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Sometimes ideas come from the strangest places.

Author Danielle Palli and her husband found themselves laughing at the sounds of a cat meowing. “For all we know,” Palli joked, “she could be trying to warn us about the end of the world, and we’re too busy laughing at her to notice.”

Fast-forward and Palli has given us The Data Collectors, a futuristic story in which humans had existed on many planets, but now they are endangered and find themselves confined to only one planet, Earth. The Data Collectors are trying to determine what is causing this near extinction to save humans as a species. (Read our review here.)

But about that cat. Her name was Katrina. I know that sounds crazy. She used to meow, quite fervently, to my husband and I. We’d meow back, laughing (because we are horrible people). She had these camera-like eyes that would zero in on something and then … focus … really … hard. I joked that she was taking audio-video recordings of us and sending the information back to her home planet. Thus, The Data Collectors was born, and they were trying to save us — essentially, from ourselves.

Palli told us more about her book, her background and her writing.

Q: The book is filled with so many colorful and unique characters, many of whom share fun chemistry between them. Did you start with the characters and then write the plot? Or did you start with a plot outline first? 

A: This is such a great question. In the order that you asked: Yes and no, and yes and no! I had a general idea for the plot and a few characters in mind. I ended up building characters to work with other characters to carry the story, while also developing the plot to support characters who presented themselves to me. I wrote the story out of order. There were gaps in my outline, so I wrote what inspired me on a given day, and then I pieced it all together like a puzzle. Even I was surprised at the outcome.

Q: Among the many characters are beings from different planets. One such species are reptilian shape-shifters called Royals. Were these creatures inspired by David Icke’s conspiracy theories? Did you turn to other sources for inspiration while creating the various alien species and their worlds? 

A: Actually, no. The Royals and the Vitruvians came from two lucid dreams. I awoke one night because I think our cat Bagheera (yes, THAT Bagheera!) was having a case of the zoomies. I saw a shadow on our dresser, and in my still half-asleep state, thought it was him. Instead, I saw the vampire-like lizard that would become Cepheus. I paced the living room floor of our house, knowing that I was only going to be able to get back to sleep if I invented a “misunderstood monster” story. And so, Cepheus was born.

About a week or so later, I had yet another nightmare where I saw the blue head and button eyes with the crocheted face of Morphinae rise from the floor. To quell my self-induced fears, I thought, “You’re good, just misunderstood, like Cepheus. Right?” And he answered, “Well, I guess that depends upon who you talk to.” I pulled the covers up over my head and snuggled closer to my sleeping husband for comfort. 

Q: You have a varied and interesting background, including work as a positive psychology-based wellbeing coach and as a yoga and meditation teacher. How do these disciplines inform your work as a writer?

A: There were lots of stops and starts in writing The Data Collectors “the right way” (outlining the story, the scenes, and the characters “just so”). I kept getting tangled because I didn’t have all the answers. After meditating one day, I got the kick-in-gut internal message, “When you sit down to write, write whatever scene comes to mind that day. You can work out where it fits in the story after the fact.”

I took that internal advice and finished in five months what I couldn’t figure out in the first five years. As far as the characters are concerned, you’ll see much of that influence in Rev. Isabella’s character, as well as how Lucene develops and works through issues.

Q: The second book in the trilogy, Breach of Contract, is due out soon. Do you have a pub date yet? What can you tell us about the next chapter of Lucene’s adventures? 

A: Hopefully, by the time this interview runs, Breach of Contract will be available. Unlike The Data Collectors, the second book in the trilogy takes place on a different planet altogether (Erde), with many unusual lifeforms. There are also uneasy alliances between different species, and we learn the backstories of some of the odd characters introduced in the first book. Lucene learns a lot more about herself, but she’s also thrown into some fairly unforgiving relationships and circumstances. She’ll either come out stronger or go insane. I’m not telling which, in the hopes you’ll read and find out for yourself! 

 

About Danielle Palli:

Danielle Palli won her first creative writing award at the age of six, and by age fifteen, she had already been published in the Writer’s Journal. She is the author of the Acting Out Yoga series for children, and the Data Collectors sci-fi trilogy for adults. She also writes, teaches, and publishes online courses about mindfulness, intuition, and spirituality, and works as a multimedia specialist, voiceover artist, podcast host, and positive psychology-based wellbeing coach.

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