Sunday, March 23, 2008

Sinbad's Last Voyage


1 - Tell us a bit about your book.

It's a story of a man who hates Terrans helping a Terran woman find her husband afer he's been accused of being a spy. It's set against the backdrop of an inerplanetary war.


2 - Tell us about the best friend - gender, age, appearance, how they came to be with the hero or heroine and anything else we need to know about them.

If there's a "Best Friend" in this book, it would have to be Jake the Bartender. He's around thirty, is a Terran. Jake Goldstein runs the Asteroid Cantina, Sinbad's base of operations when he's on Earth, and is one of the few Earthers whom Sinbad actually likes. The Cantina is located in Old Town in the Thieves Quarter and is off-limits to the authorities. The law in Old Town is that "Law Abiders coming into the Quarter can expect to be killed; Lawbreakers leaving the Quarter can expect to be arrested."


3 - Who does the "best friend" help in the book?

Jake arranges false identities for Andi when Sinbad has to help her escape the Federation, he's a master hacker, and he's also the one who handles for Sin's finances. He also brings in Sadie, one of his "girls" to disguise Andi as a hooker in order to help her get out of Old Town.


4 - Does the best friend have a specific purpose in the book?

Andi goes to Old Town to find Sinbad and ask him to discover where her husband, who's been arrested as an Alien National and a spy because of the war, has been taken. She goes to one bar and is sent to Jake, is told that if anyone knows where Sinbad is, it'll be Jake. The Asteroid is a focal point for most of the men who come to Old Town.


5 - How does your hero or heroine feel about the best friend?

Sinbad hates Terrans because of what they did to his parents and his planet. It's ironic that he makes his base of operations in a Terran establishment and that his best friend is Terran. At one point when he states how much he hates Earthers, Andi reminds him of this and he says, "There are a few individuals, like Jake. that I find...congenial," because he can't think of any other way to describe how he feels about the bartender.


6 - How would your hero or heroine handle their problems or difficulties with the best friend?

They don't really have any major problems. Sinbad comes to Jake's for R&R after each smuggling run. Jake takes his profits and converts them into Credits. He arranges sales and handles getting new identity cards, etc.


7 - Are there problems between the best friend and your main characters?

Jake protests when he learns Andi wants to find Sinbad because he knows how his friend hates humans, but at her insistence, he sends her to him. When the Federation soldiers come looking for her, he helps hide her, and makes new identity cards for her, as well as hacking into the main Federation Computer and finding out where her husband is being held. He doesn't really worry about any of it because he has faith in his own abilities--and in Sinbad's--in not being discovered.


8 - Do you see the best friend ever having their own story?

Jake's too sedentary and satisfied with his lot ever to have his own story although he's mentioned in several other of the Sinbad novels.

9 - Was the best friend inspired by anyone you know?

Unfortunately, no.


10 - Is there anything else about the best friend that we need to know? Feel free to share.


11 - Please provide your website link.

www.tonivsweeney.com


12 - What is the link to buy your book?

For paperbacks: www.lulu.com; for e-books:www.doubledragonbooks.com

2 comments:

Beth Trissel said...

Kewl, Toni! Enjoyed your interview and take on the best friend angle. :)

Anonymous said...

Nice interview, Toni. Thanks for sharing.