Interview Donald Stonovich Co-author Tianhou Queen Of Heaven

Transcript of the Skype interview. The Interviewers are part of the team producing The International Outsider and are not all in the same location but spread across the globe. The interviewer on this occasion is Ramesh (in India) who is one of our most valued colleagues.

Mr. Stonovich, good morning. Have you got used to this pseudonym of yours?

A- It is very useful as the last thing I want is to be outed publicly so that if countless questions and mails from people around the world start to arrive, I can answer at leisure (given how little time I have to do so with all my other commitments). Fame is not on the list of things I want to be at the mercy of.

Q- I have had a copy of Tianhou Queen of Heaven since late 2017 but have come around only recently come round to read it when given the task by the and after watching the little video that was circulating among the staff, a question immediately burnt my lips. In Tianhou Queen of Heaven, you clearly take on subjects that appear on this first edition of The International Outsider. Who is the father of this? Has Tianhou given birth to the International Outsider or the other way around? For the second part to the question. Is that part of some sort of Marketing Strategy?

A- Simply both. The international Outsider is the child of the book, Tianhou Queen of Heaven in a sense as the idea was a refining of past work involved in the production of Newsletters on the internet under the auspices of KDP whose main aim was the dissimulation of information with especial regard to science and history. The books production brought forth many ideas regarding this as we felt that the information available was not only factually wrong in many instances but also was being presented as the only version the vast majority of people had access to unless they had either the time or resources to fully explore the subject. As regards marketing, both yes and no as neither of us are marketing gurus and we employ all tactics to increase visibility and so not only sales but the spread of the book and the ideas it contains.

Q-In the book trailer as you call it, you refer to 2001 by saying that the adventure of Tianhou is of the stature of an Odyssey of C.Clarke. Is that not too pretentious coming from let's put it like this, an unknown obscure author in his first attempt to break into the science fiction world? In other words why deliberately attract the heavy artillery of critics against your work?

A There are many instances where one has to deliberately make a decision regarding referencing as we were aware that it could call into question the issue of pretension as well as other issues like plagiarism. The obvious way to tackle this is to clearly state what you want to say while remaining objective about any negative feedback it can produce. It is a fine line between producing work that may offend, annoy, irritate or whatever and being honest in ones usage of commonly accepted and recognized idioms, maxims and quotes. As much as we were able, we have clearly identified the source or person and credited them as by using these globally recognized forms which in a sense are jargon, we have made it easier for readers to both visualize and identify with the idea/subject or whatever. So the critics can do their job which after all is why they are critics.

Q- Is Tianhou a deliberately provocative work from the beginning?

A- What is provocative? The Truth even if it hurts? Being uncomfortable is the reason for disease, literally dis ease or being not at ease. Yes.No.Maybe. Do you and I have the time to fully answer this or in fact is the book itself providing the answer? Why is information so skewed for the benefit of the few in the maintenance of the existing systems? If Human Rights Law which most countries of the world are signatories to is the current accepted yardstick by which society agrees to operate, then the idea of such a question is nonsensical as to openly challenge verbally any system, idea or cause let alone belief cannot be considered other than normal and necessary. If this is seen to be provocative, then the cat is out the bag and the truth of the matter is very far from that which is espoused. So no, in essence we said what we wanted to be said irrelevant of whom it offends or arouses.

Q- I must admit that I enjoyed following the interaction of the real life of the authors with the science fiction part and it truly heightens the experience and interaction of the reader. How did you get this idea?

A- This is where I should say "an excellent question" in order to buy time to think of an answer as so many people do when faced with questions they did not think they might have to answer. To be fair, the other author had this idea and we discussed it lengthily and for many moons while the process of writing was being undertaken. If you grasp that one of the over-riding ideas behind the book was to clearly show how simple it was to produce, edit and market a book (on any subject matter) using cheap, easily available and very cost effective technological means on the net, then the daily interaction of our lives embodied that and made it understandable by dint of example. Further, the inclusion of what is involved in the process of writing or creatively producing in any medium gives both insights into the process itself as well as a sharp dose of reality as opposed to the saccharine Hollywood version of what passes for creativity. Life is neither easy nor simple nor along a linear path but is filled with constant intrusions from many directions (some of whom are not even partially recognized before they appear but all of whom involve OTHER PEOPLE) which deflect you from producing. Oh, a writer's lot is indeed miserable.