Hello my pretties! I’m kicking off the first weekend of February with an in-depth interview with the one and only R.R Campbell, author of the newly released science fiction thriller, Imminent Dawn. As part of this blog tour, I’ll be posting a review of the novel later today, where I will discuss my general thoughts and give you all the details without be spoilery (much). So, without further ado, let’s jump right in! [RAVENOUS]: Tell us about Imminent Dawn. What is the story about? Where did the idea come from? How long have you been writing it? Is this a series or standalone? [CAMPBELL]: Imminent Dawn takes place during the first round of human trials for an internet-access brain implant. It follows four perspective characters, though the character at the heart of the story is Chandra, an art-school dropout who enrolls in the research study with the dream of using the EMPATHY nanochip to apologize to her wife for the role she played in her coma. The original idea started pecking at me when I got my first smartphone. They’re something it’s easy to take for granted now, but at the time, the ability to check email, post on social media, and download these strange little things called applications was really extraordinary. As I interacted more and more with my device, I found myself relying on my own memory less often, and any curiosity I had could be satisfied with a few pokes at a screen procured from my pocket. This had me wondering what if this were all in my head? And so, the technology that would go onto form the basis of the EMPATHY series was born. At first, I intended to write a short story set in this world and nothing more, but over time it ballooned into a novel, which expanded into a multi-perspective narrative, and then, from there, blossomed into the sprawling five-book series it’s now set to become. It took me five years to get Imminent Dawn right for publication, but after having had all that time to get familiar with the world and more confident in my writing process, I was able to write book two in the series, Mourning Dove, in five months. [RAVENOUS]: In what world is Imminent Dawn set? What can readers expect in terms of setting? [CAMPBELL]: Imminent Dawn takes place in a world that’s not all too different from our own. Though this isn’t stated in the books, the idea is that the series’ timeline diverged from ours shortly after the year 2000, and, as a result of this divergence, we traveled a path with many parallels to our own world, but the differences between them are meant to feel a bit eerie. Most of book one’s scenes take place on the Human/Etech EMPATHY research compound, a labyrinthine complex on the outskirts of Austin, Texas. Throughout the duration of the research study, employees and participants alike are forbidden to leave the compound or communicate with anyone beyond its walls in the interest of preventing Human/Etech’s intellectual property from becoming compromised. Ultimately, this creates a very sterile-feeling vibe for those who remain indoors, though the center of the facility does feature a sizable arboretum that’s frequented by our perspective characters, Chandra especially. About a quarter of the book’s events transpire off the compound in and around Austin, Texas and the capital of the North American Union, which is the fictional city of Liberty, Texas. There are a few scenes near the end of the book that transpire in a few more far-flung locations, but due to spoilers I’ll keep the specifics of those to myself! [RAVENOUS]: What can you tell me about the characters? Who is your favorite? Which character was the toughest to flesh out? Why? Is there a character you wish you could have included more of? How did you get to know your characters? [CAMPBELL]: As I mentioned earlier, there are four perspective characters in Imminent Dawn, the primary protagonist being Chandra, the art-school dropout. Our other perspective characters include ruthless tech magnate Wyatt Halman, relentless investigative journalist Meredith Maxwell, and the naïve, advancement-hungry administrative assistant Ariel Commons. Though she went by a different name in the original EMPATHY short story, Chandra has been in every version of what would become Imminent Dawn. It took me a couple of years to see the advantage in expanding the world to include Meredith and then Wyatt as perspective characters before Ariel finally rounded out the cast maybe two years prior to the manuscript getting picked up for publication. I think Chandra is my true favorite—she’s the character I’d most like to hang out with—though Wyatt was fun to write, as was Meredith. Ariel was the hardest to pin down as a person, and Meredith’s story did take quite a while to get right given the complexity of the mysteries she’s trying to untangle, but I hope the reason I had a different experience writing every one of them proves to be due to their individuality as characters. One of my goals in writing this book—and subsequently the series—was to ensure each perspective character read uniquely when compared to the others. One character I wish I could have incorporated more of is Ty, an ally and friend of Chandra’s on the research compound. At one point, I wrote a short story from his perspective outside the bounds of the happenings in Imminent Dawn, just to get a better feel for him. It was a pretty devastating exploration of his backstory, but, after having written it, I realized he had a lot more to offer the series than I thought at first glance. [RAVENOUS]: What were the key challenges you faced when writing this book? What was the highlight of writing this book? [CAMPBELL]: There were a few key challenges I encountered when writing this book, principally related to the inclusion and pacing of every perspective character’s arc. Further to those points, keeping track of who knew what and...

Source