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Nina Munteanu - The Writing Life

You’ve landed on the website of Nina Munteanu, internationally published Canadian SF author and ecologist.  Nina is living her dream of the writing life!  She is currently putting the finishing touches on her next science fiction novel.  And if you’re lucky, you might catch her at one of her writing workshops where she coaches great fiction writing!

The Mentor: Nina is frequently sought after for one-on-one mentoring as well as personal coaching and group workshops on all aspects of writing and publishing.  Because she has published frequently in both fiction and non-fiction, she knows exactly how to help her clients succeed in getting their works published.

The Ecologist: Nina currently does research and gives talks in science and limnology (No! That isn’t the study of limbs! She studies freshwater) and is driven by a passion to help keep our planet’s environment healthy.  In April 2010 she participated in talks with the Dalai Lama as part of the Mind and Life XX Conference on Altruism and Compassion in Economics in Zurich, Switzerland, where she participated in discussions on the use of ecological relationships in economic policy. Nina is a passionate traveler, and has tasted her way around the world from Bangkok to Paris.

The Author: Nina has published award-nominated short stories all over the planet (with translations into Greek, Romanian, Polish, and Hebrew). Two of her several novels, “Angel of Chaos” and “Darwin’s Paradox” (science fiction ecological thrillers by Dragon Moon Press), explores humanity’s co-evolution with machine intelligence and Nature’s intelligence. She also writes critical essays and reviews, several of which have appeared in Strange Horizons, IROSF, and The New York Review of Science Fiction. Her personal heroes include Dr. Lynn Margulis and author Ray Bradbury. Nina’s guidebook on writing, The Fiction Writer: Get Published, Write Now! is currently used in schools and universities across North America.

The Blogger: Nina is also  The Alien Next Door, author of the award-wining blog which hosts lively discussions on pop culture, travel, science, writing and philosophy. Nina co-authors an environmental blog on climate change, Climate of Our Future. She frequently guest-blogs on Toulouse LeTrek, her feline friend’s travel blog.

Bozeman itself is a colorful and attractive city with cultural diversity and a level of “coolness” that comes from being a university town set amidst lofty mountains with a western flavor. Bozeman is located in the Gallatin Valley, surrounded by magnificent mountain ranges. North of the city, the Bridger Mountains attract thousands of skiers each winter. The Gallatin Range and the Madison Range, south of Bozeman, rise more than 10,000 feet and have peaks covered with snow much of the year. Montana State University is located in Bozeman, with a very attractive campus and programs that range from agricultural sciences, engineering to the fine arts. I spent some time there, particularly in the student union building, where the bookstore and the pub were. I would so enjoy teaching here; I just might…My son wouldn’t mind it too much either. According to PubClub.com: “this is place to go if you love to be outdoors and ski…ski bums are all over the campus and so are the hippies…its a true party college.” The Museum of the Rockies, located on campus, features many wonderful paleontology exhibits. Jack Horner, the world’s top dinosaur hunter and an adviser to the movie “Jurassic Park,” works at the Museum. Occasionally, Museum visitors see Professor Horner inspecting the Museum’s latest exhibits.

The visitor’s guide describes Bozeman as “a charming town. In a John Wayne—Norman Rockwell—Bob Marley sort of way.” The town’s history goes back to the time when Gallatin Valley (where Bozeman lies) was used by Indian tribes, including the Flathead, Sioux, Shoshone, Nez Perce, and Blackfeet, who all hunted for game and edible plants. According to tribal lore, Indians agreed not to fight in the Gallatin Valley, instead conceding to share the area’s beauty and resources with one another. European fur traders came in the 1700s, with Lewis and Clark leading a historic expedition to the Three Forks of the Missouri in 1805. Mountain men roamed through the area trapping beaver and acting as guides.

The town is named after John Bozeman, a Georgian who’d left his family to find fortune in the West. The town was named in his honor in 1864, shortly before he was killed near Yellowstone under mysterious circumstances.

Yellowstone National Park, just south of Bozeman, was created in 1872 and is the first and oldest national park in the world. Bozeman is often referred to as the “Yellowstone Connection”. After an unsuccessful bid to become the state capital, Bozeman was chosen as the site for the new agricultural college, which became Montana State University, home of the fighting Bobcats.

Bozeman currently supports a population of 30,000 interesting “urban cowboys” from young to old and funky to intellectual. From appearance, dress, comportment and speech I was treated to an attractive and exciting commingling of southern wild west and northern yuppy vogue. Travel & Leisure Online wrote: “The look on the street is Carrie Bradshaw in cowboy boots. No need to pack a blow-dryer; the Keep it Wild philosophy extends from nature to hair, which is also left untamed.” I felt at home.

