Does the past really matter when you hold humanity’s future in your hands?

What inspired you to write this book?

I’d had the idea of “what would happen to a group of space travellers if they’d only been told certain things about their home planet then suddenly found out that what they’d been told wasn’t necessarily all true” a while ago. I’d considered a few potential ways that the story could play out but it took a while for this plot to develop. I loved the possibilities that it presented though, in terms of character development and for what it said about issues affecting us all right now, let alone thousands of years in the future, so it was always something I was going to get around to writing at some point.

What can we expect from you in the future?

I really like writing novella-length stories. For me it feels like the perfect format for the stories I want to tell. I have a big list of ideas in various stages of development, from a quick one-liner to a couple of pages of notes, ideas and sample paragraphs, so I’ve got plenty to keep me busy!

I’m also finding that I enjoy writing short stories, so I’m going to write more of those too.

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Forever Human?

Maya, the protagonist, just wants to do the right thing. She’s often unsure what that is though. As the story develops she finds an inner strength that isn’t apparent at first. She doesn’t want to upset people but she’s also driven by the truth – that’s her dilemma.

Ash is much more sure of himself and his views. For him, the mission comes first and nothing should be allowed to get in its way. On the one hand that’s pretty straightforward, but he’s very adaptable, and if one tactic doesn’t seem to be working he’s more than happy to turn to more extreme measures.

Where did you come up with the names in the story?

I find naming my characters really tricky. I try to find a name that “fits” the character, but that’s easier said than done. You know how, in real life, you sometimes meet someone and think to yourself “yeah, he’s a real ‘Ian’”, or “he doesn’t seem like an ‘Ian’”? Or if you know someone by name and then when you meet them they’re really not what you expected? That’s the challenge. The name has to be the kind of name someone with that personality might have. I tend to change their names multiple times during the writing process – Maya, for example, had a couple of different names before I settled on that.

It’s more difficult than choosing your kids’ names!

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

Because it was based on an idea I’d been playing around with in my head for a couple of years it was just nice to start putting pen to paper (fingers to keyboard) and seeing it develop into a fully-fledged story. A lot of it was as I imagined it but a few times the story took off in ways I hadn’t expected as I was writing, so that was exciting too.

How did you come up with the title of your first novel?

I think a good title captures the essence of the book in one, two or a few words. I played around with a number of alternatives for a while, but Forever Human was the one I went for. I hope it does what I wanted it to.

Who designed your book covers?

I design them myself. I enjoy creating them as much as I enjoy writing the stories themselves. I’m not a great artist myself but I am a fan of art, and I take a keen interest in the covers that other authors are using for their books in various genres. A lot has been written on the subject, and you can spend a load of money getting covers designed by professional designers, but I think if you’ve got a reasonable eye for design and you pay attention to how successful books similar to yours look you can do it yourself with the help some good software.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

No – it’s perfect 😉

What is your favorite part of this book and why?

Probably the way that their ordered society begins to break down and anarchy starts to take over. I think it’s a bit Lord of the Flies.

Have you written any other books that are not published?

I’m working on a couple of short stories right now that should both be finished in the next few months. Both are sci-fi tales but are very different to Forever Human – one’s a time travel story and the other centres around AI. I’m planning to give them away free to everyone who signs up to my newsletter (see my website ianeslatter.com).

Is there a writer which brain you would love to pick for advice? Who would that be and why?

I’d love to be able to talk to Michael Crichton about his books. He had an incredible knack for taking scientific developments and possibilities and melding them into fascinating and thrilling plots. I’d love to be able to do that as well as he did.