Peter Kazmaier's "The Halcyon Dislocation"

We're happy to have Peter Kazmaier with us today talking about his book, The Halcyon Disclocation. To learn more about Peter and his book, read on!

1) How did this story come to you?
I have loved stories that involve catastrophes and learning to survive in a wild and dangerous place such as Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island and Robert Heinlein’s Tunnel in the Sky. My goal was to write a scientifically plausible, plot-driven novel about a university that gets displaced to a new world. I particularly wanted to explore how Christians would react if they were part of this survival challenge while cut off from all of their faith connections.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
I belong to a book club and one day mused about how I had always wanted to write a novel. One of our members, a journalist, challenged me to do more than just talk about it. When the book came out four years later (I had a demanding research job in chemistry) I was so gratified, as a first time fiction writer, to be chosen runner-up in the Futuristic Fiction Category in the Canadian Christian Writing Awards offered by The Word Guild. Having written many technical articles, making the style change to fiction was a significant learning experience.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
I suppose (a) that I would attempt to write fiction at all would surprise my colleagues who are used to reading my scientific papers; (b) readers would be surprised to learn that I enjoy studying the American Civil War and generally travel to battlefields every spring to study the history; and (c) perhaps some might be surprised that I wasn’t born in North America and that English is not my first language.

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
Currently I am working on the sequel to The Halcyon Dislocation. Many readers have asked me “So what happens next to these people stranded in this terrifying new world? Do they ever get back?” The sequel will answer those questions.

5) Parting comments?
As a new author, I owe a great many thanks to the members of The Word Guild, a Canadian Christian writers group who so encouraged me, to the many who took the time to peruse early drafts of my book and offered their constructive criticism, and of course to my readers. Having avid Science Fiction readers critique early manuscripts of The Halcyon Dislocation was of inestimable value. I could measurably see the improvement in the story as a result of their observations.

6) Where can fans find you on the internet?
Interested readers can find me at http://peterkazmaier.com/. The book is available at http://wolfsburgimprints.com/  or through http://essencebookstore.com/ .