Evaluations of the Tribe Blog Tour: Guest Post #2: Aliens Get Bullied Too by Raphyel M. Jordan

Aliens Get Bullied Too

By: Author Raphyel M. Jordan

Aly’s a seventeen-year-old Goolian who can charge into the street, exposing herself to enemy fire, because she’s a good soldier. She’s willing to do what needs done for the greater good, and I must say, she looks pretty epic when she does it too! She’ll keep an entire platoon of enemy soldiers at bay on her own if she has to, only with the aid of two Goolian blades and an alien blaster. Yes, as the novel, “Prossia” says, “Aly is a sight to behold.”

So, it might come as a bit of a surprise to know that Aly used to walk to school, eyeing the ground, being too nervous to look anyone else in the eye. At one point in her life, she would hunch over a little, so she could appear as short as the other girls in her class and village. Why, she even had a stuttering complex whenever people spoke to her! That was Aly, not long before the events in “Prossia” took place, when her main concern was proving her worth so she wouldn’t be bullied anymore in “Evaluations of the Tribe.”

In this story, we don’t see an Aly who’ll put a guy in his place, if he crosses his boundaries. Instead, we see an insecure, low-self esteemed, severely troubled young girl who wants nothing more than the kids in her class to leave her alone. It’s not like she ever did anything to them. Still, Aly finds herself facing that ultimate adversary many children – and even adults – must face on a day-to-day basis. She knows all too well what the grounds to being bullied are:

--Not having anyone to stand up for you

--Having parents or guardians who can’t seem to help

--Having parents or guardians who only make matters worse when they try to help

--Wondering what you possibly did to deserve being born different, the reason to your harassment

--Wishing that you were either dead, or better yet, had never been born at all

--Hating yourself along with those who make your existence miserable

--Dreading every morning you wake up, knowing “that person” or “those people” are just waiting on you, and you can’t do anything about it

Regardless of the circumstances, having to deal with the constant harassment, both verbal and physical, of the people you must mingle with is not acceptable. Like Aly, you do not have to simply “cope” with it. If you do, you might break, just the way she did one day in “Evaluations.” Still, there is hope. I know it’s hard to believe, but it does get better. Take it from someone who’s gone through the trenches, himself.

And what about those of us who now get to watch the travesty from the sideline? It is in our power to act and stand up for those who cannot defend themselves, much the way Aly’s best friend, Catty, does for her in the story. That means you’ll have to go out of your comfort zone. It means everyone around you will look at you, as if you’ve lost your mind. It means, at times, you might lose the support of some friends, and yes, even family.

Thing is, we’re all stuck on this tiny blue dot in the vast universe, so it’s way past time we start standing up for ourselves, and those around us. No, it doesn’t mean you have to do something as epic as a March On Washington every single day. But maybe we can learn a thing or two from Catty, who took the time to help Aly pick up her things when someone knocked her down. Who knows how that small gesture will come back in good favor. You might just save a world, at least for a day. One down. Over 7 billion to go. Good thing there’s a bunch of us around ready to do our part, eh? ;)

About the Author

Raphyel Montez Jordan grew up in a household sensitive to the creative arts. As a child, his hobbies were drawing favorite cartoon and video game characters while making illustrated stories. This passion for art never left and followed him all the way up to his high school and college years.

It wasn’t until college when he underwent a personal “renaissance” of sorts that Jordan took his interest in writing to another level. When he was 19, he started writing a novel for fun, taking inspiration from the constant exposure of different ideas and cultures that college showed him while staying true to the values he grew up to embrace. However, when the “signs of the times” influenced the story and the characters to spawn into universes of their own, he figured he might possibly be on to something.

As he studied graphic design at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia, Jordan also used his electives to study sciences like Astronomy, Psychology, and Biology in order enhance the reading experience in his story. He eventually made it a goal to have the story published after he graduated, and dubbed the goal “Operation Prosia,” the very same project that would develop into his first published book, “Prossia.”

Even though his novel is not necessarily a religious book, Jordan utilizes his Christian faith by urging people to encourage, not condemn, in his story. Best known for ending his PSFC newsletters with “Unity Within Diversity,” he hopes “Prossia’s” success will inspire people to consider and support the positive outlook in the difference human kind can share, whether it be race, religion, or any other cultural difference.

