Mohill author launches his debut novel ‘Praise for Flight of the Eternal Emperor’

Mohill author Jim Rogers launches his debut novel this week in bookstores across Ireland, the United Kingdom, and New York (USA).

'Praise for Flight of the Eternal Emperor' is a science fantasy novel about Joseque Debrone, a newly graduated avionics engineer. 

She is eager to make the most of her unexpected post in the Imperial Defence Forces. Her transmission of classified information to the rebels in the north results in her inclusion in a top-secret mission. 

But Jeseque doesn't buy the official line that she and her crewmates are aboard an interstellar spacecraft, embarking upon a 30-lightyear journey to a sister planet. 

Jim Rogers told the Leitrim Observer that the novel "is also very much about fear and death" and filled with fascinating characters and twists. 

"I started writing this novel in my early 20s, and that was the first thing I tried to write. And, of course, it wasn't very good. I still have the first draft on my computer, but never look at it.

"I had to start writing it completely from scratch. I'd say that's about ten years ago. The basic idea hasn't changed from the idea I had 30  years ago, but completely rewritten," he said. 

Jim Rogers has had several short stories published in both print and online publications, including the Leitrim Guardian Annual Magazine, The First Line Literary Journal and the Galway Review Literary Magazine. 

The Mohill author says anything could inspire his writing. He writes at least 100 words from Monday to Friday. 

"I have two other novels I'm working on now. One is very well on, and it's set partly in Leitrim and partly in New York. 

"So it's a very good bit of myself as it is for other people, too. And that's about a guy whose mother died years ago, but she starts haunting him literally, or at least he thinks she is," Jim said. 

The author is originally from Leitrim but lives in New York and teaches mathematics at the United Nations International School and electronics engineering at Atlantic Technological University (ATU) in Sligo.

He moved to New York 18 years ago but visits Leitrim every summer. 

'Praise for Flight of the Eternal Emperor' novel is being published by O-Books, and the launching event is taking place in Manhattan, New York. 

Mohill author Jim Rogers's debut novel will be available in any book shops, including The Reading Room in Carrick-on-Shannon and Paul's in Mohill from November 24.