No Balancing Act Here - Mark Oetjens author of The Staff of Rahgorra

About The Staff of Rahgorra

Another time, another galaxy. The mysterious crime lord Thrull has aspirations beyond controlling the underworld in a single corner of the galaxy. Thrull wants to bring the galaxy under one rule and build a legitimate Galactic Empire. For years he has been training an army of his followers and building his own private Armada. But he knows he must also find the Staff of Rahgorra, a weapon of mythic power. To keep Thrull from finding the Staff the Galactic Security Bureau, peacekeepers of the galaxy, has pressed back into service a banished agent. Chameleon Del Rey was expelled from the GSB for avenging the death of a friend and for practicing the forbidden art of Jai Kin. Now he must train a young apprentice to use Jai Kin and find the Staff of Rahgorra before Thrull does in order to avoid a war that will stretch across the galaxy

No Balancing Act Here

What is my writing day like? When I wrote the bulk of The Staff of Rahgorra I was recovering from a brain tumor, living with my parents in Indianapolis. I'm originally from Chicago and most of my family still lives there. My parents (and me) were the only ones living in Indy. After college I had moved to Phoenix, where the tumor was first diagnosed.

Anyway, just for something to do, instead of sitting home all day, my father started taking me in to work with him. I'd work until noon doing basic filing and things like that, nothing too taxing.

When the weather was nice and he had time he would take me home at noon. But as winter approached, he took me home less and less. Pretty soon I was stuck there from noon until five with nothing to do. So I wrote. The last 13 chapters of The Staff of Rahgorra were written at my father's electronics repair shop in Indianapolis.

I recently moved back to Phoenix and I'm currently between jobs. My days are pretty much free. I'm usually up by 6:30 and at my desk writing by 8:00. One thing I learned from writing The Staff of Rahgorra is that it's easier for me to write with noise and activity going on around me. When the radio isn't enough, I often go to the nearest fast food restaurant to write, at least for a little while.

I usually need a break in the late morning. I'll run errands or go for a walk, anything to get me away from my computer for a while. After lunch I'll sit down again and try to write some more. Usually by 2:30 or 3:00 I'm done for the day.

I see my friends in the evenings and on the weekends, and I talk to my family at least once a week. For me it's not really about balancing anything. It's about needing something to do.

Mark Oetjens was born in 1971. He grew up in suburban Chicago. As a child he was diagnosed with Dystonia, a debilitating neuromuscular disorder. Though there is no cure for Dystonia, surgeries and rehabilitation allowed him to walk with only a slight limp by the time he started high school. He received a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Anthropology, both from Northern Illinois University. As an adult a brain tumor, completely unrelated to his Dystonia, threatened to disable him a second time. Thanks to radiation therapy the tumor has disappeared. Mark currently lives in Phoenix, AZ.

Mark’s latest book is the science fiction novel, The Staff of Rahgorra.
You can visit his website at http://www.conquerpublishing.com/.