Please welcome Ben Gartner author of One Giant Leap
Ben Gartner will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
One Giant Leap
by Ben Gartner
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GENRE: middle grade hard science fiction action adventure
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INTERVIEW:
What or who inspired you to start writing?
I used to write a LOT as a kid. Then as I got older, it faded. I didn’t make time for it away from the “adult” pressures of making money and building a life. Then when my kids were young and reading a ton, I happily fell back into it. The spark was renewed.
What elements are necessary components for this genre?
Middle grade is perhaps one of the most influential genres out there. Ask any adult for a book that they most remember and many will first cite a “middle grade” story (though that particular name is relatively new; they may cite a “children’s book” that they read in fourth grade, etc). Middle grade books talk to the pre-teen reader where life is still full of imagination and mystery and wonder like no other period in our growth. We are learning about the physical world, while still fully capable of losing ourselves in the internal magical world of our imaginations. And growing up can be hard. Learning hard truths and the squishy dichotomies that coexist in humanity can be confusing, complex, and alarming. Middle grade books should help readers navigate those challenges in a voice that speaks directly and respectfully to their mindset.
How did you come up with your idea for your novel?
One Giant Leap came about in collaboration with my youngest son who is a huge space nut. He is learning all about our solar system, our universe, and the rocketry and people who have been so fearless in exploring them. I’ve always been into space too, but seeing it fresh through his eyes has kindled an interest more engaging than ever before. I have learned a ton from him over the last few years!
What expertise did you bring to your writing?
I am a consummate researcher. I definitely wouldn’t call myself an expert on space travel (or anything?), but I love to read and absorb books and articles from the experts. In fact, you’ll find a [much-abridged] version of some of the research I did for One Giant Leap at the back of it in an “Author’s Note: Fact v. Fiction” section, as well as a Glossary where readers can get a taste for the accuracy that went into the story. Of course, it is first and foremost an adventure story with a flawed main character who needs to grow, but making it as realistic as possible is a fun challenge to pursue.
As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?
I have so many ideas and wish I could spend more time writing. In the shorter term, I have a few short stories that I’m writing just to keep myself going. I’m also stubbing out a few different book ideas. In the past, I’ve been very open about what those are, but with these I’m keeping them closer to the chest. I don’t regret sharing in the past—not at all—but for these, I don’t know, a little secrecy isn’t a bad thing. Once the next project is more fully baked, maybe you’ll have me back to talk about it.
If you could be one of the characters from this book, who would it be and why?
Thinking about this question surprised me. I thought maybe I’d pick the main character, Fin, or one of the other kids because they get to go to space. But in thinking a bit more in-depth about it, I’ve decided I’d like to be Fin’s dad. He’s a good guy, a proud father, and a devoted husband. All things I aspire to be.
Do you belong to a critique group? If so, how does this help or hinder your writing?
I don’t belong to a formal critique group, but I do have some author friends who I trust with early reads of my stories. I also love to workshop ideas with my own kids. They are brutally honest, which is absolutely preferred. Some of the best ideas I’ve worked into my stories have come from my kids and from my fellow middle grade author alpha readers!
When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?
“Big step”? One Giant Leap? I see what you did there. Nice. ;)
This is actually my fourth book in publication. The first three were a series called The Eye of Ra, which started in collaboration with my sons as something fun to do together. It grew from there and we knew we had something special. Seems that many out in the world share that opinion, which floors me every time I think about the awards, the numbers, etc. It’s been an amazing journey. And that’s the real prize.
Do you outline your books or just start writing?
When I wrote as a kid, I just started writing. It would often start with a snippet of a scene and expand from there. That feeling of exploration was, and still is, immensely exciting. It’s like digging in the sand and finding the corner of a buried treasure chest. Keep digging!
But I’ve also learned that to write a full book, at least for me, requires a bit more planning. Outlining helps me avoid the mushy middle where things sometimes slow down or peter out. It also most definitely helps me minimize rework. Writing is a lot of rewriting and editing. If I have an outline first, that time invested is a lot less than if I don’t.
How do you maintain your creativity?
I’d say a few things feed my creativity:
- Getting lost in my mind’s eye. Anything can happen in Imagination Land. I love seeing where those daydreams take me.
- Research. I love a good Wikipedia rabbit hole or listening to people who know more than I do about a subject. Learning sparks the imagination. Both in thinking about people and times before us, and in reading about the newest thinking and discoveries happening now and how that may shape the future.
