Heather’s Bookshelf: Author Interview with AJ Ullman
Book Title: Havall 16
Released: 01/15/21
Genre: NA SciFi/Time Travel
Interview by Heather L. Barksdale
What inspired you to write “Havall 16”?
Ullman: I work primarily in the medical field. I see everyday the disparity of care that Americans get every day, mostly divided by what kind of insurance one has, if any. Those with money get good care. Combine that with the pace of medical technology discovery and I foresee a real possibility of a world where two classes of people exist: those that have it all, like the Havells, and those that Havenot. There's a wide range of literature that covers the subject of humans inventing technology that then spins out of control, witness Frankenstein or Jurassic Park. I wanted to carry on that storytelling tradition.
How did you come up with the names of your main characters?
Ullman: Tommy Canada is the narrator who is also the inventor of this groundbreaking new technology. "Tommy" makes him sound young, which he is, and "Canada" is simply a bit of a pun that someone whose name suggests he's from another country might rise to the pinnacle of American medical entrepreneurship. Zand Laviolette is Tommy's fiancee, and l just love the name which is a shortened version of "Alexzandra", which like my name, starts with the letter "A". Win Gault, Tommy's nemesis and business partner, is a bit of a riff off of Ayn Rand's character in Atlas Shrugged, John Galt.
If "Havall 16" were adapted into a movie, who would you like to see cast to play your lead characters?
Ullman: That's way over my skill level. I know a thing or two about writing, but nothing about casting actors for movies. That said, I will say, my next book which will come out later this year I plan to turn into an audio book and I have casted the female narrator, who is a young actor I met at a musical a few years ago.
P.S. I would be thrilled to death to see Havall made into a movie; please, if your readers know of anyone in the production business, pass them on to me!
When you encounter writer’s block, what do you do to break yourself out of it?
Ullman: Writing is my avocation; I still have a full-time vocation. Therefore, I write when I can, which is at night or on weekends. A typical book takes me about a year to work up. Inevitably, any one who has written will experience writer's block. I'm lucky (or not, as the case may be) not be a well-known author with a book-a-year contract, that I have no artificial deadlines to meet. If I get stuck, it's usually on plotting. Once I know how the story goes, hammering out the wording takes time, and is fun, but doesn't prevent me from writing. When the plot gets stuck, I usually just put it down for a few days and let things percolate in my unconscious mind before coming back to it.
I usually have a pretty good idea of a beginning, and usually, the end of a book. It's the vast middle that proves difficult. A medical analogy that I would use (since I work in healthcare) comes from a doctor who once described abdominal problems (since you can analogize that with the "middle" of a human body) that patients complain of as "the graveyard of the physician".
Is there anything that you want readers to know about you, your writing process or your book?
Ullman: I'm not a straight genre writer. My first published story (One In A Million) was a romance. My next (Hit Or Miss) a thriller. My third (Drifting, Falling -- Diary Of A Call Girl Suicide) is a psychological drama. My fourth (And The River Runs Deep: The Cold Case Murder Mystery Of Leah Marcus) is a murder mystery disguised as a true crime novel. Havall 16 is a sci-fi action adventure. I love writing in different genres; it allows me to experiment with style.
Are there any tips that you would like to share with other aspiring authors?
Ullman: Read, read, read. Then write, write, write. I look back at my evolution as a writer and realize how far I have come. Having good beta readers (who are not friends,, relatives, or colleagues) and a good editor really helps.
What is your favorite book, genre, and/or author?
Ullman: I just love writers like Gillian Flynn, Megan Abbott and Dennis Lehane.
What are you working on next?
Ullman: My next novel, which should come out later this year is called Stand Your Ground.
Here's the blurb:
When Cady Fox leaves dinner with the senior attorneys at her law firm one spring night, the only thing on her mind is: Will they make her a partnership offer the next morning? What she doesn’t expect is to be accosted on her bike ride home in an inner-city park by a man whose nefarious intent requires her to shoot him to death on a deserted basketball court at 11 p.m.
Growing up poor in Appalachia, Cady had few expectations that she would be a success in Big Law. Now, on the cusp of her greatest moment, she becomes the focus of a police investigator tired of people claiming white privilege when killing Black men and a public outcry for justice for the dead man.
For Cady Fox, her world cracked open long before she found herself face to muzzle with a .45 on the concrete jungle of a desolate urban basketball court at an hour before midnight one spring night. The line between stand your ground and murder always blurs in the moment of a confrontation. Cady is forced to navigate the criminal justice system and the societal tensions that come with that blur, learning how the past eats your soul when your only choices are to run or stand your ground.
Learn More About the Author and Havall 16 here:
website: https://ajullman.com
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