Page 31 - Dreamscapes Magazine | Winter 2021-2022

recreational reading pastime and turn it into actual study,” he relays on novel writing.
Hadfield not surprisingly did smart things for the prep. He watched James Pat- terson’s MasterClass on writing a bestselling book; read Stephen King’s memoir, On Writing; reread bestselling clas- sics like Frederick Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal and Ken Follett’s Eye of the Needle; and invested sweat equity, initially churning out a 195,000-word book before the editors trimmed out the fat.
The Apollo Murders is a weirdly twisted techno-thriller that takes place in the helter- skelter ’70s when Bowie morphed into Ziggy Stardust, and Pink Floyd released The Dark Side of the Moon. It was the blood-soaked decade of Vietnam raging and the super- powers locked in a space race, and brands like Timex interrupting a new TV show called The Six Million Dollar Man starring Lee Majors as ex-NASA astronaut Steve Austin.
His psycho-thriller page-turner packs in space spies, international espionage, a superpowers space race war that rages on the moon and more villains. Nothing is black and white between combative Amer- ican and Russian astronauts who wage a war on the moon as they compete for firsts and then some (without giving away spoiler alerts). Hadfield’s fertile imagination fuses fact and fiction through nail-biting scenes often sculpted from true events. The Apollo Murders goes beyond a good old-fashioned murder mystery. The bestselling author touches on sticky subject matters grappling the 21st century: racism, economic disparity, physical disabilities, feminism, geopolitics, alternative energy and hi-tech surveillance, giving readers much to ponder. DS
LEFT: Canada’s first spacewalker, retired astronaut, astromusician, and bestselling author Chris Hadfield. Max Rosenstein TOP RIGHT: Inspired by the race to the moon, Chris Hadfield was the Canadian Space Agency pioneer seen on his spacewalk mission in 2001. NASA BOTTOM RIGHT: Chris Hadfield, the bestselling author of An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, has written his first novel, The Apollo Murders.
DREAMSCAPES CAUGHT UP WITH CHRIS HADFIELD IN AUGUST
DS: What’s the initial response been like to your new book?
CH: It’s been surreal. Frederick Forsyth has written a recommendation on The Apollo Murders, that’s down from the mountaintop for me. James Patterson, same thing. He says it is one of the two books he really recommends this year. And Jim Cameron, who tells stories so well in the movie genre and writes them. I have huge respect for all those writers.
DS: Over the summer, we watched space tourism launch. There was Virgin Galactic by Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. Thoughts?
CH: I’m on the advisory board to Virgin Galactic. We are just at the cusp of space flight being safe enough and simple enough in the very first time in human his- tory that maybe it starts to be cost effective enough that it could become a tourism business, and that’s incredible!
DS: Please share a space travel tip for us earthlings.
CH: A really important tip for space travel is “Don’t miss it!” Don’t get wrapped up in procedures, and details. Don’t spend the whole time with a camera stuck in front of you because that blocks almost every- thing. You have five senses and not just some digital recorder.
DS: What’s your go-to space food?
CH: A spicy, sharp shrimp cocktail. When you live without gravity your sinuses never drain. I think your taste buds and smelling
receptors are all clogged so only the tangi- ness and sharpest of flavours break their way through.
DS: Will space tourists get a good sleep in space?
CH: When space tourism does get good enough I think that will be one of the big joys for people is weightless sleep. It will be the ultimate sleep spa. You don’t need a mattress. You don’t even need a pillow. You can relax every muscle in your body and drift off to effortless sleep.
DS: So are you pleased with your book?
CH: I’m delighted with the whole process, so much so that I’m into researching for the next book now. It’s a wonderful new thing that I could never have counted on.
WINTER 2021/2022 DREAMSCAPES 31