My interview with Professor Doug Cooper
As a child, Doug stood on a Florida beach and watched an Apollo spacecraft climb the sky on its mission to the moon. He thrilled at the sight of the pillar of flames pushing the rocket upward. And then the thunderous roar washed over him, shaking his body and soul.
The excitement of the moon landing inspired Doug to pursue a career in technology. He studied chemical engineering in college, and he now works as a professor and entrepreneur when he is not writing. His passions include telling inventive tales, mentoring driven individuals, and everything sci-tech.
In the books of the Crystal series, Doug swirls his creative imagination with his life experiences to craft science fiction action-adventure stories with engaging characters and plot lines with surprises. He lives in Connecticut with his sarling wife and with pictures of his son, who is off somewhere in the world creating adventures of his own.
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Thank you, Tegon, for this opportunity to appear on your blog. I appreciate it.
Tell us about your work.
I write the Crystal Series books, which are futuristic thrillers of action and adventure that center on the themes of aliens, spies, AI, romance, and battles in space. Criss, the overarching personality in the series, is a four-gen AI crystal with the cognitive ability of a thousand humans.He is hard-wired to protect and serve his human leadership team, which includes Dr. Juice Tallette, the crystal scientist who created Criss; Cheryl Wallace, an ex-captain of the Fleet space cruiser Alliance; and Sid, a one-time covert spy for the Defense Intelligence Agency, who now helps Criss protect Juice and Cheryl while they all strive to keep humanity safe.
I just released the third full-length book of the series, Crystal Rebellion, and I’m gratified by thepositive reader response—it’s been amazing!I’ve written the book as a stand-alone story so new readers can start with it and enjoy the fun.The setting is on Mars, and the bad guys are three AI crystals left behind after the last alien invasion of our solar system. Our heroes struggle to save the world and soon realize they need to save themselves. I’ll leave it at that as I don’t want to reveal any spoilers. I invite everyone to give the book a read and enjoy the ride!
What do you think makes for good Sci-Fi ?
I would characterize good science fiction as good fiction—be it a thriller, action-adventure, mystery, romance, or whatever—but with a sci-tech theme. The “good fiction” part comes first, though. The “science” part is the secret sauce that makes it fun for people who enjoy thinking about space, or time travel, or life in the future, or whatever excites you.
And since you got me started, I’ll distinguish scifi from fantasy—two genres often lumped together on websites. Fantasy stories—those with magic or superheroes or the undead—include extranormal phenomena that will (probably) never exist. Scifi offers more plausible realities, at least that’s how I think about it.
Do you think your books can help shape the future and if so how?
I think my books can shape the future the way any mainstream science fiction story can, and that is by stimulating creativity and excitement in a reader’s imagination. As a kid, I discovered Tom Swift, Jr., a young adult science fiction series. In different books, Tom builds a flying lab, a jet submarine, a giant robot, a rocket ship—I was in heaven and spent many hours daydreaming about science and technology. The Crystal Series stories are science fiction that might be described as an adult version of Tom Swift, mashed up with some Star Trek, Mission Impossible, and I Robot.
But rather than shaping the future, I think sci-fi often tries to describe one possible future. For example, a character in my books is an AI crystal, which may sound like a far fetched idea. But it turns out that the chips in our computers, smartphones, and even cars are computer processors made from crystalline silicon. And artificial intelligence researchers around the world write software programs that run on these silicon crystal chips. So the term “AI crystals” may sound “out there,” but it really is the technology we use today. I admit the “AI with sentience” issue is the wild card. But hey, these are alien crystals.
While my stories have fantastical elements, I believe most of the technological achievements they describe will come true in one form or another. In the not-too-distant future, we will have brilliant artificial intelligence personalities, fast space ships, biomechanical androids, life-like projected image displays, energy weapons, cloaking devices, amazing communication systems, and colonies on the moon and Mars.
I think we move to an unknowable future when we contemplate elements like gravity on spacecraft, faster than light travel, or first contact by an alien spaceship. But these are fundamental components of today’s science fiction, and readers seem comfortable accepting these possibilities.
Would you share an insider tidbit about your writing?
In an early draft of Conquest, I felt the name Goliath was perfect for one of the main characters. But the David and Goliath battle shaping up in the story was transparent enough without such an obvious tipoff. Brainstorming alternatives, I toyed with Google translate and looked at Goliath in different languages. After some poking around, I landed on Esperanto, a made-up language from the late 1800s, supposedly designed with no irregularities or special cases so it’s easy to learn.
It turns out that Goljat in Esperanto translates to Goliath, and I thought Goljat was perfect for the character. It took off from there and became a fun insider bit. In the next book, I had a red, green, and blue team, and the names of the team leaders were the Esperanto translations of the colors, Ruga, Verda, and Lazura (from azure, a form of blue). In my book I am now writing, Hejmo and Mondo are two characters, and their names translate to Home World. And in my Writers Blog on my website, CrystalSeries.com, the dog’s named Hundo, which is the Esperanto translation for dog.