Where to Stalk Raphyel!

Website/Goodreads/Twitter/Facebook

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Prossia

by Raphyel M. Jordan

Giveaway ends December 31, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Blog Tour: Book Spotlight + Guest Post + Giveaway: Evaluations of the Tribe (Prossia Prequel) by Raphyel M. Jordan

Evaluations of the Tribe (Prequel)

Author: Raphyel M. Jordan

Check out on Goodreads!

Purchase on Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Smashwords!

Synopsis: You Learn. You Work. You Fight.

In spite her age, Aly should be the ideal Goolian combatant in her tribe. Her reaction time is faster than any adult. Her agility is off the charts, and she’s one of the top ranked sparring students in the entire village. If she could just fire a single beam of energy from her palms, like everyone else on her homeworld, she wouldn’t get pushed around, harassed in class, or long for acceptance. The Evaluations, however, can change that. If she can be the last one standing in a dangerous rite of passage that will put her years of training to the ultimate test, she’ll finally prove her worth to her people. Anything less, and she’ll be the local outcast for the remainder of her life.

There’s another person in the tribe longing for the same prize due to a similar dilemma, and it will take all of Aly’s strength to defeat her. There’s only one small problem. That person happens to be her best friend.

*Novel contains science fiction violence and some mild language. Recommended for middle grade and up.*

GUEST POST

Do you remember what your childhood was like? Can you recall that sense of wonder you had around every turn of the corner? Or how about when everything could be made okay at the end of the day if Mom and Dad took you out for ice-cream? Wouldn’t it be cool if other sentient beings from a different planet had fund memories like that as well? When I wrote my very first novel, “Prossia”, I introduced readers to a seventeen-year-old alien girl named Aly, who was just drafted into a galactic war. Beyond having to cope with leaving her home, meeting different races and species, and trying to stay alive on the battlefield, she seemed ready to take the call to arms, no matter what the cost would be. So, here was the question many probably asked after reading the novel: Just what sort of upbringing shapes a person, like this alien, to face such situations?

“Evaluations of the Tribe” was written to answer that. Throughout the original “Prossia” novel, Aly and her best friend, Catty, made numerous references about their childhood, from that one time Aly struck Catty in the face with a Goolian dankerball, to the moment when Catty was finally told about Aly’s special “condition.” Readers of “Evaluations” will be able to go into further detail about such events and more as we unravel the world that shaped these two dynamic characters into the teenage soldiers that can handle themselves during wartimes.

And here’s the great thing about the prequel; you can pick it up at whatever stage you’re at with the Prossia series. Have you not read “Prossia” yet? Then, here’s a book you can check out that will lead you right into the original! Did you read “Prossia” first? Why not dwell a little into some exciting backstory that will make the original book even more rewarding to read? I mean, what’ll it cost you? The prequel IS free, after all. :)

“Evaluations of the Tribe” is a celebration of that stubborn unwillingness youth seem to have when it comes to giving up, much the way its predecessor, “Prossia,” is. Let’s travel to a place untouched by human beings, where the people of the planet are green, agile, and capable of firing plasma from their hands. Does it sound out of this world? You bet! Still, the creatures on this planet aren’t much different from us. They want to be held in the arms of the ones they love. They want their children to return home, safe and sound, as they watch them head off to school. They hope they’ll be accepted by those in their inner circle. Oh yeah, and of course, they love dessert. :P

About the Author

Raphyel Montez Jordan grew up in a household sensitive to the creative arts. As a child, his hobbies were drawing favorite cartoon and video game characters while making illustrated stories. This passion for art never left and followed him all the way up to his high school and college years.

It wasn’t until college when he underwent a personal “renaissance” of sorts that Jordan took his interest in writing to another level. When he was 19, he started writing a novel for fun, taking inspiration from the constant exposure of different ideas and cultures that college showed him while staying true to the values he grew up to embrace. However, when the “signs of the times” influenced the story and the characters to spawn into universes of their own, he figured he might possibly be on to something.

