Daniel Schwabauer is an award-winning author and teacher. He is the creator of The One Year Adventure Novel, Cover Story, Byline, Amazing True Life Stories and The Legends of Tira-Nor.
His professional work includes stage plays, radio scripts, short stories, newspaper columns, comic books and scripting for the PBS animated series Auto-B-Good. His young adult novels have received numerous awards, including the 2005 Ben Franklin Award and the 2008 Eric Hoffer Award. He graduated with honors from Kansas University’s Masters program in Creative Writing in 1995.
In this interview, Daniel talks with us about his new Sci-Fi legal thriller, Maxine Justice: Galactic Attorney.
FF: What inspired the story in your book?
I enjoy a good alien invasion story. The idea for Maxine came from pondering other possibilities for the conquest of Earth. What if humanity were destroyed not by being overpowered, but by being tricked out of our inheritance by a species that understands us better than we understand ourselves? What if Earth were subjected to the planetary version of a hostile corporate takeover?
FF: What can you tell us about the main characters in your book?
Maxine Justice, a twenty-something ambulance chaser desperate for relevance and cash, is the luckless hero Earth needs when aliens come calling. Problem is, nobody would believe she’s the right person for the job because, in spite of her good intentions, she’s got no legal credibility and very little expertise in contract law.
Counselor Singh, her android therapist, serves as a mentor and spiritual father as Max learns to navigate a corporatized future that boasts of auto-judges and quickie trials decided by jurors participating from home.
Dr. Arounais is the crackpot scientist who hires Maxine to present his healing serum to the U.N.. He claims it will heal all of humanity’s natural diseases. And all he wants in return is 30% of Earth’s gold reserves. He really is brilliant, and his formula seems to work. If only he weren’t claiming to be an extraterrestrial dressed in an “earth-suit.”
FF: Which character surprised you the most?
Counselor Singh delighted me when I first imagined him coming onstage in chapter one. Maxine calls him a “pastoroid.” Which is true. But neither she nor I realized how deep his personality ran. By the time the book ended I was wishing he could take me out to lunch and explain my own life to me.
FF: Why do you think storytelling is such a powerful way to share truth?
I love this question because I think the answer is completely unexpected.
First of all, stories are effective because they impact our emotions before they impact the conscious mind. Like it or not, emotion is a much stronger motivator than pure reason.
The second reason is that great stories are powerful when they hide the truth from readers instead of revealing it. I realize this is counter-intuitive. But lasting stories get their power from concealment; they present a theme or a premise only through character actions and dramatic situations. They don’t tell their message—they show their message.
Hidden or metaphorical truth requires audience participation. When we have to work to uncover the meaning, we own it. It’s true that this means some in the audience will not understand the truth the story is telling. But the only alternative is to be clear, which comes across as preachy. We tend to disregard truths we don’t arrive at through some sort of mental effort. This is why propaganda only works on those who already agree with the propagandist. We accept a truth readily enough if we already believe it. But to change people through story requires that we invite them on a journey of discovery without rigging the results.
FF: How do you get into the right frame of mind to write for your genre/audience?
First I read several books in the genre. I never actually start writing until I’ve spent months (and sometimes years) brainstorming ideas. The key for me is finding the right doorway into the world of a particular book. Sometimes that doorway is an event. Sometimes it’s a character. But I always need to have an emotional connection that makes me want to see the book come alive. At that point I create a lengthy playlist of appropriate (and wordless) music that will serve as a backdrop for my writing sessions. The more I listen to these songs, the more I unconsciously associate the playlist with the story-world and characters. This association gets stronger over time, and eventually helps me re-enter that mental writing zone quickly when I sit down to write.
FF: What do you want readers to take away after reading your book?
I would be delighted to hear that readers fell in love with Maxine and Counselor Singh. As to the theme, well, the book definitely has one. But I don’t want to wreck its power by saying what it is. (See question #4.)
FF: What are the biggest challenges for you as an author writing in your specific genre?
One particular challenge is the perception of science fiction many readers have. The genre has a long history of both profundity and goofiness, of prophetic insight and pathetic triviality. For many readers it is only loosely defined, and occupies the same imaginative space as fantasy. So it can be hard to explain that what I try to do is challenge readers to think deeply while enjoying complex characters and an unexpected plot. I either come off sounding pretentious (and, hey, maybe I am?), or crazy. Sci-Fi? You mean like … Marvel movies?
FF: What authors or books have inspired you as an author?
Everything C.S. Lewis wrote has impacted me in some way, but I also love George MacDonald’s fantasy works, G.K. Chesterton’s paradoxical essays, and Robert Heinlein’s combination of idea-driven science fiction and smooth storytelling. For pure artistry, Walter Wangerin, Jr.’s work is both beautiful and profound. That said, no book has inspired me more than the Bible. The depth of its layered meaning, the power of its storytelling, the richness of its metaphors, and its knack for telling unexpected truths, is endlessly fascinating.
FF: How has your faith or world view impacted the way you tell stories?
How many words do I have? The short answer is that I think telling the truth is essential even to fiction. A commitment to follow Christ is a commitment to embrace truth. This doesn’t necessarily mean preaching, but it does mean seeing lies as abhorrent and destructive. Thus I try to be honest in my work. My characters must be allowed to act as themselves, not as I might want them to act. As a storyteller I must not put my thumb on the scale and help goodness to win. If goodness wins, it will be because, and only because, winning is what would happen given such people and such circumstances. In short, I would echo Job when he tells his friends that if they lie to defend God, God will rebuke them for it. The Truth doesn’t need a lie as its defense attorney.
I can’t say for sure whether Maxine Justice believes this, but I do.
Maxine Justice: Galactic Attorney
Daniel Schwabauer
Enclave
Genres: Science Fiction, Legal Thriller
Release Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN-10: 1621842223
ISBN-13: 978-1621842224
Book Summary:
Can Justice Save the Earth from Extinction?
Maxine Justice is an ambulance-chasing lawyer desperate for relevance and cash when aliens hire her to represent them before the United Nations. An off-planet consortium wants to heal humanity of every natural disease in exchange for 30% of Earth’s gold reserves.
The deal launches Max to legal stardom and makes her an international target for assassins. MediCorp, Star Cross, PharFuture—the big medical companies all have good reasons to want Max out of the way. Worse, she discovers her alien clients may be planning something more sinister than anyone has imagined.
Can a lawyer who failed the bar exam three times find some way to save the world from global and interstellar conspiracies? Or will humankind’s future end in a galactic courtroom?
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