Nexus Point By K Pimpinella

TITLE : Nexus Point

AUTHOR : K. Pimpinella

GENRE : Sci-Fi/soft-Military Sci-Fi

Intended Age Group: Adult

Pages: 338

DATE OF PUBLISHING : July 2021

Welcome to my tour stop for Nexus Point by K. Pimpinella hosted by Escapist Book Tours. I am so grateful to be part of The Escapist Book Tours and for getting the chance to do a Q & A with the author. Make sure to check them out because they do an awesome job of introducing a lot of new titles mainly self pub and indie published SFF books.

If you are interested in checking out the official page for the book tour – CLICK HERE

Content/Trigger Warnings :

Shown on page :

Violence

Mild gore

Torture

Drug use

Language

Alluded to :

Child abuse
Mentions of physical fights
Mentions of harsh upbringing/abusive father

SYNOPSIS

Winner of a 2021 Canada Book Award
Quarter Finalists in SPSFC
Editor’s Pick, BookLife/Publisher’s Weekly

Late in the twenty-third century, teams of Time Rangers boomerang through a nexus point into historical time periods to capture “time runners,” renegade time travelers who would endanger the future by changing the past. KAI SAWYER, son of one of the founders of the Time Rangers, is a Spawn, a genetically enhanced soldier, who has never known his rear admiral father’s love…only his ambition. And as Kai rises through the ranks to become the Time Rangers’ youngest commander ever, he must constantly prove himself to fend off perceptions, even from his own team, that nepotism is behind his meteoric rise. But when Kai and his team are sent to seventeenth-century France to capture a time runner altering the arc of medical advances, Kai finds his strengths used against him …and as he becomes increasingly aware, a pawn in a dark scheme.

AUTHOR Q & A

1. What was your inspiration for writing Nexus Point?

A scene popped into my head wherein a person was so broken, he’d become complacent about life. He no longer cared who lived or died. I wanted to explore what it would take to get a decent person to that point. Unfortuantely, that scene never actually made the final cut of the book. Other than that, I’ve always had a great imagination, especially when it comes to space. I love the worlds and characters established in Star Trek, Stargate and the game Mass Effect, and I want to play in those worlds, with those people. So I created one that I could play in.

2. What is it about time traveling that excites you the most?

It’s that question … if you could go back in time, knowing everything you know now, what would you change? We all think we would change a lot, but ultimately, taking those things out of our lives would change who we are. For example, I was in the military. It was hard, to say the least. Would I be able to join up again knowing what I’d go through? Probably not. But it’s that military experience that helped shape who I am now. I also really like fish-out-of-water stories, where the character(s) are confused about their surroundings. Like someone from the 18th century not understanding a revolving door.

3. If you could be a Spawn in the world what abilities would you want to have?

Long life and health. I want to see what the future holds.

4. If you could be a Time Ranger in this century and you need a team of them, who would you like to be on your team(please choose authors you want on your team) and why?

First off, Michael Mammay. He’s the author of the sci-fi seriers, ‘Planetside’, and most recently, ‘The Weight of Command’. I’d definitely want him on my team because he’s ex military! He could command us. And Andy Weir would be good as well. He knows his space sciences and he’s great for a laugh. Gotta have humour.

5. What is the best thing and the worst thing about your main character Kai Sawyer?

The best thing about him is that he has a strong sense of duty. The worst thing about him is his anger issues.

6. If Kai Sawyer wrote a memoir / autobiography what would be the title of the book?

‘It’s Only Me’. Without giving away too many spoilers for book #2 of the series, ‘Burning Man’, he struggles with some self-worth issues. He feels manufactured for one thing, and when he’s not doing that ‘one thing’, he’s kind of discarded. He was trainned for one purpose in life, and outside that, who is he?

7. What was the research process like?

Fun! I watched and read all sorts of things concerning two of my biggest passions, space and history. I already knew a lot about 17th century France, being a fan of the Musketeers, and I studied space sciences at university so I got to combine some of my favourite things. And when I needed military advice, my developmental editor was a US Special Forces soldier for 28 years. I also have a best friend in med school who helped with the genetics. And now I have an Austrian Physicist helping with time-travel rules, lol. I guess you can say I contract out a lot of my research, lol. But one thing I really had to research was the Earth-Lander crash. I pulled out my old NASA shuttle manual from my days at NASA’s Adult Space Academy to find out how the shuttle flies … so that I could make it crash.

8. Do you have any writing rituals?

Other than I write in the morning and drink lots of coffee, not really.

9. If you couldn’t write in the genre you write in, which genre would you prefer to write in?

Probably straight military, war genre.

