Unexpected Questions with Elaine Isaak

Elaine Isaak writes adventure novels inspired by research subjects like medieval surgery, ancient clockworks, and Byzantine mechanical wonders.  Published works as by E. C. Ambrose include Drakemaster, the Dark Apostle Series, starting with Elisha Barber, and the Bone Guard archaeological thrillers as by E. Chris Ambrose. In 2022 she released interactive superhero novel Skystrike: Wings of Justice, for Choice of Games.  Some recent adventures are YA SF novel A Wreck of Dragons and historical fantasy story “A Snake in the Grass” in Last-Ditch, from Zombies Need Brains.

 

If you had to describe your writing style using a fantasy-themed board game, which game would you choose and why?

Maybe this is cheating, because it’s my favorite game, but I choose Chthulhu: Death May Die (in which I usually play gun-toting Ernest Hemingway😊 This game sends a well-prepared band of misfits up against an out-sized evil, with a high probabilty of the characters ending up wounded, dead, or insane even as they level up their skills and strive to save the world. Sounds about right to me!

If you could choose any real-life celebrity to make a cameo appearance in one of your books, who would it be and why?

I would love to have George Taikei pay a call to the new planet discovered in A Wreck of Dragons. Not only does he have experience exploring strange new worlds in his role as Sulu, his own real-world experiences could bring a wealth of knowledge to my naïve young characters trying to navigate complex relations between humans, dragons and robots. He would be a fantastic mentor for Johari, the scout team’s leader, who is tasked with recognizing what an alien civilization might look like. Also, he’s just awesome.

What off-beat location would you like to see host a convention, and why?

I am all-in for Worldcon Ulan Baatar! Mongolia is an amazing and beautiful country, which almost nobody visits. SF fans can try out the national sports of wrestling, archery and horse racing, and we can have the Hugos delivered by golden eagles trained by local hunters. It’ll be like we’ve stepped into an epic fantasy novel, one set in a young democracy with ancient roots. I’ve been a Mongolia fan since Jeanne Cavelos assigned us to research the setting of a story during my time at the Odyssey Writing Workshop. I’ve gotten to visit there years back (would love to go again!) and written two books inspired by that history and culture: Drakemaster (a historical epic fantasy based on a clockwork doomsday device) and The Mongol’s Coffin (first in my Bone Guard thriller series).

If you could transport yourself to any fictional universe you’ve seen in a book you liked, which universe would you go to?

Dinotopia! As a long-time dinosaur fan, I love speculating about what it might be like to live among them, but works like Jurassic Park understandably lean into the dangers, while Dinotopia gives us a chance to live together in harmony, just me and my ankylosaurus. Let’s go! (at a slow, lumbering pace, but still…)

If you could swap lives with any character from one of your books for a day, who would it be and what would you do?

My motto is “You do NOT want to be my hero,” so I am not at all sure this is a good idea! What worries me is less what would I get to do if I could talk to snakes and perform magic with amber like Jogaila from “A Snake in the Grass,” but rather what would happen if I swapped with Elisha so I could travel the paths of the dead—and Elisha ended up as me, playing god to my various universes. Would I want one of my characters in charge of my life for a while? It might be their moment for a little justice against their creator…

Define “Science Fiction” as Damon Knight did (“What we’re pointing to when we say ‘Science Fiction'”), but without using your finger.

Science Fiction is what we taste when we are starved for wonder.

***

If you’re curious about some of the works mentioned, “A Snake in the Grass” is a historical fantasy story set in Lithuania in the early days of World War II, and heavily inspired by Lithuanian culture (my own cultural background.) It recently came out in the Zombies Need Brains anthology, Last-Ditch.  A Wreck of Dragons I describe as “Pacific Rim” meets “How to Train your Dragon.” It’s an exploration of what it means to be human, how to fight for your values, and just some stuff I wanted to play with (dragons, giant robots, submersibles and sea monsters…)

You can find out more about all of my work, including my archaeological adventure novels, at RocinanteBooks.com and follow me on Facebook to learn what I’m up to next!

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