YA Under My Skin: The Salvation Project by Stewart Ross

To kick off The Salvation Project blog tour, I've got a great interview with the author Stewart Ross. There's also a giveaway if you head to the Goodreads link at the bottom of the page.

First I'll tell you about the book, then get straight to the interview!

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…

I love the sound of this and I'm looking forward to reading my copy! Now, it's time for the interview.

What were your favourite books as a child?

Long time ago! I remember being mesmerised by the Wind in the Willows when a neighbour read it to me and her son, and the book’s been a favourite ever since. Pooh featured highly early on. I collected the Wonder Book series (The Wonder Book of Farming (?!) etc) and the I-Spy series. The first book I remember buying for myself was Treasure Island. I re-read it again recently – it has one of the best beginnings of any book I know.

What books or authors inspire you?

No. 1 by miles and miles is William Shakespeare, the greatest literary genius of all time who just happened – lucky us! – to have lived at a time when the English language was fresh and new and flexible. The terms of abuse used by Timur/Giv in The Salvation Project owe much to the Bard. My favourite novelist is Charles Dickens, whose larger than life characters influenced many of my creations – especially the Zeds – in the Soterion Mission trilogy.

My favourite living writers are the Canadian Margaret Atwood (The Blind Assassin) and Cormac McCarthy (The Road). Children’s authors? A. A. Milne and Roald Dahl stand out. And among those living today I’d go for Philip Pullman among the many, many writers and illustrators (Quentin Blake) of undisputed genius.

If you could meet any author, who would it be?

Shakespeare. Apparently he was good fun to be with. I’d like to hear his accent, listen to his conversation, and ask him what he’d do if I could carry him forward to our century. Would Hollywood interest him?

Then I’d bombard him with questions: Who taught you at school? Were you ever a spy? Do you love your wife? Are you a secret Roman catholic? What do you think of Queen Elizabeth? Etc etc

Do you have any writing or editing rituals?

Cup of tea, switch on computer, switch on brain with four different games of solitaire and a game of chess… and off we go.

Where do you write?

For the last 27 years I have worked in a hut in the garden:

It’s stuffed with books and known in the family as ‘Auld Reekie’, a nickname given to Edinburgh when it was a very dirty and smoky city. I have written a number of books on Scottish history, and once smoked a pipe: back then, when it was too cold to open the door or windows, the inside of my hut got very Reekie indeed.

Sadly, my Auld Reekie is getting a bit rotten around the edges nowadays and before long will need some serious surgery.

If you were stuck in a dystopia, which fictional character/s would you take with you?

I’d take three:

Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne, not Disney – for comfort, kindness and homespun common sense.

Atticus Finch (from To Kill a Mockingbird), the all-time wise and liberal hero.

Roxanne from my Soterion Mission, the bravest, most attractive woman I know. I was in love with her from the moment she appeared on the page.

Thanks so much for the interview Stewart.

The giveaway link is below - good luck everyone!