The Mission Anatolia Series is Heath's first book series. Most of the characters in this series were created when he was around 12 years old, and have evolved a bit over the years. The original story setting was a space city, and the story line the drama of the character's lives there. It was completely scrapped when the movie "Dark City" came out, but the characters were retained to take part in another story he was toying with. Recently he decided to put it on paper (so to speak. He is actually using a laptop). Book 2 is at the editor. He is currently working on Book 1 of his new Series "Orbital City Falls".
-"I want my readers to be transported from the craziness that life has to offer, into a place where they feel like participants of an adventure."-Heath Owen
Hey Heath! So, tell us a bit about yourself?
Well, I think I'm just about like any other average person, but my wife does not agree. I like to read. I like watching action, adventure, and scifi movies. I've always been into cars. In fact, I was into them so much for a while that I got my wife into them too. I really like listening to music, mostly electronic and rock, but I'll listen to just about anything if it's good. I also play music; just about any instrument.
When did you start writing and why?
That's a tough one to answer. My first story was about a warm fuzzy, and I wrote it in third grade. I don't think that really counts though because that was an assignment. However, at that point I decided to start making up stories that I was interested in. At about twelve years old, I started getting serious about it. I did that by drawing elaborate pictures of a giant city in space. I attached four sheets of writing paper together and got busy on the main city itself. Then I took several sheets separately, and started drawing the various robots, modes of transportation, etc. I got through about a half ream before I started the actual writing part. I created characters, one by one, describing the things they like to do, their physical appearance, and anything else I could think of about them. Life events happened about that time that prevented me from going much further, and I ended up losing all my work. The story and characters stayed with me, but the work itself was on hold for many years. Then the story "Dark City" was released as a movie, and I got discouraged. It wasn't my story, but it was similar enough to appear like plagiarism, so I never wrote the story. However, I continued to develop my character traits in my head based on my experiences, another story formed. Years later, in 2012, I decided to start putting things on paper, and the Mission Anatolia series was born.
You're not the first writer to tell me their idea magically appeared on the screen just when they were about or in the process of developing the same story. Well I'm glad things turned around. Describe your book in 10 words or less:
Well, I think I'm just about like any other average person, but my wife does not agree. I like to read. I like watching action, adventure, and scifi movies. I've always been into cars. In fact, I was into them so much for a while that I got my wife into them too. I really like listening to music, mostly electronic and rock, but I'll listen to just about anything if it's good. I also play music; just about any instrument.
When did you start writing and why?
That's a tough one to answer. My first story was about a warm fuzzy, and I wrote it in third grade. I don't think that really counts though because that was an assignment. However, at that point I decided to start making up stories that I was interested in. At about twelve years old, I started getting serious about it. I did that by drawing elaborate pictures of a giant city in space. I attached four sheets of writing paper together and got busy on the main city itself. Then I took several sheets separately, and started drawing the various robots, modes of transportation, etc. I got through about a half ream before I started the actual writing part. I created characters, one by one, describing the things they like to do, their physical appearance, and anything else I could think of about them. Life events happened about that time that prevented me from going much further, and I ended up losing all my work. The story and characters stayed with me, but the work itself was on hold for many years. Then the story "Dark City" was released as a movie, and I got discouraged. It wasn't my story, but it was similar enough to appear like plagiarism, so I never wrote the story. However, I continued to develop my character traits in my head based on my experiences, another story formed. Years later, in 2012, I decided to start putting things on paper, and the Mission Anatolia series was born.
You're not the first writer to tell me their idea magically appeared on the screen just when they were about or in the process of developing the same story. Well I'm glad things turned around. Describe your book in 10 words or less:
Intense action, fresh story line with some romance.
Oooh, sounds intriguing. What did you enjoy about the process?
Again, that's a tough one. I enjoyed the whole damn thing. After daydreaming (that's what I call it when I'm contemplating the next move in the outline) I especially enjoyed putting the action scenes on paper. I would dive into the characters minds, and live those moments while my fingers poured into the pages. When I was finished with an action scene, I would have to go back and perform major surgery to cut back on the word count. I could go into extreme detail, and explanations about what the characters were going through, to the point of boring a reader. As I would go back and edit, I could image the poor reader saying something like "Enough already! I get it. She kicked his ass! Move on!"
Haha! I'm with you there. What was the hardest part?
Wow. That would be keeping the technology easy to understand. I get way too wordy on explaining technology, mostly because of my background in engineering.
That's good for those who aren't so techy like us. (wink) Where did your ideas come from?
Simply put, my ideas come from my experiences. For instance, I'm working on a story of a girl who finds out that she has extraordinary abilities. The idea came from a video game that I was playing. A young girl was narrating about a man that saved her life, and then my imagination went to work. I made up a story once from the phrase "Made fresh daily." Unfortunately the story was lost due to some unfortunate circumstances. It was so good though, that I may attempt to rewrite it again.
If the muse hits, write! Sometimes I can't keep my characters quiet! Thanks for the interview.
Good news. Heath has offered a signed copy for me to give away!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Signed copies:
http://www.heath-owen.com/?page_id=18
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/362329
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/texheath
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