As he studied graphic design at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia, Jordan also used his electives to study sciences like Astronomy, Psychology, and Biology in order enhance the reading experience in his story. He eventually made it a goal to have the story published after he graduated, and dubbed the goal “Operation Prosia,” the very same project that would develop into his first published book, “Prossia.”

Even though his novel is not necessarily a religious book, Jordan utilizes his Christian faith by urging people to encourage, not condemn, in his story. Best known for ending his PSFC newsletters with “Unity Within Diversity,” he hopes “Prossia’s” success will inspire people to consider and support the positive outlook in the difference human kind can share, whether it be race, religion, or any other cultural difference.

Where to Stalk Raphyel!

Website/Goodreads/Twitter/Facebook

GIVEAWAY!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Prossia

by Raphyel M. Jordan

Giveaway ends December 31, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Guest Post: Prossia Blog Tour: The Power of Asking "What If?"

The Power of Asking "What If?"

Author Raphyel M. Jordan explains where the unverise inside his debut novel, Prossia, was built from.

You know what? The real world's boring. I mean, seriously. Look outside. Did you just see a dragon or UFO fly by? No? Then I rest my case. And if you said yes. . . maybe it's time to talk to a professional. >_>

One of the reasons why we're seeing sci-fi and fantasy films strike it big in the box office is because people love being able to get lost in a world beyond imagination. It's our natural human nature. Classical stories like Homer's epic poem, "Iliad," centuries beyond centuries old, is a strong evident to that statement.

Human beings love to imagine the what-if scenario. What if there was magic? What if I had superpowers? What if aliens actually did exist? With those small sentences, with those few words, galactic governments have been put on the brink of peril, wars between elves and goblins have been raged, adventures that have challenged the test of time have been born, and that was exactly how "Prossia" was created.

After having a basis for the story in mind, I asked myself, "What if I wrote a story about aliens?" Sure, that's simple enough, but that thought would branch off into more avenues and streams.

·         What if they lived on a single planet?

·         What if it was an entire solar system?

·         What if the aliens were spread across an entire galaxy?

·         What if there weren't any even humans around, like so many other stories?

Did you see what happened? Did you see that snowball-turned-avalanche coming down the mountain? When I asked myself if my story was going to be about aliens, I was already challenging myself to explain why these people's world was the way it was, without even realizing it.

And granted, universes aren't made over night, so creating the Prossia Universe has been a very long process. The other challenge of the universe comes from the fact that this is indeed a science fiction story. Meaning, I can't just say something is the way it is by magic. This genre requires a little fact, as much as feasible. So, when I made my main character, Aly, come from people who had infrared vision, had super reflexes and agility, and could form energy out of their hands, I actually had to explain that Aly has infrared vision because it helps her see approaching threats. I have a separate file listing the anatomy of my aliens, from what type of cartilage and muscle tissue would be possible for Goolians to move the way they do, to the extrasensory perceptions they have when it comes to their ability of using fusion to create a ball of plasma.

And that only covers one of the current nine races! What about the other aliens and their designs? I wanted them to look a certain way, but there had to be a reason why. Humans and other animals look the way they look due to Earth's size, its closeness to the sun, the ecosystems it has, and tons, I MEAN TONS, of other factors. So, it's only natural other life-forms would evolve to fit their environments as well. That is, after all, one of the key functions of life. Seriously, look at how diverse the biology on our very own little rock is.

So, more questions:

 If we must adapt to our surroundings, what if I make aliens that can adapt to their surroundings through an advanced acclimation process? If that were the case, wouldn't that mean what took us millions of years to do capable of being done much sooner? And how much sooner am I talking? Am I still talking millions of years, or just a few thousand?

And still, the questions continue, and guess what else, so does the world I find myself lost in. Maybe some people would think such world building is just wayyyy too much trouble. I, on the other hand, think it's totally awesome. Being an artist and a writer, I like being able to create, so what's cooler than creating an entire galaxy!?

