This week I’m happy to bring to my Scribbles Page author Emanuel (Andrew) Andrei Cosutchi. Andrew is an author with one current work out The Restoration. He is currently working on his second and third novel Starship “Apple of Discord” and SS Vagabond.
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Andrew welcome to my Scribbles Page. I appreciate you taking the time to swing by and answer a few questions. If you don’t mind please introduce yourself and your writing.
Hello and thanks for having me. To begin, my name is Emanuel Andrei Cosutchi, friends call me Andrew. I was born in August '77 therefore I chose my nickname ACE977. I do NOT use a pen name as I want to be known for my work. I live in the European Union, Romania –you know the country of Dracula and the World Tennis Associations number 1 ranked, Simona Halep. When I’m not working on my writing I work as IT Engineer. I started writing in August 2016 because I love the Sci-Fi and Fantasy genre and I wanted to share my stories with people. My goal is to become a professional writer and my dream is to have one of my books turned into a movie.
I think we all share the same dream of having one of our books turned into a movie. That really would be amazing. When I was reviewing your bio and your websites I saw that you and I both love Science Fiction and Fantasy. What is it about the genre you love so much? Why did you pick this genre to writer in?
I began reading comics when I was six years old and then I continued reading and moved into books. I like to read many other genres too, but I love mostly science fiction and fantasy.
My favorite Sci-Fi books are:
Roadside picnic by Arkadi& Boris Strugatsky
The Men in the Jungle by Norman Spinrad
Dune by Frank Herbert
My favorite Fantasy books are:
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
Rune Swords by Clayton Emery and multiple authors
That is a great list. I totally approve. Now, before we start talking about your current book in progress Starship “Apple of Discord” you have a current novel out called, The Restoration. What can you tell us about this book?
The Restoration is my first published book. Although I was working on Starship "Apple of Discord", in the spring of 2017 I decided to take a break and learn more about Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Therefore, I created this Sci-Fi story. The initial impression was favorable and The Restoration received 4.5 stars. Unfortunately, later, Amazon decided to change the rules in the middle of the game and removed all reviews posted by people who received free books on promotions. This happened to The Restoration. Now it has 3.5 stars, because the person who posted this review said that this is a great book but complained about my English skills. My English was rough when I started to write, but the more I’ve writing the more my writing style has evolved.
Spelling and grammar are kickers for all of us, but I’m glad to hear you’ve stuck with it and continue to improve. Please share a little about The Restoration with us.
Short synopsis of The Restoration:
A reptilian species uses time travel as a weapon to enslave other civilizations. An android is not content with the present, so she's trying to alter the past.
That sounds fun. I’ve already added it to my reading list. I know after I wrote my first book I learned so much about writing, what did you learn from writing The Restoration that was able to help you create Starship “Apple of Discord”?
As I wrote above, I started to working on my space opera Starship “Apple of Discord” long before The Restoration. Actually, I had the idea for this book from when I was a student. One day I had a stomachache and I decided to skip class. It was a cloudy day and nobody was walking down the street. There were no cars either. I remember the appeasing silence and the dim light - the same happened during a solar eclipse that I observed long before that. An idea crossed my mind, "What if..."
When I got home, I started to write in my notebook the story that later became Starship “Apple of Discord”. Unfortunately, I was busy with my studies, then I needed to search for a job, and then I started a family. I kept postponing the writing of this book. In the spring of 2016, I went to the hospital, because I had peritonitis. After the intervention, I was in coma because of the anesthetist. When I woke up, it was the middle of August. I was thinking a lot of what happened to me and I decided to write again. Of course, technology has evolved a lot therefore I adapted the original story and I expanded it to accommodate these advancements.
Wow. That is quite a story. I’m glad it all worked out for you. Starship “Apple of Discord” is an interesting name for a novel. I know it has some meaning, based on what I read on your site, so tell us where did you come up with that title?
I was inspired by Greek Mythology to choose this title. I like the ancient legends of the golden apple. Eris, the goddess of discord, was not invited to a party. So, she threw a golden apple into the ceremony. Three goddesses claimed the apple: Hera (the symbol of power and influence), Athena (the symbol of glory and wisdom), and Aphrodite (the symbol of beauty and desire).They brought the matter before Zeus, but he was cunning and declined this responsibility. Zeus assigned a man named Paris to solve this conflict. He made his choice and the aftermath was that the Trojan War started. You will find an unusual interpretation of this legend in my space opera.
