Hello book lovers! Today is a day where I will be writing another author spotlight for a well-accomplished author whose work I have loved. As you know book lovers I love learning about authors and the inspiration behind their work, it fascinates me and adds to the depth of the book because the reader will be able to better understand it. That is how the author spotlights were created because I soon discovered that you lovely readers ALSO love learning about author’s, so I am excited to tell you a little bit more about Nicholas Dufresne whose book A Planet to Nowhere thrilled me from beginning to end! I personally would recommend this book to all of those that love science fiction and fantasy but really the book can be read by anybody as it is flawlessly written and highly enjoyable. With today’s author spotlight, a biography of the author and an interview between me and Nicholas Dufresne will be shared, and I hope that you book lovers enjoy reading it! To kick this off here is an author bio about the wonderful Nicholas Dufresne!
Nicholas Dufresne is a Canadian writer from Montreal. An avid reader and lover of stories, delving into the worlds created by others is a passion of his that inspired him to write one of his own to share with the world. Fantasy and science fiction are his preferred genres, both to read and write. When not reading or writing, he’s probably dreaming up new worlds to explore.
Now, how wonderful does Nicholas Dufresne sound?! Nicholas Dufresne is a truly exceptional writer and I hope that you lovely readers have a read of the author’s work because you will not regret it! Please see below an interview between me and the author and I hope that you enjoy Nicholas Dufresne’s answers to my questions, they are incredible and provide some great advice too!
Thank you for joining us today at Red Headed Book Lover! Please tell us more about yourself
I’m a Canadian author from Montreal, and A Planet to Nowhere is the first book I’ve published. It’s part of a larger, planned series that has three other books written, but not yet published. I work as a financial analyst and as cliché as it might sound, reading and writing are my favourite hobbies. I’m always reading and looking for new stories. When I’m not reading, I’m most likely working on my books.
Could you please tell us readers about your book and what inspired you to write your book?
A Planet to Nowhere is a first contact story where a human experiment is the alien species. In it, the reader learns of the hardships our protagonist, Adrian, undergoes. The story is comprised of a cast of characters that desperately try to learn what these experiments were. And most importantly: why they were performed to begin with.
Their efforts will lead them to uncover dangerous truths that will forever change them.
As for my inspiration to write my book? I read. A lot. I’ve been exposed to so many stories and unique concepts that I’ve lost count. The inspiration for my novel A Planet to Nowhere didn’t hit me all at once. Rather, I was reading a sci-fi story one day and thought to myself that it was interesting and well done. Yet, I was disappointed that certain aspects of the plot were never discussed or explored.
So I thought to myself, what if? What if the concept of human experimentation was explored more in depth? What if all the experiments had a purpose and what would the consequences be? And then the ever-present question to my series presented itself: why?
Many more of these what if questions came to me. Eventually, a story began to take shape in my mind throughout. Something far different than what I first started out with. I strung together, piece by piece, a narrative that made sense and would encapsulate all of these elements and questions I so desperately wanted to find in a story.
At the time, I never thought I would be the one to write the story I was looking to read. So I searched, in stores and online, for something even remotely similar to what I envisioned. Only to come up short. This fruitless search led me to one final question: what if I wrote the story instead?
And so in my chair I sat, over months and years, developing characters and a plot that would match my vision. My inspiration never came to me all at once. It was something I worked on constantly and refined over time that led to the end result. At its core though, was the concept of human experimentation performed by alien societies, as well as what first contact would be like in such a scenario.
I will forever be thankful for that first what if question that led me to writing my novel.
What would your advice be for aspiring authors?
Start at the beginning, and when you get to the end, stop. It might sound simple, but in practice, it’s incredibly hard to do. So much of yourself goes into the world and characters you create that it can be hard to make something complete. Something whole. Something you’re satisfied with.
This piece of advice resonated with me when I was working on my novel. I had within me something I wanted to share with the world and knew the only way I’d be able to do so was if I sat down and did it myself. Whenever I was stuck writing in a slog, I would think about finally writing down the words “The End” and it gave me the motivation to continue.
A story can be daunting to pen down but can be broken up into tiny, much smaller pieces that you can chip away at until it’s done. You don’t need huge writing sessions where thousands of words flow out of you and into your manuscript. Just do what you can when you can and always keep moving forward.
Each person has within them a voice just waiting to be heard by the world, and I think this is what makes every piece of literature unique. Through written words, you get a glimpse into somebody else’s mind as they breathe life into a story only they could dream up.
It can get hard, finishing that story or editing that chapter but I assure you it’s all worth it in the end. To see other people immerse themselves in your creation and form thoughts and opinions on your story you never thought possible is a wonderful feeling.
Nothing can compare to holding your book in your hands for the first time and realizing that you’re the one that made it all possible. Seeing and feeling a tangible result to all that effort I put into mine made so incredibly proud of what I had accomplished.
It took months to write my first draft and years before it was finally published. And yet, I never stopped chipping away at it, one step at a time. No matter how hard it got, I kept at it. I didn’t wait for motivation to strike me before deciding to write anything down. I wrote and made the inspiration come to me because every word I added gave me new ideas for the next one.
My story was constantly on my mind, and I think up new scenes wherever I go. When I think I find something that works, it leaves me excited to sit down and flesh it out. So far, I’ve written four books in the Genesis Saga series but have only published the first one. I started at my story’s beginning and when I get to the end, I’ll stop.
I just haven’t gotten there yet.
In your opinion, what is the most important thing about a book?
The characters. They make up the backbone of the story. It’s their lives that you follow as a reader and they’re integral to making the story interesting. Going through their ups and downs alongside them and watching grow and evolve with each page is what keeps me invested in the plot.
