[AOTM] - Interview with Jamie Grey - Star Thief

[Anna]

Greetings Space Opera Fans!

Inquisitive minds want to know ... what real-life science, political factors, personal influences and real-life people (mwah-hah-hah! ... get even at people who tick you off by making them a villain!) inspired the great Space Opera books we love to read.

We are privileged to have Jamie Grey, author of our INDIE PICK The Star Thief up on the SOF assimilation tractor beam.



Let's pop the radiation containment panels and take a look under the warp drive to learn the story-behind-the-story of Star Thief. Thank you Jamie Grey for taking the time to answer our questions!

Be epic!
Anna Erishkigal
SOF



********************************************************

What books have most influenced your life?

I think the books I read as a kid are the ones that have stuck with me most. I loved anything fantasy or sci-fi – The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, A Wrinkle In Time, Ender’s Game. And I think those books have definitely steered me towards writing in those genres as well.


How do you develop your plots and characters?

Characters usually come to me already formed, so then it’s mostly just figuring out what kinds of situations to throw them in to make their lives difficult. I love torturing characters  I spend quite a bit of time working out the plot points and figuring out where my characters need to end up. And then it’s on to writing!


3. Tell us about your Space Opera Fans book?

The Star Thief is a space opera about one of the best thieves in the galaxy. But all she wants is to retire to a garden world and leave that life behind. Unfortunately, MYTH, a secret government agency has other plans for her. It’s a fun ride with adventure, romance and suspense to see if Renna survives their plans.


4. We all need a hero! Tell us about your protagonist(s)? Was there a real-life inspiration behind him or her?

Renna is a tough, complex woman, who’s had a terrible childhood and learned that looking out for herself is the most important thing. She doesn’t trust easily, and is a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of girl. But the best thing about her is that when she does let herself trust someone, she’s loyal to the death and willing to go to any lengths to help them.
There wasn’t a real-life inspiration for Renna, she came purely from my imagination!


5. A good villain is hard to write. How did you get in touch with your inner villain(s) to write this book. Was there a real-life inspiration for him/her/it?

The villain in The Star Thief is just one piece of a larger puzzle, and writing him was a lot of fun. Someone who’s smart, ruthless, and willing to do whatever it takes to complete his plans. I didn’t really have anyone in mind for him, though I’ll admit just to you guys he might have had just a bit of a former boss’s personality 



6. What real-life inspirations did you draw from for the worldbuilding within your book?

I think it’s always a challenge to try to keep the world building fresh and new, but not *too* alien that people don’t connect with it. There’s a fine line between something that adds to the story and something that is distracting, so I think my biggest challenge was making sure it wasn’t overwhelming. For real-life inspiration, I tried to look at some of the technology we have today and figure out where it might end up a few hundred years in the future – implants, computer software, even medicine.



7. Sci-fi fans love techno-porn! What real-life science (or pseudo-science) did you research for your book?

I actually did quite a bit of biology and evolutionary research in trying to determine what the aliens in this universe might look like. It was actually a lot of fun to see how different environments could create such different types of aliens, and it was kind of cool to try to mash a few of those ideas into ones that would work for my story.


8. What was the hardest part of writing this book?

I think it was trying to make sure that Renna, the main character, stays true to herself while still walking that line between likeable and unlikeable. She does some unsavory things and has some opinions that make her a bit hard to like at times. But I wanted my readers to understand her motivations and get where she was coming from. It was hard to balance those two things to make her a fully-rounded character.



9. What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

I loved writing the conflict scenes between Renna and Finn. It was so much fun to have the two of them go at it. I think my favorite scene between them is when they first confront each other on the Athena. I loved having all the frustration and desire between them bubbling just beneath the surface.


10. Did you learn anything from writing this book and what was it?

I think I learned that sci-fi is a huge, broad category, and some people will love the world and characters you create, while other will hate it, and that’s ok. Everyone has their own taste and wants in science fiction, that’s what makes I so great.


11. Is there a message in your novel that you hope readers will grasp?

Not really, I just wanted to write a fun adventure that would keep people hooked until the end!


12. What are your future project(s)?

I just published the sequel to The Star Thief – Athena’s Ashes, and there may be a third book in the series to come 


13. If you couldn’t be an author, what would your ideal career be?
I’m a huge computer nerd and do a lot of that kind of work for my day job, so I think I’d keep doing that!


14. What is your preferred method to have readers get in touch with or follow you (i.e., website, personal blog, Facebook page, here on Goodreads, etc.) and link(s)?

I think following my facebook or twitter is the best way for readers to see what’s going on and get quick updates. I also have a newsletter readers can sign up for to be alerted when I have a new book coming out, or am running a contest. And of course stopping by my website.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamie.grey.7
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jamie_Grey
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/DDYhj
Website: www.jamiegreybooks.com


15. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to the Space Opera Fans community members?

I just want to say thank you so much for choosing the Star Thief as your October pick! It’s such an honor to be included in a great group like this. I am so grateful to all my readers and their feedback, both positive and negative. Knowing people are reading my books is the best feeling ever, and the reason I keep writing!

******
Interview granted: 10/13/2014

[Anna]

*************************************************************

Join the Star Thief book discussion panel HERE: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

***************************************************************