Who can resist a free story?
I discovered Traci’s kind offer on Twitter and read her short story – To Save a Girl. I’m
glad I did. To Save a Girl is well written with great dialogue. A visitor to
Earth saves a young lady’s life, against all rules regarding such encounters. A
happy ending. (I love happy endings.)
Traci is an award winning author. She has graciously agreed to a 4Q
Interview and to share a chapter of her novel – The Anuan Legacy.
Traci Ison Schafer lives in Ada, Oklahoma, and is a Price Analyst
for the United States Air Force. She’s a native of Ohio and started her career
at the infamous Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which she used as the backdrop
for her first book, the science fiction novel The Anuan Legacy.
Traci is current Past President of the Oklahoma City Writers (OKCW)
and is an officer on the Executive Board of the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation
(OWFI) were she serves as Second Vice President. She also remains active in the
writing community in the Dayton, Ohio, area where she’s a founding member of
the critique group The Plot Sisters (est. 2012) and has served as a panelist at
the Antioch Writers’ Workshop at the University of Dayton.
Traci has a master’s
degree in business, a bachelor’s degree in science education, and has earned
teaching certifications in several
science fields including physics, astronomy, and earth science. She’s
curious about all things beyond this physical world such as aliens,
reincarnation, and psychic abilities, making them among her favorite writing
topics.
Traci’s writing has earned several awards, including winner of the
National Indie Excellence Award in Science Fiction and finalist for the
Independent Author Network Science Fiction Book of the Year. When not busy
writing, Traci enjoys spending time with her family.
4Q: Your bio tells us of your curiosity with aliens, reincarnation and
psychic abilities and how these are your favorite writing subjects. Considering
each one of these topics, do you believe in them?
TIS: Yes, I do! All of them. I think there are so
many things beyond what we can see, hear, touch, smell, and taste. People tend
to be skeptical of things they can’t verify with these five “hard” senses. The
human eye can only detect a small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum (the
visible light portion), but that doesn’t mean the rest doesn’t exist. It does.
We’ve found other ways, beyond those five senses, to prove that. I think it’s
that way with other things as well. A human body, and what scientific means
we’ve developed so far, can only verify a small portion of what this universe
is all about, but that doesn’t mean there’s not more. We just haven’t figured
it all out yet. Aliens, for example. There are trillions and trillions of
galaxies, each containing trillions and trillions of stars, many of which
support planets. I just can’t believe that our planet is the one and only
planet that sustains any kind of intelligent life. Scientist have discovered
that other planets outside of our own solar system could sustain life, but I think even they are looking at things too
narrowly, because they’re looking for planets that would be similar to our own.
What if other life forms exist that don’t breathe the same kind of air we
breathe or live within the same temperature ranges that we survive within. We
need to open our imaginations to possibilities beyond what we already know. Our
science-fiction of today could be the reality of tomorrow.
4Q: Tell us about The Anuan Legacy. What inspired this story.
TIS: I’ve
always loved astronomy and was a big fan of Star Wars growing up, and later, of
Star Trek. I also loved watching Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. So, I’ve always had my eyes to the stars. Combine that with
my job location and it was a no-brainer. I’m originally from Ohio and started
my career at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. I worked there for many years
before relocating to Oklahoma. If you’re not familiar with Wright-Patt, it’s
rumored to have received the Aliens from the Roswell, New Mexico, space ship
crash back in 1947. So, mix the government, captive aliens, adventures in
space, throw in a little romance along the way, and you’ve got The Anuan
Legacy.
4Q: Please share a childhood
memory or anecdote.
TIS: I’ll
share one that’s in-line with the subject matter. I grew up back when it was
safer for a child to be out and about without supervision (or at least people
thought so). Well, my mom would give me a certain time to be home, but when it
would start to get dark, I couldn’t resist stretching out on the top of the
neighborhood playground’s monkey bars (that couldn’t have been comfortable, but
I never noticed) to watch the stars. I’d tell Mom my watch was slow or had
stopped. She must have thought I was terrible at winding my watch. Or maybe she
had her eye on me after all, because I don’t recall ever getting in
trouble. Maybe I just pushed that part
out of my memory. Lol.
4Q: Every author, artist or musician has that special “place” where they
feel most creative, be it a room of their own or an office, in complete silence
or with music playing, etc. What’s yours like?
TIS: Pretty
much anywhere that I can find a desk or table and relative quiet. It doesn’t
have to be dead silence. White noise is okay. But I’m not one who can write on
the couch in front of a tv. Probably the most unusual place I’ve ever written
was in a closet. When I worked in black world programs, I couldn’t have my
laptop with me. I had to store it in a locker outside the classified area. At
lunch I’d retrieve my laptop and go to a locked walk-in closet, also outside
the classified area, that had a counter where people could leave their phones
or personal laptops. I’d punch in the code, push all the electronics aside, and
set up on that counter to write. I startled quite a few people who popped in
for their phones during lunch and found me sitting there.
4Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
TIS: Yes. I’d like to thank all my readers for
their support. I love hearing from them on social media and meeting them at
events. I look forward to meeting more in the future.
