Aside from a possible trip to a
land of paternal ancestors, and a tropical cruise if opportunity allows, my
traveling days to other countries are mostly behind me. But a journey via literary
access is always a possibility - and far less expensive. I recently took on just
such an excursion within the pages of Pop Travel, a sci-fi historical novel by
author Tara Tyler. Eager to learn more about Tara and her unique research topic
of sci-fi technology, I asked her to participate in the Novel Research project.
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Gail:
Welcome Tara, and thanks for participating in this Novel Research interview today.
I recently read your intriguing and well-written novel, Pop Travel, the first book in The Cooper Chronicles. Is
writing novels your main career?
Tara Tyler: Thank you so much for
this opportunity! I'm actually a math
teacher by trade—to prove it’s not so bad and anyone can do it! I’ve also had a
hand in everything from waitressing to rocket engineering over the years.I’ve
lived up and down the Eastern US and traveled worldwide, gaining diverse
perspectives. Now I live and teach math in Ohio, but still travel to see my
three active boys with my Coach Husband. The city of Atlanta holds a special
place for me—it’s where I got my first teaching job, went on adventures, and
got married. All of which have inspired many of my stories.
Gail:
Your eclectic employment background suggests you seldom have idle
down time. Is there anything else you do in your “spare time”?
Tara
Tyler: Yes, I also
write screenplays and am in the process of writing a musical!
Gail:
Then I imagine you can envision Pop Travel as a movie someday
and have researched accordingly. What is your favorite research method?
Tara
Tyler: The internet of course! But
I’m also inspired by reading similar novels, getting advice from my friends,
other writers and readers, and my husband. My own curiosity and love for
mapping things out helps me know what to research. And my research is a
never-ending journey: I’m always wondering “what if…” and writing things down
to improve a current manuscript or include in a future novel.
Gail:
And what interesting details can you share today about technology in the future?
Tara Tyler: The Cooper Chronicles, or Pop Travel series is a near future detective thriller. Technology is at the center of it—and we all know
how glitches and nefarious hackers can turn our lives upside-down. My favorite
sci fi writer, Michael Crichton inspired me to write it. I love his style and
it can be seen in some of my writing, though his medical and scientific
expertise far outreaches mine. He was a true genius.Since no
one knows what the future holds for us, it’s easy to invent gadgets we’d like
to see developed. But the gadgets and technology need to be plausible, so I
research possibilities and embellish. For example, NOVA had a tempting video about teleportation possibilities for Pop Travel which is pop
teleportation used by everyone in the future instead of planes. I read some
articles about quark technology—the internet may soon be overtaken by the
quark-net for faster speed in transmitting overwhelming amounts of data,
especially when we use my invention of 3D imaging on our wrists: holographic
smart watches called QVs (Qnet Viewers). I made some "prototypes" to
give away with my books.
Since Pop
Travel takes place in settings all over the world, I had to research places
like Sydney, Australia and Mumbai, India. With a good portion of action in
India, I relied on my neighbor who is from there to get details about specific
locations. She also gave me some key Hindi phrases to use. And one of my
favorite parts of research is finding layouts and maps and adapting them.
Another big part of the story takes place on a renovated plantation which
includes details from the historic South and the Underground Railroad. It’s a
blend of history and science fiction.
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You can visit Tara at any of her social media sites
and check out her books at Amazon.com:
Read Monday's Pop Travel book review here:
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If Pop Travel, the sci fi technology of teleportation, were available for humans to travel long distances in
short periods of time, would you choose this as your main mode of transportation,
or do you prefer to have a longer travel time to acclimate yourself to changes in destinations?
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