#Author Brandon Overall on #Writing #SciFi

Can you tell us about your main character?

-Neil is a character I feel that a lot of people can identify with.  He doesn’t have a super personality, he is just a regular guy with super powers who doesn’t really know how to deal with them.  I feel like Neil captures the struggle a lot of people would face if they were placed in a similar situation.  What would you do if you had all the power in the world?  Would you use it for good or evil?

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

-I remember really enjoying writing in school.  I loved having the ability to create a story from my imagination and turn it into something that someone else could read and remember.  I didn’t really start writing as a hobby until very recently, and that just sort of happened all at once without much reason other than extra free time.

When did you first know you could be a writer?

-I still don’t know that I can, but it’s looking promising.

What inspires you to write and why?

-I like the idea of thousands of strangers reading my work and talking about something I came up with to their friends.

How often do you write? And when do you write?

-While working on my book I wrote a lot.  I wrote the first draft in a month and spent 3-4 hours per day writing.  I usually write best in the mornings or in the evening while listening to music.

What genre are you most comfortable writing?

-I love science fiction, and I have a decent knowledge base to pull from with my Computer Science degree and an interest in science/physics.

What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel, or about writing in general?

-Definitely writer’s block.  When I’m on a roll, I can knock out thousands of words in a single day, but when I get to that part of the story where I just don’t know exactly what I want to happen next, I can spend several days without writing more than just a few hundred words.  It’s tough, but you just have to push through it.

Did writing this book teach you anything and what was it?

-It taught me that what you want the story to be might not necessarily be the best way to write it.  You aren’t writing it for yourself, you’re writing it for your readers.  You have to let the story unfold the way they want it, even though you might rather have it play out differently.  At the end of the day, they are the ones you are trying to satisfy.  You have to write something other people will want to read, not just yourself.

Do you intend to make writing a career?

-Not a career, but definitely a lucrative hobby!

How did you come up with the title?

-The title is a combination of several ideas that come together in the story.  The first, and most obvious, is the fact that the story is about a character with superhuman powers, and talks about the nature of those powers.  The second meaning is a kind of play on words in reference to the “human nature” that is often cited to be the source of many problems in society.  The main character’s flaws as he deals with his extraordinary abilities are sort of a reflection of his “superhuman nature”.

How did you develop your plot and characters?

-A lot of the story and characters were actually improvised as the story progressed.  I went back a few times to reshape the earlier parts of character or plot development to allow something that I thought of later on to occur.  I knew what the major plot points and characters would be, but the journey from point A to point B was mostly improvised.  That way, writing the story was just as much fun for me as reading it is, because the story was unfolding in front of my eyes, and each new advancement in plot was a surprise to me.

What do you hope people will take away from your writing? How will your words make them feel?

-I want people to put themselves in the shoes of the main character of my book and imagine what they would do with that kind of power.

Superhuman Nature is Brandon Overall's first novel. It was written and published during his first deployment to Afghanistan as a 2nd Lieutenant in late 2013.

Neil Hitchens was a senior ROTC Cadet in college. He was just weeks away from graduating and becoming an Officer in the United States Army, until a strange dream set off a chain of events that would twist his life into something he could have never prepared for.

In the days following his dream, several strange happenings occurred that he began to suspect were the result of his own actions. Before long, he discovered that he had the ability to control the world around him with his mind.

What started out as an unpredictable ability quickly evolved into an extraordinary power that had the capacity to change the world. It didn't take long for the government to find out what Neil could do.

They knew having such limitless potential on the side of the US Military could give them limitless political influence, and they would stop at nothing to get Neil to do their bidding. They would find out what happens when you back a dangerous animal into a corner.

Neil spent his whole life believing he would amount to greatness, but he never expected how greatness could corrupt even the most innocent of minds.

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Genre – Science Fiction

Rating – PG-13

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