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Ask the Author: C.A. Higgins

“Ask me a question.” C.A. Higgins

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Just listened to the audiobook of Lightless, and totally loved it! (I noticed that the narrator calls it "Lifeless" in the end credits). Supernova next. Keep going! (Not a question, I know). Goodreads won't let me post without a question mark?
C.A. Higgins You should've turned it into an interrobang!

Thank you for your message! I'm so pleased you enjoyed Lightless. I'm guessing "lifeless" was an accident of Fiona Hardingham's lovely accent, but on the other hand, there are a lot of dead people at the end of the book...

Cheers!
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Hello! I've really been loving your books and I'm looking forward to the third in the Lightless series. I was wondering, however, if you knew whether the alternate cover for Supernova was available anywhere or if it never came to fruition? I was just wondering since it matched the original cover of Lightless pretty well. Thanks a bunch and happy writing!
C.A. Higgins Hello! Thank you so much; I'm so glad you're enjoying the series! The pink Supernova cover never made it to print--Supernova ended up getting the starry silhouette cover to match the Lightless paperback, since they came out on the same day. Happy reading and writing to you as well!
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Which types of science fiction stories do you find most interesting to read or write about? Like super heroes, space ships, other worlds, distopian novels and things like that? Which elements of science fiction do you think generate the most interesting ideas?
C.A. Higgins I think there are interesting ideas to be found in just about any trope, but my favorites have to be AI, space travel, and dystopias. (Which, given Lightless, is probably not surprising.)
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What other scenarios (such as the ever more popular dystopias, first encounters, generational ships etc) do you currently have in mind? Please do keep writing forever!!!lol
C.A. Higgins Thank you! I fully intend to keep writing for a long time.

I'm one of those authors who believes that speaking about her work before it's fully written (and therefore closer to being set in stone) is bad luck. Someone else looking at the fetal story will change its state. That said, I have been very interested in generational ships lately...
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Do you intend to continue writing Science Fiction or is there another genre you are interested in? Your integration of mystery in Lightless really set it apart from the typical science fiction novel. I enjoyed the suspension!
C.A. Higgins Thank you so much! I love science fiction and for the moment that is what I intend to continue writing.
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What was your inspiration behind writing Lightless and how did you come up with ideas for anything from big events to small notions?
C.A. Higgins Lightless came about from a physics class where we were talking about equations of state and particles in a box. For an ideal gas, at least, if you have a group of gas particles in a box and you make the box smaller, the particles flip out and start running into the walls. If you make the box colder, the particles slow down and huddle together. In a way, the particles act like little people. That image combined with some other ideas I had in mind (about sentient ships and interrogations) and gave those ideas structure. A lot of my ideas come from seeing patterns like that: either randomly, or because I'm working to build one.
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Despite the allusion to initial conditions, (which I loved...it's the sort of thing I focus on when writing about historiography in the Age of Newton), this book seemed to me like an end-ordered narrative; satisfyingly, poetically, mechanical. To what extent was the destination in mind at the beginning? Was there a dependency, unplanned, on initial conditions?
C.A. Higgins
This answer contains spoilers… (view spoiler)
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Did you base the characters off of any real people you know?
C.A. Higgins No, but various characters are certainly influenced by people who surround me. In Lightless, Constance's physical appearance and Althea's particular brand of introversion were influenced by some of my friends.
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Hi, C.A! I was wondering what method you use to keep track of your characters? I have written a few manuscripts of novels myself, but I always find the most difficult task is keeping track of my characters.
C.A. Higgins Hi Jonathan! I write very detailed outlines before I write the actual drafts. In these outlines I usually have a dramatis personnae at the beginning that lists the characters (in groups if necessary), and provides details that are important that I think I might forget: last names, relationships, defining personality traits, ages, physical appearance, involvement in plot or subplot--anything that I think I might forget. Of course, the more drafts I do, the better I get to know the characters, and the shorter the dramatis personnae becomes.
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