Ha! Looks like I drafted this but never published it. So not “Last month” but actually in December, for I Heart SapphFic’s Reading Challenge week of Sci-Fi, I was interviewed about my novel Endurance. If you need a break from current events and would like to get away to another star system, check it out.

Why did you write Endurance?

I’ve long been fascinated by the story of Ernest Shackleton’s failed quest to cross Antarctica. He never even set foot to begin the journey when his ship, Endurance, became trapped in the ice. He and his crew were stranded for almost two years, and their self-rescue is just crazy.

The lesson of Shackleton was leadership. How he managed his crew, how they survived, and the fact that no one died. No. One. Died. It’s the most incredible survival story I know of. You really couldn’t make that up. I wanted to tell the story of a leader pushed to the limit with no one but herself and her crew to get them through. I couldn’t set it in the time of Shackleton—it had been done and done too well to recreate that. Contemporary wouldn’t do because you can’t be that isolated anywhere for that long these days. So to the future! And how do you strand someone? Well, read it and find out.

Who is your favorite character in the book?

Oh, this book has lots of great characters. And I always seem to find someone who maybe wasn’t that important to begin with but takes on a life of her own. In this story, I’d have to say that’s Petra. I had a lot of fun naming characters in this story and hers comes from a TV show character with a lot of spark and sass. But I also find that if I model a character on someone, they invariably make that character their own. Petra is a know-it-all. Literally, she’s the ship’s computer and has access to everything that’s ever been put into digital form. So she’s smart, capable, and Lyn, the captain, treats her like the valued crew member she is. She walks that line between intelligence and humanity though she can’t actually walk since she has no body.

How did you come up with the title for your book?

That’s easy. It’s a tribute to Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance.

How much research did you need to do for Endurance?

Writing a story set in the future isn’t as simple as it seems. You can’t just make everything up. And because Endurance is set only 150 years from now, there’s a lot of technology that I had to keep ahead of. I handled some of that by setting this after a devastating world war that set back a lot of research and technology. So while there are flying cars and a Replicator™-like device (mostly to keep the story from becoming The Martian with a woman) there are no transporters or warp drives. I tried to keep the propulsion systems either vague or within the theoretical realm of possibility. That’s the fun of research. Something doesn’t have to be real, only theorized. We simply don’t know yet. But this isn’t a story for rocket scientists. Lyn, like me, is more a B/C student, so she leaves the brainy stuff to others.

I’m also a nature girl, so I wanted to get some on-the-ground, literally, science in there and not have it set entirely on a spaceship. (Shackleton and his men weren’t always on Endurance.) So physics, biology, astronomy.

But this story isn’t about the tech. It’s about the people. The fun of research is the things you learn, like the woman who led the team who wrote the code that put a man on the moon, Margaret Hamilton.

If you’re planning a sequel, can you share a tiny bit about your plans for it?

The sequel, Tenacity, is out now and I’m working on the third, and final, installment. Let’s just say it continues the quest begun in Endurance and adds to the questions (because there is no answer), who are we and why are we here?

Where do you usually write, and what do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused?

My writing space is an old wood table I bought second-hand for my first apartment as a kitchen table. I have my own room to write in, which is nice. It also has two big windows facing my yard, which is probably way too distracting (and as I type this the sun is stabbing me in the eyes). To be most productive and focused, my table should be clear of to-do lists, unpaid bills, and other bits that right now are cluttered to the side and are not helping!

If you could spend a day with another popular author, whom would you choose?

I can never pick one, so for Endurance, I’d thrill to meet Arkady Martine (for the rich worlds and cultures she builds filled with endearing characters), Martha Wells (for the self-conscious snark of Murderbot), and Octavia Butler (who was brilliantly clairvoyant).

What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing, and by whom?

That’s a tough one since there’s so much good advice out there on so many levels—from picky craft to overarching theme. I would distill it all down to: Be open minded. Don’t be afraid to listen to others. You have to find you own way, but consider feedback thoroughly, then either accept it and make your story better or reject it and know your story is still better.

What has helped or hindered you most when writing a book?

Time. It’s a bitch. When I have it, I tend to waste it. When I don’t, I get cranky. I also have attention issues. I’m easily distracted. Music helps quiet my mind and keep me focused. Classical or at least instrumental. No lyrics.

What author in your genre do you most admire, and why?

Because I had the good fortune to work with her, and she is such a freaking good writer and teacher, I will always have a soft spot in my heart and profound respect for Kelley Eskridge. She hasn’t written a lot, but Solitaire is, for me, a masterwork. Her feedback on my writing was a master class—she can raise up a writer’s self-esteem at the same time telling her she needs to completely rewrite a novel. (Ask me how I know!)

What books did you grow up reading?

I grew up on everything from Nancy Drew, which my school library wouldn’t carry because it wasn’t deemed good enough, to Henry James, which I probably read too young and didn’t fully understand. I took a lot of ribbing for reading Turn of the Screw in eighth grade.

I loved horse stories! I still have on my shelf The Big Book of Favorite Horse Stories. I read Black Beauty as a kid but could never read it now. Too much cruelty. The Black Stallion series by Walter Farley! I wanted to be Alec Ramsay. But I also loved My Side of the Mountain by Jean George and wanted to run away and live in a tree!

I have very wide ranging tastes. One thing I didn’t get enough of as a young reader was seeing characters like me. Most books were about boys. That might be what made me a tomboy, or maybe being a tomboy attracted me to those books. If I’d ever read a sapphic character—Rubyfruit Jungle might have been the first—who knows if I might have come to terms with who I am sooner.

So I make no apologies for writing sapphic characters going on exciting adventures, whether in this time or the future. There are a lot of books with mostly male characters. I’ll write mostly female characters, and that’s perfectly normal.

What books have you read more than once in your life?

When I was a kid I wore out library copies of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken. I finally bought it as an adult. It had everything I craved: orphans, rich cousins, a mean governess, secret passages in a mansion, and wolves, of course. I’m sure the main attraction was that it featured girls! On an adventure! I’ve reread the first Murderbot book, by Martha Wells, as a comfort read when the world gets too stressful. Sometimes you need to know things will work out. And I always look for things to learn as a writer. I also just reread Here If You Need Me by Kate Braestrup, which was more comforting than I expected. She’s a chaplain for the Maine Warden (think wildlife, not prisons) Service. I’m not religious, but her musings on life and death are nondenominational.

Endurance is available here (IHS’s affiliate page).

And the sequel, Tenacity.

Of course, you don’t have to buy from Amazon, but I appreciate the effort TB and Miranda put into promoting sapphic fiction. See my books’ pages above for other options.