Interview with C.E. Stone, Author of Starganauts

Today C.E. Stone is visiting my blog to talk about her new Christian space opera, Starganauts! I haven't read it yet, but it sounds pretty cool. I mean, how could it not? She was inspired by Star Wars and LOTR. 😊

First, a little bit about the book.

Kaity Anderson was a new bride on her wedding day. Samantha Harris was an engineer who had given up all to follow God.

Kaity’s reception is ruined when an alien gunship incinerates the surface of Earth. Rescued from the apocalypse by a strange prophetess, Kaity, her husband, and five others are drawn across the galaxy. While the prophetess promises God has a plan, Kaity grows increasingly desperate as their chances of survival—and water supply—dwindle.

Samantha didn’t ask to be God’s prophetess. Yet once she answers the call, the Spirit leads her to an inhospitable world with Kaity and several of Earth’s survivors. Hounded by the master of the gunship, the Earthlings search for water as their alien pursuers and dehydration close in. Only God’s promise of a future in a distant city gives Samantha any hope of survival. But could the answer to all their problems lie in eight, mysterious orbs? The discovery of these crystals will change their lives—and the destiny of galaxies—forever.

Thus begins Starganauts, a clean, compelling Christian space opera adventure by C.E. Stone. Fans of Star Wars and Star Trek will enjoy this series that explores how God’s plan prevails, even against impossible odds.

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And now for the interview!

Where did you get the idea for Starganauts?

I can’t give you a single source. The idea first came to me as I was playing Legos as a child, and grew as I continued watching many sci-fi shows and movies. Star Wars, Star Trek, Starcraft, Lord of the Rings, and Titan A.E. all influenced it. I grew up with the first 2 franchises, which cultivated my love of sci-fi. “Knights of the Old Republic,” in particular, inspired some of my characters’ backstories. The Lord of the Rings inspired me to create an expansive history and universe. The video game Starcraft influenced my actual stories and peoples, as I literally created Starganauts stories using their world-builder and making mock video game campaigns. Titan A.E. is where the premise comes from: the end of Earth was their beginning.

Which of the characters is most like you?

Kaity Anderson. I’ve often been described as empathetic, cheerful, and an encourager. I like to be there for others in hard times. Yet I’m timid by nature, I don’t like being in the spotlight, and change is hard for me. My character Kaity is very much like this. She’s a quiet, behind-the-scenes encourager. She likes to make sure everyone is okay, and she prefers a predictable life. Indeed, the only great differences in our personalities are that I’m a fairly content/cheerful person and I don’t have trouble letting go of the past. Kaity is discontent, struggling to accept reality and move on from the loss of what she wanted her life to be.

What was the hardest part of writing this book? The easiest part?

Figuring out the science. I have a great love for science, and God’s creation continually blows my mind. Unfortunately, I have a terrible memory for scientific facts! I can read about infrared sensors and 100% understand how they work, in the moment. 15 minutes later, I’ve forgotten most of what I just read, so I have to reread everything again to incorporate scientific elements into my story. I lean heavily on my husband to help me, because facts and data are my weakness. He’s got a brain wired for science, and will give me answers that often blend actual science with theoretical. It helps immensely when I’m writing space opera.

The easiest part was world-building. I’d already created a rich history, distinct worlds, and varied aliens over 7 years of Lego play. It was super fun finally realizing all these cultures and planets on the page. I also enjoyed updating some of my sillier childhood ideas, making them sound plausible or even cool. I enjoy world-building and, if anything, I have to scale back from including TOO much detail. 😂

What is your favorite thing about writing?

Writing is a way I connect with God and glorify Him through my words. My favorite moments are when I’m typing away and the Holy Spirit suddenly fills my mind with an idea. I know it’s totally not what I had planned, but I go with it…and the result is an incredible scene. Consequently, my favorite thing about writing is being inspired by the Holy Spirit. And those exact scenes are often the ones that touch people the most.

What do you hope readers get out of Starganauts?

That God works through even the most impossible odds. He is living and active in our lives, and has a plan and a purpose for us. That He can bring beauty out of the deepest tragedy and that He loves us, not for what we accomplish on our own strength, but for the simple fact that He made us. Our identity rests securely in Him.

Those are the messages I hope to convey as an encouragement to fellow Christians. For those who aren’t believers, if they do read my book, I hope to demonstrate that Jesus is real, relevant, and that His grace and mercy are only a prayer away.

