"Crimes like trees," Oren Vilkas said, "have generations. One crime can lead to another crime, which is the cause of yet another."

All that Gabriel Lake, software developer and part time operative for the Galactic Detective Agency, wanted was a special evening out, a date with his girlfriend Sarah to an exotic planet where he could pop the question. You know, the question.

But their date is interrupted when an art heist leads to kidnapping and murder. Now Gabe and Sarah and the rest of the Galactic Detective Agency team, led by the brilliant Oren Vilkas, must follow the clues and solve the crimes. Along the way they'll encounter the interstellar art scene, quirky aliens, and eccentric robots. Strap in for another strange and funny mystery adventure in The Cormabite Maneuver.

Q & A WITH THE AUTHOR

Q: In this installment of the Galactic Detective Agency you write some of the chapters from the POV of Lucas. What challenges did that pose?
A: Quite a few. Lucas is seven years old in this book, and I haven't spent much time with seven-year-olds for four years now. That being said, it wasn't too difficult to tap into my inner seven-year-old. My wife says my inner seven-year-old doesn't always stay inner anyway. Lucas, who would be a second grader, tells his story at more of a third or fourth grade reading level. And that's okay. Kids tell stories in different ways than they read. My three-year-old grandsons can use the word humongous, though they wouldn't be able to read it -- or read anything other than their names for that matter. Lucas uses run-on sentences, employs simpler grammar, and offer more asides to the reader. In my head at least, his voice sounds different from Gabe's.

Q: What is your writing process like?
A: I work from a chapter outline along with notes on characters, clues, red herrings, etc. Within that structure I make up the details as I go along. I write first and second drafts, followed by a grammar and line editing pass, followed by reading through the book aloud, followed by reading through the book on my Kindle reader where the different format helps me find problems I missed on all the other passes.

Q: After six books, how do you keep all the details of other planets and species straight in the GDA universe?
A: I'm an IT guy, remember? I keep an Access database with tables on every person (60+), world (26), and species (23), plus notes on all the parts of the Shaymus and other details.

Q: You always seem to put Easter eggs and parody characters in your books. What's in The Cormabite Maneuver?
A: Avoiding spoilers here. Of course, the title is a parody homage to the great Star Trek TOS episode, The Corbomite Maneuver. The plot is completely different, though there is one character whose name comes from the episode. This book as several references to The Jetsons, plus we have a couple of characters who are an homage to Groucho Marx and Margaret Dumont. And there are lots of painters mentioned along the way who have names surprisingly similar to Earth artists.

Q: Will there be more Galactic Detective Agency books?
A: Probably. But first, Pelham G. Totleigh and his faithful valet Blandings from Murder on the Girsu Express have politely requested their own adventure.

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