Interview with R.G. Roberts, Author of The Stars Shall Burn

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write The Stars Shall Burn?

“The Stars Shall Burn” grew out of my leadership experience while in the Navy. You work for good leaders, bad leaders, and sometimes — if you’re lucky — great leaders. I was fortunate to serve under several of the latter, but as an author, you always think, “Yes, and?” Since “The Stars Shall Burn” is book 7 in a series about how war and humanity intersect, I really wanted to take a deep dive into what happens when a leader and hero is pressed too far. How long before he cracks? How bad will it be? Will he see it coming?

The original idea for the series, “War of the Submarine,” hit me while I was a student at the Naval War College. A friend and I started spitballing about how World War III would start and what kind of war it would be, and my immediate response was: “World War I was the war of the battleship, and World War II was the war of the aircraft carrier, but World War III will be the war of the submarine.” This turned into an ongoing series not just about submarines, but predominantly about the people aboard them.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of The Stars Shall Burn, what would they be?

“This is Me,” from “The Greatest Showman.”

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

Tossup between military thrillers and epic fantasy, and yes, I write both

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

David Weber, Toll of Honor; Deborah Harkness, The Book of Life; James D. Hornfischer, Who Can Hold the Sea; and Dr. Robert Ballard, Into the Deep.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

This is more than several chapters, a single scene, but the Battle of Perth is absolutely my favorite part. Wilson’s scenes in the battle include some serious heartbreak (I cried) and one of my favorite lines from the entire series.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

Sometimes I need to change my writing location to get myself going, so my local Panera Bread is a favorite place to go. I also have a writing mug that has joking titles for every one of the fifteen drafts a writer goes through.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

“I will try.”

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

Even the best leaders are human, and humans are fallible.

R.G. Roberts is the author of the new book The Stars Shall Burn

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