Angela Super earned two Bachelors’ degrees from the University of Idaho in the Creative Writing and Theater programs. Currently, she lives in Kansas with her husband and fuzz-brained kittiots. She loves to make costumes, cosplay, and occasionally she plays D&D or MTG with teacher-friends during summer vacation. Angela’s science fiction series, THE SEVEN STARS SAGA—written as AJ Super—debuts in 2021 with the first book, EREBUS DAWNING, now available and the second in the series, A STAR REBORN, hitting the ‘net on Tuesday, July 13th.
How did you come up with the idea of technological AI gods?
The idea morphed from the concept of an all-powerful MC and how I would balance her with other characters. I wanted to make certain her, Nyx’s, sense of over-powered-ness was countered by something she not only cared about but something that could potentially be an obstacle. That and the grounding in Greek mythology that I kinda stole from a favorite anime led to AI gods and them being a mishmoshy family.
Does your theater degree help you create your characters? Do you ever act them out?
Absolutely. In theater, acting specifically, we learn how to REACT and INTERACT and how those are different. It helps to break down character actions and emotions into a more active and engaging language. And I have yet to meet an author that DOESN’T act out their characters in some way… (laughs). I happen to be a big “clown” actor, meaning I tend to squidge my face every which way, and it helps me to describe minute facial expressions in my characters when I get stuck.
Does writing an antihero require a different mindset or technique than writing a hero’s story?
It’s super hard, really. Especially writing a female antihero. Things that are okay for male characters to do, female characters can’t. In general, people don’t want to see an amoral woman… see Game of Thrones and Daenerys as an example. Balancing the likeableness, emotionality, and the bad judgement that comes with being an antihero is challenging. It requires the ability to tie a bunch of things together that don’t necessarily normally go.
Did you do research for EREBUS DAWNING, and if so, what was the most surprising or interesting thing you discovered? Were you able to apply that to your story?
I didn’t do much research for ED. It was a germ of an idea that l had while watching a particular anime. I wanted to incorporate the idea of an overpowered MC and see how I could make her approachable, not have a god-complex, and most importantly, be her own hero, as anime tends to do the damsel thing quite a bit. The little bit of research that I did, with the exception of things like nano-tech and AI were all spur of the moment rabbit holes. The computer language, the decompression in space, and the faster-than-light travel, things like that I did quick and dirty and with a lot of hand-waving. For the nano-tech and AI, I have a critique partner in upcoming technology fields and we discussed in depth what I could do with it and what it’s current limitations were. Of course, since my books are far far future, limitations are not applicable.
From inception to publication, how long did it take to complete EREBUS DAWNING? What was the easiest part of that process? The most difficult?
It was a five-year process from inception to pub. I would say the easiest part was the beginning, when I was blissfully unaware of how hard publishing actually is. When I was writing and editing just for me. The hardest part definitely is the waiting in between everything. Publishing is a slow process. And I’m an impatient person, so the snail’s pace at which everything moves is very hard to bear. But I will admit, when it does move, it moves fast!
When will readers be able to pick up A STAR REBORN and QUEEN OF THE BLACK?
A Star Reborn will be available on July 13th 2021. As for Queen of the Black, it’s TBA. But I’m hoping this fall or winter!
Have you looked beyond SEVEN STARS SAGA to your next project, and if so, can you tell us a bit about it?
I have this idea brewing. I hope I get to write it before it goes away… Or my passion for it dwindles. But it’s a bit of a “mirror, mirror” thing focusing on a middle-aged “evil queen” who will do anything to stay youthful in a society built on being young and beautiful and healthy. A society that uses mirrors to measure health and beauty quotients and when the MC doesn’t measure up, then a “reclamation” team comes to take her to a “home.” Since I’m a pantser, that’s really all I got of the story until I actually start writing it. I love the blank page and what I can turn it into, and I can’t wait to tell this story!
Follow Angela at ajsuperauthor.com, on Twitter at @AllBrevityWit, and Instagram at angelajsuper