To think that I studied Civilization, Psychology, Ethics and Values, Biology and Ecology just so I could have some ideas for Prossia's Universe. Now, I'm not saying that's what all writers should do in order to build their worlds. I was just fortunate enough to be in my college years while I was writing "Prossia," and I needed to fill in some class electives. :P To me, researching is good, and the deeper I go into a universe, the better. Still, in the end, none of this could've happened if I asked the one thing that humans love to ask. "What if--" . Why don't you ask the same question? Who knows what wonders you'll bring. 

About the Author: Raphyel Montez Jordan grew up in a household sensitive to the creative arts. As a child, his hobbies were drawing favorite cartoon and video game characters while making illustrated stories. This passion for art never left and followed him all the way up to his high school and college years.

It wasn’t until college when he underwent a personal “renaissance” of sorts that Jordan took his interest in writing to another level. When he was 19, he started writing a novel for fun, taking inspiration from the constant exposure of different ideas and cultures that college showed him while staying true to the values he grew up to embrace. However, when the “signs of the times” influenced the story and the characters to spawn into universes of their own, he figured he might possibly be on to something.

As he studied graphic design at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia, Jordan also used his electives to study sciences like Astronomy, Psychology, and Biology in order enhance the reading experience in his story. He eventually made it a goal to have the story published after he graduated, and dubbed the goal “Operation Prosia,” the very same project that would develop into his first published book, “Prossia.”

Even though his novel is not necessarily a religious book, Jordan utilizes his Christian faith by urging people to encourage, not condemn, in his story. Best known for ending his PSFC newsletters with “Unity Within Diversity,” he hopes “Prossia’s” success will inspire people to consider and support the positive outlook in the difference human kind can share, whether it be race, religion, or any other cultural difference. 

Where to Find the Author

Website

Blog

Goodreads

Twitter

Facebook

Prossia Blog Tour: Top Ten Quotes from Prossia by Raphyel M. Jordan!

Prossia

Author: Raphyel M. Jordan

Check out on Goodreads!

Synopsis: "A teenage alien girl might endanger her comrades in-arms due to an unknown secret she keeps while fighting in a galactic war. Herself."

Where were you, when you had to grow up?

For a seventeen-year-old Goolian named Aly, it was on another planet called Argutas, a world where she had to "adjust" in order to fit her new surroundings. Daydreaming got replaced with nightmares. Sparring got replaced with killing. Singing to adoring crowds in her father's store turned into shouting for cover. This is what fighting in the war has given Aly, ever since her tribe was drafted. This is the sacrifice she makes while defending galactic order against the Cyogen.

However, there's a danger lurking right among the allies and friends Aly has sworn to protect. It's worse than any Cyogen weaponry, or any being known in the galaxy. It's wrath has the potential of crumbling enemy forces, and bringing allied troops to their knees. 

That danger is Aly, herself, and the best part is this: she doesn't even know it. The people she trusts the most are secretly monitoring her condition on the battlefield, and there's no telling what they might be willing to do if Aly accidentally unleashes the power that might jeopardize the safety of everyone around her. Then again, these are the same family and friends who are oblivious to the role they play in an even larger conspiracy blinding the entire known world.

Top Ten Favorite Quotes

“On a serious note, perhaps His Honor simply follows one of the Basic Rules of Combat in Section Forty-And-Five of our class scrolls.”

        “Truly? And which one would that be?”

        “Why, ‘keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer,’ of course.”

“I said, they all can’t be evil if all of us, people in the Allied Forces, can’t be good,” Gruago repeated himself. “No creature is born with the trait, Aly. It’s taught to them the same way things are taught to us. Who knows, they probably got told we were the bad guys too, ya know?”

". . . But then I guess some things are better left unknown.”

            “Why?”

            “It makes killing things a damned lot easier.”

        “I‘m here because I want to be,” Gruago stated proudly. “Cause I don’t want to just sit around and rely on everyone else to protect them. Pappai is out there fighting the Cyoge as far as I know, and he always told me to look after them, to protect them with my life, and I’m making sure I’m doing that. But can you not ever remember being more scared in your life?” the boy shamefully asked.

        “I’m not scared. Not at all,” the Goolian boldly replied. “I’m terrified.”

“Don’t have your worries travel too far, little Goolian,” the Argutain continued. “In the end, if you take heed to your own personal tasks, you’d be doing every being in this system a great duty of servitude.”

