Interview with Stephen Cote, Author of Through the Rift

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Through the Rift (The Shard Series Book 2)?

So much was left unanswered in Shard that it needed a sequel. I was exploring the historical conflict between the Church and the Empire, and the current conflict over geoengineering.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of Through the Rift (The Shard Series Book 2), what would they be?

Ooh, tough one. Maybe “Ziggy Stardust” meets “Space Cowboy,” but is young and clueless.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

It is. I enjoy speculative fiction with some space battles thrown in to keep it interesting.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

Neal Stephenson “Termination Shock” and anything by Adrian Tchiakovsky that I haven’t read yet.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

Along with the opening scene at a religious ritual in the high plains of Bolivia, I enjoyed writing Stupid Rabbit, which is based on a personal experience late one night in the Yosemite backcountry.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

I don’t, no, but I nearly always have a cup of coffee with me when I’m writing. I like to support the many great local coffee shops in Philadelphia, one of which shows up in the book, but on an asteroid.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

Make every mistake, but only make them once. I live with intellectual honesty, where I’ve been wrong enough times to be cautious of my certainty about things.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

When is Book Three coming?! Just kidding. I’d like folks to think about where we are going as much as they think about where they are. We won’t recognize the future in ways that people 50 years ago couldn’t have imagined us today staring at our screens, lonely, ignoring each other, driving into each other while texting, not having flying cars or a base on the moon or other things. They, in the future, will not be us, so how can we set them up for success while still living our strange, isolated, tech-driven existences?