Invidious

I'm really looking forward to this interview. I have 10 questions. Now if you choose to use them fine if you choose not to, I get it, you've prepared your own questions for him. I try to make them fun and interesting. As you can see I am a fan. Here are the questions: 1. Going Blind in Space “In An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, you talk about the terrifying moment when you went blind during a spacewalk. Be honest — was your first thought, ‘Well, at least this will make a great chapter title’ or were you too busy thinking, ‘Houston, we may have a slight problem’?” 2. Writing for Adults vs. Kids “You’ve written for seasoned adults who want life lessons (An Astronaut’s Guide), and for wide-eyed kids who fear the dark (The Darkest Dark). Which audience is tougher — cynical grown-ups who think they’ve seen it all, or kids who won’t even brush their teeth without a fight?” 3. Astronaut vs. Author Stereotypes “People imagine astronauts as stoic, hyper-serious, checklist machines. Yet here you are writing thrillers about murder in space and bedtime stories about facing fears. Do you secretly enjoy smashing those clichés, or do you just like watching us try to reconcile ‘deadly serious space commander’ with ‘guy who rhymes in a picture book’?” 4. Murder in Orbit “Your thriller The Apollo Murders adds espionage and sabotage to space travel. Be honest: did you ever sit in Mission Control and think, ‘This would be so much more exciting if someone were trying to kill someone right now’?” 5. You Are Here “In You Are Here, your Earth photos make the planet look peaceful and magical. Did you ever zoom in on something, see traffic in Toronto, and think, ‘Nope, I’m not coming back down there’?” 6. The Darkest Dark “Your children’s book helps kids deal with fear of the dark. But between us — was it really about the dark, or was it about making parents everywhere owe you when their kid finally sleeps through the night?” 7. Writing vs. Training “Training for space is all about discipline, repetition, and doing things exactly right. Writing, on the other hand, seems messy and creative. Which felt more brutal: surviving Russian language classes for Soyuz training, or getting your editor’s red-ink notes back?” 8. The Defector & Final Orbit “In your novels, politics and space are inseparable — secrets, spies, Cold War tension. Do you ever worry people are reading your fiction and thinking it’s a little too close to reality? Like… should we be checking your bookshelf for classified material?” 9. Astronaut Rock Star “You’ve been called the ‘rock star astronaut,’ literally playing guitar on the ISS. Now that you’re a bestselling author too — which fan questions are harder to dodge: ‘How do you pee in space?’ or ‘Will you sign my conspiracy-theory book about faked moon landings?’” 10. Legacy Question “You’ve looked down at Earth from space, written books that inspire kids, and penned thrillers that make us bite our nails. When people look back at Chris Hadfield, do you want them to say, ‘He was the astronaut who sang Bowie in orbit’, or ‘He’s the guy who made space sound scarier than Netflix ever could’?”

2 weeks ago | 2

@nestor082

What’s the one thing you didn’t get to do in space, or would love to do differently, that still sticks with you today?

2 weeks ago | 1

@katambrose5568

Ask him about his advocacy for ‘negative visualizations’ and how it might have aided him as an author. I’m guessing he used this tool to dream up problems for Kaz.

2 weeks ago | 1

@entity_unknown_

Write this about Juno, call it failed orbit

2 weeks ago | 1