--Conducted by Jeannine Van Eperen
Jeannine: Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Vijaya. I must say your name, Vijaya, is very different. Is there a story behind it?
Vijaya: Thank you, Jeannine, for the opportunity. A story behind my name? Definitely. Although I was born in France, my name is from India. My Yoga teacher gave it to me (it's a Yoga tradition). Vijaya comes from Vidya (knowledge) and Jaya (Eternal Victory). It's a very strong name often given to elephants, which is funny, because I am only five feet tall and a hundred pounds. The masculine form is Vijay, like Vijay Singh, the famous golf player/actor/tennis player, who is from India. When I moved to America, I made Vijaya my legal name.
Jeannine: The Garrison - Lockdown takes place in the year 3033. Is there any particular reason you chose that date?
Vijaya: Actually, this book is part of a series established by my publisher, so the date and the setting, as well as the premise, were devised by the publisher and given to the various authors writing the different books in the series. It makes sense that in over a thousand years the human race will have mastered space travel and expanded its dominion. Since I wrote the first book in the series, however, I had the opportunity to contribute in building this futuristic world to my liking. I particularly enjoyed creating the bearcats, ferocious furry creatures living on the frozen expanse.
Jeannine: Most of your books take place in the future and in another galaxy. Why do you set your stories where you do?
Vijaya: Some writers are in love with the past, and I am to a certain extent (I am working on a medieval series). But for some reason, I love to envision the future or futures, and the many worlds that must exist out there in space. When I write, I transport myself to another place, another time, and just live in that world for the duration of the book. It's not even a matter of whether or not these worlds exist. When I write, these worlds feel real and they do exist on some plane of consciousness or another. I feel privileged to be able to visit them.
Jeannine: In Ashes for the Elephant God, you delve into reincarnation. Do you believe in reincarnation? And if so, have you met someone you believe you knew before in a previous life?
Vijaya: I do believe in reincarnation. One of my early poems starts: Once, in a previous life, I was a Samurai. That would explain my fascination with Japanese Martial Arts. I believe life is eternal. What we call death is only the passage from one state to another, like conception or birth. And if the spirit can exist without the body, why couldn't we inhabit a new body in the womb and return? The Old Testament makes references to people who were kings and prophets hundreds of years before they were born. In ancient times, reincarnation was a common belief, that's why many children were named after their grandfathers or great-grandfathers. They were believed to be their reincarnation.
But I also know about reincarnation from direct experience. I went through regression under hypnosis several times and discovered that my husband and I had been married before. More surprisingly, I also visited under hypnosis a few lifetimes in the future. That could explain my love of Science Fiction. The future, or possible futures are familiar to me I love futuristic settings. They make me feel I belong there.
Jeannine: How interesting! I’ve always had a hankering to see if I could be regressed. I do know I can be hypnotized as I have been, but never had the opportunity as you have to try to see if I've lived before. I envy your experience.
I know a lot of us are interested in India. Have you lived in or visited India? If so, please tell some of your impressions of the country and the people.
Vijaya: India is a culture shock for any westerner. You either love it or hate it. Obviously, I loved it, and I think about it often with fondness. Ashes for the Elephant God was directly inspired by my experience living in India, where reincarnation is a fact of life, like in the book. While in India, I studied Yoga in an Ashram and translated books about Eastern Philosophy from English into French. It was a very happy time in my life, and I did meet a man there, named Mukunda. The book is dedicated to him. My readers often say after reading the book, I feel like I've traveled to India and lived there. It's because every detail in the book is accurate, even some of the least believable, like the incident with the snake. Although the circumstances were different, it really happened to me.
Jeannine: I've heard you are a daredevil and like to participate in dangerous adventures. Would you care to tell us some of the activities you engage in doing?
Vijayz: When you say dangerous, my husband would probably agree with you, although I don't see it that way. With proper safety precautions, jumping out of a plane, or rough water rafting down the Colorado River can be as safe as driving a car if not safer. What makes it interesting are the mental and physical challenges, overcoming your fears, pushing your body. I like to keep in shape. I was part of the French National Gymnastic team in my teens and I believe in mind over body. I like to win, not against other people, but against my own limitations. Some might say I am a thrill seeker, but I never gamble with my life. On the contrary, these experiences help me grow stronger. To name a few of my adventures: high altitude free fall skydiving, white water rafting, mountain climbing (although I am deathly afraid of heights), riding elephants (some can be very aggressive), petting tigers, jumping cliffs, parasailing, waterskiing, surfing (I've done it with sharks around), Martial Arts competitions. I call it research. So when I write action scenes, I know what I'm writing about.
