Interview with sci-fi novelist Y.T. Cheng

The spotlight is shining on sci-fi writer Y.T. Cheng today. He’s chatting with me about The Human Inside.

Bio:

I am 22 years old and I am currently residing in Portland, Oregon. I am studying for my bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and also continuing to write books on the side. I have been writing and discovering the stories on my mind and in my imagination since my first year of college. Now I continue to write and seeking out more in my skills as a writer.

Please tell us about your current release.

The Human Inside is a new story about the challenges that humanity faces post World War III. It is centered around cybernetically enhanced teens called the amborgs who are brought up and raised to make a change in a chaotic world. They encounter friends from a completely new perspective in human physiology and enemies as well as they work every day after their augmentation to relearn themselves, educate and learn about the world they face. It follows a group of characters that begin to develop interesting and unique personalities that make for a memorable cast in a creative story.

What inspired you to write this book?

A dream actually. There was one evening when my mind produced a story of my would-be main character. In my dream, he was not entirely human and I knew that he was special. I woke up from that dream and I knew I had stumbled on a story and now it’s led me to here. I saw a main character that was going to join the ranks of other notable characters throughout literature and I wanted to take a shot at writing a novel.

Excerpt from The Human Inside:

In the 22nd century, the world is undergoing a change bordering towards a complete dystopian setting. A special group of cybernetically enhanced young adults known as amborgs has been released into the public hoping to turn things around for a better environment for many innocent people. Following the exploits of one particular boy in their ranks, their actions will be tested in their experiences as an evolved form of humanity. But there aren’t enough of them and an enemy lurks in the shadows, making preparations to see that they fail the people they were built to save. Are you ready?

What exciting story are you working on next?

The sequel of The Human Inside will be joining the series soon. The sequel reunites the characters of the first novel and brings about another adventure which I hope will be another great one. The third book is also in the works as well as a few requested stand-alone stories involving other characters from my friends.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Never in my life did I consider myself a writer. Not a typical or common answer but that’s actually the truth. I didn’t consider myself a writer until after I was given the choice to publish.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

My work day is weird. Nothing really consistent. I am considered a hobbyist author if you’ll consider that a specific title. I write at the times you could say when I don’t work my regular jobs. Eh in this case, it means I stay up late at times or I write whenever I am allowed free time. Sometimes, it is hard to write even with my schedule but because my stories are decaying in my mind, I have to get it written down. Prioritizing isn’t easy because I don’t consider myself to be able to deal with stress loads but it’s not impossible. I make it my goal to safely write and it helps decompress my stress.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I like acting out and speaking the dialogues of my characters in certain scenes. The only way I feel people can relate to them is if I give them lines that make sense and make them say things that people would say under those kinds of circumstances. Unfortunately, this makes me mutter a lot and I get a lot of stares when I began to talk like I have multiple personalities. It’s not a mental problem, ha ha. It’s just me escaping to be with my characters.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Airforce pilot. It was always a fun thing for me to do and I wanted to shoot for the skies. Quite literally. If I wasn’t going to be a writer, then I would definitely pick something along the lines of flying above ground.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Unless I get asked specific questions, answers are always going to come up short. I do encourage other writers to write down their ideas. Don’t perceive your ideas as bad. Instead, just think of them as the first steps to a novel or a story that you think others would like or critique about.

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