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Lindsay from Me On Books interview Cecil Castellucci about Tin Star

by Crystal
Fiction + Science Fiction and Fantasy + YA Fiction / March 06, 2014

Lindsay: I found Tin Star to be such an interesting book, this look at one human girl, abandoned and cast aside, left for dead, who is in a way saved by aliens and ekes out a life on a space station surrounded by those aliens. Where did the idea of this book start? Did it start with Tula, with wanting to tell her story?

 

Cecil: It did start with Tula.  I wondered what it would be like if you had to eat alien food or die.  That was kind of the first seed.  But it really came together when I was re-watching Casablanca.  I was struck by the idea of this city being this way station for people in limbo during WW II as they tried to escape from Germany.  The city was a character in that movie and that coupled with the idea of a human girl choosing to eat alien food and live was the real start of the book.  I knew that I wanted Tula to be the only human on that station, and in a way I model her after Rick from the movie, who is shut down after being disappointed and deceived when fleeing Paris.  Tula almost has to become an alien and shed her humanity until she's confronted with it again when the three humans crash onto the station.  

 

Lindsay: How important was it to have Tula be so strong, to be able to come back and continue living? (Of course, I imagine her need for revenge for what Brother Blue did to her provided some incentive.)

 

Cecil: It was very important.  For the revenge, for sure.  But also because I think when anyone experiences trauma you kind of have to choose to come back.  When she is clutching onto that Alin plant that she stole from Tournour, that is really the moment that she decides to live.  That is evident when Heckleck tries to buy it from her and she knows that if she gives it up she'll die.  

 

Lindsay: Tula is often looked down upon for being human, for being part of a species that just wanders through space seemingly without a care. Why categorize Humans as a Lesser Species, as wanderers?

 

Cecil: I wanted to not only have Tula be alone on the station, but alone in the galaxy.  Really friendless.  As for making Humans a lesser species, I was interested in the idea of moving away from a human centric galactic story which we often times see in science fiction, humans are the star and the saviors and the most civilized of all.  And of course Tula is a human and she's the star.  But I mean humans as a civilization.  I thought it would be interesting to really try to explore humanity through alien-ness.  As for the human wanderers, I was thinking about the humans who went out on intergenerational ships and just kind of got stuck and couldn't come home.  And of course, there is a reason for humans being lesser in the sense that there is room for them to grow.  And a lot of that crops up in book two!  But you'll have to wait to see what's in store in Stone in the Sky.  

 

Lindsay: Tula has a curious relationship with her own humanity. She spends years on the station, time away from Humans and time with many different aliens. It's an interesting look at the 'other,' and when Humans come to the station, how we can feel like the 'other' when we're with someone almost exactly like us. Was that intentional?

 

Cecil: Absolutely! In this story, we are the strange aliens. Tula is apart and manages it because of her overwhelming desire to survive, but ultimately that like I hinted at above, I was interested in Tula having to rediscover and reclaim her humanity after sort of having to become an alien herself.  I mean, I suppose it's actually much deeper than what I can articulate.  But yes, it was completely intentional.  There are so many great stories where aliens come to Earth and are the other, I wanted to flip that around.  

 

Lindsay: The different aliens on the station, aliens like Tournour and Heckleck, all have 'Human' characteristics. They are alien, they're not Human, but they are sympathetic towards Tula. Was there anything that inspired the different alien species, or specifically Tournour and Heckleck? (I kept going back to the sketch of Becky Cloonan's of Tournour that you posted on Twitter whenever Tula came across him.)

 

 

Cecil: I love Becky's sketch of Tournour!  I love how dreamy she made him!  And Heckleck, too!  Did I post that one?  With Tournour, I wanted him to have some kind of something that we could grab onto, which is why they have the most human eyes.  I purposefully make Humans and Loors have the same kind of sun.  I thought that could sort of signal that they have some kind of familiarity to each other.  With Heckleck, I wanted to create an alien that looked very scary but actually has a kind heart.  I have a short story about him and his soft heart that Tor.com is supposed to publish at some point called The Sound of Useless Wings that explains more about him.  But there is a big tradition in Sci Fi of bug-like aliens and so he is kind of a nod to that.  Personally, bug-like things freak me out and if I had to be saved by one I'd probably faint with fear!  In a way, as alien as you make your aliens, you are still bound by being human.  Since we haven't met any yet, it's very hard to imagine! And ultimately, we have to be able to relate to the characters a bit, so I have to define them with my human eyes and brain! 

 

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