Sean Grigsby's new novel is Smoke Eaters. From his Q&A with the writer Alex Bledsoe:Your protagonist is no spring chicken; in fact, he’s on the verge of retirement when the story starts. Why did you go this route instead of the more typical handsome young hero?Visit Sean Grigsby's website.
The short answer is: it’s been done to death. I wanted to do something different.
I also hadn’t seen an older protagonist since Old Man’s War. When I came up with the idea for the book, I myself was back in fire academy again, even though I had gone through it five years before. I’d moved to a bigger city department and, although I had all the credentials, I had to prove myself all over again because that’s what they required. For Smoke Eaters, I wanted to see how someone with a full career behind him, and experience as an officer, would deal with having to start all over as a rookie. It created a lot of funny moments. Brannigan takes no crap.
Do you consider Smoke Eaters fantasy, or science fiction?
Both! You could call it future fantasy or science fantasy if you had to put a label on it.
I couldn’t live in a world where I could only...[read on]
--Marshal Zeringue