Featured Interview With Rick Clogston
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
People ask me if I've lived in New Hampshire all my life, and I say, "Not yet." Although my adventures have taken me around a few different blocks, including Indiana, California, Florida, and a hitch in the Navy that got me overseas. A wife, Lynn, four kids, all grown, a few grandchildren, and two cats. Musician, Postmaster, Methodist lay-preacher, antique tractor pull announcer, newspaper reporter, and if my Mom were still alive, you could make her laugh by asking about me and olives.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I've been fascinated with books since I learned to read, so about five or six. Learning to read was like being handed the keys to a Ferrari. Learning to type in 7th grade got me off the ground and I haven't landed yet. Started playing guitar my senior year of high school, and that turned me into a songwriter. Began a couple of novels along the way, and when I finally got one to the end, the floodgates opened. "The Princess Key" seemed a good place to step into the wider world.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I keep coming back to science fiction and fantasy, but like just about anything. My favorite would have to be Tolkien, though I still haven't read everything that's come out in recent years. I've spent a lot of time with his disciples, such as Anne McCaffrey, Poul Anderson, David Eddings, and others. Isaac Asimov, Don DeLillo, and Steven R. Lawhead are also favorites. Read J. K. Rowling along with my kids, and even went to Walmart at midnight to get Deathly Hallows when it came out. (My daughter tells me I shouldn't mention that, but I don't care. Good stories.) My wife turned me on to Ken Follett, Tom Clancy, and the inimitable Arthur Conan Doyle. (Elementary, my … Oh, shut up.) More recently, I've enjoyed Patrick Rothfuss and Jesse Q. Sutanto, among others. Jennifer Lynne Barnes, Jane Casey, Stephanie Garber, Gerald M. Kilby, Abbie Emmons, Becky Chambers … My Goodreads page is a smorgasbord of yummy stuff. I occasionally switch to non-fiction, just to cleanse the palate. Enjoyed the John Adams bio tremendously. I highly recommend Tom Holland's "Dominion" and "Get the Picture" by Bianca Bowsker. Oh, and "The Hidden Globe" by — give me a second here — Atossa Araxia Abrahamian.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Picture this: You're a thirteen-year-old girl. You're wearing only a blanket that's stained with somebody else's blood. The former owner of that blood murdered your parents right in front of you. The closest thing you have to a friend is the space-alien slave girl who caused all the bleeding, and then hot-wired one of his light-speed shuttles, and took you with her. You've spent the last week or so hopping between asteroid clusters, trying to avoid the murderer/master's friends, enemies, and business partners. You end up at a space station that feels more like a small town in the Berkshires than a sci-fi adventureland. But it's warm, the people seem nice, and the food's pretty good, so you hope the baddies can't find you here. Welcome to the first day of Lisa Allen's new life.
It took about two years to write The Princess Key, which is the first part of the Shattered Worlds trilogy. It's inspired by a desire to be plunked down 500 or 1000 years into the future. How would someone from 1400 feel if they woke up in your home this morning? Things that seem normal to you would be mind-blowing to them. So welcome to The Hague, a space station on the edge of Interplanetary Association space. Planet Earth? Yeah, my Dad went there on a high school field trip back in the day. Said it was nice, and he's never had better pizza before or since.
In many ways, very little has changed. People in the year 1400 got up, got dressed, and went to work or school, whatever form those things took. Another thing that never changed is the people, for good or ill. In the distant future, as in the distant past, and the present day, there are people and things you seek out, and others, you try very hard to stay away from. If you can.
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