Tucson author Sara Creasy's first novel, Song of Scarabaeus

Tucson author, Sara Creasy, has her first novel coming out in May. Song of Scarabaeus, a science fiction/romance, is an outstanding achievement for her writing debut and has received fantastic early reviews. Publishers Weekly called it, "(a) brilliantly conceived debut", and stated "Creasy's convincing scientific speculation, appealing characterizations, and eerie alien landscapes make this science fiction romance deeply satisfying".

The best cypherteck in the galaxy, Edie can reinvent planets with little more than a thought. Trained since childhood in advanced biocyph seed technology by the all-powerful Crib empire, her mission is to terraform alien worlds while her masters bleed the outlawed Fringe populations dry. When renegade mercenaries kidnap Edie, she's not entirely sure it's a bad thing… until they leash her to a bodyguard, Finn—a former freedom fighter-turned-slave, beaten down but never broken. If Edie strays from Finn's side, he dies. If she doesn't cooperate, the pirates will kill them both.

But Edie's abilities far surpass anything her enemies imagine. And now, with Finn her only ally as the merciless Crib closes in, she'll have to prove it or die on the site of her only failure… a world called Scarabaeus.

Sara is not only an Arizona transplant, but an American transplant as well. Born in West Midlands, UK, her family moved to Australia in her teens, and then Arizona in 2005. Sara has always had an outstanding imagination and, with her siblings, used manual typewriters to write out their fantasy stories.

She appeared at the Tucson Festival of Books last month and granted an interview in preparation of the Song of Scarabaeus' release.

What is the release date for your book?

Song of Scarabaeus from Eos HarperCollins will be available in bookstores on 1 May 2010 (ISBN 978-0061934735).

You created a whole universe for your novel with vocabulary and everything. How monumental! How did you first envision it?

The novel evolved from lots of different ideas that had been milling about in my brain for years. The first chapter started out as a short story that I wrote with an entirely different set of characters. Edie’s background was a story I wanted to write but never did – about a child from a tribal culture who was an outsider. There are just hints of that childhood in the book. The situation with Finn, who is forced to play bodyguard and stay by Edie’s side or die, was yet another snippet of an idea I had for a different story. The terraforming technology stems from my interest in biology. When I finally sat down to write the novel, I drew on all these ideas.

How do you even begin to keep track of all you created? I’m simply amazed at it. Was there a dictionary?

I did write a compendium to keep track of characters, terminology, technology, politics – essentially “how the world works.” It contains a lot of detail and information that is not in the book, but that I needed to know. The trick is to introduce these ideas only when necessary, and in such a way that the reader understands what I’m saying without needing a glossary or instruction manual. For example, my engineer husband invented a beautiful space ship engine for me. Exactly how it works isn’t important to the story, but in one scene the reader needs to know what it looks like. So I describe it briefly without going into mechanical detail. However, my husband imagined that engine with plausible technology in mind. One day, I’m sure someone will build it – and it will work!

Did you write rules?

I wrote fairly detailed notes on how the terraforming technology – biocyph – works. I extrapolated from what I know about ecosystems and genetic engineering to create, again, a plausible technology that transforms alien ecosystems into habitable ones. I don’t know how to build biocyph, but the fundamental idea behind it (using retroviruses to alter DNA) follows realistic rules.

When did you know you were a writer?

I’ve been writing all my life, but so have we all in some capacity. As a child I found books to be magical, so I always thought writing required some magical skill I couldn’t possibly have. Eventually I figured out that writers are regular people, publishing is a business, and what it really takes is imagination, hard work and a bit of luck. Having discarded the mysticism, I decided about ten years ago that I would like to write books, be published, and earn enough to justify putting “writer” on my tax return. I admit I didn’t really believe any of that would actually happen, which is probably why it took me so long just to finish a 100,000-word first draft. Then I edited it, discarded it, rewrote it, allowed others to read it, rewrote it again, got an agent, rewrote it again, and still didn’t feel like a writer until my agent sold it and my advance check arrived in the mail.

Has Sci Fi always been your chosen genre?

I never thought of writing anything else, and it’s the kind of fiction I’ve always preferred to read. I love creating or reading about new worlds, new societies, new species. I love inventing futures and putting ordinary people that any reader can recognize into extraordinary situations. Then I manipulate their experiences beyond anything that might happen in a contemporary or historical setting.

What are you reading now?

I’m reading Robin Hobb’s upcoming novel Dragon Haven, the sequel to Dragon Keeper. Robin Hobb is one of the few fantasy authors I read. I like her stuff because it doesn’t rely on random magic tricks. The fantasy elements – such as dragons and their lifecycle in this case – are completely integrated into the world.

I know that there is a sequel – can you give us a little hint at what’s to come? Pleeeeease?

By the end of the first book, our heroes have committed themselves to a mission, which they set out to achieve in the sequel. Of course, everything goes horribly wrong. The terraforming theme takes a different direction, and you’re never quite sure if the Crib (the galactic bureaucracy controlling Edie’s life) is the bad guy. Like any bureaucracy, it may be doing what it thinks is best, but it’s composed of individuals with their own agendas. And, of course, the relationship between Edie and Finn develops. As in the first book, these two are in a stressful situation that doesn’t leave a lot of room for normal interaction. This is made worse by certain decisions they will make and by their conflicting priorities.

The Tucson Romance Novel examiner page will be listing any personal appearances and book signing Sara Creasy has scheduled.