Q&A

The Official Website of
S. Thomas Kaza

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Q&A Send your questions to contactme@sthomaskaza.com

Q. Do you have any advice for a young writer?
A. I am always looking for advice on ways to improve my writing, so I may not be the best person to give advice. But I recommend The Elements of Style by William J. Strunk to anyone who wants to improve their writing.

Q. How long have you been writing?
A. I wrote a few stories in high school and a few more in college. But I only started to focus on improving my writing about seven years ago. Then I get even more serious about it four years ago. I am always looking for ways to take it to the next level.

The Seventh Night was first published in 2010 on the www.GoodStorytoRead.com website.

Author's Comment- It was time to write another science fiction story, and the idea came to me one day when I heard some people talking about gettting away from it all. I have travelled a little, and I find that no matter how wonderful a place is that I go, there is always something that will make it less than completely wonderful.

Excerpt
It took awhile to sink in. All these people whom he befriended, all these brothers and sisters in his new family, were gone. Tears came to his eyes. The Teladorians left him alone in the ward. He began to week. Why did he keep on living while others around him kept dying? It didn't make sense. In anger he told himslef he didn't want to go on anymore, not if it meant watching others die. What good was it to be the last man alive?

Q. Have you ever been really sick like the people in the story?
A. No, I have never been so sick that I was close to actually dying, but I have come down with the flu pretty bad a couple of time. And it felt like I was going to die.

Q. Do you think an intelligent alien race would actually do what happened in the story?
A. I am not sure, but when the day comes when mankind first meets an alien race, I think we will realize how much we really need each other.
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Private Kaza was first published in 2009 on the www.GoodStorytoRead.com website.

Author's Comment- My father fought in World War Two in Europe. He did not talk much about his experiences. But he always laughed at the movies showing a hero running through enemy gunfire while patriotic music played in the background. He lived long enough to see Saving Private Ryan, which he said was more realistic than any other WWII movie he saw. But he did start to talk more as he got older. And one story he told was about a goose he shot while walking lead.

Excerpt
"What can I do for you, Kaza?" he asked.
"Well, I wanted to ask you something, Sarge."
"Ask away."
Private Kaza looked away for a moment.
"How do you knw, Sarge?" he asked
"How do you know what?"
"Well, how do you know if..... if you can do it? I mean, I took the training. I shot all the targets. I could shoot this rifle in my sleep, but....."
The Sargeant looked back at his paperwork. "It's really easy, Kaza. Just do what you're told. Do what you're told, and you'll be alright."

Q. What is so interesting about killing a goose?
A. All joking aside, it was an enemy goose, and it was attacking.

Q. Did your father actually tell you he was afraid he might not pull the trigger?
A. No, but he told me he was "scared as hell" to walk lead.
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A Problem with Pixie Dust was first published in 2009 on the www.GoodStorytoRead.com website.

Author's Comment- One of my children has a peanut allergy. I know it can be very hard to deal with any allergy, especially if people around you are not understanding. So I wanted to make a story where a character has to deal
with something similar, but in the end they find hope for themselves despite their situation.

Excerpt
"Illeanor, why am I allergic to pixie dust?" he asked.
"I don't know," she said, "Why is it some elves are born with five fingers instead of six?"
"But I could go to the party if I had five fingers, couldn't I?"
"Perhaps the question you should ask is why Milleander Maple's mother wouldn't promise to keep pixie dust out of the party?"

Q. Do you know someone with an allergy?
A. Yes, one of my children has a peanut allergy. It is not the most serious level of peanut allergy, but an anaphylactic reaction could occur, which could be fatal.

Q. Where did you get the idea for the boats on the river?
A. From watching boats on a river.
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In the Light of the Summer Moon was first published in 2008 on the www.GoodStorytoRead.com website.

Author's Comment- I have read and heard stories about places that appear in our world only under certain conditions. I got an idea to tempt a character with the "good old days" of the past.

Excerpt
She looked to Homer for help. He seemed not to notice. The circle of people on the blanket seemed to be closing, her place among them disappearing. She could hear the sounds of their polite chatter fading away. A moment later Rebecca found herself sitting on the ground with two strange girls holding her arms.

Q. Do you have an aunt like the one in the story?
A. No, I do not.

Q. Do you have a recipte for pan-fried pork chops?
A. No, I am not much of a cook. But I like to bake a pie now and then.
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A Fish Story was first published in 2008 on the www.GoodStorytoRead.com website.

Author's Comment- When I lived in Xian, China I visited a beautiful national park in Sichuan province called Jiu Zai Gou. It is a magical place of waterfalls, crystal clear ponds, lakes and streams. I was struck by its natural beauty, its peaceful effect on me, and I thought it would make a good setting for a short story.

