Biotech Legacy: Long Fall is the follow-up to Stars Rain Down, my debut novel which chronicled the brutal invasion of Earth by a diverse coalition of alien species.  Long Fall picks up roughly three years later, in a time when fledgling human and alien nations have formed and are once again beginning to fight for control of the planet, powered by living technologies that have evolved at a frightening pace.

Thematically, Long Fall is a novel about transformation and equilibrium.  The survivors (and even the world itself) have been undergoing a drastic metamorphosis, and when they each finally climb free of their respective cocoons, a new balance must be found.

By the final pages, the course of human history will be changed forever, and not necessarily for the better.

What genre is it?
Biotech Legacy: Long Fall is Science-Fiction, and more specifically Space Opera.

It’s for brave readers with strong imaginations.  The Biotech Legacy series is very much about the discovery of strange new creatures and technologies, and especially the place where those two ideas cross.  The story moves swiftly from comedy to heartache, and finally to catharsis and an undying hope for something better.

If you want to read about good people making hard decisions, Biotech Legacy: Long Fall is for you.

You haven’t introduced us to the main characters yet.
There’s a large and varied primary cast, but there are really three principal characters whose actions will determine the future.

The first is Marcus Donovan, an eccentric and manipulative astronomer who discovered and was bonded to an ancient alien warship in the first novel.  He’s now in control of an immensely powerful fleet, but is paralyzed by his fear of becoming some kind of totalitarian dictator.

Next is Amira Saladin, an inventive Mars colonist who returned to Earth following the invasion.  She quickly became a key figure within an alien city-ship which is now home to millions of refugees, and her primary motivation is to see that human/alien hybrid civilization thrive.  Unfortunately, there seems to be no end of obstacles in her way.

Finally, there’s Jack Hernandez, a search & rescue specialist and pacifist whose earlier exploits managed to temporarily forestall the war.  He’s searching for a mysterious artifact in the jungles of Mexico as the novel begins, and its discover.

Complete this sentence for us: if you like _________________, you’ll love my book.
I suppose there are two ways to answer you, so I’ll try both.

If you like weird worlds, strange creatures, and biting sarcasm mixed with high drama, you’ll love my book.

On the other hand, if you like Robotech, Ender’s Game, or Frank Herbert’s Dune, you’ll also love my book.

Have you written any other books that we should read next?
There’s the previous novel, Stars Rain Down, of course.  Otherwise, my collection are mostly novellas.  I’ve written two Vengar the Barbarian adventures, which stand as a humorous love letter to the pulp heroes of last century.  I’ve also released two episodes of Arcana Universalis, a fantasy series set in a universe where wizards have taken to the stars aboard ships like medieval castles.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m a Mexican-American writer and graphic designer, originally from the SF Bay Area.  Before striking out on my own, I worked for a few very large video game companies, and spent a few years at an independent bookstore helping readers discover the stories they love.

Do you have a website where we can keep up with your work?
Absolutely do!  You can follow my adventures at the Oktopod Blog, which is my still-developing-project to establish a new kind of publishing platform for independent authors.

You can find Oktopod’s current home at: http://oktopods.wordpress.com/

Talking about publishing, we noticed that all of your books carry Creative Commons licenses.  Can you explain what that means, and why you’ve chosen to do that?
I feel strongly that digital publishing could offer so much more than traditional publishing has, but people have instead engineered methods to offer much, much less.  This is why I’ve avoided all types of DRM, and released my works under a Creative Commons licence.  That means that my readers are allowed to not only share my books freely with their friends, but even create their own works based on what I’ve already released.

I really want to create something living and bigger than myself, that fans can personally engage with and become part of.  Creative Commons is a means to that end.

How can we follow you on Twitter and/or Facebook?
My Twitter handle is @Spectre_7

I’m also on Google+, which I think is a highly-undervalued place to find people with similar interests.  Find me at:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/110198344777413053684/posts

How easily do new storylines come to you? If we give you four random words  – Man, Woman, Airport, Darkness – can you give us a brief storyline?
New stories come to me perhaps a little more easily than I’d like.  In fact, it’s a constant challenge deciding what to work on next.

How about this… At the height of the Cold War in the 1960s, a strange darkness envelopes the world, devouring everything it touches.  Only Australia seems untouched, and people from all over the world rush there for safety… but Alisha Jackson and her boyfriend, Rob, have missed the last flight.  Now they’re marooned at LaGuardia, with no choice but to wait and see what the coming darkness holds.