Tikulin, who was born and lives in Zagreb, Croatia, recently confided in me that he had never been to North America. I find this ironic, considering that his art is showcased internationally, having appeared in every country imaginable. Tomislav Tikulin’s art work has graced the covers of many SF and Fantasy books including Chris Robertson’s Voyage of Night Shining White, Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous With Rama, and recently Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine (50th anniversary edition).

Tikulin creates convincing images grounded in reality then throws them into fantastical alien landscapes. Many of his pieces evoke a sense of yearning within a grand tapestry of his imagination. Through the use of lighting, tone, filigree and color, Tikulin infuses his imagery with mood and “motion”. His art flows with a tender ache for “more”… a call to adventure…a hero’s mythic journey…a sweeping vision of the future…a whole world to discover…

When Tikulin agreed to illustrate my book, Darwin’s Paradox, I was ecstatic and honored. After some conversation back and forth, he produced the striking image you all know. It has, I can assure you, been one of the main reasons people have picked up my book off the bookshelves.

Eager to meet the man responsible for the success of my book, I notified Tikulin that I would be in Zagreb, refueling, and invited him aboard my sentient ship, Vinny, for a drink. To my delight, he readily and intrepidly agreed.

Like all his predecessors, Tikulin rode the crystal beam with the ease and the sublime frisson of a Ray Bradbury character. He didn’t get sick either, I observed, as my stomach growled its typical objection. Like a giddy twelve-year old kid on his first rocket ship ride—wait, this probably was his first rocket ship ride—Tikulin asked a million questions and I had to bat his hand away from the colorful crystal controls several times. Humans! So curious!…

~~~~

Once we get on board Vinny, and thinking to put Tikulin at ease so I can better interroga—er interview him, I instruct Harry, my bot, to fetch us each a pint of Canadian beer, this time a Kokanee lager. As we settle into two comfortable chairs in the aft lounge with our beers, I make my move.

SF Girl: I lean forward and make direct eye contact with this good-looking Croatian from Zagreb and decide to start with something mild and innocuous. “So, when did you know that you wanted to be an illustrator and how did you get your start?”

Tikulin: He meets my gaze with intense laughing eyes of candor. There is something very genuine about him that sets me at ease and I realize that it’s me who is nervous; not him. Tikulin drains half of the beer in one long draught, leaving some foam on his upper lip, then begins in a strong Croatian accent, “Well, it happened a couple of years ago. I was involved in the production of a point and click adventure game. My job was to make backgrounds, matte paintings, etc.” In fact, he was Chief 2-D artist on the project. “I realized that I had learned a lot of things during that production and that I must do something with that knowledge.” Tikulin tilts his head to one side and ponders the past. “I also worked as a comic colorist for many years and had a promising career but I made a decision to do something else and that was a turning point for me…[After meeting] some publishers, that was the start of a new career,” he ends with a boyish laugh.

SF Girl: I decide that he’s getting a little too comfortable as he draws another long appreciative gulp of Canadian beer (maybe he doesn’t get out much, I conclude). Still… Thinking to stir him from his beer-induced contentedness, I pry, “What does your family think of your art?”

Tikulin: He throws his head back and guffaws. “Like any other normal family, they would be more than happy if I did something else… occupations like a lawyer, doctor, or just working in some nice and clean factory…”

SF Girl: Before I realize it, I’ve grown maudlin, reminiscing about my own parents’ wish that I’d chosen a normal career like planet-building engineer in the Zeta system (very lucrative work, I might add!) or an accountant with the Galactic Bank instead of the space-adventure scoundrel I’ve become… When I find him staring at me with those dark George Clooney eyes, I quickly regain my composure and ask, “What kind of things did you draw as a kid?”

Tikulin: He eases back into the soft chair, a loose smile sliding across his face that makes the thirty-two year old artist look like a boy. “As a kid I was drawing more or less the usual stuff…cowboys, Indians, spacemen, etc. I love movies, especially scifi movies…I spent many hours watching TV, maybe too much!” He flashes a grin then adds, “That was the trigger for me.”

SF Girl: “What is it about science fiction and fantasy that draws your interest, particularly to illustrate in these genres?”

Tikulin: “I love movies. I’m a movie geek. I watched a thousand times Alien, Blade Runner, original Star Wars Saga, Star Trek and other nice movies and series. I was hooked as a kid with fantastic landscapes, green slime aliens, space heroes and all sorts of villains.” So, he’d met some of my relatives, I conclude…Tikulin continues, “I like the old masters. I’m not a big fan of modern cyberpunk stories. My heart is full of sorrow because Hollywood doesn’t make Sci-Fi films like they used to.”

SF Girl: Totally disarmed by this gentle (and very good looking!) Croatian, I ask, “What’s next for Tomislav Tikulin?”

Tikulin: He flashes another of those wonderful boyish smiles. “To have fun, to make lots of covers, to make covers for Frank Herbert’s Dune, and one day to create production illustrations for a big Sci-Fi movie.”