How do you get ideas for your characters? Do you model them after people you know?
None of my characters model a particular person. Rather, they all are a collection of traits and habits that I have observed in people, through reading, or from movies. I write in a rotating point of view (POV) style where the reader spends time with each of the central characters, sometimes in different story lines that eventually merge as the plot develops. It’s great fun to sit down and “be” a character for a few days, observing events, drawing conclusions, and responding appropriately as that portion of the story unfolds.
I would describe my process for developing a character as much like building a jigsaw puzzle. I enjoy being at a particular point in an adventure, with characters deployed here and there, all with histories and in certain situations, and now I must move the story forward in a plausible and entertaining fashion. And in doing so, each character must behave in a manner consistent with their personality.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to take away?
My highest priority is to entertain. The educator in me reveals itself, though, because my next priority is to teach. I spread those pieces out so (hopefully) no one notices. But I enjoy weaving tidbits about science and technology into the stories.
As but one example, in a scene in Crystal Conquest, a character is in space looking back at Earth, marveling that the atmosphere responsible for protecting and nourishing all life appears as a thin layer—a wisp of gas—circling the planet. The scene continues with him wondering how that meager film can feel so thick and boundless when standing on Earth and looking up at the sky.
So, perhaps next time readers see a picture of Earth taken from space, they might take a moment to consider if “meager film” is an accurate descriptor of the atmosphere that protects us. If they agree and this is a new observation to them, perhaps it will inform their future thoughts and actions about how to treat that wisp of gas.
In the books, you can find a science-filled sentence or two about AI inference engines, orbital mechanics, automatic control systems, cloaking devices, and lots more, all buried in the stories so you don’t even know!
What is your favorite review?
My books together have about a hundred reviews on Amazon, most all of them very positive. I feel honored by the response. But my favorite came from my brother, Mike. He bought the Crystal Series books for himself this past Christmas and read all 1200 pages by New Years day. He called to tell me he loved them, speaking at length and with enthusiasm. I could tell he was sincere and it felt great. Best review ever.
What comes next?
I’ve started writing the next book in the series, Crystal Escape. It will be the best one yet and I can’t wait to share it with my readers. Unfortunately, that will be sometime in 2018.
Where can we learn more?
My website is the best spot to start: http://crystalseries.com
My social media links include:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/crystalseries
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Crystalseries
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7269127.Doug_J_Cooper
Amazon Author: http://www.amazon.com/Doug-J.-Cooper/e/B00F7IJBP0
As a child, Doug stood on a Florida beach and watched an Apollo spacecraft climb the sky on its mission to the moon. He thrilled at the sight of the pillar of flames pushing the rocket upward. And then the thunderous roar washed over him, shaking his body and soul.
The excitement of the moon landing inspired Doug to pursue a career in technology. He studied chemical engineering in college, and he now works as a professor and entrepreneur when he is not writing. His passions include telling inventive tales, mentoring driven individuals, and everything sci-tech.
In the books of the Crystal series, Doug swirls his creative imagination with his life experiences to craft science fiction action-adventure stories with engaging characters and plot lines with surprises. He lives in Connecticut with his sarling wife and with pictures of his son, who is off somewhere in the world creating adventures of his own.
==============================
Thank you, Tegon, for this opportunity to appear on your blog. I appreciate it.
Tell us about your work.
I write the Crystal Series books, which are futuristic thrillers of action and adventure that center on the themes of aliens, spies, AI, romance, and battles in space. Criss, the overarching personality in the series, is a four-gen AI crystal with the cognitive ability of a thousand humans.He is hard-wired to protect and serve his human leadership team, which includes Dr. Juice Tallette, the crystal scientist who created Criss; Cheryl Wallace, an ex-captain of the Fleet space cruiser Alliance; and Sid, a one-time covert spy for the Defense Intelligence Agency, who now helps Criss protect Juice and Cheryl while they all strive to keep humanity safe.
I just released the third full-length book of the series, Crystal Rebellion, and I’m gratified by thepositive reader response—it’s been amazing!I’ve written the book as a stand-alone story so new readers can start with it and enjoy the fun.The setting is on Mars, and the bad guys are three AI crystals left behind after the last alien invasion of our solar system. Our heroes struggle to save the world and soon realize they need to save themselves. I’ll leave it at that as I don’t want to reveal any spoilers. I invite everyone to give the book a read and enjoy the ride!
What do you think makes for good Sci-Fi ?
I would characterize good science fiction as good fiction—be it a thriller, action-adventure, mystery, romance, or whatever—but with a sci-tech theme. The “good fiction” part comes first, though. The “science” part is the secret sauce that makes it fun for people who enjoy thinking about space, or time travel, or life in the future, or whatever excites you.
And since you got me started, I’ll distinguish scifi from fantasy—two genres often lumped together on websites. Fantasy stories—those with magic or superheroes or the undead—include extranormal phenomena that will (probably) never exist. Scifi offers more plausible realities, at least that’s how I think about it.
