Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m excited to be able to make book three of my SF/ Medical Thriller space adventure series available in the new year. Meanwhile, I’ve added another entry to a different kind of Christmas poems book, and am slowly editing a fantasy novel I completed before I got busy raising children. The first novel I drafted was in the original Star Trek universe. It reportedly had some intriguing features, but ultimately, I wanted to go my own way and be free to work in my own setting. Since I love medical thrillers by Robin Cook, and enjoyed studying biology and hearing information from my mother who was a nurse, and my own heath care work environments in my younger days, I was eager to combine medical thrillers with spaceship exploration.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The latest (second) book I’ve published is called Ripped Genes. I find genetics and microbiology fascinating, so it was a natural direction to go. The title is a play on the term ripping, as used in reference to copying CD’s. The novel involved some cloned individuals (with “ripped genes,”) and what they have to go through because of their situations.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I sometimes work late into the night, or all night. It calls to me, as there are no phone calls, outings, or other distractions. I can truly get absorbed in the imaginary worlds I’m creating. I prefer to work on a fold-out lap table on the couch or bed in winter. In summer, I often take the laptop to the gazebo surrounded by garden. Before sitting down to work, I surround myself with all the drinks, references, and other items I might want for the session, so I can just stay settled and work. For one thing, I know it’s likely the cat will come onto my lap and I won’t be able to get up.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Besides the aforementioned Robin Cook, the science fiction writers I admire are Gene Roddenberry, and James Blish, who wrote the Trek episode adaptations I read before ever seeing the show on snowy tv. I started out with The City of Gold and lead, for young readers, then moved into some Heinlein such as Star Beast.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on “Shoot for Earth; MedSci Missions 3.” The title is symbolic of Earth’s need for a vaccine. This third installment will complete the alien pandemic crisis set up in the origin story, “Earth and Beyond.” The second novel, “Ripped Genes,” can be read first, as it re-caps the set-up before the mission in space really gets underway. The origin story, Shoot for Earth, starts with the characters as teens who rapidly mature into the adults who run the spaceship. The MedSci Missions science fiction series was inspired by Robin Cook medical thrillers and space adventure fiction such as Star Trek, Stargate, Firefly, Babylon V, Battlestar Galactica, and others.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’ll get back to you when I find something cost effective. I find readers will buy in person, and it’s great to meet fans, but travel is expensive.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write because you love it. Live it because you love it. That doesn’t mean you’ll sit at your desk having fun all the time. It means excitement when the magic happens, and satisfaction for plugging on when it doesn’t.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Show, don’t tell. Make the characters and setting come alive through progression of the story, not telling the reader what the character is like. Show what the character is like through their actions and dialogue.
What are you reading now?
A gardening catalogue. I love researching the different varieties and planning companion plantings. I find I read more non fiction that fiction since I started writing fiction seriously. I read the literary novels my library book club picks out, and if I have time, a fun thriller, fantasy, SF, mystery, maybe a romance for a break. I have eclectic tastes.
What’s next for you as a writer?
After I finish the third book in the Medsci Missions “opening trilogy” about spaceship Chiron’s adventures as they strive to cure Earth, I’ll finish editing a fantasy novel that’s been on my hard drive for years. When I had my children, it got put on the back burner, then I got exciting about the science fiction series, so it got done before the more tedious work of publishing and marketing the first original work. I like what I’m reading in it from my more youthful self, so it shouldn’t take a really long time to get it out there after Shoot for Earth. Then I might go back into the MedSci Missions universe to pick up on threads opened up in the trilogy. The continuation of the series will probably move to more general adventures instead of focusing on a medical mission. New works will be re-branded as Chiron’s Adventures, or Spaceship Chiron or another suitable headings.
What is your favorite book of all time?
There are so many! The Black Stallion books by Walter Farley, and other animal stories have a special place in my heart for how they enraptured me in my youth and gave me a love of reading. The City of Gold and Lead was my introduction to science fiction, which was a revelation. Star Beast by Heinlein was my first thicker science fiction, so it sticks in my memory. The James Blish adaptations of Star Trek: TOS (original, classic Star Trek) brought me into a bit of an obsessive love of the series. Eventually, after reading all the stories, i watched the episodes on snowy TV.; it was an exciting new way to enjoy the characters and adventures, but with the books being my first Trek experience, the Blish interpretations felt like the real thing, and somewhat still do. I was, well, thrilled, by the Robin Cook Medical thriller Coma. I sought out the rest of his novels as they became available, and still do. The Lord of the Rings trilogy has to be mentioned, as a gripping summer read that set me up for being an avid D&D player in my teens and at university. The gaming went by the wayside when I started writing fiction seriously, as I needed to channel my imagination towards completing a project.
Author Websites and Profiles
Wendy Gamble Website
Wendy Gamble Amazon Profile
Wendy Gamble Author Profile Other Bookseller
Wendy Gamble’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account
Pinterest Account