What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
A Planet to Nowhere is soft sci-fi. It delves into the wonders of future technology that the mind can dream up. As strange as it may sound, I did little to no research before and while writing the book. I simply sat down one day with the intent to write a story, paying no mind to how long it might be. It ended up turning into multiple novels, much to my surprise.
Do you have a set schedule for writing, or do you only write when you feel inspired?
Sadly, I do not write full time anymore. When I did, I would write for four to ten hours a day, seven days a week. I never waited for myself to become inspired to write. If I did, I would have never accomplished so much.
Writing a novel isn’t easy, so I’ve come to learn. The work doesn’t stop when you write the words The End. Penning the first draft of A Planet to Nowhere took me two months of constant, daily work.
That was only the beginning.
By the time I finished my first draft, I quickly realized that my story was nowhere near done. So I sat down, wrote, and revised the prequel and sequel. As fulfilling as it was to have written so much, I still wasn’t done yet! There was more left to write.
It was around that time that I started my current job. Once that began, I could no longer afford to dedicate as much time to writing as I had before. Now, I write when I can. I squeeze in as much as I reasonably can during my lunch breaks, after work and on weekends. Through dedication and hard work, I managed to finish another book in the series in this fashion.
After I finished writing my most recent book, I decided to publish A Planet to Nowhere. I quickly realized that I had no clue how to do that. My days were soon filled with work, working on publishing, and writing whenever I had a minute.
Any support I get, whether it be through ratings, reviews, or purchases, brings me one step closer to being able to write full time again. I would love nothing more than to be able to dedicate my time to my craft on a constant, daily basis. Until that day comes, I’ll have to keep to my current methods of writing whenever I have a moment.
Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors?
I love reading! It’s one of my favourite hobbies when I’m not writing. I mainly read fantasy and sci-fi. My favourite authors, to name a few, are G. Harthane, Travis Deverell, Patrick Rothfuss, Brandon Sanderson and Jim Buther. The list is quite extensive, there are so many authors whose stories I love!
Lastly, when can we readers expect to read more wonderful books from you?
Ideally, I’d like for the next book to be published within two years. That might sound like a long time, but I still need to edit it and prepare it for publishing. As I’m not working on my novels full time anymore, it takes me longer to produce them as a self-published author.
My story is nowhere near done, and some of the next books are already written! For fans of A Planet to Nowhere, I will try my best to complete the series in a timely manner!
Please pick up a copy and support me along my journey as an author! Reviews and ratings are vital to helping me promote the series and publish the remaining books.
What is your favorite line from the book?
I have many lines from the book that I love, each with their own significance and special moment. However, if I truly had to pick just one of them to be my favorite, it would be the following:
“He immediately regretted ever being alive.”
In one instant, my protagonist’s entire worldview is redefined. Nothing could have prepared Adrian for what happened, for he had no way of knowing something could ever truly be that bad. And by that point, he is well accustomed to the pain human experimentation inflicts.
Throughout the early chapters of the novel, readers get a glimpse into what exactly that life entailed for Adrian. Some moments were worse than others and none of them good. There is one experiment in particular after which he would never be the same.
His captors created a crime against the living, and he was its test subject.
And in that moment he truly, from the bottom of his soul, regretted having ever existed to experience anguish so terrible that even monsters paused at it. No being should have undergone the unspeakable pain inflicted upon him.
But for him it was fate.
Adrian’s mental and emotional fortitude forged throughout his time as a captive gave him just enough strength to survive the ordeal. Alone in the wake of what happened, the aftermath was something he had to overcome himself.
The significance of my favorite line on the protagonist’s psyche during such a grim period of his life is something I love reading over and over as I fall back into the scene where it happened. I feel it sets the tone well for how horrific some of the experimentation performed on him was. It only serves to reinforce the ever-present question of that part of the story: why?
How do you know what to write?
I like structure – to a certain extent. I usually create outline documents for each of my chapters as I write them, detailing my thoughts on what I should write. I add to these documents constantly while I write a chapter, but ultimately, they usually take the form of a loose outline of the events that need to occur at that point in time to make my plot advance and go in the direction I want it to go.
While this helps, it’s not exactly foolproof. I usually allow myself to deviate from each chapter outline as I write if I feel that implementing the ideas I originally had would be best done a different way. When I’m finally done a chapter, I create a new outline for the next chapter and start again fresh, this time taking into account the differences of what I thought I would write and what I actually wrote.
As for knowing what the actual content of each scene is? I have a rough idea of the plot of the novel (and series) in my mind. When I first started planning the project, I had all of these ideas and elements I wanted to shape into a single story.
Before I knew it, I was thinking up what I believe are interesting scenes, all at different moments in the story. One of my jobs is putting the puzzle together in a way that lets me connect all of these scenes so that they make sense. Then, like little dominoes carefully set up, you tip the first one over and unleash a series of events that follow one another until you’ve reached the end of the story.
The result was actually multiple books and the creation of a series, and I’m still writing the next book since I haven’t gotten to the end of my story yet. I don’t know exactly what I’ll write each time I set myself to the task, but I look forward to finding out how my story will evolve by the time it’s fully complete.
Which of your characters would you go out for drinks with?
While I’d love the chance to go out for drinks with all of my characters, the one I’d most like to go grab a drink with would be Jyn. Stuck in his military ways and with baggage of his own weighing him down, I’d love nothing more than to get a peek into his mind and how he views the world and events around him.
Jyn’s motivations for acting the way he does throughout the novel are complex as he tries to balance his duties and his own personal interests. I have no doubt he’d have quite the colorful commentary on the events that happen in the novel.
Its official book lovers, I am obsessed with Nicholas Dufresne! If you have liked what you have read about the author and are interested in learning more, then please do have a browse of the links below and be sure to have a read of the preview too! You will not regret it.
Goodbye for now book lovers,
