Nebula Award finalist and USA Today bestselling author Amy (A.K.) DuBoff has always loved science fiction in all forms, including books, movies, shows, and games. If it involves outer space, even better!
As a full-time author, she can frequently be found traveling the world while writing timeless science fiction, science-fantasy, and comedic sci-fi. When she’s not writing, she enjoys wine tasting, binge-watching TV series, and playing epic strategy board games.
She’s currently co-authoring several projects within her Cadicle Universe including her most long-running series Fractured Empire.
Let’s dive into the questions.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Don’t rush. I spent many of my younger years racing against a non-existent, arbitrary clock. When I started self-publishing, I threw out the first book without much of a plan, and I didn’t get a great launch because of it. Doing it over again, I would have had at least three books ready to go, and I would have spent more time networking in the indie community before hitting “publish” the first time.
Where is your favorite place to write?
Much to my back’s protest, I really love curling up on the couch to write. I try to sit at my desk or stand, but I have a bad tendency to end up on the couch, anyway, especially while editing.
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
I actually haven’t written any standalone books, aside from the Troubled Space comedic space opera novellas, which more or less work independently. I have the Dark Stars trilogy, which is set in its own universe, but the three novels need to be read as a set to get the complete story. All of my other significant writing is in my Cadicle Universe.
I’ve recently gone all-in on the Cadicle Universe, even bringing in numerous co-authors to add additional depth and texture to the already large scope of the story world. I first started working on the original series as a kid, so I’ve been living in the universe for more than two decades now. Since the original story, it is set more or less concurrent with modern-day Earth, it’s been fun to weave in connections between the Taran Empire and our everyday life as we catch up to various milestones in the book timeline and real-life developments.
I plan to do most of my future writing in this universe, though some works will standalone better than others. I also hope the branch out the universe into other mediums beyond books.
Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
I do read all of my reviews, at least on Amazon.
I look at the bad reviews to see if there’s a good lesson to take away for future writing. This is especially important if there are multiple reviews saying the same thing. Sometimes there’s just an audience fit issue, but even in these instances, I see if there’s anything else I can do differently in marketing (to find the correct readers) or writing (improving craft) to avoid those issues in the future.
On the flip side, it’s always thrilling to receive a compliment from a stranger. Even though I’ve been publishing for several years, it’s still surreal to know that people all around the world are reading words I wrote. It’s a special experience to be able to share something from my inner mind with others and to be able to imagine this other reality together.
What is your writing Kryptonite?
Netflix and similar streaming services. Oh, the allure of binge-watching! I LOVE being able to sit down and watch a 10-episode season in a day or two, but obviously this isn’t very good for productivity. I try to balance getting in TV time as a “reward” for getting in my words for the day, or I’ll sometimes give myself a slacker day to binge-watch a show after completing a major task.
What is your favorite childhood book?
I absolutely adored The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper. The books had what I felt was a perfect mix of adventure, magic, mythology, and classic struggle between good versus evil. I was so disappointed when I turned eleven and wasn’t recruited as an Old One, lol.
What’s a song from your book’s playlist?
“Starchild” by Two Steps from Hell.
If you could have one which would you choose?
Dragon or Spaceship
Other: Teleporter
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