The continue following the adventures of Hana and Sanju in the Lost Cradle. With Chapter 4, K.A. Dowd (KADowd) gives us a deeper insight of Sanju...

But, before we start reading, how about spending a moment to make acquaintance with K.A.?

Dear K.A.
We are glad to have you on board for this SciFi Relay adventure.
And we want to thank you for spending this moment with us for this interview.

Tell us a bit about yourself, your journey as a writer and your foray into the Orange part of the web (a.k.a. Wattpad)

Six years ago I went from viewing writing as a hobby to wanting to make it a career. Of course, that also meant starting the long journey of learning how to write for others and do it well, instead of writing just for me. I'm now at the point in my journey that I am looking for readers who enjoy the type of stories I tell in order to acquire a follower base, which led me to Wattpad. As for me, I find wonder in how our world works through studying the past to predict the patterns of our future. This might be due to my first passion and career as a weather forecaster, but it certainly does make life more interesting when I'm not hunched over my computer, madly typing to pin down my strange and fantastical worlds.

1, 2, 3... Tell us about ONE story you would have wanted to write, TWO authors you admire, who inspire you.... THREE characters who often come into your mind when you start a new story...

If there is one story I wish I had thought of and written myself, it would be Dune, but I doubt I would have told the tale as well as Frank Herbert did. Two authors who inspire me are C.J. Cherryh and Robin McKinley. No actual characters come to my mind when I start a new story. Just like the story, the characters are new and unknown to me, allowing me to learn more about them as the story progresses.

What made you want to participate in the relay?

I loved the idea of collaborating with a group of authors to accomplish a common goal. And it would be a great way to meet other authors with a shared passion for sci-fi.

How did you find the experience?

A little harder than I thought to mesh so many different personalities and writing preferences, but I do love a good challenge. It has helped me to better value other people's perspectives and ideas, letting us learn from one another. And that is a beautiful experience to have along my writing journey.

What challenged you the most in this venture? Something that maybe brought you out of your writer's comfort zone?

Having to write a chapter along a storyline I had not personally created has been the most challenging. I am not well versed in doing writing prompts, and this venture was one big writing prompt full of others' ideas and outlines. Yes, I definitely had input with the group on the story, but writing to support a collaborative vision of a story has pushed me out of my comfort zone.

Something we are most curious about... How about you give us a little teaser of your part in this story? A sentence or two that will keep us on our toes and impatiently wait reading your chapter?

I got to be a bit creative on Sanju's motive and inner pressures. So even though my chapter is not very action-driven, the reader will have the opportunity to learn more about what goes on in this fascinating alien's head.

And while we are feeling the tease, as we consider the Science Fiction genre, we are all expecting wondrous worlds and weird alien species... Can you tell us about one element you brought to the Relay, one element you created for this story? It may be an alien race, a location in space, or maybe a special technology... Tell us about this special character, object, environment or settings you built up for your part in the story. What was your inspiration for it?

It was the TAS (what all of us in the Relay fondly call The Agency Service) that Sanju is a member of. My inspiration for the original concept of it came from the world of The Guardians of the Galaxy--how their law enforcement group operated in shades of gray and was made up of a motley group with their own vices and virtues impacting the mission and their relationships.

And now, let's discover Chapter 4.
Enjoy!