Interview About My VECTO Book, Info About Light Novels, and QA

Book cover by Rafael Fitzgerald.

I was interviewed by fellow author and blogger James Kresnik about my VECTO light novel and BitNovel format. Check out the interview on his returnnovel.com blog here. In the interview, I go over what motivates me, why I call VECTO a light novel, and what a BitNovel is, among other things.

For those who aren't familiar with what a light novel is, Wikipedia defines it this way:

"A light novel (ライトノベル raito noberu^?) is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting middle and high school students (young adult demographic).^[1][2] "Light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Such short, light novels are often called ranobe (ラノベ^?)^[3] or LN in the West. They are typically not more than 40,000–50,000 words long (the shorter ones being equivalent to a novella in US publishing terms), rarely exceed 200 pages, often have dense publishing schedules, are usually published in bunkobon size, and are often illustrated.^[4] The text is often serialized in anthology magazines before collection in book form."

Basically, light novels are short, fun, character-driven stories that are very popular in Japan. There are a few English speaking writers such as James Kresnik and me who are using the light novel format (my story so happened to match the style). Hopeful, more light novels will originate in English instead of having to be translated.

Now about BitNovels. I coined that term to represent stories that are released in small parts with mobile readers in mind. I'm posting a "bit" of my story on this blog ever Saturday at 10 a.m., but you can read more of my story on Wattpad here. Also, you can check out Kresnik's light novel titled Return - The Survivalists here and follow him on Twitter @JamesKresnik1.

Do you like the interview but want to know more? Well you get to be the interviewer this time. Comment below with questions you have, and I'll do my best in answering them. It's QA time!

(Oct. 23, 2014, update: You can buy my Vecto: Vengeance light novel on Amazon here: Vecto: Vengeance.)

Read Chapters of My 'Vecto' Book for Free

Vecto is the first book in a trilogy that I'm writing. I'm posting chapters for free on Wattpad.com, but they're not the final versions. If you want to be a beta reader, visit my page at wattpad.com/ReidKemper and make sure to leave a comment and vote for it. I'd love to hear your opinion!

Art by Rafael Fitzgerald.

The book stars a character that I created in 1996 named Vecto--a robot made of floating parts who has emotions. I created him for a collaborative universe I helped start called the Alpha Squad. The stories have always been something my friends and I enjoyed creating, and I'd like to share that universe with you.

In the storyline, Vecto was created in the year 3,005 by a scientist named Vic who is part of a midget race of beings called Dinishmen (the race is small and frail because they are optimized for brain power with less resources provided to their bodily form). His being consists of an orb that projects layers of form-fitting shields around a body of floating parts. Although he helps fight in a war, he is eventually disowned by his master and is recruited by a group of fighters called the Alpha Squad. The A.S. was created with the sole mission of eliminating a nine-foot-tall cyborg called Morphaal, who is considered the most dangerous being alive.

Years later, Morphaal is killed and the Alpha Squad no longer has a purpose. Even after Morphaal's death, his henchmen live on and Vecto's best friend is killed. The Vecto book starts off with Vecto trying to deal with his friend's death. To top it off, he hears that Morphaal has been revived and is looking to conquer a hidden planet called Zendora, where Morphaal plans to move his base of operations.

The story chronicles Vecto's quest to find Morphaal. However, the loss of his friend causes him to obsess over finding Morphaal to exact revenge. This results in rash decisions and violent behavior. His noble journey soon becomes a killing rampage, and his Alpha Squad teammates must find a way to stop him.

I'm writing the story in chapters that mimic TV episodes. Similar to light novels, which are popular in Japan, the story is focused on dialogue and action to maintain a quick reading pace. I don't take three minutes of your time to elaborate on a three-second scene. I try to match reading speed with the actual time taking place. Although it's written with older teens in mind, it's a good read for adults as well. If you like action-packed stories with unique characters, comic book movies, RPG video games, anime, and other media, you should read the book ... and let me know what you think!