Sean MacUisdin is a sci-fi writer who lets his imagination tell the story.  Sean talks about balancing writing and marketing and why he’s exploring the use of e-book trailers on YouTube.

1. Pretend for a moment I’m a reader looking for my next book.  Pitch me one of your books in five to ten sentences.

Were you ever afraid of boredom more than the unknown?  Did tedium and predictability, those bywords so often associated with the responsibility of adulthood, give you pause for a moment, and inspire you to do the unexpected?  Meet Alexander Armstrong: seventeen years old, poised to graduate high school and preparing for the comprehensive education and career laid out by his parents. That is until, fueled by an immature desire for adventure, he stole away one night and hopped a train for Vancouver where, in a fit of teenage pique, he signed up for service in the United Nations Off-World Legion.

Eight weeks later, as he jumps from the bed of a transport truck into the mud of the colony of Samsara, twenty light years from Earth, Alexander is confronted not by a sterile and deliberately planned colony of his dreams but by a world of transplanted tribes, warlords, and refugees.  It is a world where the tundra camel and steamboat reign supreme over the trackless steppes and mountainous lakes and rivers; where pirates, Chinese Tongs, Kazakh bandits, and Gliesiun warriors pale before the presence of his decuria leader, Subedar Angus Motshwega, better known throughout the Legion as MacShaka the Tartan Zulu.

2. What motivated you to become an indie writer?

To be honest, I was motivated by what often felt like insurmountable odds in getting my book to print.  Agents, publishers, awards, and no end of luck seemed to be the factors I needed to bring my books to print, so I opted, after a course at the local college, to take the e-book approach.

3. Have you been traditionally published?  Why or why not?

I have only had a poem published in a Canadian anthology.  I tended to write more than market, since I spent much of my time over the last decade away with the Royal Canadian Navy.  It’s only recently with a shore posting that I have had the time to concentrate on marketing my books.

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