Six Elementals Author Interviews will introduce prospective readers to some of the best writers in their genre you may, or may not, have heard of, via a series of six questions. I encourage you to check out the work of these phenomenal creatives! Links to their websites and purchase links will always appear, accompanying the interview. Check them out!
This is a real treat for me, to be able to interview the phenomenal fantasy author, Shane Scott! Shane's currently published works are: God of Nothing: The All; and Faith: Stories from the All.
P.L.: Such a privilege to be able to interview you, Shane! Welcome to Six Elementals Interviews! God of Nothing: The All was an incredible book, and one of the best books I read last year! What a psychedelic, absolutely wild ride through an awe-inspiring universe, both celestial and mortal. Can you tell us about what inspired you to write such an ambitious book, involving God, the Devil, demons, Bool, other gods, Titans, humans, and more?
Shane: I started thinking about this story in the early 90s after a near death experience, a profound event in my life. I came away with the belief God is female, and that makes sense to me. I don’t know any man who ever gave birth to anything.
As I thought about the story, I kept coming back to the concept, “What if everything we know is wrong?” That led me to create a story where everything is different from what we believe.
As well, in physics there is a quest to find a “theory of everything” math that joins Einstein’s general and special theory of relativity with quantum mechanics.
Like that, I wanted a “story of everything” that combined myths, legends, conspiracy theories, God, the devil, aliens, and more. A single story that explains “everything” in a believable way. It was a lot harder than I expected.
P.L.: If there's one part of your book that absolutely hooked me and I can't stop thinking about, it's "The Upstairs"! It is simply one of the coolest things I have read in recent fantasy literature!! Without giving away spoilers, can you tell the readers a little about "The Upstairs", and how you came up with that concept?
Shane: The Upstairs. Lol. I believe in balance and so after I created the Downstairs, a close comparison to biblical hell, I felt something had to exist that offset that.
And since any good story has a decent bar the characters frequent, I made the Upstairs. It is still technically a part of Hell and overseen by Beelzebub and Wen, God of Chaos, however it is not punishment, it is pleasure.
It is where various alien cultures (Mortals) and Immortals meet and gather and interact.
Still, being part of Hell means you have to watch your step...best time ever, if you don’t end up dead.
P.L.: Love is a big theme in your book. You represent love being able to transcend race, gender, species, and all else. You also speak to the opposite of love: hate. Can you please tell us about your thoughts on how you portray the idea of love and hate in your book?
Shane: You can’t have love without hate. Again, it is a balance, an equilibrium. That does not mean it has to be a 50-50 split of the two emotions. Even if hate only accounted for one percent, it still exists and so love can exist.
Hate is powerful but it is like a nuclear bomb, it flares, causes damage, then fades and dissipates.
Love is eternal. It lasts forever. It’s not a nuclear bomb, it is springtime, soft gentle warmth from the sun, constant, like water carving the Grand Canyon.
In the short term, hate might be seen as the stronger of the two emotions but that is wrong. Love is more powerful and eventually it conquers all.
In my series, there are only two people in the All without any hate, God and one other person. I define them as “perfect.”
P.L.: You just released your second book, a novella, called Faith: Stories from the All! Congratulations! Can you please tell us a little bit about what Faith is about?
Shane: Faith is a story also set in my universe, the All. It takes place 1000 years after God of Nothing and can be read as a stand alone story. The reader does not have to have any previous knowledge of the All.
The story came about because my wife asked me for 25 years if I was planning to apocalypse the earth, and so yeah, I did.
Some of the characters from God of Nothing make cameo appearances in Faith, tying it to my All.
P.L.: What are some of the authors that have inspired you? Who are some of your favourite authors?
Shane: My favorite book over the years is Armor, by John Steakley. He wrote a book where his main character, Felix has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, yet at the end, you felt like you lost a friend. I tried to make Satan, God of Hate, a little like that in my story.
I’ve also been influenced by Scalzi, Asimov, Sanderson, Robin Hobbs, Frank Herbet, and of course Tolkien. In general, I like big stories with flawed characters with mostly happy endings.
I am not a fan of the current books where at the end you feel worse than when you started reading or watching. When I finish a book I want to feel better than when I started.
P.L.: What's next for Shane Scott? Can you please tell us a bit about the projects you are working on?
Shane: I am currently working on God of Everything and hope to have it out before year end. It has most of the rest of Aja’s story and a little more Eva and Cassy.
I am also working on another novella, Belief, however I ran into some trouble. It is set in my All universe (everything I write is) and about a hybrid human-succubus and keeps trying to turn into erotica. I generally have sexual situation in my book but I fade to black before any graphic sex. I don’t think that is needed most times. When writing about a hybrid human-succubus, yeah, I think maybe some graphic sex is needed. So I am not sure where I am going with that novella.
P.L.: Shane, it has been an honour to speak to you for Six Elementals Interviews! Thank you so much!
Shane: Paul, it is always a pleasure talking to you.
