FAR would like to welcome Ms Deborah Jackson, the author of Ice Tomb. Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions.

You’re welcome. I’m happy to join you.

Are you writing full time now, or do you have a day job that keeps you busy?

For the past three years I’ve been writing full time. I used to work as an R.N. and dialysis technician, but gave that up to devote more time to my writing career. Most of my novels involve a great deal of research, particularly Ice Tomb. It would have been impossible for me to write with the same devotion to detail while trying to balance my time with another career.

Since everybody needs a break, even when doing something they love, how do you like to spend your time away from writing?

Besides reading, I enjoy skiing and skating. In the summer, my family and I do a lot of camping. We have a favorite wilderness spot and also a beach community we like to visit. We swim, hike, canoe and go spelunking. You might say we like to explore and that’s why so many of my stories involve adventure and exploration.

You mention watching Star T! rek and Battlestar Galactica. I gotta ask, what do you think about the revamped series on Sci-Fi?

I must admit I haven’t watched much of it. I saw one episode, but the trouble I have with revamped series is that they deviate so much from the original that it takes a great deal of effort to become enamored of the characters. It would be better to start a ‘next generation.’

I have to say that Ice Tomb was one of the most intriguing books I have read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and gushed about it in my review (grin). How in the world did you decide on Atlanteans and Moon colonization?

Thank you. I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Ancient mythology and history have always fascinated me. Yet, futuristic novels and the very real prospect of moon colonization interest me as well. I’ve read and investigated a tremendous amount on these two topics. For a long time, I pondered the idea of Ice Tomb, concentrating on my children’s stor! ies, but finally it had to be written. Most of my ideas tend to blend the past with the present, or future.

How do you write? Are you an author who likes to plot, plot, plot? Or do you sit down with a half-formed idea and go wild on the keyboard?

I suppose I adhere to the Stephen King method of writing. I have the idea, but it’s hardly complete, and then I begin to write. As the story develops, the characters begin to flesh out and I get a clear vision of where the story is heading. About halfway through writing, I have an epiphany, and can imagine the ending. Many writers need an outline to follow, but I find that things tend to change as you’re writing the story—the characters come alive and can hardly be pinned down with a rigid plot.

I have found that some authors listen to music while they write. Do you listen to music or is it something that is distracting to you?

I need absolute silence. No kids, pets, music, TV or other distractions. That limits my work hours to school hours! .

How do you know what to name your books or the characters?

I usually change the name of the book after I start writing, although occasionally I hit upon a perfect title the first time around. The Time Meddlers was the only title for my children’s series. Ice Tomb was originally Atlantica, but with the main premise relating to bodies beneath the ice sheet, I changed it after the first draft. The characters’ names seem to pop into my head, and if they suit their personalities, then they remain. I might have to alter or refine them, but often I have a hard time changing them after writing a novel because they ‘become’ that individual.

Of all the individuals you have created, do you have a particular favorite? What appeals to you the most about this character?

In Ice Tomb, I like David Marsh the most. His values have been manipulated since childhood, but he isn’t stagnant. ! He’s the most flawed, but he has the ability to evolve. I enjoy watchi ng my characters grow throughout the course of a novel.

You mention on your website that you are writing children's books. Can you give us more info on that?

I’ve started a series called The Time Meddlers for middle grade and young adult readers. The first book will be released some time next year. It has science fiction elements regarding time travel, but focuses primarily on the characters and the historical setting they find themselves in. The two main characters become trapped in the past, right in the middle of a war between the Iroquois and the Algonquins at the time of the first explorers of North America. I would call it an adventure novel more than SF. Some schools have already taken an interest in it for a novel study, because it includes so much detail about the First Nations and holds the boys’ interest as well as the girls’.

I’m also working on a ghost story entitled Ghost in the Piano. It has no extreme environments: just a small town setting in upper New York State and the familiar city of London, England. However, it is suspenseful, like Ice Tomb, and has a fair amount of chilling scenes to entice children into the book without being too macabre.

I mentioned Ice Tomb at the beginning of the interview, can you give us a synopsis of the story?

I’ll give you a blurb instead. I find it very hard to condense a 95,000 word novel into a few short paragraphs, and it sometimes imparts too much information that can decrease reading pleasure. Instead I’ll leave you with some intriguing questions…

The year is 2015. Deep within the Antarctic Ice Sheet a hotspot suddenly appears on satellite tracking. The US science team that is sent from McMurdo Station to investigate finds an icy graveyard. Minutes later, their transmission is cut off. The last sounds heard over the radio are their screams.

NASA lures volcanologist Erica Daniels to a conference in Houston by promising to consider her for their upcoming mission—establishing the first moon base. Instead, her archrival and ex-lover, David Marsh, gets the plum assignment, while she’s sent to Antarctica to lead a new team beneath the ice. Even worse, she’s sent in blind. They told her about the thermal signature, but not about the bodies. Where did they come from? They don’t belong to the missing investigative team, so what has become of her fellow scientists? Is the activity under the ice the remnants of an ancient civilization or is there a more sinister explanation? The answer could mean the very survival of the human race. To find out Erica will have to join forces with the man she despises—a man who’s on the moon.

Do you have anything in the works right now?

Yes, besides my children’s novels, I’ve been working on a new SF mystery for adults. It’s also set! in an extreme environment: a cave in Mexico. However, this one will have a very different twist on the SF element—a smaller one—and it will delve even more into the characters’ conflicts in a confined space.

Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?

Yes, I’d like to say that too often writers try to impart divine or inhuman qualities to their characters. A ‘perfect’ character doesn’t exist just like a ‘perfect’ human doesn’t either. We are all flawed, but a ‘great’ character is someone who, despite mistakes of the past, weaknesses and fears, will make an effort to rectify, to overcome and to conquer. I love writing when these qualities emerge in my characters and combine with an exciting plot.

If you would like to find out more about Ms. Jackson, take a look at her website at: http://www.deborahjackson.net/index.html. Thanks again for answering our questions.

Interviewed by: Serena