        “Well, of course Master,” Aly proclaimed professionally. “I do realize the fact that maintaining this planet is key to our later successes.”

        “No, little Mastra,” replied the Requin. I believe he meant a somewhat more primitive analogy. Try to stay alive.”

“No one wants to play the game of war,” Phojero said with a frown. “And no one wants to be marked in history for bringing forth the genocide to a collective group of peoples, but what would we do? Become of Pacifists as that silly Prossia regime of eons ago, hoping the enemy will let up when we wave our flowers and chants for peace while they wave their weapons? Diplomacy went out the window some time ago, remember?”

        “. . . But you can still learn a lot from younger people if you just give them some time, and teach them how to express their points.”

        “Hah! For the most part, I doubt they have revolved around their suns long enough to have any dire points worth expressing.”

        “Funny, that sounds like something an Allied grownup would say.”

        “Small world.”

“The only need we have for you is to keep the lil’ ticking time bomb composed, and nothing else. That’s your only concern. And don’t get the idea you can deny this. You are a warrior. We are your commanders, and if we tell you-if we tell her-to run into a spray of fired rounds, you better damn well make sure she’s taking as many beams in the chest as possible for us.”

“The feeling got stronger every time it happened until it reached its peak the other day. Please tell me you feel it too so I don’t feel too crazy. You know, that sensation you get when you’re charging in. Your opponent is confident, ready. You know they’ve spent months, maybe years for this one chance to take you down. And as far as they’re concerned, that’s the only purpose they’ve ever had, your total and utter annihilation.

        “But then it happens. You see the look in their eyes. In a split second, you do something so outrageous, so unexpected that they know they couldn’t even train a lifetime to plan for it. And they were wrong. That’s what it says, their look. They were wrong, and it turns out you’re actually stronger than them, and it’s not because of any amount of training on your part. No, it’s simply because natural selection said so.

        “And that last split second of life left in their eyes indicates the realization that you’re going to keep on living because you’re about to kill them, and even though they were trained not to fear death, you make their last moment of existence the most horrifying moment they couldn’t even imagine. You talk about being alive? I don’t think I ever felt more alive until I gave someone that moment for the first time in my life.”      

        “Dear Little One,” Shanvi said, “so you are to keep secrets from even me now, yes? Fair enough. If this be the case, then this is all I can confess: the world is not beyond your reach as you think it to be. Truly, you are greater than this, yes? You are strong, honorable, and noble. Truth’s Grace finds favor in you, and it will guide you into the right path. You shall do whatever needs to be done. And even if the entire known world rises against you, still, you must fight for what you believe in.”

            “That does not sound like Goolian thoughts,” Aly insisted.

            “They are not,” Shanvi confessed. “They are mine.”

Guest Post: I Heart Sci-Fi by Raphyel M. Jordan

I Heart Sci-Fi

Author Raphyel M. Jordan opens up why he loves the science fiction genre so much and what to write the genre.

"On August 6, NASA sent a mobile lab that had to travel over 154 million miles away, landing on another world in order to learn if there was ever a remote possibility of life on it." Hmm, funny. Had I written that sentence a century ago, this probably would've been found in a science fiction novel. However, we're living in a time where such a statement is  being read in magazines, on websites, and other forms of information across the world. Looks like what visions we write for fun today may very well be what our descendants will be considering headline news in the not-so-far off future.

"Fist man lands on mars."

"First Martian colony."

"First human-friendly exoplanet discovered."

"Mankind discovers FTL possibilities."

Sure, the further the imagination goes, the less possible it seems. Still, someone had to think of it first, right? Some kid had to read the idea in some article he/she read, or maybe in some summer reading he/she had to for school.

Nowadays, writing such books as a sci-fi writer is a heck of a challenge, for me at least! What fictional items I might have thought were groundbreaking in my books could actually be a common thing to hear in three years because our knowledge and technology are advancing so quickly. So, what can I possibly do to keep ahead? Well, for me, I try to think big, on a galactic level.

When I used to write stories as a kid, they were usually fan fics, inspired from characters already well-established. As I got a little older, around the age of middle school, I wanted to make stories that branched away from other people's creations since I figured following someone else's establishment was limiting my own creativity.