10. Which genre would be the most challenging for you to write in and why?

Romance. I’m not romantic at all. And the genre doesn’t interest me to read or watch. It’s not that I don’t mind a little romance, I’ve always got my ‘ship’ in mind when watching or reading other people’s work, but I don’t think I could handle a book or show dedicated to that genre.

11. Tell us about a funny/weird / most shocking thing you discovered while researching for your book/ books.

Probably Hotel-Dieu in France. It’s still standing today and acts as a hosptial. It was founded in 651 AD, and is the oldest, world-wide hospital still operating. Living in Canada, we don’t have that kind of ‘structural’ history. Our buildings don’t date back nearly that far.

12. How has your journey of book publishing been like?

Pretty smooth. I used Friesen Press, who basically does everything for you. And do it very well. I thought about going trad, but that takes time. I didn’t chose indie because I was afraid of losing my ‘creative voice’ or anything like that, I simply didn’t want to wait at least 2 years to see my book out there. I’m very familiar with ‘Writer’s Beware’, a site that lists problematic publishers and agents and whatnot, so I was careful who I chose to do my book. And since I’d seen Friesen Press books in many stores, and it was Canadian, I went with them. Prior to that, I spent over 18 months working with my developmental editor, Randy Surles, trained by Shawn Coyne (an editor for the big 5 New York publishing houses for almost 30 years), so I kind of felt like I was working with a trad publisher.

13. Tell us about the most fun and favorite thing you got to write in the book.

It was either the first chapter where Sawyer and Hawk break into the museum, or the scene where Sawyer visited Mercier in the cell at the end. Sorry, spoilers for that last scene! It was just as gratifying writing what Sawyer did in that scene as it would be to do actually do that. I kind of felt a bit of a … ‘in your face, Mercier!’ vibe when I wrote it, lol. I really liked writing the first chapter, because it’s basically based on a true story of when my best friend and I broke into the actual museum used in the story. But the true story is not violent. No beating of security guards happened. In fact, no security guards were present. We got away with it. Wait … how long is the statute of limitations on breaking and entering? Maybe I shouldn’t say anything furher, lol.

14. What do you love the most to write and hate to write in your stories?

I love to write the action and hate to write the emotions. I use beta readers/helpers to help strengthen the emotional aspects of the story and characters.

15. Your favorite underhyped books you want more people to read.

‘Goodbye to the Sun’ by Jonathon Nevair. He combined intellectual, literary writing with fast paced action scenes so well. I wish I could write like that. And, ‘Ternary’ by Kristen L. Stamper. Strangely, this is largely a romance book, with a science fiction setting, but the characters were so fantastic! I read the book in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down.

See Also:

(This is our attempt at a bit of fun. We ask our authors to come up with a few short, clever, possibly pop culture laden, descriptions of their books just to give a little taste of what’s to come for readers.)

Despite All My Rage, I Am Still Just a Rat in a Cage • Release the Beast! • We Need to Get Back to the

Future!

Book Links:

Amazon | Audible | Book Depository | Goodreads

AUTHOR BIO

An author and lover of all things science fiction, K.Pimpinella grew up with the greats like Star Wars, Star Trek and the original Battlestar Galactica, and still enjoys them today. The theme of teamwork which dominated Stargate, the camaraderie of the character dynamics of the video game Mass Effect, and the time-travel ideals of the TV show Timeless, were the foundations of her world-building and characters of the Time Ranger series, of which, Nexus Point is the first novel.

Some of her favourite sci-fi authors are; Isaac Asimov, Gareth L. Powell, Elizabeth Moon, Michael
Mammay and fellow Canadian science fiction author, Timothy S. Johnston. She also enjoys Jane Austen and Shakespeare … ‘as flies to wanton boys we are to the gods. They play us for their sport.’
Having studied English and space sciences at university, it helped hone her skills to keep her science as real as possible while also enjoying the classics of english literature. And time at NASA’s Adult Space Academy in Huntsville, Alabama, helped her realize her dreams of going into space.
Her time as a Trooper with the reserve armoured reconnaissance regiment, The Queen’s York Rangers
(1st American Regiment) has also provided her with insight into writing soft-military novels. As one of
the only female recce combat arms soldiers in the unit at the time, it was an interesting and challenging experience for her. She also is fortunate enough to work closely with a developmental editor with over 20 years experience in US Special Forces and a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.

Pimpinella has also worked with GlobalMedic, a volunteer organization whose mandate is to ‘save lives
by providing short-term, rapid response in the wake of disasters and crises, both at home and abroad,’
where she volunteered in both Thailand and Cambodia as a paramedic (of which she has worked for the past 20 years). The experience with GlobalMedic was eye-opening and gave her a chance to see the world. She now lives in Uxbridge, ON. In her spare time she enjoys ice hockey, snowboarding, western horseback riding and spending time with her husband and two dogs, Dallas and Tonka.

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | GOODREADS