- Kids. Mine and my readers. Their questions and ideas are endlessly creative and entertaining. I hope to never lose that sense of wonder at the world that middle grade kids have.
Anything else you might want to add?
Thank you for having me on your blog! If people want to learn more about my books, they can check out my website at BenGartner.com. I’m also active on Twitter and Instagram at @BGartnerWriting.
BLURB:
"I’m pretty sure I’m about to die in space. And I just turned twelve and a half."
Blast off with the four winners of the StellarKid Project on a trip to the International Space Station and then to the Gateway outpost orbiting the Moon! It’s a dream come true until space junk collides with the ISS, turning their epic trip into a nightmare of survival. Alone aboard the Aether starship, the kids have to work as a team to save the adults before the ISS is destroyed. Suit up, cadet, and launch into adventure with One Giant Leap!
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EXCERPT:
I’m pretty sure I’m about to die in space. And I just turned twelve and a half.
The frayed end of my tether whips around like a lasso as I flip front over back and sideways.
I see the long blue smear of Earth hurtling past. The silver hull of my ship, the Aether, whizzes by in a blur before I gasp at the once-glorious International Space Station. Now, just wreckage. The ISS spits pieces that twinkle in the sunlight. Sparks sizzle and blink against the black backdrop of the endless universe.
My spin continues until all I can see is the void of deep space, punctured by bright pinpricks of gaseous stars millions of light-years away.
The horizon of Earth again, with its clouds and land and water. Home.
The shiny tube of my ship, the Aether. It’s. So. Close. And yet, it can’t save me.
The ISS, Earth, the Aether, and here we go again on this terrible merry-go-round— You get the picture. It’s not good. I close my eyes.
I’m tumbling, and I think I’m squirting oxygen from my life-support backpack, which isn’t helping my somersaults. My suit is losing pressure. At least that’s what I guess is causing the fuzz in my brain. It’s hard to think. My vision is narrowing, dimming, like I’m about to wink away.
And the thing that I think is actually going to kill me? Water is leaking from somewhere inside my suit. Quickly it builds up and clings to my face like a wet rag. It’s a film over my eyes, it plugs my nose, and it slides into my mouth like alien slime whenever I try to cough. I shake my head violently to jiggle the liquid free, so hard that a nerve cries out in my neck. The head-whip kinda works, and I’m able to suck in a tiny breath. I choke down some water and, though the idea sounds ludicrous, I think, Am I going to drown . . . in space?
At this point, you might be asking, “What is a twelve-year-old doing in space?”
And I’d say, “That’s what you’re worried about? Not that I’m going to die?!”
It’s cool. Let me answer both questions. Why I’m one of the first kids in space, and how I ended up in this mess, adrift from my craft and about to become a permanent orbiting satellite. If I don’t plunge into the atmosphere and burn up first.
I’ll pause my death scene to explain a bit about how I got here. Because that’s a thing, right? Aren’t you curious how I got into this impossible quagmire? It’s a pretty amazing story. And 100 percent true.
The books I tend to enjoy reading are about kids being brave, or learning how to be, and I’d like to tell you this is one of those. But I’m not feeling it right now.
To be fair, in those books the kids are fighting fantasy monsters that disappear into dust when you stab them, or they’re in a simulation, or a video game, or you kind of know everything’s going to be all right, right? It’s fake danger.
This story is different. This one’s real. I honestly don’t know how I’m going to survive this. Adrift in space with my oxygen running low, all alone, spinning uncontrollably, a water leak in my suit threatening to drown me.
It all started innocently enough when a harmless package arrived in the mail . . .
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Ben Gartner is the award-winning author of adventure books for middle graders. His stories take readers for a thrilling ride, maybe even teaching them something on the journey. Ben can be found living and writing near the mountains with his wife and two boys.
WEBSITE
https://BenGartner.com
TWITTER
https://twitter.com/BGartnerWriting
INSTAGRAM
https://www.instagram.com/BGartnerWriting
BUY LINKS
Available in paperback, hardback, and ebook everywhere books are sold.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/One-Giant-Leap-Ben-Gartner/dp/B0BKMNW9CC/
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/one-giant-leap/id6443869873
B&N
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-giant-leap-ben-gartner/1142528397
Local: https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=author%3AGartner%2C%20Ben
Everywhere Else: https://books2read.com/one-giant-leap-ben-gartner
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:
Ben Gartner will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
