Cameron Cooper is the author of the Imperial Hammer space opera series, among many others, and the science fiction pen name of bestselling author Tracy Cooper-Posey. Under this name, she writes tales of future empires, gritty space battles, AI dilemmas, and the very human messes that follow us into the stars. She also writes historical suspense, romance, and women’s fiction as Tracy Cooper-Posey, and under yet another pen name—Taylen Carver—she explores contemporary urban and post-apoc fantasy.
Since 1999, she’s released over 200 titles across all genres and identities, and despite this intimidating backlist, she still insists she’s “just warming up.” Her work has been recognized with multiple award nominations and wins, including the Emma Darcy Award, a SFR Galaxy Award, and finalist positions in the Aurealis Awards and the SPSFC#2.
These days she indie publishes, edits a city magazine, drinks too much Irish Breakfast tea, and dodges her treadmill with suspicious ease. An Australian Canadian, she lives in Edmonton, Canada, with her husband, a former professional wrestler she met online back when that was still considered weird.
Q: If you had to choose one of your books to be turned into a cheesy made-for-TV movie, which one would it be and who would you want to play the lead roles?
That’s easy. The Body in the Zero-Gee Brothel was practically born for it. It’s a noir-drenched, hard-boiled detective story that just happens to take place in a dome city on a barren, lonely planet on the fringes of humanity. Picture moody lighting, cynical one-liners, high-tech sleaze, and the kind of mystery that peels back layers you didn’t even know were there.
For the lead, I’d want someone who can handle snark and smarts in equal measure—Robert Downey Jr. would be perfect. He’s got the right balance of charm, weariness, and let’s-be-honest, swagger. But I could also see Pedro Pascal nailing the role. He’s got that quiet, gruff magnetism, and he can brood and crack wise at the same time. Either way, it would need a gritty, stylized look—something between Blade Runner and The Expanse, but with more bad jokes and fewer redeeming qualities.
Q: If aliens were to visit Earth, what do you think their first impression of humans would be?
Assuming they have emotions—poor things—I think their first reaction would be stunned silence. Followed by horror. Then, possibly, curiosity mixed with a desperate need to quarantine us. If they’re more logic-driven, like a proper AI hive mind, they’d probably just blink (or whatever the equivalent is), look at our climate data, our social media, our obsession with true crime, and say, “Well, that experiment failed.”
Honestly, I suspect they’d bypass us entirely and make first contact with the whales or octopuses instead. Smarter species. Better table manners. Less inclined to nuke each other over imaginary lines on a map.
Q: If you had to choose one of your own fictional worlds to live in, which one would it be, and why?
I’d choose the world of the Imperial Hammer and Iron Hammer series, hands down. It’s not utopia—far from it—but it does offer one glorious, precious gift: time. With longevity treatments and slow-aging tech, I’d have the luxury of centuries to write, explore, read everything I’ve never gotten to, and possibly even finish all my TBR piles (okay, maybe not all).
I’m at the point in life—and health—where the idea of more time isn’t just appealing, it’s profound. Time to enjoy everything. To learn. To savor. And to maybe, just maybe, take a vacation without guilt. Give me a little cabin on some backwater moon, a keyboard, and a window facing the stars, and I’d be good for centuries.
Q: What off-beat location would you like to see host a convention, and why?
I’d nominate Margaret River, in Western Australia. It’s a mellow, coastal town surrounded by towering karri and jarrah forests—think Australia’s answer to the California redwoods, but with better coffee and friendlier spiders. It’s a short drive from some of the world’s best surfing beaches and famous wineries. The whole region radiates a laid-back, “life is short, have a glass of Shiraz” vibe.
The locals are earthy, artsy, and refreshingly unconcerned with what anyone else thinks. If a high-octane con full of caffeine-fueled authors and cosplay warriors dropped into Margaret River, by Sunday we’d all be sipping organic wine under the trees, meditating, and wondering why we ever cared about panel schedules. It wouldn’t be a con—it’d be a writer’s retreat disguised as one.
Q: How have you used the phrase “I’m a writer” to avoid an unpleasant situation? What was it?
It wasn’t even on purpose, but it worked beautifully. I was required—don’t ask why—to complete a psychological evaluation. You know, to make sure I wasn’t a danger to myself or others (which, fair). The psychologist asked what I did for a living, and when I said, “I’m a writer,” he laughed and replied, “Oh, well then, you don’t need me!”
We spent forty minutes swapping jokes about science fiction, he asked zero probing questions, and I walked out with a clean bill of mental health. Possibly the most efficient use of my job title I’ve ever seen. I should have tried that years ago.
Q: Which trope of science fiction (phasers, transporters, time machines, etc.) would you like to see put into our own reality? And how would you use it in a mundane way?
Time machines. Not the apocalyptic, timeline-destroying kind—just something simple, portable, and low-key dangerous. Sure, you could go back and prevent the fall of empires or save humanity from its worst mistakes. But more practically? I’d use it to file my taxes on time. Or go back and not send that email written at 1:17am.
Honestly, the most mundane use would be the best: reliving that one day where everything went right. The one where you felt like yourself, everything clicked, and even your tea stayed hot. I’d go back just to bask in the calm before chaos reasserted itself.
Q: If you could choose any real-life celebrity to make a cameo appearance in one of your books, who would it be and why?
I’d sneak Tilda Swinton into one of my books without a second thought. She already looks like she was beamed in from an advanced, post-human civilization. She has that unearthly stillness and a stare that says, “I know how this ends.” Perfect for a mysterious Watcher-type, or a possibly-benevolent AI masquerading as human.
She’d appear on page 213, say something deeply cryptic that only makes sense five books later, then vanish in a flicker of time and light. Readers would argue on Reddit for years over whether she was real or a hallucination. Exactly how I like it.
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Cameron Cooper’s latest release (April 3) is Solar Whisper, the first book in the Hammer Down series, and the series itself is the third in the Hammer cycle. This one digs deep into the shadows of empire, loyalty, and what happens when the old order refuses to stay buried. If you’re a fan of morally grey heroes, deep-space politics, and smart women who know how to handle both weapons and secrets, you’ll want to start reading this one yesterday.
You can grab Solar Whisper here: https://books2read.com/SolarWhisper
You can find Cameron here:
Website: https://cameroncooper.com
