Please give a warm welcome to Exec Admin/Acquisitions Editor of Echelon Press, Sean Hayden.
Sean, I hear that your son, Connor Hayden has co-authored a book with you. First Flight, book 1 of The Magnificent Steam Carnival of Professor Pelusian Minus Series a YA/Middle Grade Steampunk.
Of all the books I've written, First Flight is my favorite for the simple fact that I got to do it with my son.
Tell us a little bit about First Flight.
For those not familiar with the steampunk genre, let me give them a little insight. Jules Verne. Picture it as science fiction in the past. Imagine the civil war with steam powered tanks. Imagine Victorian England with people walking around talking on coal burning cell phones. Imagine steam powered cars driving on cobblestone highways. That in short is the essence of steampunk. First Flight takes place in the 1860's. Twins, Dade and Paige, are abducted as small children because of their abilities to communicate with machines. They are called steamsmiths, and there are others like them, but the ability is very rare. Professor Pelusian Minus wants to use their abilities for his carnival. As the twins get older, the want to escape from his clutches. The whole series is dedicated to their adventures, the people they meet who want to help, and the evil professor who will do anything to keep them.
Tell us a little more about the series.
The whole series is a national "Get Kids to Read" program that is the brainchild of Karen Syed, owner and president of Echelon Press. She calls the program "Electric Shorts". Thousands of parents bought their children Kindles, Nooks, and other eReaders as gifts from their parents, hoping that their children will learn to love to read. The sad truth is there are just too many things that kids would rather be doing besides reading a book. Video games and sports have just dominated their attention. The Electric Shorts are designed to engage them. If you flip through the pages of one, you will see they all have something in common. A lot of action, a lot of dialogue, and little character descriptions to bore the reader. They are fast paced and can be read in one sitting. The books themselves are a series of 6, with a new one coming out each month. The second of the Professor Minus series will be out next week. It's called Second Chance.
What do you think readers will enjoy most about First Flight?
Honestly? The humor. I can't help but to add a modicum of humor to all my books, no matter the genre. Professor Pelusian Minus has a henchman named Abe Lincoln. Everybody calls hem Abraham Stinkin. He is a giant with an IQ the same as a baseball. HE was a lot of fun to write and has some seriously hysterical one-liners. As we were writing it, my son had difficulty breathing from laughing so hard. It was cute.
Where can we find First Flight?
OmniLit in various eBook formats. Click here to BUY NOW!
For your Nook at Barnes & Noble Click here!
For your kindle at Amazon Click here!
On Smashwords in a variety of formats
Tell us a little about yourself and how you came about writing First Flight.
I was asked by my publisher to do it. Once she had the idea for the Electric Shorts, she contacted several authors about participating. She had challenged me to write steampunk once before and I made my first attempt with Lady Dorn. She loved the story, had me write another as part of a steampunk anthology coming out called, Her Majesty's Mysterious Conveyance. Of course she asked me to do steampunk again. The problem is I have never written anything YA in my career. I told her I'd get my son to help me. She told me to have him help me and co-author it so I didn't screw anything up! The rest is history.
Why did you decide to become an Indie author?
I wanted to get published! I'll let you in on a little secret. I've only been writing for 2 years. I wrote my first book, Origins, an urban fantasy about vampires in about six months. Being new to the game, I had no idea what to do with it. I googled it. They said, find an agent. I tried. Being an unpublished author I wasted six months of my life looking for one. I couldn't even get one to read it. I didn't know what an indie publisher was at the time, but I queried everybody. Echelon Press was the first one to respond. I sent in my manuscript and began my journey as an author. Haven't regretted one thing (except the 6 months I wasted looking for an agent).
Tell us about some of your other books and where we can find them.
I have one urban fantasy published, one steampunk short published, and another part of a steampunk anthology almost published. The sequel to my first book, Origins will be out later this year as well as the other 5 books in the Professor Pelusian Minus series.
All of my books can be found on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Omnilit, and Smashwords in eBook formats. Origins is out in paperback and can be purchased from Amazon and Createspace. The sequel, Deceptions will be available there as well, so will Her Majesty's Mysterious Conveyance.
Any future writing plans you wish to share with us?
I've almost finished an unrelated YA urban fantasy. Soul Seeker is about a boy who gets his fondest wish for the simple price of his soul. In a last ditch effort to save it, he makes a wild and crazy wish, without thinking about the consequences. I'm having a lot of fun writing that one.
Thank you so much for sharing with us today. I look forward to reading First Flight with my own son.
