ReInception (ReInception 1) by Sarena Straus-review and interview

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ABOUT THE BOOK

A corporation’s immensely popular technology can rewire your brain to rid you of any bad habits or unwanted impulses in 2126 New York City. The government is using ReInception in a supposed attempt to rid society of criminal behavior one brain at a time. But when a college student and a government-labeled terrorist discover the truth behind what’s happening in people’s head, they are ready to risk their lives to preserve their free will and the future of society.

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REVIEW: ReINCEPTION is the first instalment in Sarena Straus’ new-adult, futuristic, post apocalyptic , speculative, science-fiction story line set one-hundred years into the future,in the wake of an horrific earthquake and flood that destroyed much of North America. This is twenty year old Leanndrea, and eighteen year old Ward’s story line.

Told from dual omniscient third person perspectives (Ward and Lea) including testimonials and reports, ReINCEPTION focuses on the power of government, and the control of its’ people in the wake of the unlawful use of a mind altering procedure known as ReINCEPTION. Once touted to help rid humanity of criminals and mental illness, ReINCEPTION is now being used by the wealthy to control their children for all manners of reasons but there is a segment of society considers outliers, both HighQ and LowQ who are fundamentally in opposition, and the people of the below (proles) must fight to survive.

The world building is detailed and complex as the reader is pulled into a post apocalyptic world of communication implants and trackers, them vs us, population control for the wealthy segment of society, and imposed slavery on those without the benefit of money or help.

Leanndrea grew up never knowing the truth behind the use of ReINCEPTION, and as such, finds herself pulled into a world she never knew existed. Although she watched some of her friends receive modifications, others were forced for non-compliance, as a way to control that which was perceived as ‘other’. Meeting ‘Ward’ revealed the reality of what was and what had never been, and in doing so, Ward would introduce Lea to The Originals, and where the secrets and lies would reveal.

ReINCEPTION is a story of power and control, secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, dysfunctional societies under government control, acceptance and a need to reveal the truth. The thought provoking premise is action packed, intriguing, immersive and haunting; the characters are desperate, determined and edgy. ReINCEPTION ends on a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

TRC: Hi Sarena and welcome to The Reading Café. Congratulations on the release of REINCEPTION and DEINCEPTION

Sarena: Thank you so much!!!

TRC: We would like to start with some background information. Would you please tell us something about yourself?

Sarena:I am a science fiction novelist and attorney living in the Hudson Valley, NY with my husband, two teenagers, two labradors and my awesome barn cat. When I’m not writing or lawyering, I love traveling off the beaten path, especially to scuba dive! I’ve been certified since I was 18 and have logged over 500 dives.

TRC: Who or what influenced your career in writing?

Sarena: I never thought I would be a writer, although I’ve always been involved in the arts. I studied opera in high school and college and I was an art history major and studio art minor in college. Becoming an attorney totally took me by surprise. My first job out of law school was as a child abuse and sex crimes prosecutor. At that time, I started writing for catharsis. That turned into a non-fiction book called “Bronx DA: True Stories from the Sex Crimes and Domestic Violence Unit.” Once I had the writing bug, I never stopped.

TRC: What challenges or difficulties did you encounter writing and publishing your stories?

Sarena: My biggest challenge is carving out the time and space to write. I work full time as a lawyer and have two high school students (although my daughter heads to college in the fall!) It can be hard to juggle it all. If I don’t wake up early and write before the rest of the house is awake and the work day has started, I often don’t get in my words for that day.

TRC: Would you please tell us something about the premise of REINCEPTION /DEINCEPTION?

Sarena: The ReInception trilogy is set 100 years in the future where we have the technology to instantly eliminate unwanted humans behaviors. In book one, ReInception, college student Leandrea Justus teams up with government-alleged terrorist Ward to uncover the truth about what ReInception is really doing when it’s in people’s heads.

In Book 2, DeInception, Ward and Lea have to survive the fallout of their rebellion.

Book 3, MassInception, will be out in October!

TRC: How would you describe the style of science fiction as it pertains to RECINCEPTION /DEINCEPTION? Speculative? Near Future? Post Apocalyptic? Dystopian? Or somewhere in between?

Sarena: It’s for sure a sci fi genre blender. It’s squarely near future science fiction and speculative. Some would define it as dystopic, but I think it’s a frighteningly plausible future. A lot of what I predicted is becoming reality far faster than I imagined.

TRC: What kind of research/plotting did you do, and how long did you spend researching /plotting before beginning the series?

Sarena: Keeping track of all of character and threads got more complicated with each book. Book one I mostly pantsed. Book 2 was plotted at a high level and book 3 has been very carefully laid out. In terms of research, each book explores the future setting and technology more deeply. Book one exposes you to the tech at a high level and then I delve deeper with each novel. I ended up having to do some pretty deep research into several kinds of advances, such as medical technology, architecture, weapons, climate change—to build a credible and comprehensive exploration of what things might be like in 100 years.

TRC: How many books do you have planned for the series?

Sarena: It’s a trilogy. The final book will be out in October of this year!

TRC: Will the same characters be central in each successive instalment, or a new leading character as the focus of each book?

Sarena: The same characters are central, but the scope expands with each book. Book one is from a single POV of Leandrea. Book 2 is dual POV of Lea and Ward. Book 3 is a multi-POV narrative as several of the characters in the first two books come into their own. Each character has their own story arc and a major role to play in stopping ReInception before we face another world war.

TRC: Can each instalment be read as a stand alone or are they all interconnected?

Sarena: You can read them as a stand alone, but this is much better read as a series. I give the reader enough to follow what happened previously in books 2 and 3, but you don’t get the full experience unless you read them in order.

TRC: Believability is an important factor in writing story lines especially stories of science fiction. How do you keep the story line believable? Where do you think some author’s fail?

