I talked to Perihelion Books about Chariots of Orion, Hearthstone, and why I don’t get involved in earthly politics.

In an interview with Perihelion Books, I’ve talked about what inspired me for the “Chariots of Orion”, my favourite books, and why I became an author. You can find the whole interview here:

http://www.perihelion-books.com/2018/10/01/why-i-dont-engage-in-terrestrial-politics-an-interview-with-author-amaris-wenceslas/

Source: Ámaris‘ Instagram @amariswenceslas

How did you became a sci-fi author?

I’ve always loved astronomy and science fiction! When I was little, I wanted to become an astronomer, or particle-physicist. As we know, that part didn’t work out, but the least I could do was use that passion for a novel. I’ve marvelled about how an alien civilisation could be like on my blog, and I thought that it might be good material for a novel.

How did that wide, complex story behind “Orion” evolve? Did being a songwriter help you create the story?

It’s a funny question because I don’t really know how it evolved. This world just suddenly unfolds and you first take notes, then it becomes quite a pile of notes, then you write the first couple of chapters, and the more you write, the wider the story grows. I wanted the setting for the book to be realistic, and the civilisation to be a community that is slightly similar to us, not some crazy monsters with tentacles. So I kind of built that world based on logic; I asked myself “Is this realistic?”. Sometimes I’ve felt a bit like a researcher, climbing through an ancient city and exploring more and more about the city the further he walks. A bit like Indiana Jones exploring a temple, I guess.

As for my music, I guess it hardly inspires me for what I’m writing as an author, most of the time it’s the other way round, and the book inspires me for music.

For “Orion”, you have done a lot of researches before even starting to write, even sought the help of scientists to let the planet and its civilisation seem realistic. Wasn’t that a lot of work?

I think it’s always a bit of work, trying to, you know, define such a complex world. The more a world unfolds, the more questions will appear, the more details claim to be defined, and of course you want them to be realistic. You start with one planet, suddenly you got several, there are several countries, several languages, several cultures, all of which have their traditions, their history, their customs. For me, the most difficult thing was to calculate the astronomical and physical attributes of the planet, to make it as realistic as possible. But I’m glad I had great people, great scientists, that were willing to help me with that task.

What can the reader expect in “Orion” 1?

I guess it’s not the classic, you know, laser sabre, spaceship story, although there are a couple of spaceships in the novel, don’t worry. You can expect a journey to a highly advanced civilisation in outer space, wars between extraterrestrial worlds, and, I hope, good entertainment.

Why did you choose the genre of science fiction and fantasy?

Again, I don’t think that this is something you choose, but something that needs to evolve on your mind; I think it’s the story that chooses the genre, not the author.

What do you think about subjects like astronomy or Ancient Astronaut Theory that keep appearing in the story, are you into these things, too?

Absolutely! I’ve loved astronomy since I’ve been a child. I think it’s just fascinating. As for the Ancient Astronaut Theory, of course, it’s inspired me a bit for the story of “Orion”; I think it’s pretty cool. I’m not a U.F.O. hunter or something, but I think it’s stunning to think that extraterrestrials could have visited the earth in the past, even though, of course, there isn’t any proof. I reckon I’m more realistic- and skeptic- minded then some of the readers might think, and I’m very skeptic whenever I hear such theories (laughs).

The story of “Orion” features political melting pots. Are you interested into politics?

Actually, I don’t get engaged with terrestrial politics, you know (laughs). The planet on which the story takes place doesn’t have anything to do with the Earth. But I thought that it’d be more realistic if an alien civilisation faces political schemes as well, instead of just fighting each other in spaceships.

Let’s be honest – do you believe in extraterrestrials?

I am absolutely convinced that we’re not alone in the universe, but it might be difficult to get in contact with another civilisation. Perhaps they use completely different ways of communicating, maybe they want to be left alone, and who knows if they would be peaceful? In “Orion”, there are a lot of different species, some of which are not interested into getting involved with humans, and some of them wanting to destroy the Earth. I guess that there could be lots of different species in the universe, and we probably shouldn’t get too close to all of them.

