MIR.EXE follows a burned-out dockworker in corporate-controlled future Alaska, who is pulled into a dangerous mission involving stolen code, old loyalties, and a chance to break a company’s grip on the world. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

The setting, characters, and major themes were inspired by my work for the Pentagon in Homeland Defense. I spent time in Alaska learning about and planning ways to defend the land and the people from disasters, both natural and man-made. On one of the many long flights home from Anchorage to DC, I asked myself, “What if we fail?” and began to sketch out what became “The Alaskan Century,” which I included as an epilogue. I prefer science fiction that explores a few changes in depth as opposed to the broad, more fantastical “space operas.” So I made one change, warm super-conduction, and went from there.

The book treats technology as something intimate, painful, and almost spiritual. What were you most interested in exploring through that human-machine tension?

I was (and still am) most interested in how humans interact in a changing world. Biologically, we (modern humans) are practically identical to nomadic and cave-dwelling ancestors of 100,000 years ago. So I don’t believe that another hundred or even a thousand years will drastically change the ways in which we interact. We will still be capable of simultaneous greed and generosity, of cruelty, and sympathy. I built my characters and the technological world around this framework. We have the capacity today to do marvelous things, but imagination isn’t our limitation; scarcity, tribalism, disease, love and passion, diplomacy, and war will always draw the focus. Technology won’t save us;an that mission has always been, and will always be, a human endeavor.

In that way, I suppose it is spiritual. Imagining increasingly advanced technology allows us to explore what it means to be human.

Echo is an intriguing and well-developed character. What were some driving ideals behind the character’s development?

I wanted Echo to be as flawed and perfect as any of us. He is motivated almost entirely by love, but that is not enough to succeed. At the same time, he has agency and is not some powerless recipient of the universe’s wrath. He is trying to do the right thing, but can’t control his environment, and lashes out in frustration like anyone else. I wanted to make the reader question their understanding of good and evil. In the end, there is a strong argument that Echo made the wrong decision, and that perhaps the status quo was the best outcome for most people. At the same time, the antagonists have some very valid points.

What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?

While I hadn’t thought about it before, I’ve had requests from readers to explore both the next chapter in Echo’s story as well as a prequel. I’m exploring the space, writing new scenes, and building from there. I’m going to stick with this universe for a little while until I’ve said all that I want to say. Keep an eye out in 2027!

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