Author Roger Floyd writes science fiction about regular people who use their wits to find a way out of difficult situations. His newest release, Traveler: Part II of the Anthanian Imperative Trilogy (September 2025), follows Leos on “a journey of honesty and deceit, friendship and enmity, peace and violence, even love and hatred that carries” him to other worlds “inhabited by friends and foes who will shape” his future. Look for Roger on his website RogerFloyd.com. Traveler is available in most bookstores and on Amazon. Read more about Roger’s work in his 2025 interview for SouthWest Writers.

Distill the story you tell in Traveler into a few sentences.
Leos is a college-age student who is kidnapped from his home planet of Anthanos by visitors from a strange planet. He is taken to live on their planet, and from there he begins a series of travels to other worlds and to increasingly difficult lifestyles. It’s up to him to learn to live in and accept each of the worlds he goes to. Very little help is given to him, especially on the last world he encounters. He’s on his own; he must reach deep into the depths of his own character and bring up the resolve, the persistence, the perseverance he needs to extricate himself from numerous difficult situations. That’s the only way he will ever get back to Anthanos.

What was the most difficult challenge of continuing the story you started with book one of the Anthanian Imperative Trilogy?
For me, the most difficult challenge of starting a new book is putting aside the old and switching my thinking and mindset to a completely new story and new characters. After spending so much time on the first book, Explorer, I had to take time off and think about what I needed to do, to develop the plot and characters. Starting Traveler wasn’t quite as difficult as starting a totally new story since it followed directly from the first and contained some of the same characters, and I already had built the world of Anthanos, though new characters had to be created as well. Interesting and stimulating.

Who are your main characters and what do you like/respect most about them?
The main characters in Traveler are Leos, as mentioned above; Esmerelda, a young woman he meets on the first world he’s taken to and who [Spoiler Alert!] accompanies him to the second world; and Jad, [another Spoiler Alert!] a character from the first book he meets in later travels.

What makes this novel unique in the science fiction market?
Hard to say. I’ve read so many sci-fi stories of many different themes and tropes and motifs and subject matter that it would be difficult for me to say how my novel is unique or how it fits into the world of science fiction. All I can say is that it is unique to me.

How did the book come together?
I started Traveler around 2005. I had been attempting to get Explorer represented by an agent, but wasn’t having any luck, so in between attending meetings and sending out queries, I began Traveler, as well as continually making changes and revisions to Explorer, so really, I was working on the two at the same time. I didn’t do any serious editing until I moved to Albuquerque in 2010, when I managed to finish and self-publish Explorer in 2024. (If you’re wondering why the long lag between arrival and publication, I was also working on the third volume of the trilogy, Warrior.) So, Traveler fell into place right after publication of Explorer. I got several beta readers and had the interior illustrations and cover designed around 2025. It was self-published in September, 2025.

Was there anything surprising/interesting you discovered while doing research for this book?
As far as interesting things about Traveler, keep in mind these books are almost entirely a figment of my imagination, and research was minimal. (I actually did much more research for the first book, Explorer, having to do with Earth climate and geography and weather of about 15,000 years ago.) There was little of that in Traveler. All the planets Leos goes to are fictitious.

Do the novels in your trilogy lean more toward hard science fiction (science and technology that makes sense scientifically) or soft science fiction (focusing on social sciences)? Does the writing fit into a particular subgenre?
I work with soft science fiction—sometimes called space opera—almost exclusively. My stories are about people, regular people, the standard man-on-the-street type of person. People of an everyday nature put in difficult situations from which they must use their own skills and knowledge to get out of. (See Explorer for a good example of this.) Leos is a prime example. He’s not a superhero. He doesn’t fly a huge, sophisticated, highly weaponized, galaxy-traveling, planet-destroying spaceship that he can use to get out of any situation. He’s asked to do the impossible with only what he knows and can do himself. As to why I’ve chosen to write in that style, I think it’s that I’ve seen so many shows of superheroes, or of characters that utilize big, brutal inventions that serve the main character, and, admittedly, I have enjoyed them, but they’re not my style.

What did you learn in writing/publishing Traveler that you can apply to future projects?
Traveler is only my second book. In writing the first, Explorer, I had to start at the most basic level to learn to write fiction. I read about writing, went to lectures, talked to other writers, and so forth, as new writers are encouraged to do. (And I do, too.) It took me almost twenty years to write that book to get it to a point where I was satisfied with it. Traveler took a much shorter time, about twelve years, and now the third book in the trilogy has taken even a shorter time. Writing is a continuous learning process. The more you write, the more you learn. I hope that within those twenty years I’ve developed my own unique style.

You have decades of experience as a virologist. How has this experience benefited your fiction writing?
Virology was my bread and butter (and bacon) for almost fifty years, but, and this may seem odd, I’ve put very little virology into my writing. Virology is a scientific discipline as much as any other branch of science, and the basics of science are applicable in all other scientific disciplines as well, whether biological or physical. The only difference between writing fiction and writing scientific papers is that it helps to be a reasonably good observer of human nature to write fiction, which in its most obvious character, is greatly unscientific. Science is good and necessary, yes. But so are flawed human beings.

Who are a few of your favorite authors, and what do you admire most about their writing?
I think my favorite science fiction author is Connie Willis. I’ve read several of her books, and I have been impressed by her organization and the research she does for some of them. I wouldn’t want to try and do as much research as she had done.

What are your strengths as a writer?
I’m not sure I have any real strengths as a writer. I’ve written only two books which together don’t make for a very strong record. I’m still working on it.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I’m working on the third installment in my Anthanian Imperative Trilogy, called Warrior. As you read this, it is just about to be self-published.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
I write mainly from a desire to be entertaining. I’m not trying to project a specific theme or moral, I just want to provide characters who can continue to exist in the presence of very difficult circumstances. These are people we can admire; people we can look up to. There is no nod to current events in my books. I’m not trying to teach a moral or elucidate a universal truth, and I don’t purposely put them into my stories. All my books were written well before the current administration took office. None are allegories. They are adventure stories the reader can immerse him/herself into and escape into an alternative lifestyle. And admire the characters while doing it. Traveler is an adventure that I hope the reader can relate to.

KL Wagoner loves creating worlds of fantasy and science fiction. Her current work in progress is The Last Bonekeeper fantasy trilogy and short stories in the same universe. A member of SouthWest Writers since 2006, Kat has volunteered as the organization’s secretary, newsletter editor, website manager, and author interview coordinator. Kat is also a veteran, a martial art student, and a grandmother. Visit her at klwagoner.com.