Like the crew of the Starship Enterprise, Chandler resident Jacqueline Lichtenberg loves to explore strange, dazzling and sometime dangerous new worlds – she revels in creating them as well. The former chemist turned writer has been crafting science fiction professionally since she was 25 and is currently a life member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.
Her adventurous sagas weave rich tapestries of nefarious villains, romance, angels, space vampires, alien politics, power struggles and interstellar wars.
“I don’t write horror stories,” says Lichtenberg. “I write psychologically driven adventures. I believe science fiction is the quintessential literature of humanity, and that it is not a genre in itself – it can contain sub-genres of alien romance, mystery and even westerns.”
The author readily admits her writing talent is the result of her fascination with just about everything she hears and reads. “It is hard to bore me,” she says with a laugh. “As for a connection with Judaism, I tend to weave Judaic themes in my books. For instance, there is no “evil personified” (such as the devil), and there is no evil with a capital “E” in my books. There are just good and bad characters who wrestle with doing the right thing.” One of the overarching themes in her books, she says, is the need for compassion.
According to Lichtenberg, the bits and pieces of everyday life reassemble in her mind – usually when she’s relaxing or in the shower. “I try to incorporate the ‘what if,’ the ‘if only’ and ‘if this goes on’ themes in all my stories. If you have one of these themes, you have science fiction,” she says. “If you have all three, you have the best science fiction.”
She has more than 20 books under her belt (including two award winners), 13 short stories, two nonfiction books and countless short stories in fan magazines called Fanzines. Lichtenberg is also the creator of the “Sime-Gen Universe,” a fictional universe consisting of 12 novels, some of which she co-authored with Jean Lorrah, a business partner and fellow science fiction fan. With a dynamic fan following, Sime-Gen is the backdrop for the majority of the author’s stories. The premise is a futuristic history of humanity that starts 1,000 years after the destruction of current civilization. The first published Sime-Gen novel asks the questions: “What if human nature changed? What if Mother Nature declared a lack of compassion to be a capital offense?”
The iconic TV show “Star Trek,” which ran for only three seasons in the ’60s, had a deep influence on Lichtenberg. She was so intrigued by the provocative “ahead of its time” themes that her first novel, House of Zeor (1974), was intended to appeal to the show’s fans. Her fascination also became the impetus for a book she co-authored with Jean Lorrah, Star Trek Lives. Lichtenberg’s excitement is palpable when she discusses the campy TV show that launched a huge cult following. “The book explores the reasons why people were drawn to the show,” she says with a huge smile. “It showed the world that the public’s idea of who liked science fiction was totally wrong, and that eventually changed the world’s perception. Science fiction was always looked at as a genre that appealed only to children. We showed that the people who were ignited by “Star Trek” were mature men and women and highly educated – a different demographic slice than Hollywood moguls previously thought.”
To transport yourself into Lichtenberg’s universe and discover her eclectic worlds, there are a variety of options: print, Kindle, Apple iBook, Nook, audible.com and audiobook. Visit simegen. net or search for Jacqueline Lichtenberg on amazon.com.
