Interview With Author Scott Ickes
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Scott Ickes is a retired mechanical engineer living in Vancouver, WA, with his lovely wife Linda.
A storyteller at heart, he strives to immerse readers in the worlds he creates, hoping that they will enjoy reading about them as much as he enjoys writing about them.
Scott has always enjoyed reading the types of books that he writes. Before he retired, Scott spent approximately 130 nights a year in hotels, traveling throughout the Pacific Northwest in the United States and doing extensive business travel to many parts of the world.
After reading thousands of science fiction novels, he now writes about the worlds they inspired in his mind.
Scott began writing in February 2024. He had been diagnosed with Leukemia 5 months earlier, in September 2023. After many rounds of chemotherapy and more doctor visits than he could count, he was in remission. However, his immune system was severely compromised, and he was at risk of bleeding. Scott could become quite ill from simple things like a cold, etc. Thus, he was a shut-in. All of the following were off-limits to him: Stores, restaurants, woodworking, cooking, and handling a knife.
Scott spent most of his time reading. On February 7, 2024, Scott’s brother died tragically in a car accident on his way to work. Due to his illness, he couldn’t go home for the funeral.
Scott confided in his wife that he was tired of reading and watching TV. He was bored and frustrated. On top of that, he was depressed due to the loss of his brother. She suggested that he start writing the book, which he had always thought he was capable of writing. So, that’s precisely what Scott did.
Scott is now working on his sixth book, which is part of a series, and has ideas for another 14 books. He sincerely hopes you enjoy reading his books as much as he enjoyed writing them. If you’ve read this far, thank you for purchasing this book and the ones before it in the series!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is FIRST CONTACT: HYPERIANS (BOOK SIX)
I had always wondered what would happen if aliens had received our radio signals and learned about our culture and Albert Einsteins equation E=MC2. Would they use it peacefully? Would they create nuclear weapons and fight a world nuclear war?
Image that they did fight a world nuclear war, because they learned about those weapons from us. How would we be greeted, if we showed up as explorers, hunting for habitable planets to colonize? In my imagination, they despised us and met us with 900 warships.
This is an idea that had been in my head ever since the movie Contact, based on Carl Sagans book. In Carls book, aliens get our signals and send us a signal in return. In my book, they learn all about us, nearly destroy their culture, then build an armada and wait for us to arrive, believing we sent those radio signals purposely to cause their war and be gone or severely weakened when we arrive to take their planet.
You see, they only know our culture from 20th and 21st century signals, which, as we all know, we’re constantly fighting amongst ourselves. Most human beings are good and honorable people, but as a species, we can be cruel and bigoted. We have not grown up yet! I play into that tendency for humans to go to war over petty reasons. This is how the aliens in my books see us at first. Barbaric and cruel!
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Most of the time, I write in a recliner. I stack pillows on my lap. The one on my left holds my laptop, and the one on my right is used as a mousepad. I tend to write from the seat of my pants. I’m a pantser for the most part. I can sit and write for hours on end. My most productive day was when I wrote 11,376 words. I’ve actually topped 11,000 words in a day twice.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
My favorite author is Stephen Arseneault. He writes epic world-building science fiction space opera. I’ve read every book he has written. I’ve also been in contact with Mr. Arseneault in an online forum. He has been like a mentor to me, helping me with questions and offering advice. He has definitely shortened the learning curve for me!
My favorite book series of all time was the In Her Name series, written by Michael R. Hicks.
As far as world-building, Ayr-ii Jyr’s Star Force series fascinated me.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on Book Six of my “First Contact” series. The subtitles of the books in this series are the names of the newest alien species with which humans make first contact. This book is called Hyperians. The first five were, in the following order: Lemurians, Elysians, Graplians, Antillians, and Asgardians. Humans have a colony on Atlantis.
Students of mythology will notice that the human colony and each of the alien species are named after mythical locations on Earth. In this book, the Hyperians are able to reach into the minds of their enemies and make them see things that aren’t really there. I introduced the Hyperians at the end of book five, Asgardians, when they attacked the human Alliance fleet. The attack seemed to be a complete rout, with the human alliance losing badly, which is how book five ended. I can’t tell you how book six begins, because that would be a spoiler and ruin it for anyone reading my series.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use Awesome Gang, Facebook, and Amazon ads. My website has a notification sign-up so that those interested can get emailed about updates, promotions, free giveaways, etc.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Just start writing. I wish I had started 40 years earlier! Even if you never publish it, just write. Then, share your writing with friends and family.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Always consider the future. Your future and the future of others. Then make decisions based on what is best for the future.
I use this as a philosophy in my FIRST CONTACT series. My protagonist has lucid dreams whenever he has to make life and death decisions. When in these dreams he always meets three main characters. Two of them are angels that he meets first. One is very helpful and agreeable. His name is Chord. The other is helpful, but he’s a jerk. He belittles, teases, argues, but it is for the purpose of making my protagonist think about things in unique and different ways than he would normally think about them His name is Discord. These two angels primary purpose is to prepare Robert to meet the Gatekeeper. Robert thinks of the Gatekeeper as God. His advice always contains, “Remember Robert. Infinity is the Key and the answer will come to you when you need it.”
This has been my philosophy for many years in my personal life. In business and in my private life, I’ve always made decisions based on what is best for the future. If I have a multitude of options, I try not to worry over those options. The answer always seems to come when I need it. In addition, look for those in your life that need help and be that help just when the need it most!
What are you reading now?
Last Man On Earth series, by Stephen Arseneault!
What’s next for you as a writer?
I expect this series to last at least through 10 books in total. My next series of books, will either be a prequel to my current series, or I will switch genres and write a fantasy novel. I’m think a Trilogy.
I’ve been toying with ideas for the fantasy series. What has me intrigued by a fantasy series are a number of things. First, in a fantasy series, you’re not bound by the laws of nature. You can put magic in without explaining how it works. Also, you can create visually immersive fantasy worlds using descriptive written words.
As an example, my favorite scenes in my First Contact series are the dream sequences! The first time I wrote a dream sequence set in heaven was at the end of book one. It was overwhelming to think about at first. It’s daunting to think about trying to describe what heaven looks like, which is where those dream sequences are set.
However, when I wrote that first one, it opened up my creativity and took me to a place that I didn’t know I was capable of going. I ended up rewriting the first chapter of the book so that it began with a dream sequence. The response from my beta readers about the dream sequences were so overwhelmingly positive, that I ended up going back and rewriting a lot of the book to put a lot more visually immersive writing style into my book.
I’ve continued with that style of writing through all of my books so far. This is why I think it would be so much fun to write a fantasy series, with magical places and magic, as well as wonderful creatures that I can imagine in my mind. My imagination would be free to create a new kind of world building!
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?
This is a really difficult question to answer. I love series and I love cliffhangers. The problem is that most series that I truly love are more than four books long.
I’m a science geek, so I’d take A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking.
Dune by Frank Herbert
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
The Bible by God
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