📚 A Bookish Chat with 'The Lightbound Saga' Author S.G. Basu | Author Interview | #AuthorInterview #BlogTour #Interview

Today we welcome S.G. Basu to The Writer's Life e-Magazine! S.G. is the author of the trilogy, The Lightbound Saga. This interview is part of her The Lightbound Saga Blog Tour by Pump Up Your Book. Enjoy!

S.G. Basu is an aspiring potentate of a galaxy or two. She plots and plans with wondrous machines, cybernetic robots, time travelers and telekinetic adventurers, some of whom escape into the pages of her books. Although she’s an engineer by training, writing has been her passion since childhood. Her other loves include extra-hot lattes, fast cars and binge watching sci-fi movies.

Find out more about the futuristic worlds she creates at sgbasu.com. She can also be reached at sg@sgbasu.com.

Books by S.G. Basu:

The Lightbound Saga series (YA Dystopian Science Fiction)

Maia and the Xifarian Conspiracy

Maia and the Secrets of Zagran

Maia and Regency Protocol

The Lightbound Saga 3 Book Bundle

The Firefly League-A Lightbound Saga novella

Elementals-The Serial Thriller (Paranormal Science Fiction)

Population Morpheus (Near Apocalyptic Science Fiction)

Jumpers (Paranormal Thriller)

You can visit the author’s website at www.sgbasu.com or connect with her on Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads.

Welcome to The Writer's Life! Now that your book has been published, we’d love to find out more about the process. Can we begin by having you take us at the beginning? When did you come up with the idea to write your book?

Thank you for hosting me.

Writing a book, a book series, and eventually having a full-time career as a writer was never a plan or a dream. I have always been an avid reader and an imaginative child, and I had once dreamed of being an astronaut. Sure, I had dabbled in writing a bit here and there, in school magazines and such.

But writing a whole book? What? No!

I was a happy, content telecommunications professional with a job I loved and a young family that needed all my attention when the writing bug bit me out of nowhere. Well, I should not say it was out of nowhere. Here goes the story behind the story: I was hooked on an anime show at the time, and its ending (specifically, the arcs for several characters) was a huge letdown for me. I felt robbed of a perfect conclusion and was so upset that I stopped watching the show (to this day, refuse to watch, read, or hear anything about the show). However, after spending a few weeks stewing over what was, in my opinion, an unsatisfying ending, I realized a few things. While I had the right to be upset, the writers wrote their story and ended it as they saw fit. The only way I could have an ending I wished for was if I was a writer, writing my own story. That was when I decided. I was going to write my own story.

So off I went, planning and plotting. Since I knew the arc I wanted for the protagonist, the characters came first. Then I went looking for a plot and setting. The plot came to me one winter day. I was driving to work one early morning and the low sun caused too many gridlocks and delays. I reached late, missed half of a meeting, and let’s put it this way, the sun was not in my good books that day. That evening, when I was driving back, it was dark, cold, and blustery. I sorely missed the sun, its light, and its warmth. And I suddenly wondered what would happen if one day the sun was to suddenly disappear. Voila, that became the central premise of my plot.

Two other long-time interests also played a part in how this series was shaped. First was my love for Enid Blyton’s boarding school stories and my love for a circle of friends. Having been a boarding school kid myself, I know what a blessing friendships can be. It was sheer joy bringing to life the camaraderie of a group of friends. Also, I had always been a fan of multi-realm games so it was only natural to incorporate three distinct worlds into my story as well.

Armed with the characters, the premise, and the setting, I went on playing, and very soon, I was looking at a five-book series with an ensemble cast. Before I knew it, I had embarked on a career (still part-time for years to come) as a writer and writing my first (and always my favorite) book series, The Lightbound Saga.

Who is your publisher and how did you find them or did you self-publish?

I am an indie publisher and most of my books are published under my imprint, Dreamweaver Press. After years of being an indie (I am actually a hybrid author with some of my books traditionally published as well), I have no doubt this is the way I want to remain. However, when I first started writing, I was unsure whether to go traditional or indie. I got myself an agent and she queried a few publishing houses. But soon, the allure of indie publishing won me over. I like having control over everything I do and the more I studied the model of self-publishing, the more I liked it. However, that meant even more hard work but I have enjoyed it every step of the way.

Do you believe a book cover plays an important role in the selling process?

I absolutely do. The cover is the first impression a reader has of the book and grabbing their attention is a necessary first step in the selling process. The book cover not only has to be attractive and professional in appearance, but it also has to convey the genre expectations well.

How hard was it to write a book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make the journey easier for other writers?

