Episode Transcript
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BETH BARANY (00:00):
Welcome to How to
Write the Future Podcast.
(00:03):
I'm your host, Beth Barany.
I'm an award-winning sciencefiction and fantasy writer.
Also a creativity coach, bookeditor, book consultant, and oh
yeah, what else?
Filmmaker.
More about that later.
So today, really excited tobring with you a
multi-passionate, multi-talentedcreative: Devin Blair.
(00:23):
Devin is coming in to therecording today from
Afghanistan.
Devin Blair is the creator ofChemical Rocketeers, a sci-fi
podcast that blends immersivestorytelling, real world
inspirations and futuristicthemes of exploration, survival,
and emergence.
Drawing from his travels andbackground in chemical
(00:45):
engineering technology, Devincrafts a richly detailed
universe where factions battlefor survival technology meets
mysticism and history shapes thefuture.
Through podcasting field reportsand multimedia storytelling, he
builds an ever expanding sci-fiuniverse that connects with fans
(01:09):
on multiple levels.
Welcome Devin.
I'm so excited to have you here.
Really interesting project thatyou're up to.
Welcome.
Devin (01:19):
An honor and pleasure.
Thank you so much for having onthe platform.
BETH BARANY (01:21):
Really glad you're
here.
And as we were gettingorganized, everyone, for this
interview, you were emailing mefrom Dubai., And now you're in
Afghanistan.
Can I ask what is it that you'redoing?
Are you just traveling,sightseeing, visiting friends,
doing work?
What are you up to?
Devin (01:38):
Yes, that's actually a
really good question.
I was actually formally invitedwhen I was actually networking
around, Dubai to find a way tohave my best tour going around
for Afghanistan.
'cause Afghanistan's not reallya place that you just go and
solo tour unless you actuallyknow places But I actually hit
up a group that tours forAfghanistan.
and so I hit them up and then Ihad my visa and letter of
(02:00):
invitation made up while I wasin Dubai.
And so now I'm in Afghanistan atthe guest house, getting ready
for my tour for this week.
BETH BARANY (02:06):
That's quite an
opportunity.
Alright, let's dive into ourinterview.
Can you tell me what are some ofthe key challenges in building a
post-apocalyptic yet hopefulfuture, in fiction?
Devin (02:19):
Yes.
So basically balancing the gritwith growth and having to show
the damage, but also the driveto rebuild, which actually takes
the Rocketeers, colony wherethey actually have to rebuild
humanity.
And in the Rocketeers universe,it's also trying to show you
even in the ruins the unity andcuriosity as the mission and
(02:39):
becomes bigger than survivalitself.
cause this is basically theupbringing of humanity trying to
be rebuilt They go explore.
it's not even just about loss,it's also what could be created
next.
BETH BARANY (02:50):
So, it, the audio
is a little bit choppy.
There's some kind of apocalypsethat has happened and humanity
is trying to rebuild?
Devin (02:57):
Yeah, so the story goes
on planet Earth.
Basically there's a nuclearcatastrophic event happens, and
right before it does happen, thesecret organizations on the
governments, which I haven'tfully explained just yet, which
I'm still working the story outfor seasons, which it will be
further explained in the futureseasons, they basically sent
this colony that's selected bythe organizations to a distant
(03:19):
planet to rebuild humanity, andthey have to start from scratch
from there.
BETH BARANY (03:22):
Okay, cool.
And so how does traveling reallyinfluence your approach to world
building and characterdevelopment?
Devin (03:30):
Even if I didn't have
this entire podcast structure,
which thank God I actually do,so I can actually focus on
something during my travels.
But it's even comes withdifferent cultures and
everything else.
even just redefine yourcharacter and actually making
you more well deserved, Sobasically traveling is
everything for me when I'mactually pursuing this project.
And for every country, for everyperson I meet it can actually
(03:51):
find me some elements.
I can actually find ways towrite my characters.
You know, it makes them morefeel real.
Sometimes it can be an event,sometimes it can be a location
and a culture experience.
It just really sparks something.
It's like a festival throughoutevent or even throughout the
country itself.
even exploring the ruins inItaly could shape up a mission
setting or how I can pullelements from each country and a
(04:12):
visit and mixing the rightingredients based on culture
history.
That's a big one.
History.
the vibe check Even settle outto build factions, characters,
environments, it's all aboutbalancing one with another while
staying consistent in my worldbuilding.
BETH BARANY (04:26):
Yeah, consistency
is key.
And you emphasized in your bio,you emphasized history and now
again you emphasize history.
Tell me more about how historyis helping you shape your story.
Devin (04:39):
This actually comes from
a future episode that I don't
wanna spoil too much because ithasn't been released yet because
it's still in the production.
