Finding Your Flow: One Writer’s Journey Through a “Space Opera” Trilogy 

By: Danielle Palli 

I wrote Breach of Contract, the second book in The Data Collectors trilogy in a record five months. It was during the heart of the pandemic, except, unlike many unfortunate people who found themselves out of work or furloughed, I was far busier. You see, I’m also a multimedia contractor who has spent a great deal of time creating interactive programming that enables people to connect … face-to-face. When Covid struck, my colleagues and I were scrambling to recreate the same in-person opportunities, virtually, among people who may be unfamiliar with new technology and need training. On top of that, I had the brilliant idea of going back to school, taking on three positive psychology and emotional intelligence-related coaching certifications. I spent my “free” time offering pro bono coaching to those who were either supporting my educational endeavors or needed the emotional support during Covid but couldn’t otherwise afford it. And so I wrote, and I studied, and I worked … far too many hours with far too many late nights. 

But what does this have to do with Breach of Contract? 

Well, positive psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (who, very sadly, has recently passed) might have argued that I was in a “flow state.” That is that place where you are completely absorbed in a task that challenges you at your total capacity. You lose a sense of time and place, and while the aftermath is exhausting, it’s where some of your most creative work happens. 

Breach of Contract was the longest of The Data Collectors trilogy, the most complicated, and yet it took the least amount of time to write. 

To set the stage, the original book, The Data Collectors, introduces Lucene Jones – a young woman with a bad case of social anxiety, an inexplicable fear of red doors, and the belief that someone is always tracking her. What she doesn’t realize is that in an Earth-like planet in a small corner of an adjacent galaxy, are the Data Collectors, a group of well-meaning aliens intent on helping Earth determine why we humans – who once occupied many planets, in many solar systems, have now been resigned to a single dying planet – Earth. Meanwhile, special interest groups, such as the Royals and the Vitruvians, would rather see us die off sooner rather than later. Because, at the end of the day, Earth is prime intergalactic real estate.

Breach of Contract follows our heroine, Lucene, as she establishes a new life on the Earth-like planet, Erde, where she gets to know the species living there, often referred to as the Peace-Keepers because their planet has enjoyed more than a century absent of war and famine. She’s immersed in what book reviewers have called “a political space opera” filled with comedy, tragedy, love, and a bunch of quirky characters that you are not likely to soon forget – such as Ivan the Tinkerer, a demon named Jasper Set, and a few shapeshifting aliens that absolutely hate it when you refer to them as “mermaids.” Where the first book in the series sets the stage, book two is where everything goes – shall we say, to “hell in a handbasket” with enough loose ends that left readers writing and asking when the final book was coming out (Between the Layers) so they could find out what happens. 

If I’m being honest (which I always try to be), the series hints at social issues such as gender equality, human rights, and environmental protection, but it is much more about relationships between people. Because, after all, what I think we’ve all learned from this global Pandemic is that it’s the power of our connections that matter most.

Thank you so much, Authors’ Lounge, for inviting me to share more about The Data Collectors trilogy: The Data Collectors (book 1), Breach of Contract (book 2), and Between the Layers (book 3). I am grateful. People can learn more by visiting: www.TheDataCollectors.com or through my Amazon Author’s page. I also welcome people to connect on Twitter (@daniellepalli) and Facebook (@BirdlandMediaWorks). All three books are available in print, eBook, and on audio. 

Wishing everyone a day full of magic, creativity and finding your flow. 

Finding Your Flow: One Writer’s Journey Through a “Space Opera” Trilogy
By: Danielle Palli

I wrote Breach of Contract, the second book in The Data Collectors trilogy in a record five months. It was during the heart of the pandemic, except, unlike many unfortunate people who found themselves out of work or furloughed, I was far busier. You see, I’m also a multimedia contractor who has spent a great deal of time creating interactive programming that enables people to connect … face-to-face. When Covid struck, my colleagues and I were scrambling to recreate the same in-person opportunities, virtually, among people who may be unfamiliar with new technology and need training. On top of that, I had the brilliant idea of going back to school, taking on three positive psychology and emotional intelligence-related coaching certifications. I spent my “free” time offering pro bono coaching to those who were either supporting my educational endeavors or needed the emotional support during Covid but couldn’t otherwise afford it. And so I wrote, and I studied, and I worked … far too many hours with far too many late nights.

But what does this have to do with Breach of Contract?

Well, positive psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (who, very sadly, has recently passed) might have argued that I was in a “flow state.” That is that place where you are completely absorbed in a task that challenges you at your total capacity. You lose a sense of time and place, and while the aftermath is exhausting, it’s where some of your most creative work happens.

Breach of Contract was the longest of The Data Collectors trilogy, the most complicated, and yet it took the least amount of time to write.

To set the stage, the original book, The Data Collectors, introduces Lucene Jones – a young woman with a bad case of social anxiety, an inexplicable fear of red doors, and the belief that someone is always tracking her. What she doesn’t realize is that in an Earth-like planet in a small corner of an adjacent galaxy, are the Data Collectors, a group of well-meaning aliens intent on helping Earth determine why we humans – who once occupied many planets, in many solar systems, have now been resigned to a single dying planet – Earth. Meanwhile, special interest groups, such as the Royals and the Vitruvians, would rather see us die off sooner rather than later. Because, at the end of the day, Earth is prime intergalactic real estate.

Breach of Contract follows our heroine, Lucene, as she establishes a new life on the Earth-like planet, Erde, where she gets to know the species living there, often referred to as the Peace-Keepers because their planet has enjoyed more than a century absent of war and famine. She’s immersed in what book reviewers have called “a political space opera” filled with comedy, tragedy, love, and a bunch of quirky characters that you are not likely to soon forget – such as Ivan the Tinkerer, a demon named Jasper Set, and a few shapeshifting aliens that absolutely hate it when you refer to them as “mermaids.” Where the first book in the series sets the stage, book two is where everything goes – shall we say, to “hell in a handbasket” with enough loose ends that left readers writing and asking when the final book was coming out (Between the Layers) so they could find out what happens.

If I’m being honest (which I always try to be), the series hints at social issues such as gender equality, human rights, and environmental protection, but it is much more about relationships between people. Because, after all, what I think we’ve all learned from this global Pandemic is that it’s the power of our connections that matter most.

Thank you so much, Authors’ Lounge, for inviting me to share more about The Data Collectors trilogy: The Data Collectors (book 1), Breach of Contract (book 2), and Between the Layers (book 3). I am grateful. People can learn more by visiting: www.TheDataCollectors.com or through my Amazon Author’s page. I also welcome people to connect on Twitter (@daniellepalli) and Facebook (@BirdlandMediaWorks). All three books are available in print, eBook, and on audio.

Wishing everyone a day full of magic, creativity and finding your flow.