It is a pleasure to welcome Callie Bourde author of the Galaxia Alia AIR series.
Welcome Callie to The Adventures of the Everyday Fangirl and thanks so much for taking the time out your busy schedule to help us get to know you and your story better.
What does the title of this novel, series or set of stories signify?
This SERIES is called Galaxia Alia AIR. AIR is an acronym for Artist In Residence… Each book is about a main character who is an artist of some sort in this new program. The Jump Stations are huge, with big populations of permanent residents of all ages… The society has gotten very mechanized and as a result, hand work is now highly prized, luxury items.
The AIR program provides housing and living stipends for artists who create and sell their products AND also offer classes both to residents and tourists. Crafts in the first six books include — Lighting Design, Abstract Meditative Art (DoodleArt) , Beading, Batik, Lampworking, and Cameo Carving.
Do the names of the characters in your novel have some sort of significance or importance to you?
If so, give a few examples…
My universe, the Galaxia Alia, is not an Earth based world. To emphasize that, I made the names different from what we are used to. At the same time I needed SOME sort of structure, so I came up with naming conventions for each species…
So Chill’ra females all have names that end in ‘Ish — An’Ish, Mar’Ish, and Kt’Ish
D’Ur’Uma females have names with double vowels in the middle — Gaala, Neela, Tuula
And U’ngoloph males have a ‘Z’ in the middle — Mazim, Lazo, nd Hazar
What prompted you to write in this genre and who or what inspired you to?
It is a genre I read, and the scope for creativity appealed to me.
What are the most important attributes to remaining sane as a writer and do your characters reflect some of these attributes?
I’ve followed an number of career paths and they all included creativity as a component. As a result I see creativity as an on-demand skill rather than a muse driven gift. If you have to design and build six different stage sets in seven weeks, waiting for a muse is a luxury you don’t have. I try to bring that same ‘business as usual’ to my writing. I do a lot of planning at every step of the process.
What kind of research did you have to do for the novel, series or set of stories that was different from others?
Several of the crafts were either ones I hadn’t done at all or hadn’t done for a long time. LOVE the videos on YouTube
What makes you laugh?
Irony or things out of context…
What makes you cry?
Cruelty to people and animals. I don’t see any reason to be mean to anyone or anything…
What are you a fan of and is this reflected in your writing?
Doing needlework or sewing or any other craft is a wonderful way to wind down. These days my go to craft is beading.
Thank you again Callie for answering these questions and letting us get to know you and your stories better.
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More about Callie Bourde:
Please visit her website or her Facebook page for more about Callie and to get the latest about her stories.
