The Dangerous Shipment follows a seventeen-year-old Assistant Gearsman aboard the fastest ship in the Nebula on a mission to deliver medicine to New Diamond before Blue Death spreads too far. Where did the idea behind this novel come from?
The idea for writing this novella came, in part, from watching Star Trek for years, especially the Next Generation. I always liked the fact that the episodes of that series tended to go beyond a simple space adventure and went into deeper themes of characters, morals, and what it means to be human in space. I used those themes in creating the characters and the plot of The Dangerous Shipment. Also, I heard about Steampunk and fell in love with the idea of it, so that served as the inspiration for the style and technology behind the story.
What part of the world was the most enjoyable to create?
Creating the medieval space setting was one of the most enjoyable aspects of creating this world. Explaining how medieval people got to the Nebula in the first place and creating a timeline parallel to ours was exciting to me. Also, creating new ethnicities of people and their characteristics was also very enjoyable.
Godwin begins as someone who prefers not to be noticed. What interested you about telling the story through such a quiet protagonist?
For a while, I thought about a deaf protagonist in a space opera setting. When I finally began writing the cogs and gears of the cosmos, I wanted to make a deaf protagonist who was both as accurate as possible and respectful to the deaf community. Admittedly, this took research and effort. It was an interesting experience writing from a deaf protagonist’s point of view and not making it obvious until the second half of the book. He started out as a low-ranking crew member who hid his deafness because of prejudice from his homeworld and ended up as a senior officer who now refuses to hide it. My hope is that both the hearing and the deaf will view this story as respectful and unique.
Can you give us a glimpse inside the next book in The Cogs and Gears of the Cosmos series?
This series is currently four novellas. The next story is titled: The Secret Saboteur. The novella surrounds Godwin trying to identify an undercover saboteur intent on stealing confidential information from the Game Changer and selling it on the black market. At the same time, he struggles with being respected by the other senior officers. This is a cozy space mystery with high stakes and heart.