Earthlings: The Beginning by Ray Star

Author Interview

Ray Star is an author and freelance writer from Essex, England. Her debut novels, Earthlings and Dominion, are books one and two of a young adult fantasy trilogy. The final instalment, Land of Hope and Glory, is set for release later this year. At the heart of these novels is a concern for animals and the environment. Welcome to the 27th interview with authors of books about animal rights and vegan living.

Please describe how your interest in and concern for animals and the environment began and how your feelings and views about them developed.

I first witnessed cruelty towards animals when I was a child. I had a complicated father, whom I loved dearly, but who, like many others, let his demons free at the expense of others.

I remember quite vividly crying out of my bedroom window to stop him from hurting our dog when he was enveloped by rage. The yelps ceased, and in he came, concerned that the neighbours might think he was hurting me, not our Alsatian, Sam. I’ll spare you the details, but it is something no child should have to witness and no animal should have to endure.

Cruelty is cruelty, no matter the catalyst.

I suppose that it is from here that my concern for animals began. If my flesh and blood could be cruel to animals, I understood that others could, and most likely would be, too. It is almost ironic to have realised my love for animals from such a young age and to have only discovered veganism quite recently, in 2018, soon after my father passed away.

In Dad’s last moments, as cancer spread through his pancreas and his body deteriorated, his anger dissipated, along with his demons, and he became the most wonderful human being I ever could have wished for as a father. Before he passed, he asked if I would wear his ring when he was gone, a plain silver band with a peridot stone, and after he died on July 29, 2017, I’ve worn it every day since.

When Dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer, doctors advised that to increase his chance of longevity, he should cut out red meat, eggs, dairy, and alcohol, which he did, and wanting to be supportive, I did this alongside him. It was after partaking in Veganuary soon after he passed and watching the documentary Earthlings that I found my calling to help animals through literature.

Witnessing the atrocities within the Earthlings documentary was difficult, so much so that it took me over ten attempts to see it through to the end. Parts reminded me of my childhood and all the awful ways my dad harmed animals, from torturing Sam to shooting birds in our garden, proudly displaying their limp, lifeless bodies, their blood freshly spilt from their beaks.

I looked down at his peridot ring on my finger, and the band brought both comfort and a level of turmoil I’ve only recently begun to understand now, eight years later. It was then that my protagonist Peridot came to life, a girl born of magick destined to save her world and all who inhabit it, and instead of harming animals, Dad was able to help me try to save them through storytelling instead.

When did you first aspire to be a writer? Does the process of writing come easy to you? Do you plot out your novels? Or do you, as is often said of writers, “fly by the seat of your pants”?

It’s funny, since becoming an author I’ve begun teaching creative writing classes at schools, and within my workshops, I detail how to storyboard, how to get to know each character before you put them down on paper, how to craft the ambience of each setting and envision the plot developing into the story that you desire. And yet, when it comes to writing my own stories, I don’t do any of that. Not one single section.

If I’m honest, the reason I have such a love for writing fiction is that I have no clue what is going to happen in the worlds I have created until I sit down and delve back into them. It is not until I am in a flow state, my fingers tapping the keyboard so fast that a multitude of spelling errors flash up in red, to which I ignore and continue, tappedy-tapping, until the wondrous vision that plays out like a movie in my mind, is written out in front of me.

Then comes the tedious task of fixing each squiggly red line into perfected sentences of prose. It is an utterly senseless way to write, this I am fully aware of, and yet, it is what works for me.

Something I teach in every workshop is that finding what works for you is what’s most important in writing and life, generally.

What inspired you to write the Earthlings trilogy? Tell us about Peridot, the young girl raised by an overprotective mother in a sheltered environment, and her magical powers.

I wrote the Earthlings trilogy because I wanted to save animals.

When I tell people this, they often look at me quite confused. How does a YA (Young Adult) Fantasy story about a girl born of magick, destined to save or destroy her world, help save animals?

Ah ha! I think to myself … how indeed. It is within that very structure that my idea of raising awareness for animals through storytelling came to be.

You see, I watched the documentary Earthlings, and overnight, I was vegan. Like magick. No year plan (which I had prior to watching) and no excuses. I saw what animals endured, and I remembered the pain of witnessing animal suffering myself as a child, and that was it—instantly, I was vegan and will be for the remainder of my days.

