Middle-grade author Ben Gartner is back with a new interview! Today we’re talking about this new hard-science book, One Giant Leap.
Prior interviews you can check out include: The Eye of Ra, Sol Invictus, and People of the Sun
During his tour, Ben will be giving awy a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour stops and enter there, too!
Bio:
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.
Welcome back to Reviews and Interviews, Ben.
Thank you kindly for having me back!
Please tell us about your newest release.
One Giant Leap is a middle grade hard science fiction based in the near-future about a group of talented kids who win the StellarKid Project and a trip into space. The plan is to travel to the International Space Station and then on to the Gateway outpost orbiting the Moon. Of course, chaos ensues when space junk collides with the ISS and the kids are separated from their guardians. With the clock counting down until the ISS is lost, the kids must work together to save the adults and continue the mission.
Happy to say it was selected as an Editor’s Pick at BookLife by Publishers Weekly! And Kirkus Reviews described One Giant Leap as such: “Relatable characters ground a story that’s suspenseful, funny, and heartwarming.”
I’ve also received many fantastic blurbs from fellow middle grade authors, all of which can be viewed on my website page for the book.
What inspired you to write this book?
My son’s love of space. I mean, I’ve always been into space and space travel too, but his newfound awe at the mysteries of the universe has rekindled that same passion in me. And learning alongside him has been a blast.
Excerpt from One Giant Leap:
The absence of any sound after the turbulent ride up was all-encompassing. I heard my own breathing, my heart pounding.
No one spoke.
Then it hit me.
I did it. Something I’d dreamed of all my life and I was here in outer space.
I felt lighter.
Literally. I was weightless.
I swallowed, which required a little force to do. It made me chuckle. Just giddy, I guess.
It was amazing.
Everyone stared out the windows together, down at Earth skimming below. We were over some stretch of brown land, a desert, laced with a river that reflected the sunlight. I wondered if it was the Nile in Egypt.
Tilting my head up, I could see the horizon and the thin blue line of our atmosphere, no thicker than a layer of water on a bowling ball.
Amazing. I had a feeling I would be repeating that word a lot.
And I must admit, I got a little choked up seeing Earth in that way, for real, in person, right in front of me as one giant whole like never before. I’d seen pictures of this view, but just like photos of the mountains or a beautiful sunset, it’s never quite the same as it is in person.
You gotta try it.
I’d read about this inspirational moment, called the overview effect, of seeing fragile Earth from afar, but this time it was me experiencing it, personally.
Our precious little blue marble hovering in space with millions of miles of nothing all around.
I imagined the billions of people below us. The activities and work they were doing, unaware that I was floating right above them, looking down.
Someone hugging their mom before school.
Someone reading a book, snuggled in bed.
Someone drinking water after a hard hike.
Someone crying because their dog ran away.
Someone laughing because their cat licked their nose.
I could see them all below me, in my mind’s eye.
It’s hard to describe, but it made me feel both large and small at the same time. Like a god’s view from the Aether, the upper sky. But instead of feeling like a god, I was reminded more of the people down there, and how I’m just like them, how we’re more alike than different. There are no borders visible from space. We’re all the same, reaching for the stars.
What’s the next writing project?
Ya know, I’ve been very open about my projects in the past, but for this next one I’m keeping a tight lip. I will say it’s similar to my others in that it involves a lot of research, meticulous detail, deep character arcs, and all wrapped in a fun action page-turning adventure. We shall see how it evolves!
What is your biggest challenge when writing a new book? (or the biggest challenge with this book)
Finding time. I make time. I make choices. But those choices inevitably come at the cost of something else, and I often second-guess myself. I have a family, a full-time job that keeps me very busy, and so eking out the time to write can sometimes feel like “just more work.” But I write for fun and because I enjoy it. So the minute I start to view it as a chore, I have to stop and shake myself out of that or I’m killing the very joy I’m trying to create for myself.
If your novels require research – please talk about the process. Do you do the research first and then write, while you’re writing, after the novel is complete and you need to fill in the gaps?
I love research! I often say the day I stop learning is the day I die. Research is very closely intertwined with my story evolution. I’ll typically have a seed thought that takes me into research mode, which further feeds the idea and the outline, which further feeds the research, etc. It’s a dance. Research does include facts and timelines and biographies, yes, but it also can include “research” into motivations and emotional or psychological underpinnings as well, even introspection. I love all that is encompassed by this thing we call “writing.”
What’s your writing space like? Do you have a particular spot to write where the muse is more active? Please tell us about it.
I typically do most of my research and outlining at a desktop, but then when I’m banging out prose word count, I tend to prefer moving away from the desktop and using either the laptop in full screen mode or the iPad, where all I’m looking at is my manuscript file. And for that type of writing, I often move away from the desktop and sit in a comfy chair.
What authors do you enjoy reading within or outside of your genre?
So many! I always have a hard time with this question because I am, as the cliché goes, a “voracious” reader. I’ve really enjoyed middle grade books by Refe Tuma, Shawn Peters, Betsy Uhrig, Fleur Bradley, Sam Subity, Adam Perry, Katie Slivensky, Kerelyn Smith, Megan Freeman, Chris Baron, Lee Fodi, and many others I mean no disrespect by not including here. Check out my Goodreads recommendations!
Anything additional you want to share with the readers today?
I just want to thank all of you dear readers for your support over the years. Your enthusiasm and appreciation for good books is what helps to make this journey so worth it!
Thank you for coming back to Reviews and Interviews!
And thanks for having me back 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. Thank you!
Buy links:
Available in paperback, hardback, and e-book everywhere books are sold.
Amazon | Apple | Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | Books2Read
Thanks for hosting!
Sounds like a good book.
Thanks again for having me, Lisa!
Great excerpt and giveaway. 🙂
Sounds like a good book.
Loved the interview and the book sounds so very good.