5 Minutes With P.J. Hoover

P.J. Hoover has a degree in Computer Engineering. And History. And Electrical Engineering. She's been a cheerleader and a computer chip designer, a full-time mom, and now a full-time author. We get the impression that she's crazy smart, and you can definitely see her passion for mythology in her Forgotten Worlds series.

The first book in the series, The Emerald Tablet, came out on October 21st, and recently, I got to spend five minutes with this incredibly accomplished author- let's see what secrets she let me unearth!

You're super big on setting goals and sharing them. For people who have never managed the art of goalsetting, do you have some tips on how to get started?

I have more tips than I know what to do with! But here's TIP 1:

GET STARTED

Just do something. Make a plan. Get your butt in gear. There are probably a million perfect recipes out there for achieving the perfect life, but unless you start trying them, you'll never know what works for you and what doesn't. And doing nothing will get you just that - nothing.

Here's a way to get started:

1) Get out a piece of paper. Write down every single thing you want within five years. House. Car. Book contract. Agent. Husband. Whatever. Just write it down. Let the words flow. Nobody is looking over your shoulder to spy on you.
2) Pick your most important goal on the list. On another page, list everything you can do within the next year to work toward that goal. Every single little thing. Really think about what it will take.
3) Look at this list, and pick the one item, that if you achieve it, will help you the most in reaching your goal.
and finally...
4) Believe you can achieve it!

Though you're an author now, and you were an electrical engineer, you did an extra year in college to get a degree in history, hoping to be an archaeologist. Have you used that love of ancient worlds in your books?

Once out of college, when I told people about my "extra" degree, it was always in humor. I mean, come on, what electrical engineer making a bunch of money would want to quit to dig up clay pots? And it was funny. Still I loved the archeology stuff, and part of me kind of wondered 'what if'...

So when I started writing, it was like all of a sudden, I could take every extra interest I had besides engineering and use it in my books. Astronomy - check. Greek Mythology - check. Ancient civilizations - check. There was a place for everything. And will continue to be a place for everything when I look at a life of writing ahead. It's actually super exciting and fun!

So, not to open a can of worms or anything, but- Bob Brier v Zahi Hawass- your take. Was Tutankhamun murdered, or was the Boy King just an unfortunate victim of pre-modern medicine?

Yeah, it's fun to think that Tut was murdered, and I wouldn't rule it out, but I don't think any of the injuries found on his mummy were inflicted by a murdered. When it comes right down to it, I think many mummifiers were just plan lazy when working with the dead.

Missing rib - they probably stole it for some secret ritual.

Blow to back of head - they might have dropped his skull or jabbed the hook through too hard when pulling out his brains.

The Field Museum in Chicago has a great mummy exhibit, but the most interesting thing about it was the x-ray they'd done of one of the small child mummies. Inside the case, the x-ray showed both legs had been broken so the mummy would fit in the case. That way, even though the case was too small, it could still be used.

People are still people, whether they're embalming the dead or designing chips.

What's it like to hold a scorpion and a spider? And why would you want to?

It's frightening. And exhilarating! And I loved it. My heart was pounding, but I stuck my hand out there, and the scorpion walked on my palm. And it was so cool! I totally recommend it. And the tarantula was even way neater because he moved around a lot. The scorpion stayed pretty still unless pushed from behind, but the tarantula was up my arms, on my other arm.

There's a new philosophy I'm trying to incorporate into my life. Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway! If you find your afraid of something, putting yourself in that scary situation and facing your feels helps you grow as a person. And once you do face your fears, it's such a powerful feeling.

Finally, though The Emerald Tablet is out now, you're already working on future installments of the series- how are you going to keep the stories straight, so you don't accidentally slip and reveal the future?

Sometimes it's good to slip and reveal the future!

Actually, this is true in some regards. I've completed all three books through I'm still on revisions for the second two. The nice thing about getting all the books done early in the publication stage is clues can be slipped into earlier books which will make me look like a genius later on. Seeding, right? And anything that makes me look like a genius is bound to be good.

But, yeah, sometimes it is hard to remember what conversation is in what book, if stuff got cut, if clues changed. Maybe the fact that I've read The Emerald Tablet probably 100 times is a good thing.