- What is your “day” job if you are not
a full-time author?
At this point, I am a full-time writer and editor,
working for numerous freelance publications, which is a dream come true. There
are still days where I marvel at the fact that I made it here—it really is
amazing, you know? Before I was able to make the jump into freelance writing,
though, I previously worked in healthcare, particularly in long-term care units
with Alzheimer’s patients, as well as with people who’d experienced TBIs,
strokes, and so on. These experiences absolutely reshaped me as a person,
shaking me from my privilege, and forcing me to have a fuller view of the
world. They also inspired my previous two novels, Pale Highway and Intraterrestrial.
- If you wrote a book about your life
what would the title be?
Oh, who knows? Probably, say I Forgot the Title of
This. Seriously, though, I take titles extremely seriously, so if I were to
write such a book, I’d need to know the deeper themes, key moments, and the
ending, well before I figured out the title!
- What is the hardest thing about being
an author?
To be fair, it probably depends on what kind
of author you are, what your genres and/or subjects are, what level of success
you’re reaching, and the various privileges, luck, systemic prejudices, and
coincidences that shape a person’s career. I’ve been very lucky, in many
regards, particularly compared to so many writers out there who are struggling
to pay the bills, or still haven’t gotten their first piece published despite
working tirelessly at it. I think no matter what, though, the hardest
thing—particularly before you “make it,” per se – is never letting go of that
dedicated piece of insanity that tells you that you’re going to succeed if you
just keep writing. Not everyone who has that unshakable passion does succeed,
of course, but everyone who succeeds does have this passion, if that
makes sense.
Besides that, if you’re a natural storyteller, I
think there’s always the struggle of bumping up against the limits of being,
you know, a human being, I.E., a fleshy body of bones and muscle that gets
tired, stressed, needs to eat, et cetera. Because of these limits, you’ll
always have more stories rattling around in your head than you’ll ever have the
time to write. At least, from my experience.
- What is the best thing about being an
author?
The feeling of holding a hard copy of the book you
spent all those years dreaming of. Seriously, nothing tops that feeling.
Nothing ever could, I think.
- Have you ever been starstruck by
meeting one of your favorite authors? If so who was it?
I don’t know if I’m particularly susceptible to that
classic “starstruck” feeling, per se, but there are a number of authors who I
truly admired before meeting them, enough that the whole experience was pretty
exciting. Rick Hautala, who passed away in 2013, was someone I felt immensely
honored to meet, particularly because of what a humble, genuine guy he was.
- What book changed your life?
So, so many. Where to even begin? Books have
probably changed my life, broadened my perspective, and enhanced my views more
than just about anything else. Mary Shelley’s original Frankenstein was
a big one. Orwell’s work was also profoundly influential. I can probably credit
my writing career itself, on some level, to my young adult passion for Stephen
King’s Dark Tower books. Anything by Kurt Vonnegut, for sure, but I’ll
admit I like Slaughterhouse Five the best. Night, by Elie Wiesel,
was particularly impactful for me, as a Jewish person, and likewise for Art
Spiegelman’s Maus. The Autobiography of Malcolm X was a big one,
as well as Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me. Then there’s Johnny
Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo, Kindred by Octavia Butler, Michael
Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay …
- Which do you prefer ebooks, print, or
audio books?
I’ll always be a diehard for print books. Ebooks are
cool, too, and I read them from time to time, but print books just feel right
to me. If you know what I mean, you know what I mean. I’m not a huge audiobook
person, unless I’m doing long drives, but I do have massive respect for them as
an artform. My wife listens to audiobooks throughout the day, which is pretty
cool.
- If you could live inside the world of
a book or series which world would it be and why?
Most of my favorite sci-fi/fantasy worlds are pretty
dangerous places! If I had to choose something, though, I can’t imagine any
fictional location being more fun than the Marvel Universe. I mean, there’s a
reason kids love superheroes so much.
Knight in Paper Armor
Nicholas Conley
Genre: Dystopian
Nicholas Conley
Genre: Dystopian
Publisher: Red Adept Publishing
Date of Publication: September 15, 2020
ASIN: B08CLSSX8Z
Word Count: About 113,000
Book Description:
Billy Jakobek has always been different. Born with strange and powerful psychic abilities, he has grown up in the laboratories of Thorne Century, a ruthless megacorporation that economically, socially, and politically dominates American society.
Every day, Billy absorbs the emotional energies, dreams, and traumas of everyone he meets—from his grandmother’s memories of the Holocaust, to the terror his sheer existence inflicts upon his captors—and he yearns to break free, so he can use his powers to help others.
Natalia Gonzalez, a rebellious artist and daughter of Guatemalan immigrants, lives in Heaven’s Hole, an industrial town built inside a meteor crater, where the poverty-stricken population struggles to survive the nightmarish working conditions of the local Thorne Century factory. Natalia takes care of her ailing mother, her grandmother, and her two younger brothers, and while she dreams of escape, she knows she cannot leave her family behind.
When Billy is transferred to Heaven’s Hole, his chance encounter with Natalia sends shockwaves rippling across the blighted landscape. The two outsiders are pitted against the all-powerful monopoly, while Billy experiences visions of an otherworldly figure known as the Shape, which prophesizes an apocalyptic future that could decimate the world they know.
Excerpt:
“So,” Roseanna
said, “according to my superiors, young Billy came to the attention of Thorne
Century due to his long medical history.” She opened her folder and riffled
through. “Dozens of child therapists, doctors, prescriptions, treatments… wide
range of disease symptoms and ailments as well as wild mood swings but no
evidence of any physical illness or precise mental disorder. The word
psychosomatic is bleeding from these papers. I don’t buy it.” Roseanna leaned
forward. “I think it all fits a certain pattern.”
“The doctors
don’t understand.” Tzeitel bit her lip, paused, then spoke again. “Neither do
his parents, though I love them. No. They merely say that he imagines things.
Hallucinations, they claim.” She glanced at her frail grandson still shivering
in the humidity. “I disagree. He often gets sick, but the sickness comes not
from him.”
“Can you
explain?” I think she gets it.
“As a baby, he
constantly changed personalities, like this”—Tzeitel snapped her fingers—“depending
on who held him. Smiling or shrieking, it flipped constantly, and whenever he
cried, all of us cried with him for no reason. Not like a normal baby. His
brother was not like this, either.”
“I see.”
“It was not so
extreme when he got older. But when others are sick…” She knotted her fingers.
“He goes to them, touches the place it hurts, and the pain goes away. It goes
inside him, instead, until it fades. Very strange.” She frowned. “When people
are sad? He walks into a room, makes himself smile—poof, no one is sad anymore,
except he becomes sad. Sometimes, I catch him sneaking out across town to help
people who are troubled.” She eyed him. “I don’t like it when he does that,
though it is very nice of him.”
“He senses things?”
“Doctor, my grandson
has a gift. Yes, he senses things. He feels things. He does things to people…
things that, perhaps, the world is not ready for.”
Despite the
heat, Roseanna felt chills. “I believe you.”
About the Author:
Nicholas Conley is an award-winning Jewish American author, journalist, playwright, and coffee vigilante. His books, such as Knight in Paper Armor, Pale Highway, Intraterrestrial, and Clay Tongue: A Novelette, merge science fiction narratives with hard-hitting examinations of social issues. Originally from California, he now lives in New Hampshire.
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