Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth is an example of the first. But you had to have a society that was being profoundly affected by scientific and technological advancement. Before the 19th century technological change was still very slow. Most people farmed and smithed the same way people had been doing those things for centuries. It was the Age of Enlightenment followed by the Industrial Revolution that brought about changes that no one could have predicted: large scale migration from the countryside and farming to the cities and factories. Up until the 1870s hospitals were places you went to die. This unprecedented explosion of capabilities and knowlege, most of which only a very few people understood, started writers thinking about where it all might be leading: good or bad. The 21st century is changing faster than any time in history, so I think sci-fi will be there to help us cope.
> 7. Do you personally believe in UFOs, or alien life forms on other
> planets? Some people have described being abducfed by aliens
> landing in space ships in the USa and impregnating women on Earth? Are
> such accounts reliable as fact or are they figments
> of the abductees imagiantions, in your opinion?
JOHN PATRICK LOWRIE: What anyone believes is immaterial to what is out there. We're looking now for Earth-sized planets in the 'goldilocks zone' around thousands of other stars. We may find some. Whether we do or not, the implications will be huge for humanity.
> 8. What is the theme of YOUR book? Who is your target audience, in
> terms of age group?
JOHN PATRICK LOWRIE: I would say the themes of my book are egocentrism and unintended consequenses. As I said before, the technological change that has taken place, and whose ramifications are explored, is the curing of death. So a lot of the book is about dealing with loss. I think anyone from high school age on up will enjoy the book. It's quite an adventure.
> 9. Have you set up a national book tour for visiting different cities
> to promote the book, or is most of your marketing using the internet
> as a platform via social media such as Twitter and Facebook? What kind
> of marketing plan have you devised for the book over the next 12
> months?
JOHN PATRICK LOWRIE: Because of our relative fame in the computer game world, my wife, Ellen, and I have been travelling around the country going to FanCons. These are wonderful opportunities to meet the fans and get the book out there.
> 10. Tv interviews in the Seattle area? Book signings in the Seatlle
> area? newspaper interviews in the Seatlle Area?
JOHN PATRICK LOWRIE: We've done four book signings in the Seattle area. TV and newspapers don't really care about science-fiction unless it's a blockbuster movie.
> 11. And with the success of your first sci fi book, are you working
> on a second scifi book as a follow up or sequel or as a completely new
> book?
JOHN PATRICK LOWRIE: I am working on a new project, sci-fi but a completely different idea.
> 12. Any possible movie deals in the offering yet, or any nibbles from
> Hollywood via your publisher?
JOHN PATRICK LOWRIE: It's way too early to be talking about movie deals. We'll see.
> 13. Last question: are YOU dancing with eternity as 2011 begins to
> wind down into the new year of 2012? What are your plans for the
> future, in terms of creative projectrs?
JOHN PATRICK LOWRIE: I'm still very active as an actor and I'm writing my second novel. Other than that I try to find ways to be useful.
> 14. any chance for translations of your book into Japanese or Chinsee
> or Swedish?
JOHN PATRICK LOWRIE: That depends on sales. Out of my hands.
Danny Bloom: Thank you, John, for your time today. Congratulations on your book, and good luck'
with your next one, too.
JOHN PATRICK LOWRIE: Thank you for the interview and the space on your blog.
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