Writing a series such as The Lightbound Saga is inherently challenging because of the length and complexity of the story. Even though I am happy with how this story concluded, I wish I had not chosen a five-book series as my first writing project. Writing a tome while learning to write is not always joyful. So I would tell any first-time writer to start with a smaller project while they are picking up skills as a writer. Also, for any writer, and for ones working on a science fiction and fantasy project, in particular, it is very important to have a stylesheet that helps keep every name spelled right. Yes, it is super boring to create and update the stylesheet but it is a tool like no other.

What other books are you working on and when will they be published?

Other than The Lightbound Saga series, I have a few other ongoing series, all in various subgenres of science fiction and fantasy. I have a time-traveling superhero series Jumpers, and a paranormal science fiction series The Elementals. I also have a dystopian short story collection, Population Morpheus. Another of my books is The Eternity Prophecy, a Kindle Scout winner, which is a science fiction thriller. Now that I have completed The Lightbound Saga, I will add to each of these series over the next year. I also have an idea of another YA adventure series brewing in my head, and I plan to get that started in 2023.

What’s one fact about your book that would surprise people?

The Lightbound Saga began as a challenge to myself when a much-loved anime show’s conclusion broke my heart.

Finally, what message are you trying to get across with your book?

The Lightbound Saga series is all about the incredible power of friendship. Sharing happiness and joy and hopes and secrets and fears, cheering on when the other needs a push, supporting each other when the ground is about to cave under our feet, and lending a shoulder when the tears keep coming—nothing is more powerful than true friendship. We can conquer anything when we have with us a friend who is kind, trustworthy, and willing to stand by our side in our time of need. Bonds of friendship can transform the world by tearing down differences with love, generosity, and compassion.

Thank you again for this interview! Do you have any final words?

The world out there is a tough place at the moment. We have barely come out of the biggest pandemic in recent history and now there’s war and inflation and everything else that makes you sigh and want to wish it away. Well, we can’t wish tough times away, but here’s a book series that will make you laugh and bring you hope. The Lightbound Saga is fun and full of joy, and as you cheer the protagonist, thirteen-year-old Maia on her tough and epic journey to unite and rescue her world, you’ll surely find your heart surging with happiness. Pick up the first book in the series, Maia and the Xifarian Conspiracy, now free on Amazon. And to all my fans out there, everyone who has patiently waited for me to complete this series—hope you enjoy the final installment as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

Series Blurb

13-year-old Maia is a land-dwelling Solianese living on the planet of Tansi. She has been raised by her doting grandfather. Her mother, Sophie, supposedly deceased, is accused to be a traitor who fought for the Xifarians who have subjugated Tansi. Loathing her family’s history, Maia has put herself into self-exile, vowing to steer clear of the temptations that led her mother astray. But when she is drafted into a peace summit by the Xifarians, she must walk into Xif, the planet she has always wanted to avoid. Here she meets loyal teammates Kusha, Dani, Nafi, and Ren, as well as Miir, their Xifarian team mentor who is as accomplished as he is temperamental. As Maia and her teammates thwart a plot to harm the underwater settlements on Tansi, she also discovers that her mother, Sophie, was not what she seemed. Sophie sacrificed herself to save Tansi before the Xifarians could destroy the Tansian system.

Maia visits the Jjord nation in their underwater colonies on Tansi. More of Sophie’s secrets come to light while she is in the colonies as well as more of the Xifarians’ plots to rebuild the dark heart of Xif. As Maia’s link with Sophie becomes apparent, Maia soon finds herself in the crosshairs of the Xifarians who kill her family and send her running for shelter across the dead lands of the Solianese. Chased by the Xifarians, Maia barely manages to stay alive with the help of her teammates.

While on the run across Tansi, Maia meets a mysterious man who unlocks a power within Maia. When her mighty Xifarian foes corner her, Maia unleashes the power on them, overpowering everyone, including her former mentor, Miir.

Maia struggles with her newfound power. The team is on the verge of fracturing when Maia reveals she might have killed Miir. Meanwhile, the R’armimon, an ancient and powerful enemy of the Xifarians, are on the way to the Tansian system, seeking vengeance from the Xifarians. On finding this, the Xifarians grow desperate to resurrect the dark heart that would enable them to leave the Tansian system. Maia narrowly escapes the Xifarians’ trap with a mysterious ally but her new alliance takes a toll on her friendships.

Maia is alone and hopeless but she forges on to regain the trust of her teammates and tries to convince the Tansian leaders of the impending threat of the R’armimon fleet. With help from her allies, Maia continues to uncover more of Sophie’s past. Together with her friends, Maia rushes to find the artifacts needed to thwart the R’armimon as the massive Execution Fleet of the R’armimon appears next to Tansi.