Jeannine: I'm sure that readers will find your books and actions very realistic, Vijaya.
Do you find it difficult to write of parallel universes, or is it fun?
Vijaya: I love parallel universes. They allow us to explore the consequences of our actions without having to suffer them. Imagine that the first Moslem invasions in the eighth century had succeeded in conquering all of Europe? What would our society be like? The Moslems of that time were actually very advanced scientifically, and Europe wouldn't have had to suffer from the dark ages. What would have happened with Christianity? Would the Christians have gone underground? It only takes a 'what if' to create a totally different world. In Archangel Checkmate, I have two worlds, the real world, where Michael is trying to repel Reptilian evil, and a parallel universe where that evil has already taken over Earth. It's fun for a writer to explore two different stories in one.
Jeannine: Vijaya, in your opinion does belonging to various writers' organizations help writers? What organizations do you recommend and why?
Vijaya: I belong to and volunteer for many writers organizations, and although they sometimes take up a lot of my time, I am glad to help them back, because they taught me so much. If you are serious about writing professionally, you have to learn the craft somewhere, and many of these organizations offer workshops and conferences, as well as critique groups that can help you hone your skills and learn about all the spoken and unspoken rules of good writing. Even when you master the technique, there is more to learn each day. Writing is an evolving art. We often say as a joke that Shakespeare or Hemmingway would not find a publisher nowadays. It's true, the language changes, the people change, and writing novels is a changing art. You have to adapt constantly. I have a critique group and wouldn't dare send a book to a publisher without running it through their critiques. I have a published friend who is rewriting an entire novel in present tense, because his agent (a serious name in the business) told him that was the new trend in the kind of literature he writes. There are many groups and I don't know them all. If you write romance, Romance Writers of America is very professional and has chapters in every state. I am the President of the Arizona Authors Association, a state-wide group for writers of all genres, including non-fiction and children's books. Mystery writers have their own organizations, so do Science-Fiction writers, etc.
Jeannine: Are you working on something at present?
A writer is always working on something. Right now, I'm on deadline, writing a novel in the Operation Pleiades series for Triskelion Publishing. I already wrote book two in the series, RELICS, already published in e-book and coming out in print in January 2006, and other authors wrote other books in the same series. What I'm writing now is the prequel, what happened before, with a new hero and heroine, lots of suspense, drama, and sensuality, of course. Oh, and some paranormal as well. The working title is Anaz-Voohri, the name of the alien race trying to invade Earth. As for my pet project, something I write on the side between other books, it's a series of authentic medieval legends involving a family of Fays related to Morgane the Fay. Their adventures involves a curse and spans the centuries from Scotland during the Viking invasions and the foundation of Luxembourg in 963, to the first crusades in France, Spain, and the Middle East. I have been researching this series in Europe for many years and already have a lot written. These are big books and there will be six of them, at least.
Jeannine: That sounds like quite an undertaking, and will surely keep you busy. From your brief description, I know I'd like to read about the Fays.
Why do you choose to write metaphysical elements into your stories?
Vijaya: I believe our brains are more powerful than we suspect. Where does imagination and intuition come from? Since childhood I had premonitory dreams, practicing Yoga and meditation I found that I can get answers and stimulate creativity by just stilling my thought process. We can access the knowledge of the universe at any time through simple meditation. I had experiences with ghosts, hostile and friendly. I had direct experiences in reincarnation. Science now agrees that matter is not as hard as we think but only atoms vibrating at various speeds. In other words, matter is only vibration, and what we tend to think of as paranormal is only the normal state of things. Only we didn't know it until now. Since our spirit is vibration and matter is vibration, then metaphysical and paranormal are part of our universe, and it's only fair that it would be part of my books as well.
