Under Nameless Stars Blog Tour: Interview + Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the Under Nameless Stars blog tour hosted by Strange Chemistry! Today I have an interview with the author to share with you and don't forget to enter the giveaway at the end of the post!

Under Nameless Stars (Zenn Scarlett #2)

Author: Christian Schoon

Genre: YA Science Fiction

Release Date: April 1, 2014

Publisher: Strange Chemistry

Description:

Zenn Scarlett’s novice year of exoveterinarian training on Mars isn’t quite going to plan…

After barely surviving a plot to destroy her school and its menagerie of alien patients, could things at the Ciscan cloister get any worse? Yes. Yes they could: Zenn’s absent father Warra Scarlett has suddenly ceased all communication with her. Desperate to learn what’s become of him, Zenn stows away aboard the Helen of Troy, a starliner powered by one of the immense, dimension-jumping beasts known as Indra.

With her is Liam Tucker, a towner boy who is either very fond of her, very dangerous to her, or both. On the verge of learning the truth about her dad, Zenn’s quest suddenly catapults her and Liam thousands of light years beyond known space, and into the dark heart of a monstrous conspiracy. Braving a gauntlet of lethal environments and unearthly life forms, her courage and exovet skills will now be tested as never before.

With the fate of entire worlds hanging in the balance, Zenn is racing headlong into trouble… again. 

Hi and a big authory thanks to Steph for hosting this stop on the blog-tour-a-palooza for Under Nameless Stars. Zenn and I appreciate! 

1. What inspired you to write the Zenn Scarlett series?

The main push for writing Zenn’s adventures as an exoveterinarian learning to care for alien life forms boils down to my own deep, some would say obsessive, interest in and affection for animals. Combine this with a profoundly geeked-out-since-grade-school relationship with all things science fictional and Bob, as they say, is your uncle. (Anybody out there know the origin of this phrase? Please leave your wisdom in comments. Thank you.) 

2. What special research did you have to do for the books?

A lot of the tech/exobiologic/astro/med detail in the books was flotsam drifting around in my head where, when I wasn’t writing, it generally cluttered things up and posed a hazard to navigation. This isn’t because I’m particularly bright or have a photographic memory or anything. It’s just ‘cause I read lots of books on these topics and retained the odd bits that appealed to my neurons’ magpie sensibilities. Plus, I posed as a reporter for a med school newspaper while working my way through college for a few semesters. And since I find all things relating to the workings of human and non-human bodies gobsmackingly interesting, I soaked up even more might-come-in-useful-later stuff that way. When I hit plot points that needed more finesse than I could easily retrieve from the wet-data-banks, I either made things up out of whole cloth and tried to put a credible gloss on the passage, or I did what all writers do and typed “wiki” in front of the applicable search term.

3. Are any of the characters based off of yourself or people you know?

I’ve fostered and/or helped rehab a variety of domestic and wild animals here on our farm or at the animal shelters my wife and I volunteer at. A partial list of these critters would include horses, burros, donkeys, black bears, mountain lions, Burmese pythons, alligators, caiman, rattlesnakes, cobras, copperheads, iguanas, emus, pigs, dogs, cats, raccoons, possums, ferrets... I could go on. So, I’ve spent a fair amount of time getting my hands pleasantly dirty with a bunch of totally awesome veterinarians. It’s safe to say that Zenn is an amalgam of these amazing professionals, especially our personal vet. This woman does things like anesthetize a full-grown cougar about to escape from its carrier, or plunge her hands into a pile of leaves to grab a venomous water moccasin. You know, superhero stuff. I think Zenn gets a lot of her fearless devotion to healing huge, dangerous alien animals from our Dr. Jenni.

4. What can we expect in the upcoming books?

Well, I’m the kind of author who’s reluctant to talk too much about forthcoming projects ‘cause I’m weirdly superstitious about having my ideas lose their mojo if they’re prematurely exposed to the open air. I can say Zenn might well be headed for the Kiran planetary nature preserves where the native races build their palaces and villages on the backs of 1,500-foot-wide air-borne Kiran Sunkillers.

5. Was there a specific person or experience that made you want to become a writer?

My mom and my older sister were both English teachers. Nuff said?

6. What's up next for you?

I’m fleshing out a pitch/series bible for an animated steampunk TV adventure show, and there’s a monster-packed new book that’s gnashing its fangs and attempting to chew its way out of my frontal cortex and onto the page. So, Zenn’s next outing is currently fighting these two projects and trying to smother a few others in their cribs to see who gets to be a Real Life Thing next. I guess we’ll see who wins.

Anyway, that’s my story so far. Thanks again for having me here on the blog. And I encourage all your Dreamers to enter the Strange Chemistry contest. I mean hey, free books – and the Name A Star deal is pretty fun. Cheers!

 Thanks so much for stopping by and chatting with us today Christian!

16. The compartment on a starliner where an Indra lives is called a:

a. Depot

b. Warren

c. Stoneboat

d. Ready room

You can find the answer to almost all of the giveaway questions in this excerpt:

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