I don’t doubt that he will. To see more of Tomislav Tikulin’s artwork or to contact him, here’s his website: http://www.tomtikulin-art.com/.

http://www.darwinsparadox.com/

• Barnes & Noble
• Chapters-Indigo
• White Dwarf Books (Vancouver)
• The Sentry Box (Calgary)
• various online bookstores (as an ebook)

You can also buy or order the book at Target (www.target.com), one of the major department stores in the U.S. as well as India and Malaysia, Wallmart, or purchase it online at Buy.com, another major retail store.

And those are only the ones I know about (the writer tends to know paltry little when it comes to publishery stuff). If you’ve enjoyed my blog articles and short stories and enjoy thoughtful and provative science fiction (with a kicking plot) and are inclined to purchase Darwin’s Paradox, then here are a few things that I unabashedly, shamelessly exhort you, dear reader, to do:

• If purchasing through Amazon, purchase my book on the day of release (November 15, 2007) to drive sales that day into such significant figures to make my book noticeable on the Amazon radar (which will place the book so that more people will see it)
• go to your local bookstore and ask them to order Darwin’s Paradox

And if you’re interested in an audiobook (with voice artist Heather Dugan) we’ll be arranging that too, hopefully.

So, today’s Friday Feature, is run by the incredibly talented and energetic Karen Mason and dedicated to my book, “Darwin’s Paradox”. And through no major stretch of the imagination, it’s also called “Darwin’s Paradox“.

What wonderful items can you find there? Well, here are a few juicy bits:

• Chapters One through Thirteen of the book (available in eight different languages: French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Chinese)
• podcasts of chapters One to Thirteen (so far) done by voice artist Heather Dugan
• schedule of my appearances (including conventions and booktours)
• select interviews
• writing tips
• media kit (including press release, media material, etc.)

I am so indebted to Karen for tirelessly running this site and for her astute advice on blogging, internet navigation, media design, logic, human behaviour (remember, I’m an alien) and good wine.

When Karen Mason persuaded me to let her create and run the Darwin’s Paradox website showcasing my book, I had no idea how much talent she would bring into this project. Besides being a shaman of incredible power, she runs Starfire World Syndicate and is herself an accomplished writer, private pilot, and cryptologist. We had discussed doing a promotional podcast of the book over some virtual drinks and ** presto! ** Heather Dugan appeared! More of that persuasive shamanism, if you ask me… If you want to know why I was so overwhelmed, listen (and watch) the video, of Heather reading Chapter Two of Darwin’s Paradox, here. Heather is magic to your ears. Lyrical, sensitive and genuine, her fluid and clear narrative flows like a bracing mountain brook. Evoking emotions and touching your heart. I am proud and honored that she has joined the Darwin team.

Heather Dugan is a voice-over artist and on-camera talent (see her website: http://heatherdugan.com/). Born in Ann Arbor MI, Heather resided in beautiful Ohio, state of rivers and streams, most her life. She received a BA in Communications from Indiana University, Bloomington. After making a splashy entrance in the media field as Miss Columbus (“Sshhh,” says Heather. Sorry! I just had to!), Heather went into radio sales where she was discovered as a talent in “voicing”, which jumpstarted her varied career that included community theatre, radio/TV commercials, industrial films, narrations, phone network commercials, and talk show co-hosting. She has done voicing for Nationwide, The Columbus Dispatch, Bank One, Verizon, Honda of America, Cintas, Lazarus, The Truberry Group, among many other prestigious clients.

Heather is also an accomplished writer, photographer and musician (keyboardist). She wrote and co-wrote several documentaries, plays and musical compositions. You can see her photography on her travel blog, “Footsteps”. Her first poem, written when she was seven years old, was framed by her mother and sits on her desk. Heather is herself a devoted mother of three children. An avowed passionate traveler, Heather loves the outdoors and adventure. She keeps fit by running in races, kayaking, biking, swimming and weight-lifting. Heather currently lives in Lewis Center, Ohio, with her three children and chocolate lab.

Thanks so much, Heather. Your dedication, professionalism & excellent work ethic, and remarkable voice are truly appreciated.

This reminded me that it isn’t a piece of cake to do a good interview. Having done a few in my day, here are a few things I would suggest to any prospective interviewers (things that Peggy got all right, by the way!). When you do an interview you should:

• be genuinely interested in the person or their work (if you aren’t, it’ll show to both the interviewee and to the readership);
• do the research;
• find a general theme (usually something that sparked your wish to do the interview in the first place) and keep to it (at least loosely);
• vary your questions from personal to academic/work-related (personal stuff always makes an interview more interesting to the readership, no matter what the topic is–the best non-fiction books always give some juicy tidbits about the people they’re writing about);
• do more research;
• don’t be afraid to ask challenging questions (this makes for a very interesting read and may even bring out something the readership never read before about this particular person–BONUS for you!);
• be polite in the beginning and in the end (e.g., thank the interviewee).