UNITARIUM: Chronicles Volume One follows outlaw Captain Dakota Maverick and her crew as they navigate corrupt authorities, dangerous rescues, and second chances in a lively space-western universe. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

The basic concept for the story came to me after seeing the art for the Star Wars Outlaws game and my fondness for the Firefly television show. I liked the idea of creating a genre mashup with sci-fi, western, and pirates within a bigger established universe, and I liked the idea of using a Robin Hood-style approach to the Dakota. It’s funny, because I saw the name Dakota Maverick on the trailer of a semi-truck driving to work one morning.

Dakota Maverick has a strong personal moral code despite being an outlaw. How did you develop her sense of justice?​

I liked the idea of an anti-hero doing sometimes bad things for the right reason. A character like that allows for a lot of backstory and personal development. She’s an underdog fighting a system so much bigger than herself with some success, and that gives the story a sense of hope. I think the fact that she was done so wrong by that government really puts skin in the game for her, but she’s not really out for revenge.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

I wanted to tackle a lot of things with this book, like corruption in the government, the advancements of AI, and the unknowns of that future. Some of the real events happening today feel like the way Skynet could have started in the Terminator movies, but I wanted to show both possibilities and that the sway to good or evil is made by the person at the wheel, not the technology.

Raven and Axel bring a lot of humor and personality to the story. Which supporting character was the most fun to write?​

I had the most fun with Axel. The idea of a sarcastic sentient android that wants to be human sounded like a lot of fun, and it played into the plot point of Dakota not wanting a human crew. She programmed him, but left him with the means to grow and become his own person. I wanted to incorporate the idea of Axel having a heart, and sometimes one bigger than his human counterparts.

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