On your recent album, Aquamarine, you dedicated one of your songs, Taunt, to the game Hearthstone. Do you play games a lot?

I really like Hearthstone, although I don’t have time to play it a lot, and the game just somehow inspired me for the song. I also really like chess. Maybe it just shows that I’m a bit of a nerd (laughs).

What kind of books do you enjoy?

Utopia by Thomas Morus is one of my favourite. I also do love surreal science fiction and fantasy. Another book I loved is What if by Randall Munroe, I love that combination of science and entertainment. And of course, I’m a huge fan of H.P. Lovecraft, especially the Cthulu series.

Interview by judith, editor and publicist.

What the “Chariots of Orion” is about and why I became a sci-fi author

The Request – The Chariots of Orion 1 is my first sci-fi novel to be published! But why does a producer and singer turn into a sci-fi author?

First, I’ve always loved astronomy and science fiction. When I was little, my dream was to become an astronomer. We know that this didn’t work out. But that didn’t stop me from loving astronomy. Maybe it was because of this fervour that I wanted to create a novel about what could happen if we met an intelligent, highly advanced civilisation from outer space.

The world of Iphael and its countries I’d say were built on logic, rather than only fantasy. I wanted to create a completely fictional, but still realistic – somewhat believable – world for my extraterrestrial civilisation. As much as I love H.P. Lovecraft and especially the Cthulu series, I wanted to create extraterrestrials that were similar to us, not monsters with tentacles. Don’t get this wrong, I love stories with monsters with tentacles, but I thought that the message of the book, “what would happen if we met a highly advanced civilisation from outer space? What if they would attack us?” would be easier to limn when the civilisation is physically similar to us, because they’re looking similar like us, but don’t function like us.

But then, I wouldn’t dare to claim that my kind of civilisation is realistic… Who knows what aliens might look like? They might actually have tentacles, like in “Arrival”, and be terribly advanced, too. And who knows if they would be friendly inclined?

Readers might also wonder why the alien civilisation in the book is a society without any money. Well, I do have a degree in Finance Management and Business Law. So economy was a huge part of my lectures. During the degree, I played with the thought of a hypothetical society that doesn’t know capitalism like we know it. And it seemed just not realistic that an alien civilisation would have the same system as we do. The system of my civilisation was formed by generations of searching for a new planet in a spaceship colony, after their own planet had been destroyed, and it seemed logical that such experiences would cause a society to have other ideals than we do. Shares and Hedgefonds might not seem that important once your planet is destroyed, so the civilisation in the book would not care about those things. They also would not approve any form of voracity, with the resources on a spaceship being very limited. Why voracity still is ubiquitous in the story? You’ll have to read the book to find out:)

You can grab your copy of “Chariots of Orion” as hard copy or e-book here:

https://bellingswood-bellingsbooks.com/w/detail/index/sArticle/182/sCategory/91?number=BB81009

Analysis: Sunburns, evolution, and aliens

Last week I was sitting there, covered in cooling ointment, my arms (and my face) completely red. How come? I caught a bad sunburn after spending the day outside with my bro, doing research for my novel.

How is that possible? How do you get a sunburn when you actually are climbing about rocks and boulders, and you’re surrounded by fog?

Still a bit blushed.

It seems as though our bodies are just not capable of dealing with so much sun. But, wait- we are a species that evolved on a planet with a sun, right? Have you ever seen a giraffe complaining about sunburn? An ape? A jellyfish? So, how come animals can deal with the sun, but we can’t?

Aren’t our bodies used to the sun anymore? Were our ancestors not always outside? OK, troglodytes were supposedly dwelling in caves, but they did come out of them from time to time, didn’t they? So, what’s the deal?

Apparently, we lose abilities if we don’t train them. I for example was thrown out of ballet classes in drama school because I didn’t train enough. So, could this apply in evolution? If we only use dictation and autocorrect to write, could we actually lose our ability to write? Could our hands shrink? If we look up everything in the internet instead of learning it from books, could we damage our ability to actually learn things?

And if we were to invent devices which would allow us to communicate telepathically, would that mean that our ability to hear, and to talk would suffer?

