Interview With Author Schalk Holloway
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My name is Schalk, I’m a traditionally and independently published nonfiction author, indy novelist, lay minister, and retired special operations response team leader with 18 years experience running interventions in at-risk communities and 7 years experience executing urban tactical and intelligence based operations.
To date I have written and published six nonfiction titles and three novels, of which two are psychological thrillers and one is hard and military science fiction.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is a hard and military science fiction novel, ’Novus Dies’.
My inspiration was twofold: one relating to the current AI trend (although not in the trendy fashion), and the other to my professional background (before retiring in 2022).
In terms of the AI trend, I’ve always been fascinated by all things AI, androids, and robots. Thing is, there’s this question that’s always been gnawing at my mind: why would AI ‘care’ about anything? You see, as humans, we have an intricate web of physiological and neurological systems governing our ability to ‘care’, and if you had to delve deep into this topic you would find our endocrine (hormonal) systems at the core. AI doesn’t have the chemical cocktails that we do managing their emotions. So why should they ‘care’ about anything? This series attempts to explore how that might come to be in the light of this glaring difference between us and them. The second source of inspiration is quite easy to grab a hold off: I come from a high level operational background, with 7 experience as team leader running intelligence based and tactical operations. Simply thought it was time to see some of that in the science fiction world. 😉
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Yes, I write every day. LOL.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson has a particularly special place in my heart.
What are you working on now?
I’m still reading Lord of the Rings at least once a year.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Yes, write every day. 😉
On a serious note, my writing career started before I was a full time writer. I used to be a career professional that also wrote: my first four books were written in my ’spare time’ (meaning, time I had to MAKE). My next five books were written as a full time writer. So honestly, no excuses.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Always forward.
What are you reading now?
Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien), ‘How God became King’ and ‘Paul’ (Tom Wright)
What’s next for you as a writer?
Working on the sequel to ’Novus Dies’ whilst managing our consistent marketing drive and ironing out the kinks in two new distribution channels.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
‘Lord of the Rings’ and ’The Silmarillion’ (JRR Tolkien), SAS Survival Handbook (Lofty Wiseman), either a bird or fish identification book.
Author Websites and Profiles
Schalk Holloway Amazon Profile
Schalk Holloway’s Social Media Links
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