Even with that simple logic, I had no idea that I laying out the foundation that would expand my imagination in the years to come. At the age of 9, when I was making a picture book about ant colonies going off to war, I never imagined I was going to tell the journey of a young alien girl shaking the foundations of her world due to war like I did when I started writing my first published novel, Prossia, at the age of 19.

That's what makes mankind so amazing, as a whole. We want to challenge ourselves by not. . .  well, limiting ourselves. When one generation says it's virtually impossible, the next will want to ask "Why not?," while the one after that will have that stubborn-yet-awesome audacity to say "You were all wrong, and we're going to prove it."

The reason why I write science fiction is not only for the young people I see anticipating the wonders of the future now, but also for the generation of teachers, engineers, presidents, prime ministers, and kings and queens leading our species to the greater heights yet to be seen.

My favorite quote comes from Aristotle, saying "We are what we repeatedly do. Greatness then, is not an act, but a habit."

And what is the human race's greatest habit? To dream, to hope. To think the impossible. To obtain the unreachable. To touch the untouchable. Let's think big on that galactic level, and there's no telling what amazing discoveries were once called science fiction will become science fact.

About the Author: Raphyel Montez Jordan grew up in a household sensitive to the creative arts. As a child, his hobbies were drawing favorite cartoon and video game characters while making illustrated stories. This passion for art never left and followed him all the way up to his high school and college years.

It wasn’t until college when he underwent a personal “renaissance” of sorts that Jordan took his interest in writing to another level. When he was 19, he started writing a novel for fun, taking inspiration from the constant exposure of different ideas and cultures that college showed him while staying true to the values he grew up to embrace. However, when the “signs of the times” influenced the story and the characters to spawn into universes of their own, he figured he might possibly be on to something.

As he studied graphic design at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia, Jordan also used his electives to study sciences like Astronomy, Psychology, and Biology in order enhance the reading experience in his story. He eventually made it a goal to have the story published after he graduated, and dubbed the goal “Operation Prosia,” the very same project that would develop into his first published book, “Prossia.”

Even though his novel is not necessarily a religious book, Jordan utilizes his Christian faith by urging people to encourage, not condemn, in his story. Best known for ending his PSFC newsletters with “Unity Within Diversity,” he hopes “Prossia’s” success will inspire people to consider and support the positive outlook in the difference human kind can share, whether it be race, religion, or any other cultural difference.

Where to Find the Author

Author Website

Author on Goodreads

Author on Twitter

Author on Facebook

Interview: Author Raphyel M. Jordan (Prossia)

Author Raphyel M. Jordan pays a visit to TeamNerd to chat about his novel, Prossia, a science fiction story centered around aliens. He gives an inside look as to why he chose to write a book minus humans, what makes him such a big nerd, and which science fiction author he would want to tag team with.

Annabell: Tell us a bit about yourself.

Raphyel Jordan: I'm just a guy who likes to let his inner dorkism show through the story he writes. :P

Annabell: What are some attributes that would qualify you as a nerd?

Raphyel Jordan: Hmm, lemme see. Video games? Check. Comics? Check. Anime? Check. Why, I even played old school RPGs here and there! You know, the one where you have a notebook and a dice? Yep. That serious. :P

Annabell: Describe the plot behind Prossia.

Raphyel Jordan: Prossia is the tale of a young alien girl named Aly. There's a danger lurking among the friends she's sworn to protect when she gets drafted into a galactic war with them. This danger is worse than any enemy weaponry, any being known in the galaxy, and it has the potential of crumbling both hostile and allied forces. The worst part is this: That danger is Aly, herself, and she doesn't even know it. I'd like to think of Prossia as being that classic coming-of-age story we can all relate to since many of us had our perspective of the world turned completely upside down when we left the "bird's nest."

Annabell: You essentially went to school for your first passion, Graphic Design then jumped into the world of writing. How did Graphic Design inspire you into writing your debut novel, Prossia?