Excerpt
Under his breath Hank cursed the planet, which was know to astronomers as Planet GRD-17-35-2417 or more affectionately to school children as the Garden Planet. He remembered reading about the planet and its distant solar system on the edge of the galaxy as a child. He remembered wondering what it would be like to live in a place where Spring turned to Summer, then Summer changed back to Spring again, where there was no intervening Fall or Winter. He remembered dreaming of visiting the Garden Planet, but never did he ever imagine he would one day end up living there. And never did he imagine he would one day hate it so much.

Q. Do you like fishing?
A. I used to fish with my father when I was a boy. Later I fished the Maumee River outside of Toledo, Ohio each spring for bass and walleye. These days I don't fish much, although I would like to try my hand at fly fishing.

Q. What was your inspiration for a Shag-a-long?
A. A very big, furry pillow.
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A Boy Called Booger was first published in 2008 on the www.GoodStorytoRead.com website.

Author's Comment- For years I have driven by a trailer part just over the tracks and down the road from a golf course. I always see kids walking along the road. It seems a little sad to me that they lived there, so I wanted to write a story about a boy who lived there and had to face adversity, but you knew he would be alright in the end.

Excerpt
He didn't know how long he lay on the ground. He looked up out of the corner of his eyes at the clouds moving slowly across the blue sky. He became aware that the side of his face was pressed against the cracked, dried mud in the bottom of the ditch. But he didn't care. He just wanted to lay there like a dead animal. He wanted to let everything pass him by, let his life go on without him. But then he remembered that Roger would be waiting for him. He knew his hour was almost up. He had to go home.

Q. Did they really have the baseball cups you mentioned in the story?
A. They did. I collected them for awhile when I was a kid along with baseball cards, comic books, and beer cans.

Q. Do you golf?
A. Not anymore. But I used to golf. I just don't have the time at this point.
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What a Dragon Must Do was first published in 2007 on the www.GoodStorytoRead.com website.

Author's Comment- I wanted to use traditional fantasy characters in an untraditional way. I wanted to turn the tables on the fairy tale story of a prince rescuing a princess.

Excerpt
The dragon watched the blood dripping from the gash in his paw. It had been a lucky blow. He had been careless and underestimated the knight. He sniffed the air. And unlike the others whom the king sent before with promises of gold, unlike those whose bones lay scattered on the forest floor, this one had not wet himself.

Q. Do you really think a dragon could carry a princess, her things, and books on its back?
A. Probably not

Q. Wouldn't a cow or an ox make more of a meal than a squire?
A. That depends on how fat the squire is.
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Mother-in-Law was first published in 2006 on the www.GoodStorytoRead.com website.

Author's Comment- I am very interested in foreign cultures. I space travel was available at this time, and we could travel to other stars, I think the most challenging thing for man will be to learn to communicate with and understand alien races.

Excerpt
For a moment Jack felt as if he was not falling. Perhaps the winds whipping around the tower gave him the sensation of hanging in mid-air, somewhere between heaven and Tarantella. He opened his eyes and looked up at the night sky filled with thousands of stars Somewhere out there was Earth, home sweet home. He pictured his mother and father sitting in their living room and staring at the glare of their television. He pictured his sister on the phone, and his brother in the garage working on his car. His heart reached out.

Q. Do you get along with your mother-in-law?
A. Yes, I do. But I also see that everybody comes from a different family culture. And I think you have to approach that with a good deal of respect.

Q. Do you like spiders?
A. Yes, I do. They are welcome in my home to help control any bugs or pests that might get in.
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The Visitor was first published in 2004 in the e-magazine, Another Realm. It was later revised and published in on the www.GoodStorytoRead.com website.

Author's Comment- I wanted to create a new monster. At the time there was a lot of talk in the media about Alzheimer's. When I thought about it, losing your memories would be pretty scary. The idea to make this new monster a ghost who was losing her own memories and needed to feed on the memories of others came later.

Excerpt
She shook in fear. For ages she managed to bock out and forget those terrible memories. But as the happy memories began to fail her one by one, she realized that the dark ones had grown more powerful. Each night she sobbed knowing she would not be able to hold them back much longer. Eventually they would overpower her. Then the temple priest would fling open the door and boldly step in her family house again. Then she would feel once again her little hand being wrenched from her mother's. Then she would be forced to live it all over again and again and again. She began to grow desperate in fear of that day.

Q. Where is the setting for this story?
A. I had no particular place in mind, but somewhere in Latin America.

Q. Do you speak Spanish?
A. No, I speak Japanese and Chinese.
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