Do you think your books can help shape the future and if so how?
I think my books can shape the future the way any mainstream science fiction story can, and that is by stimulating creativity and excitement in a reader’s imagination. As a kid, I discovered Tom Swift, Jr., a young adult science fiction series. In different books, Tom builds a flying lab, a jet submarine, a giant robot, a rocket ship—I was in heaven and spent many hours daydreaming about science and technology. The Crystal Series stories are science fiction that might be described as an adult version of Tom Swift, mashed up with some Star Trek, Mission Impossible, and I Robot.
But rather than shaping the future, I think sci-fi often tries to describe one possible future. For example, a character in my books is an AI crystal, which may sound like a far fetched idea. But it turns out that the chips in our computers, smartphones, and even cars are computer processors made from crystalline silicon. And artificial intelligence researchers around the world write software programs that run on these silicon crystal chips. So the term “AI crystals” may sound “out there,” but it really is the technology we use today. I admit the “AI with sentience” issue is the wild card. But hey, these are alien crystals.
While my stories have fantastical elements, I believe most of the technological achievements they describe will come true in one form or another. In the not-too-distant future, we will have brilliant artificial intelligence personalities, fast space ships, biomechanical androids, life-like projected image displays, energy weapons, cloaking devices, amazing communication systems, and colonies on the moon and Mars.
I think we move to an unknowable future when we contemplate elements like gravity on spacecraft, faster than light travel, or first contact by an alien spaceship. But these are fundamental components of today’s science fiction, and readers seem comfortable accepting these possibilities.
Would you share an insider tidbit about your writing?
In an early draft of Conquest, I felt the name Goliath was perfect for one of the main characters. But the David and Goliath battle shaping up in the story was transparent enough without such an obvious tipoff. Brainstorming alternatives, I toyed with Google translate and looked at Goliath in different languages. After some poking around, I landed on Esperanto, a made-up language from the late 1800s, supposedly designed with no irregularities or special cases so it’s easy to learn.
It turns out that Goljat in Esperanto translates to Goliath, and I thought Goljat was perfect for the character. It took off from there and became a fun insider bit. In the next book, I had a red, green, and blue team, and the names of the team leaders were the Esperanto translations of the colors, Ruga, Verda, and Lazura (from azure, a form of blue). In my book I am now writing, Hejmo and Mondo are two characters, and their names translate to Home World. And in my Writers Blog on my website, CrystalSeries.com, the dog’s named Hundo, which is the Esperanto translation for dog.
How do you get ideas for your characters? Do you model them after people you know?
None of my characters model a particular person. Rather, they all are a collection of traits and habits that I have observed in people, through reading, or from movies. I write in a rotating point of view (POV) style where the reader spends time with each of the central characters, sometimes in different story lines that eventually merge as the plot develops. It’s great fun to sit down and “be” a character for a few days, observing events, drawing conclusions, and responding appropriately as that portion of the story unfolds.
I would describe my process for developing a character as much like building a jigsaw puzzle. I enjoy being at a particular point in an adventure, with characters deployed here and there, all with histories and in certain situations, and now I must move the story forward in a plausible and entertaining fashion. And in doing so, each character must behave in a manner consistent with their personality.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to take away?
My highest priority is to entertain. The educator in me reveals itself, though, because my next priority is to teach. I spread those pieces out so (hopefully) no one notices. But I enjoy weaving tidbits about science and technology into the stories.
As but one example, in a scene in Crystal Conquest, a character is in space looking back at Earth, marveling that the atmosphere responsible for protecting and nourishing all life appears as a thin layer—a wisp of gas—circling the planet. The scene continues with him wondering how that meager film can feel so thick and boundless when standing on Earth and looking up at the sky.
So, perhaps next time readers see a picture of Earth taken from space, they might take a moment to consider if “meager film” is an accurate descriptor of the atmosphere that protects us. If they agree and this is a new observation to them, perhaps it will inform their future thoughts and actions about how to treat that wisp of gas.
In the books, you can find a science-filled sentence or two about AI inference engines, orbital mechanics, automatic control systems, cloaking devices, and lots more, all buried in the stories so you don’t even know!
What is your favorite review?
My books together have about a hundred reviews on Amazon, most all of them very positive. I feel honored by the response. But my favorite came from my brother, Mike. He bought the Crystal Series books for himself this past Christmas and read all 1200 pages by New Years day. He called to tell me he loved them, speaking at length and with enthusiasm. I could tell he was sincere and it felt great. Best review ever.
What comes next?
I’ve started writing the next book in the series, Crystal Escape. It will be the best one yet and I can’t wait to share it with my readers. Unfortunately, that will be sometime in 2018.
Where can we learn more?
My website is the best spot to start: http://crystalseries.com
My social media links include:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/crystalseries
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Crystalseries
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7269127.Doug_J_Cooper
Amazon Author: http://www.amazon.com/Doug-J.-Cooper/e/B00F7IJBP0
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