Raphyel Jordan: Actually, I wanted to be an animator for the majority of my life, but that never came to fruition. I've been drawing since I was three years old, if not younger. Since the animation thing didn't work out, I figured graphic design was the next best thing since I could implement my life-long passion of drawing with it. When I was a kid, I used to do "graphic novels." So, in a sense, what I did with Prossia really wasn't anything new to me. It just involved a lot more words and thought! :P

Annabell: Prossia is centered around aliens without any human characters. Why did you decide to create a story absent of humans?

Raphyel Jordan: For starters, I knew the things I wanted these characters be capable of doing was going to be impossible by human standards unless I went the way of the genetically enhanced super human soldier, or something like that. Those stories have been done countless of times, and done so well that I needed to do something different. I also thought it would be cool to see how advanced sentient life would conduct itself. Oddly enough, the way they govern one another is very human-like in my story, but a lot of their customs are different due to their natural habitats and biochemistry. On top of that, it was just a blast being able to do all of this world building from scratch.

Annabell: The cover to Prossia is pretty cool! How did you approach creating it?

Raphyel Jordan: Uh oh. You just asked me a good art question! LOL! Thank you so much for the compliment, btw! The cover is actually inspired by an older illustration I did of Aly, called "A Soldier's Burden." In the original pic, I wanted to show Aly being weighed down by putting on the heavy toil of war. Soldiers give up so much of their, well, humanity, so the rest of us can keep ours.

So, with the cover, I wanted to convey a similar message, but put more emphasis on what Aly's protecting. . . and absolutely how terrified she is. She's only a seventeen-year old whose only main concern was making it pass high school. She didn't volunteer for the war, but was drafted! Who wouldn't be scared?! In the image, she almost has a "What am I doing here?" expression on her face. I also "cheated" with her armor a little bit for the same purpose, making it seem slightly bulkier than her form can manage. And, I hate to break it to ya, but I have plans on the cover's getting revised in the future. Sorry. :P But I promise, it's gonna be for the better.

Annabell: Since you love to draw, would you ever consider creating a book specifically filled with illustrations of the characters in the book Prossia? Or perhaps creating covers for fellow Indie/Self-Published authors?

Raphyel Jordan: I won't lie, the thought of making a Prossia art book has crossed my mind, but I'm afraid I'm too boggled down with the storytelling aspect at the moment. But who knows what the future holds.

As far as doing covers for fellow indies, I'll be more than happy to do so! I'm actually doing similar business in regards to that as we speak. Just gimme an email, and we'll work something out. prossianovel@gmail.com

Annabell: You grew up in a conservative Christian household. What did your family think when you told them you were writing a book about aliens?

Raphyel Jordan: LOL! It wasn't that weird at all, actually. Why, I even had a book signing at the church I was raised in! It's sci-fi. SCI-FI. Besides, people have noted a lot of spiritual values in Prossia. And while I can't deny that my upbringing and beliefs deeply shapes a lot of the morals in the story, I didn't want it to come along as being too preachy. Sure, there's the action in the battles and all that jazz, but Prossia's mainly about unity within diversity, so I wanted there to be lessons worth having if one looked at the text hard enough.

Annabell: Would you ever write a book in a different genre outside of Sci-Fi? Why or why not?

Raphyel Jordan: Hmm, I dunno. I can't say I have anything outside of the genre on my to-do list right now. What I enjoy the most about sci-fi is the exact same thing I enjoy about drawing; that broken down wall of freedom and visual creativity. Even if I couldn't draw, I could still describe the physical realm my unique creatures dwell in. The only other best option for me would probably be fantasy, but I think I'm just too much of a current space geek to give that genre its due justice.

Annabell: If you could tag team with any Sci-Fi author to write a novel, who would you choose and why? What kind of story would you write about?

Raphyel Jordan: Ooh! Ooh ooh ooh! I've thought this one out before! That would definitely be my friend aka mentor Kevin J. Anderson. Without giving anything away, there's a lot of stuff going on in the Prossia Universe that I just can't tackle on my own. When the dust is settled, I think it would be such a cool thing to look back at some spots or events that were probably overlooked, and have bestselling authors like Kevin just have at it.

Annabell: Thank you to author Raphyel Jordan for stopping by and giving us a fun look at his novel, Prossia!

To learn more about the author and his work, check out his website.