Indie April might be over, but you can still see all the interviews and check out the books, although some prices may have changed.
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Here is the last interview from the Indie April promo:
In Conversation With: Heather Chambers
Today I have the pleasure of sitting down with author Heather Chambers. Before we start, although I suppose we already have, let's get the required question about your last name out of the way: No relation to Becky, right?
Haha, hi! Sadly, no relation. One day, I'd love to meet her. Maybe we could come up with a tale of long-lost relatives with superpowers to explain away the connection, just to mess with people.
Second required question: How often are you asked?
This is the first time, actually! It's an honour. It's curious, though, how two Chambers from different countries managed to get into science fiction. If a third shows up, I'm going to begin to wonder which of our ancestors made a deal with a deity, haha!
Thanks for clearing that up. Oddly enough, I had to ask a similar question in two previous interviews, one with Dane Cobain (no relation) and R.K. King (no relation, either).
Part of me hopes that R.K. King also writes horror, just to cause more chaos.
Can I offer you anything to drink?
Oh, If you'd feed my coffee addiction that'd be lovely. Thank you.
What was the first book that you remember reading on your own?
I started reading at an early age. Being raised by bookworms who take you to the library every weekend will do that. So it's a little foggy, but I remember devouring the Warrior Cats series by Erin Hunter as a kid. It's about four clans of cats living in a warrior society, finding the right way to lead their people through tentative alliances and times of trouble, and overcoming conflicts of self on the path to achieving their dreams while fighting the evil that threatens to corrupt intentions along the way.
There's a surprising amount of moral lessons in a children's stories about cats.
(Yet, ironically, I'm a dog person.)
What book got you interested in science fiction?
Like many young adults in 2010, I got sucked into the dystopian worlds of the Hunger Games and Divergent. The world-building and impossible, morally-grey scenarios are what really sealed the deal. It makes you wonder, if you were in their place, would you pick the same choices? Could you live with the results? (looking at you, Hunger Games) And for the worldbuilding, just look at how thought-out Divergent is. It blows my mind that each faction has their own culture, their own rules. I just want to go exploring!
From there, I had to find more rich, dangerous worlds. What better place than science fiction, where nothing is impossible?
Do you have a favorite book?
Kelley Armstrong's the Reckoning, the final book in her Darkest Powers trilogy. The character arcs completing and the conclusion to the love triangle question was so much fun. It's a comfort read.
What authors influenced you?
Definitely Kelley Armstrong. She's a fellow Canadian author, with irreverent humour similar to mine that I just clicked with, and throws the love triangle trope on its head in such a satisfying way every time. She not afraid to blur genres, either. Her stories are perfect to introduce fantasy readers to sci-fi, and sci-fi readers to fantastical elements. For example, her series The Darkest Powers that got me hooked on her, featured a group of teenagers who were genetically modified into becoming fantasy creatures like necromancers and werewolves.
My own series, Earth Sucks, mixes fantasy and sci-fi as well: having to befriend the invaders, alien with witch-like fantasy powers, to survive the dystopian apocalypse. Can you say enemies-to-lovers, anyone?
Tell me about your inspiration for your book, Earth Sucks.
As you know, I love worldbuilding. I ate up the nature-apocalypse in the video game The Last Of Us, and the tv show The 100, where nature's most innocent phenomena was mutated. So, keeping those vibes in mind, I took the predictions of climate change a century from now and cranked the dial to 11. Acid rain. Lighting storms and coal-infused snow. Three-headed animals the size of trucks. How would humanity react? I thought about the societal segregation in my childhood dystopian novels and the news headlines across the world. The Walled Cities were born.
As for the aliens, I thoroughly enjoyed a concept explored on Tumblr called Humans are Space Orcs. It begged the question, what if an invasion happened and aliens realized humans were the scary ones? Objectively, we are a terrifying, predatory species. I wondered what an alien society would be like if it grew up on cautionary tales of us.
Did you plan on writing a series?
I initially planned on a trilogy. Simply because once the ball got rolling, the ideas wouldn't stop. Plotting it all out feels like digging up a dinosaur. I keep brushing away dirt to find more plot points and stories to be shared.
Once I fleshed out the rebellion fighting for inter-special peace and the anti-alien factions, I realized my human antihero mercenary, sidekick, and alien healer love trio would need four books to ensure everybody had a satisfying arc. Then I realized the survivors my angsty mercenary antihero met on job gathering information on his missing family after the invasion had far more importance than planned. If anyone's read Sarah J. Maas's Throne of Glass series, you'll know that characters in the prequel are integral to the final book. Her past comes back, if you will, and readers who want to learn more about the world needed that prequel book showing her past to learn it. I found myself doing the same, writing some of those jobs my mercenary took to reveal more of the rich world, what made him so morally-grey. It's not necessary for reading order, but if you're a hungry reader like me, you'll be glad to know it's on the writing list.
In other words: no. Haha!
Who does your cover art?
Isn't it gorgeous? An incredible freelancer going by the user Ckid made it! Do check her out, she's absolutely amazing! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ckid_art/ website: https://ckidart.com/#home
Let's pivot to music. Many great bands have come from Canada. Which ones are your favorites and which ones do you wish never made it out?
This is gonna cause some controversy with Canadian reader, but I actually love Nickleback! Three Days Grace and Billy Talent, as well. You can't go wrong with rock. As for ones I wish never made it out, I feel like it's my national duty to apologize for Bieber.
Are you ready for the lightning round?
Cracking my knuckles! Let's do this!
Favorite place in Canada?
The dojos I've trained and taught at!
Most northernly place on the planet you have been?
Vancouver island in British Columbia or Thunder Bay in Ontario!
Do you like gardening?
Yes! Professional dirt thrower, here!
Favorite city?
Montreal!
Last book you have reread?
Heaven Official's Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu!
Scariest animal you have encountered?
Moose! A herd of them crossed the road and stopped traffic for ten minutes. They're huge!
This has been a pleasure. Thanks for chatting. Any links you want to share?
Thank you so much for this opportunity, you have brilliant questions and made this so much fun!
You can find all my socials including instagram, tiktok, tumblr and all places to find my books on my biotree link: https://bio.link/heatherc_author along with the link to my free novella The Mercenary and the Hissing Woods. "𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩. 𝘕𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘍𝘦𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭."
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Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
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