BALTIMORE - s4story -- Originally published on Instagram @snehasbookshelf

Ramwani: What sparked the initial idea for Lily Starling and the Voyage of the Salamander?

Hurst: The spark for Lily Starling and the Voyage of the Salamander wasn't really a plot point—it was more of a memory—and a feeling. I kept coming back to the experience of loneliness, of not quite fitting in. I grew up in an environment where I often felt like an outsider, and while I'm not resentful of that—I think it shaped me in good ways—it gave me a deep empathy for people who feel like they're on the edges of things.

Younger people especially can get trapped in their own loneliness. It can feel like it defines you. But there's a line in the book where Lily realizes something important: that loneliness doesn't last forever. You start to see the edges of the cage. And once you do, there's hope. You start to imagine a life you can build on your own terms.

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I've always loved science fiction, particularly classic, pulpy space opera—it's fun, adventurous, and full of spectacle. But it's also the perfect container for deeper themes. You get readers invested in the action and the characters, and once their guard is down, you can sneak in some pretty powerful ideas. That's what Salamander was for me: a way to talk about identity, belonging, and resilience through a lens that feels hopeful and full of possibility.

Ramwani: The book gives off Mass Effect and Firefly vibes—were those deliberate influences, or did it evolve that way naturally?

Hurst: I've heard the Mass Effect and Firefly comparisons a lot, and I take them as a huge compliment—those are beloved, layered worlds. But no, they weren't deliberate influences. I enjoy both, but the sci-fi I was raised on was Star Trek. That's really the root of my love for the genre—the mix of high-concept adventure and morality-driven storytelling.

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Of course, I've always loved Star Wars, Firefly, and a whole range of pop sci-fi. I'm also deeply inspired by authors like Ursula K. Le Guin and Isaac Asimov—writers who used speculative fiction to tackle real human questions. And beyond sci-fi, my all-time favorite classical author is actually Victor Hugo. I read Les Misérables when I was 14, and it changed how I understood what fiction could do...

Read the full interview: https://open.substack.com/pub/christianhurst/p/hope-in-the-stars-christian-hurst?r=5iajlb&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Learn more: https://www.churstpublishing.com