But this takes about back inlike World War I, where we
actually talk about thetechnology of the uprising and
all that kind of stuff.
And that can actually spark ainterest in one of the countries
I've been through.
So take for example, throughoutEurope where they had the,
crusaders but it's also takesfrom the, technology and just
(05:00):
mixing up the right, ingredientsfrom a faction that can be built
from the Crusaders and they canbe built into World War I
technology.
BETH BARANY (05:07):
Yeah, I totally
understand.
and especially that time periodis very, very rich, in terms of
inspiration.
So what advice do you have foraspiring science fiction and
fantasy writers who are tryingto create immersive universes?
Devin (05:23):
Yes, that is a very
important question it's not even
an answer for everyone becausemaybe not everyone has that kind
of opportunity, because you canhave a really big idea for your
case and ideas can be veryimportant, there's kind of two
biggest pillars.
You have to create somethinglasting authentic consistency.
and you can have a strong visionof what you're building.
It's more like focusing onsomething that feels to you
(05:44):
laying down a solid foundationfrom a core theme to world logic
and tone and growing it piece bypiece.
More like a slow and steady race'cause I mean, it's not really
like a race to get to becausesomething your life's passion.
you keep track of everything,stay present in the creative
flow and commit to showing upvery regularly.
That's how immersive universestays strong.
BETH BARANY (06:04):
Really fun.
Can you share some insights onhow you're engaging your
audience beyond juststorytelling?
You mentioned branding,interactive content, or other
ways that you are engaging withyour audience beyond the podcast
itself.
Devin (06:21):
Yes, that is another
great question for that case.
It has actually leaned into,number four, which actually for
me, it's about crafting a fullcircle experience rooted in- we
talked about the two pillarsabout consistency and being
authentic.
I didn't wanna like butcher theword'cause sometimes I could be
a little struggling about that.
It's actually collaborating,networking, and showcasing the
work on my different platformsso people can hear and see it
(06:43):
and feel the Rocketeers'universe.
cause even for the two platformsI use the most for my work is
Facebook and Instagram, which isfor the art and the written
storytelling while YouTube andSpotify and similar podcast,
platforms are more audioexperiences where you, hear the
main episodes.
So when you hear about seasonone and the main episodes, and
when you actually read thereports on Facebook and when you
(07:04):
read the field reports, thoseare actually the side missions.
I actually explained the lorebetween season one and season
two.
And the goal is to make it feellike you're stepping right into
the action.
Like you're actually watching,you watch your favorite movie
like Indiana Jones and you'relike, oh, snap, I'm actually,
feels like I'm in there.
Or it feels like I'm actuallygetting bull whipped by Indiana
Jones himself.
You know what I mean?
And like each piece just feelslike it's flowing to next and
(07:26):
building something biggertogether.
BETH BARANY (07:28):
I really love that
because, for myself as a writer,
I write reports, telegrams,telegraphs, phone conversations,
memos, sayings, quotes.
But a lot of that exists inbackstory.
And then I use some of it in thefiction, in the novels that I
make, and now I'm moving intofilmmaking and television and
(07:49):
I'm also developing, those kindsof things.
And that's very inspiring toremember to use-- some people
call it interstitial material--that doesn't necessarily end up
in what we consider the finalproduct, but actually is
fabulous for interacting withour audience.
So really, really fun thatyou're doing that.
Give us a plug for where we canfind Chemical Rocketeers.
Devin (08:12):
Oh yeah, you can
basically find anywhere you can
search Chemical Rocketeers andboom, there you go.
BETH BARANY (08:17):
Excellent.
And I'll be sure to put allthose links in our show notes,
which will be on our blog,YouTube, all the podcast
outlets, and then we market allover the socials, so we'll
definitely be spreading the wordfor you.
Is there anything else that youwould like our audience to know?
And our audience are mostlywriters, science fiction and
fantasy writers.
Anything that you'd like them tokeep in mind as, as a parting
(08:38):
thought?
Devin (08:38):
If there's probably one
more thing I can add into it,
it's probably always had a crosscollab with other people and all
that kind of stuff because itcan actually- with two sparking
minds, it can actually make alot more, better ground.
BETH BARANY (08:49):
Yeah.
Cross collaboration.
That's wonderful.
That's so great.
Well, Devin, I wanna thank youso much for taking your time and
your world travels so awesome.
I'm saying hello to you from theSan Francisco Bay Area, and
you're all the way there inAfghanistan.
Stay safe and thank you so muchfor being on How To Write The
Future.
Devin (09:06):
It's an honor.
Thank you so much.
BETH BARANY (09:07):
All right everyone.
That's it for this week.
Write long and prosper.