Children of the Star

[Debbie]

Happy New Year :).

If you don't mind me asking, how did you come up with the idea for a planet without metal? It fascinated me when I read the book.

[Sylvia]

I don't remember how or when I first thought of it, except that it was long before I wrote the book. I got the idea for the story first and then had to figure out why the villagers hadn't been able to develop technology after generations has passed. When I did write the book, my editor was afraid there couldn't be such a thing as a planet with no metal, and she contacted the Museum of Natural History to ask them! Of course they didn't know -- at that time scientists had no evidence that there actually are extrasolar planets. But it was no less credible than many of the other things imagined in science fiction. There are metal-poor stars, though whether such stars have planets isn't known.

[Debbie]

Interesting--thank you :).