Sarena: This goes back to your earlier question about research. I did a ton of research into technology and environment and thought carefully about population and politics. Book one is centered in New York so I started by imagining how New York, faced with climate change, would adapt with the limitations of its current infrastructure. How will the city look in 100 years? What will still be there and what will be gone or replaced? Who will live there? What will they look like? How will they speak? In book two, I imagined another place with no such constraints—a seastead built completely from scratch. What would a city on the sea with none of the limitations of existing infrastructure or politics be like?

Also, probably because I’m an attorney, I thought a lot about legal structure and systems and how they lag behind what is happening in the present. How will we legislate for a world-altering technology with such profound power for good or evil?

Authors fail by not doing adequate research. You have to constantly be reading about current events and technology advances. If you don’t know what we are working on now, how can you imagine what it will be like in the future?

What I find most interesting is how many near future science fiction authors have similar predictions and how fast those predictions come true. That speaks to the fact that most of us are doing the hard work of researching before we world-build, but also that we are writing credible stories.

TRC: Do you believe the cover image plays a deciding factor for many readers in the process of selecting a book or new series to read?

Sarena: We definitely judge books by the cover. On the one hand, it makes me a little sad the so many book covers have become so formulaic. These days you can tell just by looking if a book is Rom-Com (cartoony), Romantasy (ivy and swords), Sci Fi (portals), Dystopia (crumbling infrastructure), Domestic Suspense (dark house on a dark street with lit windows), etc. I miss creativity in cover art. On the other hand, most people stick to reading in certain genres. There’s so much content out there that it’s nice to be able to tell just by looking at a cover whether you might like the book. I read across genres, so I wouldn’t mind a little more mystery and confusion in the selection process!

TRC: When writing a storyline, do the characters direct the writing or do you direct the characters?

Sarena: I think you are asking if my stories are plot driven or character driven. ReInception is somewhere in the middle. The characters are definitely compelled to act by things happening in the world around them, but they also have a ton of agency. Agency is so important in character development. If they are just reacting to the world around them and not learning and growing from their experiences, they aren’t very interesting.

TRC: The mark of a good writer is to pull the reader into the storyline so that they experience the emotions along with the characters. What do you believe a writer must do to make this happen? Where do you believe writer’s fail in this endeavor?

Sarena: The biggest traps I see sci fi and fantasy writers fall into is data dumping, exposition and no knowing what to leave off of the page. Earlier, you asked about research and credible world-building. Most of the times I’ve seen writers fall short, it’s not because of their world building. Most of the world building is spectacular—writers are so clear about what their worlds look like, how they became that way, what systems guide their world, for fantasy, how the magic works. The trap they fall into is understanding that just because it’s critical that they know all of that, it doesn’t mean the reader has to know everything. What you leave off the page is just as important as what you put on it. When beta reading, especially for new writers (and especially with fantasy), I see a lot of pages and pages of exposition and data dumping in order to build the world. This is the surest way to lose a reader. You have to put your reader in the world, with your character and seeing the world through the character’s eyes. You don’t have to tell the reader everything and you don’t have to reveal it all upfront. The world building can happen organically and slowly as the character(s) move through the world.

The character’s emotions follow from there. Putting aside the showing versus telling, if you are in the place and experiencing it with the character and through their eyes, you start articulating the emotions that go along with it. Once you’ve done all of that, then you can get down to whether you have the right balance between showing and telling.

TRC: Do you listen to music while writing? If so, does the style of music influence the storyline direction? Characters?

Sarena: This is going to be such a sad answer, but I listen to white noise. Music and lyrics while I’m writing are extremely distracting to me. I also have a very hard time filtering out surrounding activity and conversation so if I’m writing anywhere when anyone else is around, I have to put on white noise so my ears aren’t picking up words. Music helps me when I’m in the imagining process. I do my best pre-writing and problem-solving when I run and listen to music. Then, my mind can wander and the music and lyrics inspire me. By the time I sit down to write, I often have most of the work done in my head, but when I’m actually there in front of the computer, white noise it is.

TRC: What do you believe is the biggest misconception people have about authors?

Sarena: That writing is a “hobby.” It’s not. It’s a full time job and for many of us, it’s on top of another full time job. I can’t tell you how many people have told me they want to write a book, but most never do. Having an idea is the smallest part of the puzzle.Writing a book takes hundreds of hours and writing a good one can take thousands. I spend as much time working on my writing as I do being a lawyer—maybe more because not only do I have to write the book, I have to figure out how to get it published, market it, sell it, travel to promote it. It’s a massive undertaking and it is NOT a hobby (hear that IRS?)

TRC: What is something that few, if anyone, know about you?

Sarena: In high school and college I was a body builder and opera singer. Also, I have photographic memory but only for dirty jokes.

TRC: On what are you currently working?

Sarena: I’m finishing second-round edits of the final book in the ReInception trilogy, MassInception. It will go to my editor this week! Next, I’m working on a series of stand-alone domestic suspense novels all set in the same town, but with different MCs. I’m deciding between two concepts I have pretty well outlined. The first book in that world is complete and with my agent.

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

Sarena: I think that was pretty comprehensive!

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food: Artichokes

Favorite Dessert: Tiramisu

Favorite TV Show: I don’t have one.

Last Movie You Saw: Iron Lung

Dark or Milk Chocolate: DARK!!!

Secret Celebrity Crush : This week? Maybe Travis Fimmel – I’m rewatching Vikings.

Last Vacation Destination: Virgin Gorda

Do you have any pets?: Two Labradors – Julia (black lab) and Nova (yellow lab). And Bandit is my kick ass barn cat.

Last book you read: “The Searcher” by Tana French

TRC: Thank you Sarena for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations on the release of REINCEPTION and DEINCEPTION