Jeannine: I understand what you mean, Vijaya. I know that when I do T'ai Chi Chih, I am more creative and energetic. I imagine it is similar to what you get from yoga and meditation.
Since you were born in France, do you set any of your novels within or partially in the country of your birth?
Vijaya: Ashes for the Elephant God starts in France before Fabienne goes to India. Several chapters of Archangel Crusader are set in Paris. Several books of my future medieval series are set in France as well. Writers should write about what they know, and I know France so well, it just makes sense to use that country as a setting whenever it's appropriate.
Jeannine: Did you need a period of adjustment to live in Phoenix? How do you feel about the long, hot summers?
Vijaya: When I left France to live in India, I thought India would be too hot for me, but I didn't have any problem adapting. Then I lived in Hawaii, in Florida, and two winters in Philadelphia convinced me that I didn't like the cold anymore and I had to return to the heat. That's why I chose Phoenix. The only thing I miss in Arizona is the ocean.
Jeannine: I can relate to that. I love the ocean and live in New Mexico.
Is there anything about Vijaya Schartz that you'd like us to know?
Vijaya: What's much more interesting is what I wouldn't want you to know. But you'll probably discover that in one of my books, although I'll never say it was me. To remain on the safe side, I can tell you that I love cats and there is a cat in each of my books (sometimes it's a tiger, a leopard, even a bearcat, and sometimes it's just a blue-eyed Siamese kitty, like my own cat of fifteen years, Geisha. You can see her face on my website.
Jeannine: Have other careers helped you in your writing?
Vijaya: Yes, and I had many. Traveling certainly was a source of inspiration, and I spent years as a tour guide in exotic places, like Hawaii. You also meet interesting people that can be a base for very colorful characters. In Ashes, Fabienne is a stage actress and I was one before I packed up and left for India to find myself. Working in medical transcription certainly helped my typing and my speed. Sometimes it's important to get the idea on the page as fast as it flashes in your mind. In transcription, I also learned to use gadgets like recorders and transcriber machines that I used to record my ideas while commuting, then I transcribed them later into my document.
Jeannine: Are you constantly writing or do you need a period to vegetate between books?
Vijaya: I try to stop and do something different before starting on a new story. I repaint the house, rearrange the furniture, shop for clothes, that kind of thing. But lately it has become more and more difficult. The demands of my publisher do not allow for that kind of respite anymore.
Jeannine: Since you write of other worlds, is it difficult to remember what you have put into your fictional world in the way of fixtures, inventions, daily life, etc.? How do you keep track to keep the books consistent?
Vijaya: I don't have any problem remembering what I create in my books although everything is recorded in neat notebooks. Each project has at least one 8" wide folder full of information about the world, the technology, the characters, the conflict, and anything I collected in my research, remotely relevant to the story or the time period. The most difficult part in a series, like The Pleiades, is to remember what other authors have contributed to the world you envisioned. For instance, in RELICS, people are going around in Dial-a-bikes. These are covered motorbikes with flying capacity created by Toby Heathcotte who wrote the first book in the series, Full Contact. As it happens, Toby was in my critique group at the time, and we brainstormed on it together, but sometimes it's a little more difficult to adapt to someone else's idea of a futuristic world.
Jeannine: Finally, let us know your URL so that readers can look up more about you. I found your site to be very well done. Did you design your website or have it done for you?
Vijaya: My website is easy to remember if you can spell my name. I did design it myself, because I update it and change things around all the time, so that my fans can see something different each time they visit. I also have a blog I try to update every two or three days to let my readers know what I'm doing. I also keep my calendar updated, with my book signings, appearances, conferences, workshops, etc. It's important to me to have the latest information on my website at all times.
Jeannine: Thank you, Vijaya, for taking the time to answer my questions and for allowing Gotta Write Network the opportunity to let readers know more about you.
Vijaya: Thanks, Jeannine, for the opportunity. I always enjoy sharing with readers. I wish you the very best with your own books, as I discovered you also are a very successful author.
--Jeannine Van Eperen is the author of:
Children of St. Yves; According to the Rules;
Memory and Desire--Wings Press
Trail to Bliss; Golden-Rod-- Awe-Struck Publishing
Hearts in ¾ Time; Love and All That Jazz-- Port Town Publishing