As the son of a policeman, Ken Schlehuber moved
around Michigan during 
his
youth. His wandering continued after the USAF Academy and Pilot
Training. Ten years with an airline finally satisfied his wanderlust,
and he moved to a mountaintop. Throughout his life, he constantly
questioned everything and wondered "what if..."
Visit Ken at www.dreamcloudconnections.com.
PageOneLit: What types of books did you
like to read when you were growing up? Were you always interested
in reading and writing?
Ken Schlehuber: In Junior High I enjoyed
Science Fiction. Learning about others’ ideas of aliens
that were only balls of light energy, and of travel to other
worlds to learn more about ourselves, intrigued me immensely.
What I like in the SciFi genre, is a story line that feels more
possible in our lifetime. There must be a plausible connection
to our reality, such as aliens visiting our planet; that’s
where the story starts for me.
I also kept a personal journal for years. It was
in these pages that I found my voice and learned what I thought
of the world. Anything was possible if I wrote about it.
PageOneLit: When and how did you first know
you wanted to be a writer?
Ken Schlehuber: I enjoyed writing in school.
It was only after I retired from my airline job, that I had the
time to sit down for months and formulate a story from what I
knew. As I started to write and let the magic happen, I slowly
gained the confidence in my ideas being worthy of attention.
PageOneLit: Who and/or what have been your
biggest influences in regards to your writing?
Ken Schlehuber: I have a process going on
in my head. Constantly, I listen to the news, watch TV, read
the paper and think that one story or another doesn’t make
any logical sense. Reading between the lines, wondering what
isn’t being said, has led me to my "what if…"
mentality. When I question something I’ve seen or heard,
I get into the mindset that gives me many ideas that I feel few
people have time to think about. I also have to give my wife
credit for encouraging me to let my ideas out.
PageOneLit: What led you to write your science
fiction novel "Dream Cloud Connections?"
Ken Schlehuber: Boredom and Necessity. Truthfully,
I had to create an escape from the pressure caused by all these
ideas in my head. When I started this project I just sat down
with pen and paper 
and dumped out
my mind. From that process I found that these ideas were formulating
themselves into a scenario that I was finding very interesting.
I swear that the story wrote itself, once I allowed the ideas
to flow.
PageOneLit: How did you choose your title
"Dream Cloud Connections" and what does it mean?
Ken Schlehuber: The original title was simply
"Dream Clouds," a description for what I have experienced
in my dreams. The only way I can distinguish between them and
reality is that they have subtle differences from my daily reality.
My dreams have great detail, both visual and mental. When I describe
a dream, I cannot see everything. They have a tunnel vision quality
to them, where the outside edges are blurred and the detail is
lost. Later, my publisher needed the title changed since they
had another book titled similarly. The Connections fit nicely,
in that there is a strong connection between Justin and his wife,
Lynn, and the first alien they had contact with.
PageOneLit: How did you get the idea of
someone waking up from a coma to find themselves the designated
representative for another race?
Ken Schlehuber: No one knows exactly what
happens to us in a coma. There are theories now that we are conscious
and that we do have brain activity. But, could we be in a long
dream state, where we travel to other realities? Just because
we don’t remember these experiences, doesn’t mean that
we are not active in this condition.
The second part of this idea came from the Roswell
incident, as well as the alien abduction theme. If these were
true, then there must be a logical reasoning behind them. What
makes our race difficult to communicate with? I chose the reason
to be trust; look at the news and you will see my logic in choosing
this theme. I use a trick to decide the truth to a situation:
I assume that it is true. If this assumption is true, then what
also has to be true for this to work? This has been very useful
in analyzing what I see in the news.
PageOneLit: Is the character of Justin Phelps
based on anyone you know? (It's obvious he's a pilot just like
you!) How was his character developed?
Ken Schlehuber: One of the "rules"
is to write about what we know. Anyone who knows me, knows that
I am Justin. My daughter got that, when she chastised "me"
for having an affair while I was still communicating with my
"wife" after her death! I gave Justin my warped sense
of humor, along with a questioning outlook on life. He has the
openness to believe that almost anything is possible. With these
tools, I let him loose in the pages of the book. I am very proud
of his honesty and integrity which he is able to keep during
his trials and tribulations.
PageOneLit: Can or will the planet's poles
shift as your book describes?
Ken Schlehuber: I read an article about
the recent tsunami in Indonesia where NASA talked about the shift
of the mean north pole caused by the movement of the mass of
the earth. Granted, it was only one inch, but it happened in
our lifetime. The article went on to say that this is in line
with a "continuous long-term seismic trend", a shifting
to the 145 degree East Longitude Line. These changes could also
have occurred on earth through the past millennia many times.
