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Tell us about Starless, Starless Nights.
By Carin Chea
Starless, Starless Nights is the story of LD Starr, a twelve-year-old boy with extraterrestrial roots growing up just after World War II on North Carolina's southernmost barrier island.
In most every way he leads the life of a typical human boy, until his hidden family past leaves him racing against time to stop an alien race capable of sabotaging the very fabric of the cosmos from taking out their wrath on his adopted planet earth.
Which writers have most influenced you?
I was always very inspired by the work of Robert Heinlein. As a fellow Engineer I always felt a deep connection with his devotion to scientific accuracy.
I try to bring the same to my work and suspect my training as a Mechanical Engineer, as well as my time in the Navy, have always given my writing a strong and comfortable lean towards exploring the outer realms of science and technology.
Were any of the characters in the book inspired by people in your life?
I think like most writers, I’ve always constantly drawn inspiration from my real-world family, friends, and associates for use in my work. In particular, the main character of this book, LD Starr, is full of a spirit and curiosity I always admired in my own children when they were growing up.
Having said that, LD is also surrounded by a supportive cast of surrogate human parents and unlikely friends that all play important roles in shaping his extraordinary quest, and without a doubt I drew inspiration there from the role my wife has played in my life.
How do you feel your story resonates with the present?
That’s such a great question given the moment we find ourselves in time right now. The thing about the story of Starless, Starless Nights is that it goes back over 50 years, and in some ways, it was probably a self-created coping and escape mechanism for a very challenging time in my life.
I was fresh out of college as a Mechanical Engineer back in the late 60s when I was drafted into the thick of the Vietnam war to serve in the Navy’s famous SeaBee construction brigade.
It seemed like almost overnight I found myself a million miles from home mucking through the jungles and mud of Vietnam helping to build bridges, airfields, roads, and anything else that was called for from moment to moment.
I was surrounded by some of the greatest guys I’ve ever known, and yet, at the same time felt so isolated and far from home. I was just this bookish kid who loved sci-fi that was dropped into the war all the way from Tidewater, Virginia.
For me, letting my mind wander to the idea of a young boy who overcomes loss and isolation in his own life to stand up and do brave things on behalf of planet earth was a comforting escape, but I think his story may resonate just as strongly today with anyone who might be feeling the weight of isolation or the struggle to valiantly move on from past trauma as LD does.
In fact, it’s one of the things I love most about the book.
How do you feel your writing has evolved?
My path to writing this book has been less than traditional to say the least in that it has evolved, as have I, over the many years since I returned from Vietnam.
I would say certainly the experience of being a father and helping to raise children of my own fundamentally changed the way I was able to approach a character like LD Starr, who is the main character of this book. He’s a brilliant alien, yes, but at the end of the day, he’s also a 12-year-old boy.
As I’ve evolved and matured over the years I sense that my ability to write not just for him, but for other characters in the trilogy, has been enhanced. On the one hand I can write from the vantage point of a parent, and now grandparent, but on the other, I remember the worldview of a child at the same time.
What was the greatest challenge about writing Starless, Starless Nights?
Having my own challenges with PTSD, it was often very emotionally taxing to develop two characters that were suffering tremendously from PTSD in this story. At times, it was almost as though I was staring my own demons down in the mirror as I was writing.
Ultimately, the process became very cathartic though, and at the end of the day, if my story helps anyone deal with their own mental health, then the journey has been well worth it.
Beyond the plotline and words, I wrestled quite a bit with landing the right illustrator to help me capture the mood and setting of the book as well, which I ultimately did in Andrew Zettler.
The particular challenge was that the book features a joining of realms, really. On the one hand I set the story in a late 1940’s North Carolina coastal town, but on the other, there are alien intruders arriving who take on a unique dog-like form that’s very foreign to our human imagination.
I really wanted to visually set the table for this awkward joining of worlds in the story, but do it in a style that would resonate in a pure and honest way with middle grade and young adult readers, and I really feel we did that.
What do you feel you learned through the writing of your book?
No matter how overwhelming or daunting a task or enemy may appear in your life, a resilient and unwavering belief yourself, even through your setbacks and doubts, can be your greatest friend.
What are you currently working on?
Starless, Starless Nights is actually one book of a trilogy. As it progresses, we continue to follow LD Starr and his adventures through the cosmos at different stages of his life, so I’m hard at work on the second book in the series.
Learn more at: https://EricLisle.com
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