Also, for those who’ve asked about another book, I
should have The Anuan Legacy, Book 2, out sometime later this year. If anybody
would like updates, they can sign up for that on my website or follow me on social
media. I’m most active on twitter and Facebook, but also have an Instagram
account.
An Excerpt – The Anuan Legacy.
CHAPTER 1 – GAIGE
“Gaige,
you’ll be entering Earth’s atmosphere in ten seconds,” Nav said over the open
mission channel.
“Got it,
Nav.” I scanned the cockpit readouts to verify that all of the diagnostics
still checked out. They did.
“Five seconds.”
I braced for
the change in velocity.
“Prepare for
entry in three, two, one . . .”
Just as I
hit the thick atmosphere from the vacuum of space, cockpit warnings blared and
diagnostic projections flashed by as the auto-systems tried to pinpoint the
problem.
“Nav,
something’s wrong with the shuttle!” I shouted.
“We know. We
think an unexpectedly strong solar burst knocked out your Lexon system. We’re
working it from here.”
The
diagnostic projections continued to scroll through the air in front of me,
still searching for the problem.
“There’s no
time,” I said. “I’ll have to land it mentally.” Telekinesis was nothing new to
an Anuan, but controlling something that large would be more than a challenge.
It would be a miracle.
“Our
readings show the electromagnetic interference on Earth’s atmosphere caused by
the burst won’t settle down for another few Earth minutes. Be careful what
you’re opening yourself up to, Gaige.”
“I don’t
have a choice.” The shuttle was going down one way or another. I could take control
or die. “Override!”
The warnings
fell silent and the cockpit diagnostics faded. The remaining displays dimmed.
The shuttle was all mine. I reached forward and touched the control panel. My
hands trembled with surging adrenaline until I pressed them so firmly against
the panel they couldn’t budge. I wouldn’t be able to land the craft and
maintain a cloaking shield at the same time, but I’d have to worry about being
detected later.
The shuttle
vibrated under the stress of friction with Earth’s atmosphere. Opening my mind,
I directed my mental willpower into the shuttle. Slow to entry speed! Still, the vibrations rocked the shuttle. If I
didn’t get the shuttle’s speed down, it would break apart under the continued
force of entry. I focused everything I could pull from within myself at the
shuttle. It slowed—not quite to a normal entry speed—but close enough to ease
some of the stress on the craft.
Trying to
manage the shuttle was depleting me, not just mentally, but physically, too.
The unstable electromagnetic energy in Earth’s atmosphere from the solar burst
wasn’t helping. I couldn’t maintain control of the shuttle much longer. Dusk
had already started to settle over the area, but the night vision filter of the
windshield allowed me to easily see Earth’s barren winter trees—lots of them.
My eyes scanned for a clearing among all the trees. In the far distance, toward
the northwest, I found one. You can make
that.
I leaned my
body and my mind toward the clearing and willed the shuttle in that direction.
The craft glided above the treetops.
Slow to hover. The shuttle paused and hung suspended
in the air over the open stretch of land.
Landing mode and down. Drained, I struggled to keep
control. My energy level wavered. The craft shuddered then crashed to the ground
with a hard jolt that slammed me forward in my restraint.
I laid my
head back against the seat, exhausted. Stretching each arm and leg, wiggling
fingers and toes, I seemed to be in one piece. But every part of me
ached—especially my brain. It felt like an icepick had been driven through my
temples.
Dusk offered
some visual cover, but I could have easily been detected on radars since I
hadn’t been able to maintain a cloak during the landing. A stream of sweat ran
down the side of my face. I didn’t have enough energy to wipe it away, let
alone hide a shuttle.
“Gaige? Ship
to Gaige.”
I heard the
static-riddled communications coming from my crippled shuttle, barely, but couldn’t gather enough
energy to answer.
“Ship to
Gaige. Respond!”
“Yeah.” With
some effort, I got the sigh of a word out.
“We’re
evaluating your medical values now—,” Nav said.
“Gaige,”
another voice interrupted. “This is Mission Commander. I’m sending Conner down
with a rescue team as soon as the burst energy subsides. Shouldn’t be more than
another five Earth minutes.”
His words
sent a small surge of adrenaline through my body, giving me enough energy to
protest. “Tas, no! I mean, Commander, permission to—”
“You can’t
stay down there like that,” Tas said. “I’m sending a team to get you.”
“Please,
Commander . . .” I couldn’t let my situation affect the mission.
I drew in a deep breath, trying to hold on to the quickly fading adrenaline. “I
request some time to recover the situation on my own.” I took another breath.
“One of us in this area is enough, maybe too much already. Remember, we can’t
overwhelm her.”
There was
silence and then, finally, Tas answered. “Request granted. But I’ll have Conner
and the rescue team on standby. If we don’t receive a positive report from you
in fifteen Earth minutes, I’m sending them. Understood?”
I couldn’t
respond. Our short exchange had taken what little energy I’d regained. I knew I
had to fix the shuttle, get it cloaked, and move it somewhere away from the
current site. But I could barely stay conscious.
“Gaige? This
is Tas. Are you still with us?”
Yeah, I’m with you.
“Gaige?”
No energy
left . . . to stay . . . awake . . .
To discover more about Traci and her stories, please follow these links.
Thank you Traci for being our special guest this week. Wishing you
continued success with your future stories.
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