Straight From the Mouth of D.A. Hewitt, author of Dominion

D.A. Hewitt is an award-winning author of four novels and over a hundred short stories. One novel was awarded a gold medal from the Independent Publishers Book Awards for best regional fiction. He attributes his success to hard work, honing a skill and providing an outlet for his passion for writing.

Born in Michigan, he lived for 25 years in North Carolina before returning to live in his home state. In addition to enjoying sky diving and mountain climbing, he is a proud veteran of the US Marine Corps and has earned a degree in mathematics.

Mr. Hewitt admits to a fascination with the work of Carl Jung and of the Gnostic religion. He’d always thought intertwining these topics in a science fiction novel was a stretch, but one day the storyline of Dominion came to him. He wrote the novel in a stream of consciousness. “It makes sense, tapping into the collective unconscious,” Mr. Hewitt says, “very much like Carl Jung might have predicted.”

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About the Book:

Title: DOMINION: FIRE AND ICE
Author: D.A. Hewitt
Publisher: Double Dragon eBooks
Pages: 372
Genre: Science Fiction

It’s the year 2075. Lunar mining and processing facilities have prospered near the lunar south pole, where the Moon’s largest city, Valhalla, rests on the rim of the Shackleton Crater.

Dominion Off-Earth Resources has beaten the competition into space and is ready to establish its monopoly with the opening of the orbiting space resort Dominion. But Pettit Space Industries has a secret plan to emerge as a major contender in the commercialization of space. The upstart company is training the first space rescue squad at a secluded off-grid site in Barrow, Alaska.

The rescue squad gets nearly more than it can handle when its first mission involves the Pope, who’s traveling to the Moon to establish the Lunar See. During the rescue attempt, they discover Earth is imperiled by an asteroid large enough to cause mass extinction. Using the unique skills taught during their training, skills emphasized by the great psychoanalyst Carl Jung, these Jungi Knights must elevate their game if they are to save both the Earth and the Pope—while not getting killed in the process.

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Thanks for letting us interrogate you!  Can you give us a go-for-the-gut answer as to why you wanted to be an author?

I have no idea. It was a calling. I knew it from the seventh grade. I think it’s great fun creating a universe that I control, mostly anyway. As every author knows, the story can take on a life of its own and go in ways the author didn’t expect nor plan for.

Tell us (we won’t tell promise!) is it all it’s cracked up to be?  I mean what are the perks and what are the demands?

The demands are enormous. But if a writer can get through the hellfire of the publishing process, the reward is enormous. For me, it’s comparable to giving birth. It’s painful, and it changes your life forever, but most parents wouldn’t have it any other way.

Which route did you take – traditional or self-published – and can you give us the nitty gritty low down on what’s that like?

 I went traditional. Anyone can self-publish. What glory is there in that? Of course, self-publishing is quicker. That I think is a distinct advantage. As authors age, they don’t really take well to response times that can take up to a year, sometimes longer. But if sales are important to an author, that author should try to go traditional. Visit writing message boards. Join a writing community. There are others who are willing to help if you can find them.

What’s the snarkiest thing you can say about the publishing industry?

Editors are too young. They don’t have enough experience to know what is good. And even if they do, the publishing industry is all about filling bookshelves with books in particular niches. And, well, if you have a book that doesn’t fit into a particular niche, then you’re out of luck. But then you have to go a different route.

Tell us for real what your family feels about you spending so much time getting your book written, polished, edited, formatted, published, what have you?

They’re very supportive. Of course, I don’t have the regimented time schedule for writing that I used to have. Children change that. I recently married, and now there’re a couple of young boys running around the house. They support me, too, but children need parenting time, and that’s fine. Parenting is nearly as rewarding as writing!

What was the craziest or insane thing that happened to you in the book publishing process?

Okay, this is still painful even to think about, but I once had a novel accepted and ready for the printer. The publisher went defunct all of sudden, and I was out of luck. I ended up self-publishing it. That novel is titled Raising Khane.

How about the social networks?  Which ones do you believe help and which ones do you wish you could avoid?

There’s an adage that all publicity is good publicity. And there’s some truth to that. But from the authors I’ve known, most of them are somewhat loners. They would rather be writing than interacting on social media. Still, if you’re an author and you want to get your name out there, then you should every avenue of social media available.

Book sales.  Don’t you just love them (or lack of?)?  How are you making the sales happen for you?

I’m still working on that. Seriously, I’ve been on book tours, virtual and physical, and have worked hard on self-promotion. Nothing much has worked for me. But as I said, I’m still working on it.

What is one thing you’d like to jump on the rooftop and scream about?

I’ve got the roadmap to peace of mind. It’s right there in the Process Map of Consciousness. Why aren’t people scrambling to get to my website www.StinkyUniverse.com and check it out?

Okay, too much sugar for you today!  Here’s a nice cup of Chamomile tea and come on over and sit under the cabana and watch the waves roll in.  Now…can you tell us what you love about being a published author and how all those things above doesn’t matter because it’s all part of the whole scheme of things and you wouldn’t have it any other way?

It’s a calling. If you are trying to align yourself with the cosmic thread of how you should proceed, then you try to do what is aligned with the cosmic tuning fork of what is right. I’ve know I wanted to be a writer since the seventh grade. And I’ve been writing for decades. I’m not a best-selling author, and I haven’t been able to quit my day job. But I’ve been a writer, and I still am, and for me that’s enough.