Unleashing Power

1) Hi there! How about you begin by introducing yourself? What is your author name (pen name if you use one)?

Janet Morris

2) What is something unique/quirky about you?

I breed Morgan horses. I consult with Morgan breeders to help them choose breeding combinations to achieve a desired result.

I am also a song writer; I play bass guitar with my husband Chris who sings and plays guitar. We have an album on MCA records. Look for Christopher Crosby Morris on Soundcloud or N1M.com

3) Can you, for those who don't know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author?

I wrote my first novel, High Couch of Silistra in 1975; a friend sent it to an agent who chose to represent me; I had already written the second book in the Silistra Quartet and my agent told me not to disclose that until they finalized the contract for the first one. When the publisher learned of the others, Bantam Books bought the succeeding three. When the fourth book was published, the series already had four million copies in print. Suddenly I was a novelist specializing in environmental, gender, historical and political subjects. In the process, Chris became my editor and ultimately a co-writer. Since then, we have co-authored many books.

4) Who is your hero and why?

Heraclitus of Ephesus, a pre-socratic philosopher, whose Cosmic Fragments foreshadow our knowledge of reality and how to perceive it. Among his precepts is the statement that change alone is unchanging. I’ve worked Heraclitus’ fragments in here and there throughout our books.

5) Which of your novels can you imagine being made into a movie?

All of them. I write cinematically, our books are vivid adventures I undertake without knowing the destination. I, the Sun, The Sacred Band, and Outpassage are particularly suited to film. The Threshold Series is a feast of opportunities for today’s special effects creators.

6) What inspired you, to write The Golden Sword?

The Silistra series was a unique departure for me and it included issues of women’s rights in the 70’s before Handmaid’s Tale.

7) Convince us why you feel The Golden Sword is a must read.

The Silistra series in which The Golden Sword is book 2 blazed a new trail in science fiction and fantasy, many critics saying that Janet Morris had created a new pantheon of warrior women giving rise to heroines like Xena. Today it is more important than ever for everyone to accept to women in leadership roles and I would like to think we had something to do with gaining them more recognition.

8) Who designed your book covers?

Most of my covers, including The Golden Sword, are realized by Roy Mauritsen, a gifted graphic artist.

9) Advice to writers?

As for advice to writers, here is all I know: write the story you want to read. Start at the beginning, go to the end, and stop. Seriously. From start to finish you must inhabit the construct in a manner that makes the reader choose to continue; if I, as the writer, can’t feel what it’s like being there, my readers can’t either. So close your eyes, look at your feet where they are standing on the story’s ground; tell me what you see. Tell me what you hear. Ask at the end of each paragraph ‘what happens next?’. If you lose touch with it, wait until you’re back inside it. Tell the story that comes to you, and from you, to me.

10) Let’s get back to your book. What is your book’s blurb?

The Golden Sword

Silistra Quartet Book 2

Genre: Epic Dystopian SciFi Fantasy

Dystopia.

Biology shapes reality.

The further adventures of the most beautiful courtesan in the galaxies of tomorrow.

She had the power to create planets.

The sixty carved bones of the Yris-tera foretold her ancient fate.

Her heritage of power took her beyond time and space and stole from her the one man she loved.

Enslaved on the planet Silistra tomorrow's most beautiful courtesan unleashes the powers of the gods.

ON A PLANET DESPERATE FOR POPULATION, WOMEN HOLD THE KEYS TO POWER.

But power brings enemies.

Estri, holder of Silistra's highest office, never suspected the intrigues moving against her...until her rivals attacked.

Her betrayal toppled more than a single well-Keepress.

Estri's enemies threatened all of Silistra.

Their plan: to reveal the planet's precious secret of extending life in exchange for off-world technology -- the technology which decimated Silistra's population long ago.

11) Now tell my readers a little bit about yourself.

Best selling author Janet Morris began writing in 1976 and has since published more than 30 novels, many co-authored with her husband Chris Morris or others. Most of her fiction work has been in the fantasy and science fiction genres, although she has also written historical and other novels. Morris has written, contributed to, or edited several book-length works of non-fiction, as well as papers and articles on nonlethal weapons, developmental military technology and other defense and national security topics.

12) Perfect! Do you have a website? If so, what is it?

https://theperseidpress.com/

13) Where else can people find and follow you?

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PerseidPublishing

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Perseid_Press

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perseid_press

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/janet-morris

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Janet-Morris/author/B001HPJJB8

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/121072.Janet_E_Morris