Stephen
T. Pearson
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Tell your readers a little about yourself, where you grew up,
where you live now, where you went to school etc. Let them get to know the
personal you.
I grew
up and currently live in British Columbia, Canada. The environment is
healthy, but the cost of living here is unreasonably expensive compared to many
other parts of the country.
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I spent the first 12 years of my work-experience life working 2 jobs, usually
6-7 days a week, just to find myself occasionally earning just over the poverty
line in wages. I would always have one kitchen-based job and one job that was
trades-person based. Fortunately for me, my parents moved to a small island in the Pacific
called Douglas Island, which the residents affectionately call Protection
Island. (I actually hid the address where my grandfather built a home for my
mother and my family, but the clues are hidden within all 5 books) While I was
working a kitchen job, I would be called on for assistance by one of the many
residences on this island that held 360 - 1/4 acre properties. Rather than
taking extra wages, I found myself learning from masters of most industries on
the planet. I ended up learning the secrets and methods of nearly 70 different
trade professions.
This led me to my current career. I had a massive amount of practical work
experience but no ticket or license. So I went to school.
I took various courses throughout my life, including 4 years in BCIT taking
their Marine Engineering Diploma Program.
Currently, I am happy working in various capacities in the Marine
Engineering field.
I do want to return to school again one day, but this would be more for myself
than it would be for a career. The next field of study I expect I might pursue
is either laser technology or nuclear physics. Who knows, it may even help me
write up another Chris Astra book in the future.
What inspired you to author this series?
The birth of my child inspired the series. I wrote this series to ensure my child learns the most important lessons I want to teach them if I ever passed away before their 19th birthday. I work out at sea, and the series was truly and originally inspired to be written because of my child.
Where did you get the inspiration for your book’s coverS?
The
Chris Astra series covers for the first 5 books, also known as the "Secrets" collection, were inspired by the stories within them. The
artist I found did such a phenomenal job on the artwork; I wanted the readers
to be able to display their books should they wish to.
The covers are about the current story with a single secret that they all share
within the imagery. Perhaps you can see it right away; perhaps it won't be
obvious until the last book. But there is a secret part to each image.
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Who has been the most significant influence on you personally and as a writer?
The father figures in my life. I lost my father many years ago unexpectedly. Several people have tried to step in to fill that role. Then they themselves either died or disappeared, and I cannot contact them anymore.
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What were the struggles or obstacles you had to overcome to get this book written?
This
question made me laugh. The series holds one key secret that I guess I can
share with you now. Although the storyline holds Science Fiction elements, as
well as certain advanced real-world science technologies, when it comes to the
struggles and obstacles found within this book... ...These stories have been
adapted from my own life. The struggles are real, and the obstacles were real, but
the lifeforms, characters, and several of the situations and places were made
up to respect the privacy of the people in my life they may apply to.
There were only a handful of situations within the stories that don't somehow
apply to my life...
-I never got selected to go to a special school
-I never left the planet earth
-I never met an alien lifeform
-I didn't win my class election in high school (I was 3% of the vote shy of
winning)
-I never made a global announcement
-I never found any magical tools
-I was never in a political position aside from simply running for elections
-I have no interest in obtaining any position of any grand authority
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At one point, I was in deep discussions with a person that, from all available
evidence, had the bloodline of royalty. This person really wanted the authority
and bonuses that come with a throne, but they never considered what they would
be giving up for that throne. The death threats, the detriment to your personal
reputation, the risk to your family and friends, the responsibility to the
people first before your family and friends, and the responsibility to the symbolic
value of the crown effectively inhibit a good royals freedom of speech,
as well as the integrity that it demands from you 24 hours of every day.
This is in essence, the primary struggle I had with writing the book. Just like
in my conversation with my friend, I tried my very best to look at the bigger
picture of the Chris Astra stories. To look beyond the surface of the story and
to hold small elements back for future tales.
Tell your readers about your book series.
Book 1 - Chris Astra and the Secrets of the Moon
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| Hardcover - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKSGFLTC Paperback - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKSGKQM5 Kindle - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKWF75P5 |
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| Hardcover - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKRZX4H1 Paperback - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKRZMML7 Kindle - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKWGLJZP |
Chris and his friends return for a third year, and while one friend struggles with declining health issues, the rest must group together and overcome some rather unique first-contact problems, all while each student is starting to discover who they are and how they fit into this universe.
