Constelis Voss (Author Interview)


https://constelisvoss.com/products/constelis-voss-ebook-trilogy-bundle

Constelis Voss looks like an exciting trilogy.  Can you tell us a little about it?

CONSTELIS VOSS is a three-part story that not only features irreverent robots fighting a dystopian technocracy, but a series of lessons about community, society and technology. It aims to teach as much as it aims to amuse, swears and all.

The series starts in the distant future on a planet-sized ship—CONSTELIS VOSS—the last bastion of human civilization as we know it. A war-machine is given a personality file in order to save his models from annihilating themselves, and Alex is born. Alex, a robot who remembers living a human life. Alex, who discovers the world he used to love is now nothing more than digital gore far beyond the stars. 

For this, he gathers “new” friends and wages war against a terrible Dictatorial tyrant. There’s just one problem: The entire ship seems primed to remind him and his friends of their past lives on Earth. What would you do if you broke the world for the right reasons and didn’t know it? Let’s hope these cyborg superheroes can fix it before it’s too late, or humanity will be destroyed for good.

 

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve always been interested in writing from a young age, but kept that part of myself hidden away as a secret, much like singing. It was my pass-time, my hobby, something carefully guarded and nurtured. As time went on, I realized not sharing this gift was a mistake. 

Once my tech career hit full-stride (and COVID came into the fray) I knew it was time to use my art as a tool to solve what technology can’t: Its own issues, namely erasing the human element like pouring bleach down a systemic pipe.

 

What inspired the idea for your books?

The tech industry’s follies made this series possible. While working in tech, I saw the writing on the wall for humanity and knew I had to act with the only tool I have: Art. Without curtailing Silicon Valley’s worst impulses, I don’t believe humanity is going to survive the technocratic future. As much as I want there to be fully-automated luxury gay space communism, there’s far too much garbage data—and far too many would-be dictators—to let that happen. 

CONSTELIS VOSS—as well as my short story EMPTY OF NOTHING—are a response to what I know will come to pass if we do not change our ways. When technological leaders abandon the human element, what could possibly restore it? My hypothesis is thinking-feeling machines, like ghosts embedded in the code. My work is a lesson for humanity and I hope it reaches the right readers so we can have a beautiful future full of life, love and equality.

 

Can you tell us a little about the main character?

The main character (Alex) is an asshole. All jokes aside, he’s a wiry little brat with guns in his chest, anger management issues and PTSD from his past-life and having his real human brain ripped through a technological blender. Every character I write is much the same: Messy, complex, irrational and impossibly human despite being mechanical.

 

What part of the book was the most fun to write?

All my work is fun to write. Inherently, writing is one of the most enjoyable forms of artmaking on the planet. Words themselves create little paintings and cascade upon one another to usher emotions, song, light, heat and image. There’s something very beautiful about creating fake people that run around a landscape, loving each other and saving the world. But if I had to put a real pin in it, I’d say writing Percy and Henry running through The Greens. 

I truly love describing nature in all its ineffable glory. There are so many lush, impossible drawings to form in the mind with the use of natural imagery. Birds in flight, shimmering wheat, a sky that stretches on for decades.

 

What was your hardest scene/section to write, and why?

I rewrote the ending a good four times at least. It was difficult, mostly because I want all of my characters to be happy. I’m not one of those writers who thinks the only way to evoke reader empathy is by killing, maiming or emotionally destroying my characters. 

Truly, I wanted a more perfect ending, but a perfect ending wouldn’t do justice to the message: That we all must evolve for humanity to grow and prosper. Yes, even my protagonist, who is mostly just a scared young man who makes every mistake on the road to being a good person.

 

What do you like to do when not writing?

When I’m not writing, I test out neat Startup software, mess around in Unity or other 3D animation and art programs, build websites, paint and play video games. I have an active artistic and technological life. My favorite hobby, though? Spending time with my cat and partner. 

The  best moments of my life have been spent with those two at my side, marveling at life and all its idiosyncrasies, laughing and enjoying good food.

 

Where can readers find out more about your work?

Readers can visit www.constelisvoss.com for new releases, HQ paperbacks, eBooks, excerpts and official art. For op-eds and prattling about both tech and art https://blog.constelisvoss.com/ is the best bet. And if they’d like to chat? Twitter’s a good place to reach me. https://twitter.com/kiraIeigh My DMs are always open to talk tech, art and beyond.