You have our attention so tell us about Starship “Apple of Discord”.
I wanted to avenge Paris, so I created another hero: Adam. Adam was born in the 20th century and he will encounter alien civilizations and technology. During his journey, he will be helped by a redheaded android named AI Cassiopeia. I paid a young artist from my country to paint this android and many more characters that I own.
In Starship “Apple of Discord”, I created interesting alien species and cultures, and I describe alien worlds and alien technology. I depict space and ground battles in my action scenes. I used my knowledge of physics, mathematics, biology, genetics, history, geography, computer science, chemistry, astronomy and xenology, because I wanted to write a hard Sci-Fi space opera. Also, I invented genuine names for everything: planets, animals, plants, items, ships, characters etc. I made a database with all this information in order to keep track of them. The readers will not be bored with science facts and this huge dictionary, because the story line will flow easy and naturally. Also, I created some bits of alien languages.
Since Starship “Apple of Discord” is a space opera, I populated it with villains and benevolent characters: aliens, warlords, dictators, traders, scientists, artisans, space pirates, colonists, travelers, soldiers, kings and princesses. I carefully carved out this Sci-Fi universe.
I dare to say that Starship “Apple of Discord” has all the ingredients for becoming a successful book and later a movie / movie series: love, war, mystery, fun and hope.
It really sounds like you poured your heart and soul into this work. I love when authors spend a lot of time creating their worlds and universe. I think it goes a long way to creating a beautifully crafted story.
I hope so. That is what I was going for.
Now, going over your bio I see that you have a lot of interests. Two that jumped out a me were that you like cooking and travel. What is your favorite dish to cook and where have you traveled?
You are very kind but I am no master chef. I learned to cook when I was young. My favorite dish is champignons with cream sauce. I love to travel and I believe that everyone should do this at least once during their lifetime. Somebody said: “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” I traveled across of Europe, and I was in US and Mexico too. I would love to visit South East Asia and South America, because I want to meet new people and gather some material for my books.
I haven’t traveled as much as I like but I try. I think you will love the people in both Korea and Japan, they are amazing.
I hope to get there soon.
Moving on a bit, after you find a publisher for Starship “Apple of Discord” and get it released what’s next? What else are you working on?
I finished the first three volumes of Starship “Apple of Discord” on November 11, 2017.Between the three they cover more than 1300 pages and 350k words. Now I am waiting for an answer from several publishing houses from the US, UK, Canada and European Union. It will take a while and I am not sure that those publishers will agree to publish my space opera, since am a debutant author. So, if you know any agents or publishers send them my way.
In the mean time I continue to write more volumes, because this saga isn't finished yet. However, I plan to write other Sci-Fi and Fantasy books. This summer I finished another Sci-Fi novel called SS Vagabond and I started to write a Fantasy novel.
Sounds like you’ve been busy and aren’t letting anything stand in the way of your dreams. One last question, who created your book covers?
I don't like to buy pre-made covers. There is high chance that these wouldn't fit with my story line. All my book covers are designed from my ideas. Sometimes I create the covers myself or I ask for professional help to bring my vision to life. I tend to use GIMP and other free sties and images. I am aware that I am only an amateur designer, but this doesn't stop me from trying and it will give future publishes and idea of what I have in mind for the designs.
Excellent. Do you have any final thoughts for the folks reading this?
Once I was a consumer of books. I watched movies and I played video games, but one day I decided to create my own Sci-Fi universe. I began to write books having in mind this consumer experience. Maybe I am not the best or the most skilled writer, but I guarantee you that my books will offer you interesting stories. They will be something new and unexpected.
Thank you so much Andrew for stopping by today.
Thank for your time! I hope you enjoy my books!
I certainly can’t wait to read them.
About Emanuel (Andrew) Andrei Cosutchi:
You can find The restoration by Emanuel Andrei Cosutchi here on Amazon by clicking here.
Contact Andrew by clicking here.
Find his websites by clicking here and here.
Find Andrew's Facebook pages by clicking here, here and here.
Find Andrew on Twitter by clicking here.
You can support Andrew and his writing at Patreon by clicking here.