Thanks for interviewing me and for your fantastic questions!

You're welcome! It was great to have you!

Make sure you go check out Starganauts!  

Observations As I Study Biology

This is where my brain is right now. But hey, I've passed two CLEPs so far, so I'm making progress.

I can't say I've always loved science. I kind of hated it before we discovered Apologia, though I do remember enjoying my report on cuts and the presentation my sister and I did on the digestive system, complete with a hand drawn diagram named "Mary the Body Girl." Still, it was when we discovered Apologia that I decided I loved science. (The first Apologia book I did was the elementary astronomy course, and then I went into General Science and the rest of the high school books. Anatomy is HARD. But I still did it because it was my elective that I chose because I'd finished the required sciences, didn't want to go my senior year without science, and Apologia doesn't have a high school astronomy course. But I digress.) Science is awesome and super cool and extremely fascinating. And brushing up on biology for my CLEP, I'm rediscovering why I loved it so much in school.

So a couple of observations.

1. Writing style really matters, even in school books. Maybe especially in school books. I'm rereading my high school textbook and also using some online CLEP-specific resources to study. They're all covering the same basic information, but I have to say, Apologia is my favorite. It's the most engaging, you can tell Dr. Wile actually cares about what he's writing about, and I get the most out of it. Dry recitations of facts aren't enough. You have to actually engage your audience.

2. Worldview really does affect your interpretation. Obviously, Apologia is Creation-based science. These other materials most certainly are not. Thing is, they present the same data, the same processes, the same facts. Mitosis is mitosis, no matter if you're a creationist or a secular scientist. However. There are big differences in how things get interpreted. The thing that stands out most to me is how in the secular texts they keep saying how the common elements/structures/etc. between different types of living things are evidence for a common ancestor. Whereas I look at it and see evidence for a common Designer. Just like writers have unique quirks, certain tropes they tend to use, and so on, you would expect for life designed by one Creator to have the same building blocks. But these building blocks can create incredibly diverse organisms that truly are mind-blowing.

3. Biology really is mind boggling. Seriously. Even the "simplest" of lifeforms is INCREDIBLY complex. Heck, even the simplest protein is extremely complex and specific. Not only is it mind boggling to me how these atoms fit together to make molecules which work together to make cells which combine and reproduce and process food into energy to create larger organisms which can think and do all kind of things, it's mind boggling to me that people can really believe it happened by accident. If even one amino acid in a protein is wrong, life won't work right. And the odds of that simplest protein assembling accidently in that precise way is roughly the same as the probability of a poker player drawing a royal flush 19 times in a row. And that's only if we limit the available amino acids to the 17 in that protein. Basically, successfully navigating an asteroid field is child's play compared to the odds of life happening by accident. Makes me want to go reread Yellow & Pink. It really does take more faith to believe in evolution than creation.

4. There's an element to life that just can't be explained in scientific terms. See, as I read about molecular biology and biochemistry and cells and enzymes and everything, it all seems abstract and like it's missing something. Like you could put those pieces together, but it takes something else to make it truly alive. And as I'm typing this, I'm thinking back to the creation of the Middle Earth dwarves in The Silmarillion. Forgive me that I don't remember which of the Valar made them. I guess I'm not enough of a LOTR nerd. But this member of the Valar created dwarves which were really just puppets. They'd do stuff when he made them act, but they weren't truly alive until Illúvatar breathed life into them. There's a spiritual and supernatural aspect to life. God formed Adam, I'm sure creating and arranging all the atoms and molecules and cells and everything, and then He breathed life into him. Scientists will never be able to replicate that. And someday I will finish reading The Silmarillion.

5. This is why I love science fiction. As I read about biology (specifically things like cloning and viruses and GMOs), it gets the wheels of my imagination turning just like it used to when I was a teenager. I love biological experimentation oriented sci-fi, and things like cloning, biological experimentation, and eugenics fascinate me in a dystopian kind of way. Yes, I do have some vague plans for Acktorek books involving biological warfare/experimentation. I just...have to figure out the plots. Right now I've only got concepts. There's just so much scope for imagination in science, speculating on where things could go and contemplating the ethics of such developments. It so makes me want to write.

So these are the things that have been going through my head lately. Someday these things will come out in new science fiction novels, I'm sure. And in the meantime, science is awesome. Go read some Apologia (but make sure you get editions written by Dr. Wile).