One of the reasons why Interspecies is so special to me, and specifically my novella “Babylon’s Song,” is that this is the first time I’ve ever written a female protagonist where I looked past the femaleness and focused solely on the character’s mental and emotional development.

This tale, heart-wrenching at times, explores heartache, determination, hope, hate, and a plethora of other emotions generated by trauma. For me, writing this story explored what it means to be human. What it means to value life under normal circumstances and whether that same sense of value decreases under abnormal circumstances. The story deals with extremes.

I’ll be honest, I did not set out to write Babylon’s tale with that specific focus. I wanted to tell a story first and I wanted to stay true to the character and provide context to her adult personality as a soldier in “The Last Devil” and, more importantly, her hate of everything inlari. In order to do that, I had to explore how life events affected her as a child and I had to do it truly.

Was it intended to mirror reality? Only in that, I wanted plausibility and realism in my story, for it is realism that allows a reader to connect and invest emotionally. I had no message to give, not consciously. There was no hidden life lesson I wanted to convey to my readers. As a general rule, I abhor so-called message fiction that puts message before the story. Any life lessons or observations of social issues must filter through the story naturally, unpushed and unforced. That is the only time they possess any real power.

“Babylon’s story” is about Samantha Babylon’s ordeals and about the things that shaped her as a child. It’s also a good yarn filled with action and drama and takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride from the foothills of the Barren Mountain in Australia’s New South Wales to New Zealand’s alien-infested North island.

Overall, Interspecies exists as a seamless cohesion of stories that explore a broken earth populated by broken people. Yet, in this post-apocalyptic world, hope still exists and there are plenty of adventures to be had, even love if you’re stubborn enough.

Interspecies has had a good run thus far, reaching the top-ten of two Amazon bestseller lists and staying there for a couple of weeks, even becoming the number three hot new release in its category.

Which brings me to the awesome part of today’s post. The paperback version of Interspecies is now available. So, if you prefer a more tactile reading experience, click here and get a copy. We’ve even lowered the price to $9.99 for a short time.

Of course, if you prefer the e-book version and haven’t picked it up yet, it’s only $1.99 right now to celebrate the paperback release.

Enjoy!

Woelf