Annah: From Seeds to Starlight Blog Tour Featuring Clay Gilbert

Today, as I told you all yesterday, I have an exciting guest. Clay Gilbert, a fellow author at PDMI Publishing, and the one who polished Devil's Dilemma until it was shiny, is here today with a special interview of Annah, the main character in his Children of Evohe series, which came out October 15, 2013. I'll let Annah tell you the rest!

1.       Tell me one thing about Evohe that isn’t in “Annah”? There may be more of a relationship between Earth and Evohe than either the humans or my people suspect—unless some of the humans—the war-makers among them—know, and are not telling the rest of us.

2.       What’s the one thing that has surprised you the most about humans?  Their compassion, which seems funny given that a large number of them once tried to keep non-humans like myself off of Earth.  But even more of them believe, as Holder does, that all life is equal.

3.       If you could bring one thing from Evohe to Earth, what would that be and why?  Well,  Holder and I do not really face that problem.  We moved back to Evohe permanently sometime during the events of what will be the third book that will be coming out in what my human collaborator is calling the “Children of Evohe” series—which is also the third book's title.  But if I could—I would bring some of the seeds of the meatbark tree.  If it could be made to grow on Earth, it would solve many of the humans' food shortage problems.

4.       What’s next after this book? Any other big adventures?    This book only begins to tell my story, and there are at least two more to follow it.   There were big adventures you have yet to hear about—two books worth at the very least.  The human author, Clay Gilbert (who, oddly, looks like Holder, in a certain light) who is writing my story down, and the human book-man—I am sorry, publisher--TC McKinney, who is putting these stories into the universe, have been very kind to let me tell them.  There may be more than merely three, though—Holder and I are currently investigating the origins of life on my world.  I have wondered, since going to Earth for the first time, why some Evoetian names—such as mine, and that of my own mother, and my friend Liara—can be found on Earth as well.  And I believe we are finding some of those reasons.  But that is a tale for a later time. 

5.       How did Holder adjust to Evohe?  Very well indeed.  But Holder is an uncommon man.  He did not care that I looked different, or had some different ideas.  He accepts people for what they are inside, not outside.  I believe he has come to love the indigo color of the skies over Evohe.   (laughter)  He still insists on wearing his 'second-skin'--his--clothing, even though no one on my world does.   But if I want it off him, I ask him--(laughter again)--or I take it off him myself.

6.       Thinking about what you know about Earth, what are some of the things you would want to see about Evohe here?  I wish the humans could learn to share more with one another.  They are so concerned with their—money (we do not even have a word like that)--and ownership of things that they think these things are more important than people, and they often sacrifice what is right for that which is easy. 

7.       Can you give us a hint about what we might see in the next book in your series?   Well, although this one ends in what I know is probably a frustrating fashion, the next one will answer some of the questions that ending is certain to cause.  You will learn some things about mine and Holder's early days together on Evohe that there simply was not space to put in this first book.  And saying more would be saying too much.

8.       What is your favorite scene in this book? Your least favorite?    My favorite scene?  There are so many.  But perhaps it is when Holder saw me for the first time, and I knew he did not think I looked ugly, as so many people had said I did.  My least-favorite scene is...well, it is something that did happen, so it could not be changed.  It was—when I did something I knew was not right,  but I could not stop myself from doing it.  That is all I will say.  It hurts me to remember it.  Clay did try to write it differently—to make me, perhaps, seem better than I am.  But it did not work that way.  It is better to tell the truth.

9.       Did you have any struggles getting Clay to write it how you wanted it? If so, give us an example of one.  (laughter again)  Well, yes, there was one time.  Two, if you count the scene that I mentioned earlier that I do not like to think about.  There was a scene where he wanted me to go talk to the Council of Elders about an important issue—it had to do with someone who wanted to be mated to me, and, as you know, I did not want him, because I love Holder.  Well, I told Clay that was a thing to talk to one's parents about, not the Elder Council, for the First Ones' sake—and in the end, that's how it was written.

10.   What is the one thing you want readers to take away from your book?  That all life is the same—my kind, yours, life on those worlds where people look even less alike than you and I do.  At its core, all life-kind is one.

11.   Tell us one thing that you want the readers to know that I haven’t asked you about.   I am quite surprised that you  have not asked if Holder and I have any bloomlings—any children.  And we do not—yet.  But in what you call ten months, that will be different.  And it is exciting.  We do not know what it will mean—for his people, for my people—for our worlds.  But, like everything else—it has a purpose.  And what that is, we will see.

There you have it! I certainly know I'm excited to read Annah, and here is where YOU can go to buy your very own version of it. Let's give Clay some love--and Annah of course--in the comments!