In The Dark Reaches, Linnea and Iain return to a decimated Earth. What was it like to describe the apocalyptic ruins of our planet?
Bleak! Earth has been overrun for centuries by machine intelligences that don't need to breathe, don't need to eat, and in fact find organic life a dirty inconvenience. You might call the outcome the ultimate environmental nightmare: the result not of human neglect, but of inhuman intent.
You develop several different cultures on different planets throughout this series. Do you base any of them on real cultures? How do you develop each one?
I worked to put echoes of real cultures into the details of life on the various worlds. But in the history I developed, all of the Hidden Worlds were first populated by a random mix of refugees from various Earth cultures, most of whom had no choice where they ended up. Terrified, grief-stricken, traumatized people, holding hard to the memories of their lost homes. But very little more than those memories survived from Earth; they faded, blended, evolved. So I felt free to develop the cultures of the Hidden Worlds in some directions that haven't occurred on Earth.
Do you have a favorite novel, or a favorite character, from the trilogy?
Linnea is nearest to my heart, with her stubborn integrity. I love her respect for human worth and dignity in the face of the Cold Minds—and in the face of Iain's people, the Pilot Masters, who take a very different view of the value of anyone who isn't a pilot.
What's your favorite scene in The Dark Reaches?
The one that was the most fun to write: when Linnea and her companions must hide from Cold Minds robotic probes aboard an abandoned spaceship. I'm proud of the trick Linnea comes up with to hide them—but the Cold Minds are thorough searchers. . .
The trilogy has a strong romantic element, yet the characters are in extremely stressful conditions. Were there challenges to creating romance amid such high stakes?
Actually, the stakes made it even more interesting to me as the writer, and I hope to readers as well. Over the course of the trilogy I've enjoyed fitting the development of Linnea and Iain's relationship in around the misunderstandings and separations that their desperate situation made inevitable. They've taught each other a lot.
Who do you see playing Linnea and Iain if your book was ever adapted to a film or TV?
I have such clear images of them both in my mind that I can't think of any real person who would be a perfect fit. Friends have made suggestions, but mostly in fun. If it ever did happen, I would just have to get used to seeing strangers in those parts. . .
What books did you read as a child that turned you on to the kinds of stories you write now? Who are some of the authors you read today?
For me the ignition point was Wells' The War of the Worlds, which I first read when I was eight. I must have read it ten more times over the next couple of years. But by then I had discovered Andre Norton, Heinlein's juveniles, Asimov, Clarke. . . . I never looked back, never stopped reading SF (though I read other genres, too).
I just read The War of the Worlds again, and it's no less gripping decades later. All the "good stuff" that first got me hooked on science fiction is still good stuff. These days I still favor far-future, interstellar-scale stories—to read as well as to write. Books by Vernor Vinge, Lois McMaster Bujold, Greg Bear, and Ken Macleod are all in the stack by my chair at the moment, but there are plenty more on my shelves. It's a big universe!
Please tell us about your writing process. For example, do you research? Do you conceive of stories as you write them, or plot them out beforehand? Do you revise as you write, or afterwards? Does the process change from book to book?
The Dark Reaches was a switch for me, because I had to research some of the settings—they're real places. I couldn't simply invent planets (though when I do that, I always do the math to make sure they're plausible—even when I never use the actual numerical results in the story).
I always know where the story is going, but the twists and turns on the way are often surprises that emerge as I write. That "terra incognita" helps pull me forward—there's always something to explore. Revision comes after the first draft is finished, once I've gotten the first rope across the canyon and can start weaving a proper bridge.
Much of The Hidden Worlds was written long before I sold the book, so for The Cold Minds and The Dark Reaches I had to develop new skills and new habits to deal with deadlines. I was used to fitting writing into the rest of my life, not the other way around. But it's getting easier, thank goodness.
What advice do you have for people trying to break into writing?
I think luck is overrated. Work hard on writing the best book you can. Get feedback from people you trust, and be ready to spend whatever time and effort it takes to make your work the best it can be. A lucky break, a chance to get your work in front of the right pair of eyes, won't get you anywhere if the work isn't worth reading.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
I've been working on my website at http://kristinlandon.com, and I'd love to hear from readers—to get a conversation going there about life, the universe, and everything.
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