Interview with Stewart Ross (+ Giveaway)

Interview with Stewart Ross

Hi All!
Today is my spot on the Salvation Project blog tour! I am here to introduce you to the lovely Stewart Ross with an interview!

Plus a Goodreads Giveaway!

About the Book

Humanity’s hope of salvation lies within a single laptop…

A mutation in human DNA means no one lives beyond nineteen. Scientists working to reverse this pandemic died before their Salvation Project was complete, leaving behind the results of their research in a sealed vault – the Soterion.

122 years have passed. The civilisation of the ‘Long Dead’ is almost forgotten, the Soterion has been burned to ashes, and communities of Constants are tormented by brutal tribes of Zeds. Cyrus, Miouda and Sammy flee their burning city with a laptop rescued from the inferno. They believe it contains the key to the Salvation Project. But its batteries are dead, there is no electricity to power it, and murderous Zeds will stop at nothing to get it back…

Goodreads. Amazon UK.

An Interview with Stewart Ross

If you had to describe your book into a 140-character tweet, how would you do it?
Not for the faint-hearted: where Young Adults are the only adults, this dystopian quest challenges every aspect of the way we live now.

What do you hope people will take away from your trilogy?
I hope that everyone reading this book will think again about our society’s unflattering Lord-of-the-Flies attitude towards the young. Most of the time we behave as we are expected or allowed to behave. When not given responsibility, for example, we are inclined to behave irresponsibly. But when there is no alternative, it’s amazing what we can do.

Where do you do most of your writing?
I work in a hut in the garden: too cold in winter & too hot in summer, but a quiet place where I can talk to myself without being thought bonkers.

What piece of advice would you give to teenagers living today?
There’s only one -ism that matters: your own idealism.

If you could live in one fiction world, which world would you live in?
Easy – the world of Lanskira at the end of the Salvation Project! (It’s a controversial choice, I know – I’d love to know what readers think.)

If you could befriend one fictional character, who would you befriend and why?
Falstaff for a night out, Pooh Bear for a night in, and my own Roxanne for life.

Who is your favourite character in the Soterion Mission trilogy?
Villains are always more fun than the straight guys. The enigmatic, haunted figure of Xsani must be my favourite, with Timur (drawn from Tamburlaine the Great) hard on her heels – what other figure, real or fictional, exerted more power when dead and smoked than when alive? Sakamir and the Safids are not far behind. Poor, heart-broken, confused Giv is my favourite tragic figure. And the out-and-out hero? I fell in love with Roxanne, named after the wife of Alexander the Great, from the moment that brave, resolute and intelligent woman stepped onto the page. And she floats, shining, over the whole trilogy.

What will you miss most about the Soterion Mission trilogy?
So much. I want to know what happens to Miouda and her child, and I want to know how Olo and Sammy get on. Above all, I will miss – as I already do – entering a world populated by those extraordinary characters with their bizarre speech and behaviour. In fact, I had such fun creating those people, villains as much as heroes, that I think I’ll have to go on to vol. 4 so that I can spend some more time with them all …

About the Author

Stewart was born in Buckinghamshire and educated in Oxford, Berkhamsted, Exeter, Bristol, and Orlando, Florida. He taught at a variety of institutions in Sri Lanka, the Middle East, the USA, and Britain before becoming a full-time writer in 1989.

With over 300 published titles to his credit, he is now one of Britain’s most popular and versatile authors. His output includes prize-winning books for younger readers, novels, plays, three librettos, a musical, and many widely acclaimed works on history and sport. Several of his books are illustrated with his own photographs.

Stewart also lectures in France and the UK, gives talks, runs workshops, and visits schools. He is an occasional journalist and broadcaster. His brother, Charlie Ross, is the celebrated auctioneer.

In his spare time Stewart enjoys travel, restaurants, sport, theatre, photography, art and music. He lives near Canterbury with his wife Lucy, and – occasionally – his four children and two grandchildren. Each morning he commutes 10 metres to work in a large hut in the garden.

Website. Twitter. Facebook. Youtube.