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| Hardcover - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKS3JTT1 Paperback - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKRX6GFD Kindle - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BKWHBHSS |
A war of surprise has just been announced by the Viceroy of Earth, while Chris has surprisingly been charged with treason. It is clear to Chris and his friends who Viceroy is afraid and fighting the wrong enemy, so now it is up to our intrepid students to try to find the best solutions that will help as many lives as possible.
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| Hardcover - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW2RY7PC Paperback - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW2GWHMW Kindle - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXHF3V27 |
Book 5 - Chris Astra and the Secrets of the Stars
The chase will finally end and... ...well that is a secret surprise for those dedicated readers that read all 5 books.
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| Hardcover - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW3HR2N3 Paperback - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW2C3FD2 Kindle - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXHD8N5Q |
Here is
a loaded question that literally changed as I was writing the Chris Astra book
series.
My initial target audience was my son. Then my friend asked me to write a book so they could feel they were the hero within. So my new audience became anyone
that wanted to feel that they were the heroic character in the story.
This made me realize that one of the concepts within the series I wanted to
express was an anti-xenophobic attitude toward accepting each other for the
differences that make each of us special. This now turned into an opportunity
to present this series to the many readers of young adult stories.
As I completed book 3 and was about to start on what I thought were the final
stories, I realized that this series unintentionally turned into a "coming
of age" type story. So It then became a story that newer readers would be
able to relate to.
It was book 5 that completely changed the target audience, as well as the
potential for the story to continue much further. Prior to this point, the
target audience was new readers through 19-year-old readers. The thing that is
special about this book is I wrote it for myself.
I will get into more detail. Chris Astra books 1-3 were written for my son
originally. Book 4 was designed to be an ending to that series. But then
something occurred to me that I don't read about in a lot of series. Where
book 4 was all about war fronts, as well as the final major battle that made the
main character a hero, there needed to be a 5th book that described the
aftermath of the war.
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This final story is about the many things that we don't think about when we read most stories with the war in them. In many stories I have read, the grand battle happens, and then when it is over... ...everyone goes home like it is only the bad memories that need to be dealt with. But what about all the unexploded ordinance, or the homeless refugees, or the starving people that have lost their farmlands because some government official of theirs wanted to start a war.
So, after I wrote book 5 for myself, I realized that my new target audience, at this point, is now global. If books 1-4 were for any and all teenagers, book 5 is for any and all adults, but written with the intent a teenager might choose to read it.
What do you consider your greatest success in life?
I know
this is going to sound like a job interview answer, but the truth is... ...each
and every one of my personal failures.
With each failure, I learned a valuable lesson. These lessons eventually
combined to form patterns of behavior, which in turn changed into habits, which
over time have become valued principles that I try my best to govern my life
around.
I am not perfect in any way, shape, or form; I consider myself an eternal
student, constantly learning and adapting my ideals as needed. As those ideals
are modified, so are the principles I follow.
I can make this even simpler. My greatest success in life seems to be a rare
ability to be able to admit that I can be wrong and at the same time, be
willing to learn and grow from being wrong.
The Chris Astra book series holds a majority of my ideals developed over time
that became principles I try my best to follow throughout life.
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What one unique thing sets you apart from other writers in your genre?
The
book series was written for two special reasons. As the author, I work in a
rather dangerous field. My career is based out at sea. Every time I go out to
work, there is a chance I won't return home.
This series was written for my child. If I should pass away before getting to
teach my child what I hope they would learn from me, all the most important
lessons that I feel a father should teach their child before the age of 18 can
be found within this series.
This series was also written carefully as a challenge made by a dear friend.
This friend lives their life as non-binary because they were born as an
Intersex gender rather than the more common male or female genders. This
friend desperately wanted to read a story that they could relate to as the
Hero character while they read it.
This provided an interesting literary challenge I couldn't pass up. To write a
story where the main character was not referred to as He/She/Hers/His/Her/Him.
In the end, the result was a story about a person called Chris Astra that
everyone, everywhere, could imagine themselves being as they read it.