I could very much imagine an alien species that has become so intelligent that they literally only need their brains to steer computers, which steer AIs, which steer, I don’t know, anything from administrating the society to provide food (but then, would such a species need food? Or would brain food be sufficient?), to choosing your outfit (maybe caps would be a trend).

If we had AIs doing everything for us from tidying up our kitchens to working for us, could that mean that we might lose the ability to…you know, everything? We would be nothing but brains, but unable to do anything without the help of our AIs, because we would have no limbs, no abilities left, and we would have forgotten everything about how we built all of this because our AIs are storing the information, not we. We couldn’t even talk, because we would use the AIs to speak.

I ought have taken a selfie…I would have seen that I needed some sun lotion.

So should we stop using sun lotion, to prevent evolution from taking away our ability to speak? Literature (and every physician) advises us not to. It might not be such a good idea.

And maybe, if we were composed only of brains, we would at least have become intelligent enough to invent a treatment against sunburn, because that really hurts.

Conclusion: You should really use sun lotion.

Aquamarine is out now!🌊

My new and fourth album “Aquamarine” is out now. The album is all bass & blues and water.

This album was an attempt to make a new turn, and to leave the electronic genre. I don’t say that I’m completely done with EDM, and with “Geiko”, but you get tired of being called an “EDM producer” all the time, when you actually have long moved on to R&B, Blues, and Pop. And Bass & Blues. I also like the album more than “Neon Colours”, it’s a little less experimental. (I know, sometimes I like odd things in music. But it’s art, right?)

Decide yourself:

https://open.spotify.com/album/7MKZ7NwMoE2kAxrDCZfOka?si=jVUtNeh8Q2Wch_SBFqVi2Q

So how did this album develop? I’ll tell you below.

London Lights

Just a song inspired by my residence, and one of my favourite cities, London. Have you ever driven along the Strand at night, maybe on your way to a show, the lights around you glittering, and twinkling in the night? I actually haven’t, even though I live in London, but I have walked along the Strand at night, and it is marvellous!

Kiss It Or Leave It

A song about commitment, which actually ought have appeared on “Neon Colors”. I actually did a bit of a challenge in that song, as the main vocals have been recorded live, and I gave it only 2 or 3 attempts. What did you say? Crackpot? OK, I understand you.

Spotlight

A song about something or somebody that will make you feel great, or cheer you up, because they make you laugh, or because you just like them. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a love song, but I guess it would make a great love song.

Love Under

I admit, this song was about fun recording it. It is a breakup song, with a special background. Whilst recording the new album, my hard disc with all my samples and songs on it failed, because I had unplugged it coincidentally. So I had to set up everything from the backup. But suddenly, one of my favourite virtual plug-ins wouldn’t work anymore and it was then when music production and I, the producer, really had a hard time in our “relationship”. This inspired me for this breakup song.

Beach Love

This song was obviously inspired by a beach, and by a picture of Palau.

Build Me An Ocean

Sometimes I love dramatic songs like that. It is another breakup song, and yes, it might have evolved because of that hard disc.

She Ain’t Me

This is one of my favourite songs, because of its message I bet you won’t get first. The song appears to be about jealousy, but actually is about online game addiction. And a girl that is jealous about the online game, OK, so it’s mingled both of them.

Taunt

Another nerdy song- this song was actually inspired by Hearthstone!

Every Step

This song is quite a challenge to sing live. I’ve tried. I know that this song stands a bit out because it is so experimental, but it’s just so fun creating songs like that (even though they’re hard to sing). You don’t wanna know how many hours I had to low-cut my vocals for this song.

Salt And Sand

While I’ve been called “EDM producer” even when I had started to make different music, and this album was supposed to be a step away from electronic music, I couldn’t resist include at least one song with a more electronic vibe. The song is about too much salt destroying a relationship; the gamers among you will get this.

Crazy

This song with its floating sounds was inspired by water. You will notice that this song comes without any bass (sorry, I know it’s a bass & blues album), as I wanted it to sound like water softly trickling in a beach.

Aquamarine

The breakup song that gave the album its name was of course inspired by the water, and because the song sounds blue to me, I decided to call it “Aquamarine”.