But I watched that documentary because I already had an interest in veganism. I already had an interest in environmentalism. In climate change. In climate justice. In equality. I find that most people who watch these life-changing documentaries already have this interest, too. For when you're on this path, most will reach the destination in time, documentary or no documentary.

So, how do we reach the other 95 per cent of the population who do not give a rat's whiskers about these issues? I can share the documentary Earthlings as many times as I like, but in trying to raise awareness, I would likely end up having the opposite effect. My friends blocking me on social media for this very reason made me quickly realise this.

It came to me as I was looking at Dad’s ring that the way to reach people who have no interest in these issues is through the arts. Through fiction, poetry, paintings, and, in time, blockbuster movies, which I believe will have the largest reach and potential to implement grand-scale change within society—if done right.

So, I tasked myself with writing one such story that anyone could pick up from a bookshelf and want to read. A story of magick, adventure, friendship and family dynamics, of a girl raised in secret away from the outside world, for fear of all that she might, or might not become. Of a world where humans are no longer the dominant species and where animals rule all, and at its essence, the desire to put readers in an animal’s pawprints, with the intent of inspiring empathy and compassion for them.

I am pleased to say, having a mostly non-vegan readership, that this approach works. But, just to be sure, I named each book within my trilogy after the documentaries that inspired me to write for animals in the first place: Earthlings, Dominion and A Land of Hope and Glory.

Q4 Can fiction inspire people to be compassionate toward animals?

Without a shadow of a doubt.

I believe this to be the most impactful way to reach a widespread audience without preconceptions of any kind, as readers, viewers, listeners, etc. (depending on the art) are experiencing the fictional work of their own choice.

Through choice, curiosity piques, and in time, empathy and compassion soon follow.

The right story can change the world.

I understand you have a young family, including rescued dogs. You also teach creative writing in schools. What are your hopes and fears for younger generations and the complex global challenges they will face in their lifetimes? Are they in need of magical powers? Or do they already have them?

I wrote book one of the Earthlings trilogy when I was pregnant with my firstborn (now six) and his brother (now four), and I had no idea at that time the responsibility that would soon follow. To be a good parent, of course, but to try and make this world a better place for them to enjoy too.

At the risk of sounding ‘too much,’ I want to save the world for our children, as much as I do the other life forms struggling to survive through humanity's overconsumption and desire for growth.

Growth is a word used often in politics, and it frustrates me. Growth is a truly powerful word, but it is used completely in the wrong context within modern-day society. To grow is to learn, to adapt and to evolve for a better outcome, not an abysmal one. And yet, it is all we see in the headlines here in the UK—economic growth this, and fiscal growth that.

It would be comical were it not so gut-wrenchingly serious.

We are living within the tipping point where we either unite to restore nature’s balance and continue cohabiting on this beautiful planet, or we pillage and plunder in the desire for economic growth and ultimately destroy this version of our world for everyone lucky enough to be a part of it. Quite a pickle, eh?

Nature shall, of course, endure, as she always does. Nothing can stop her from thriving, but should we keep on this trajectory, the reality that we would not thrive as a part of her ecosystem is devastating. And yet, I have hope and, more importantly, faith that it will not reach that drastic an end for humankind.

I believe that within each of us lies a power so great that it is akin to the magick in my trilogy. We may not have elemental magick flowing from our fingertips as Peridot possesses, but we do possess magick of another sort. The kind that is even more powerful yet goes unseen and is often taken for granted every day.

We possess the magick of choice.

We can choose to either sit back and let this play out, restock our wardrobes on Shein, divulge in steak and chips for dinner, buy what we don’t need just because we can and to hell with the consequences, or we can be present, live consciously and compassionately and inspire others to do the same.

We can find our unique talent (as we all have one) and use it for good, encouraging the younger generation to do the same. We can take our focus away from the various screens we so often find ourselves attached to, step outside, reconnect with Mother Nature’s wonder, and ultimately save this version of her, along with ourselves, in the process.

I believe that we can do this. In my mind, it is the movie I envision playing out.

The question that matters is, do you? Or is the idea simply another form of fiction?