We just didn’t happen to be around to view them. "If
a tree falls in the woods…" The potential for these
occurrences to happen all at once, is low. However, if we could
take a picture of what our world looked like even 50 years ago,
and again today, we would be quite surprised at the differences.
Global warming caused by the greenhouse effect? Droughts and
floods occurring in places we’ve never seen before? Subtle
shifts in climates might actually be caused by changes in the
polar alignments, both magnetic and physical. It’s something
I think about.
PageOneLit: What type of research did you
have to do for writing "Dream Cloud Connections?"
Ken Schlehuber: A friend of mine read my
book, liked the "what if" mentality of it, and he also
asked this question. What we found out during subsequent talks,
was that my ideas of how the earth was populated, had quite a
bit of evidence for it. I had to honestly tell him that the ideas
in the book were mine, and that I did no research. I also believe
that original thought ended with the creation of Adam and Eve.
Every thought we are having today, was created or "thought"
of before. Except for organizing these thoughts in a format for
today’s world, I take no credit for these ideas. Others
who have read my book say the same thing about them, that they
have had these notions before reading the book.
PageOneLit: What was the greatest challenge
in writing "Dream Cloud Connections?"
Ken Schlehuber: Finding confidence in one’s
self is everyone’s greatest challenge. Once we have achieved
a level of personal confidence, anything is possible. I found
it difficult to keep the juices flowing and not get long-winded
in places that I could lose the reader. Along with this, continuity
of ideas was hard to maintain unless I wrote every day. For other
aspiring authors, I would like to suggest that you write for
yourself, not for what you think others want. That will be difficult
at best.
PageOneLit: What has been the reader reaction
to "Dream Cloud Connections?"
Ken Schlehuber: As I said earlier, most
readers could relate to the ideas I used because they had had
them also. Nothing except the story line and the names were original.
Because of this I know that there will be many pages that all
readers can relate to.
PageOneLit: Are you a daily disciplined
writer? Did you have certain tricks you used so that you didn't
stray from your writing? What gets your creative juices flowing?
Ken Schlehuber: For the past year I have
been heavily involved with promoting this book. Although I have
ideas for my next two books, I have not done much writing. And
I miss it. Writing this book was exciting when I just sat back
and "heard" the story. When I wrote, I put myself in
a state of mind where I could enjoy the story as it unfolded
to me, for the first time. It was magic, the way the ideas connected
themselves into the story line. When this happened, I couldn’t
stop writing. It actually took discipline to stop.
PageOneLit: Which authors inspire you and
why?
Ken Schlehuber: I could relate to Steven
King’s "On Writing" which dealt with how he approaches
writing. Also, the screen writers for the series "StarGate
SG1" are fantastic. My goal, however, is to use humor as
Nelson DeMille did in his "The General’s Daughter."
I was disappointed, however, in how little of his humor was kept
in the movie version. I also admire standup comedians who can
tell a joke and later in their routine use that punch line to
elaborate on another joke. The ability to direct our thought
process is a wonderful talent.
PageOneLit: Will there be another book?
Ken Schlehuber: This business is brutal.
However, I have this nagging feeling that my mind is again too
full. Yes, I must write. One of my ideas deals with Justin and
Janet returning to earth after 15 years away and noticing the
differences, like taking two photos and comparing them. It will
be interesting for us.
PageOneLit: You were previously a pilot.
Do you still fly?
Ken Schlehuber: I wanted to be a pilot since
I was "knee-high to a grasshopper" but the industry
has changed from what it was in the 60’s. Now with the 9-11
procedures, it no longer holds the mystique it once had. I had
a saying where I joked, "I can fly airplanes and dig ditches."
Now, I dig ditches.
PageOneLit: When you're not working, what
are your favorite ways to relax?
Ken Schlehuber: We just moved off our beloved
mountain, to be closer to the city. My wife, Vivian, now volunteers
at the local Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store, and I recently
joined the local volunteer fire department. I have built radio-control
airplanes, like to hunt and fish, do jigsaw puzzles and watch
a lot of TV. Sometimes I even sit out on the deck and watch the
birds hunt for worms. And I think.
PageOneLit: Do you have any final thoughts
to share with us?
Ken Schlehuber: Writing this interview was
good for me. I experienced the same feelings I had in writing
the book, and this has encouraged me to get back to the process.
I would like to ask for help. I am a writer, not a salesman.
"Can’t sell ice to the Devil!" If anyone should
know of an agent who would be interested in me, I would be forever
indebted to you. Can you say "free book?"
