I had this crazy idea of asking authors to come and answer the question of whey they wrote [fill in the blank] novel. Veronica Scott agreed to be my first victim, er, guest. I’m so thrilled to have her! Thank you so much for agreeing to come! Without further ado, here’s Veronica to tell us why she wrote The Wreck of the Nebula Dream.
Thanks for having me as your guest! Since I was a little girl, I’ve always been fascinated by stories set during a disaster – the events, how could the characters have known or sensed what was about to happen, what do they do, what could they have done, what would I do…Growing up in Upstate New York, the closest I personally got to disaster as a child was probably digging unreinforced snow forts!
But, the family legend is that my maternal grandfather had a cousin who survived the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. And as a result, I was thoroughly intrigued with that disaster in particular. I think after I’d seen the 1950’s movies about the sinking – “A Night to Remember,” which goes pretty much straight from the nonfiction book of the same name, and “Titanic,” a sudsy tragedy with Barbara Stanwyck – I was thoroughly hooked. (Saw them on late night TV folks, not in the 1950’s theaters LOL.). I devoured any account of the sinking. I read books and sought out movies about other disasters as well, both natural and manmade, like Pompeii and the Sepoy Rebellion and Apollo 13…
But Titanic is the epitome of disaster. Premonitions. Too much speed on a clear night. Too much trust in the unsinkable technology. So many people, too few lifeboats. The wireless operators staying at their posts, talking to the world on the internet of its time, Marconi wireless, yet no one could help. The Carpathia driving through the Atlantic, knowing they’d arrive too late. The Californian ten miles away, able to save everyone, yet unaware of the tragedy. The musicians playing. The brave officers. The lovers separated. Or staying on board together to drown. The popular captain who’d never actually been in a sinking situation. The corporate executive who steps off the sinking ship into the last lifeboat and spends the rest of his life reviled. The steerage passengers, kept below too long. The rich, the famous, the children… I mean, the dramatic elements go on and on, yet it was all very real, and extremely sad.
Now I’m a writer obviously and I’ve done so much research into Titanic over the years, you might expect me to have written a novel set on that ship. Well, but for two things. First of all, I feel Titanic is complete. Not to say I won’t keep reading books about it and watching TV mini series set aboard the ship, but as a novelist, it feels done. My Muse isn’t inspired to go there. Which leads me to the second point – my Muse likes to write science fiction adventure/romance, with Special Forces operators and smart, gutsy women, in dangerous situations. So it was probably inevitable that all that Titanic inspiration would turn into the catastrophe that strikes my Nebula Dream in the far future. I just had to figure out why my military hero would be traveling on such a ship. Once I knew that answer, I was off to write.
I looked to the events of Titanic for inspiration, not to do a literal retelling out in interstellar space. My plot includes science fictional things that would never happen in the cold North Atlantic. (No spoilers here!) But I also deliberately included two children among the small party trying to survive – Paolo and Gianna, who for me symbolized the many children who sadly perished on Titanic. Believe me, from my hero Nick Jameson to businesswoman Mara Lyrae the heroine, to the others in the group, every single person is determined that those kids will survive. There are some other subtle nods to the events of Titanic and a few outright similarities – the Nebula Dream is the newest, most advanced cruise liner of her time, with new engine technology, her captain and the company’s representative out to make a speed record at all costs…until….well, that would be the story, now wouldn’t it?
WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM, a 2013 SFR Galaxy Award Winner and Amazon Best Seller, is available from Amazon Barnes & Noble iTunes
Best Selling Science Fiction author Veronica Scott grew up in a house with a library full of books as its heart, and when she ran out of things to read, she started writing her own stories. Married young to her high school sweetheart then widowed, Veronica has two grown daughters, one young grandson and cats Keanu and Jake.
Veronica’s life has taken many twists and turns, but she always makes time to keep reading and writing. Everything is good source material for the next novel or the one after that anyway, right? She’s been through earthquakes, tornadoes and near death experiences… Always more stories to tell, new adventures to experience—Veronica’s personal motto is, “Never boring.”
This was SO fascinating! I’ve also been intrigued by the Titanic disaster, but never thought of taking it into space. Very, very cool!
Okay, peeps, please make Veronica welcome by at least saying, hi, or asking her about her awesome novel, The Wreck of the Nebula Dream.
Perilously (and gratefully),
Pauline