Buy Faith: Stories from the All here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09RQZ2534
Buy God of Nothing: The All here - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08W3KCRRP
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21598177.Shane_Scott
https://twitter.com/TheALLwriter
https://www.facebook.com/TheALLwriter
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/shane-scott
This is a real treat for me, to be able to interview the phenomenal fantasy author, Shane Scott! Shane's currently published works are: God of Nothing: The All; and Faith: Stories from the All.
P.L.: Such a privilege to be able to interview you, Shane! Welcome to Six Elementals Interviews! God of Nothing: The All was an incredible book, and one of the best books I read last year! What a psychedelic, absolutely wild ride through an awe-inspiring universe, both celestial and mortal. Can you tell us about what inspired you to write such an ambitious book, involving God, the Devil, demons, Bool, other gods, Titans, humans, and more?
Shane: I started thinking about this story in the early 90s after a near death experience, a profound event in my life. I came away with the belief God is female, and that makes sense to me. I don’t know any man who ever gave birth to anything.
As I thought about the story, I kept coming back to the concept, “What if everything we know is wrong?” That led me to create a story where everything is different from what we believe.
As well, in physics there is a quest to find a “theory of everything” math that joins Einstein’s general and special theory of relativity with quantum mechanics.
Like that, I wanted a “story of everything” that combined myths, legends, conspiracy theories, God, the devil, aliens, and more. A single story that explains “everything” in a believable way. It was a lot harder than I expected.
P.L.: If there's one part of your book that absolutely hooked me and I can't stop thinking about, it's "The Upstairs"! It is simply one of the coolest things I have read in recent fantasy literature!! Without giving away spoilers, can you tell the readers a little about "The Upstairs", and how you came up with that concept?
Shane: The Upstairs. Lol. I believe in balance and so after I created the Downstairs, a close comparison to biblical hell, I felt something had to exist that offset that.
And since any good story has a decent bar the characters frequent, I made the Upstairs. It is still technically a part of Hell and overseen by Beelzebub and Wen, God of Chaos, however it is not punishment, it is pleasure.
It is where various alien cultures (Mortals) and Immortals meet and gather and interact.
Still, being part of Hell means you have to watch your step...best time ever, if you don’t end up dead.
P.L.: Love is a big theme in your book. You represent love being able to transcend race, gender, species, and all else. You also speak to the opposite of love: hate. Can you please tell us about your thoughts on how you portray the idea of love and hate in your book?
Shane: You can’t have love without hate. Again, it is a balance, an equilibrium. That does not mean it has to be a 50-50 split of the two emotions. Even if hate only accounted for one percent, it still exists and so love can exist.
Hate is powerful but it is like a nuclear bomb, it flares, causes damage, then fades and dissipates.
Love is eternal. It lasts forever. It’s not a nuclear bomb, it is springtime, soft gentle warmth from the sun, constant, like water carving the Grand Canyon.
In the short term, hate might be seen as the stronger of the two emotions but that is wrong. Love is more powerful and eventually it conquers all.
In my series, there are only two people in the All without any hate, God and one other person. I define them as “perfect.”
P.L.: You just released your second book, a novella, called Faith: Stories from the All! Congratulations! Can you please tell us a little bit about what Faith is about?
Shane: Faith is a story also set in my universe, the All. It takes place 1000 years after God of Nothing and can be read as a stand alone story. The reader does not have to have any previous knowledge of the All.
The story came about because my wife asked me for 25 years if I was planning to apocalypse the earth, and so yeah, I did.
Some of the characters from God of Nothing make cameo appearances in Faith, tying it to my All.
P.L.: What are some of the authors that have inspired you? Who are some of your favourite authors?
Shane: My favorite book over the years is Armor, by John Steakley. He wrote a book where his main character, Felix has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, yet at the end, you felt like you lost a friend. I tried to make Satan, God of Hate, a little like that in my story.
I’ve also been influenced by Scalzi, Asimov, Sanderson, Robin Hobbs, Frank Herbet, and of course Tolkien. In general, I like big stories with flawed characters with mostly happy endings.
I am not a fan of the current books where at the end you feel worse than when you started reading or watching. When I finish a book I want to feel better than when I started.
P.L.: What's next for Shane Scott? Can you please tell us a bit about the projects you are working on?
Shane: I am currently working on God of Everything and hope to have it out before year end. It has most of the rest of Aja’s story and a little more Eva and Cassy.
I am also working on another novella, Belief, however I ran into some trouble. It is set in my All universe (everything I write is) and about a hybrid human-succubus and keeps trying to turn into erotica. I generally have sexual situation in my book but I fade to black before any graphic sex. I don’t think that is needed most times. When writing about a hybrid human-succubus, yeah, I think maybe some graphic sex is needed. So I am not sure where I am going with that novella.
P.L.: Shane, it has been an honour to speak to you for Six Elementals Interviews! Thank you so much!
Shane: Paul, it is always a pleasure talking to you.
Buy Faith: Stories from the All here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09RQZ2534
Buy God of Nothing: The All here - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08W3KCRRP
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21598177.Shane_Scott
https://twitter.com/TheALLwriter
https://www.facebook.com/TheALLwriter
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/shane-scott
