A Star Interview
“So…hold on. You’re saying we don’t actually live in space?” Riley turned and squinted up at the author behind him as she followed the two boys out of her office.
“Well, you do in a sense. As much as you live anywhere. But no, we haven’t actually developed the technology to let people live in space long-term yet. Let alone travel to planets outside our solar system. All of that was made up for the sake of your story.” She motioned them to the stools that had been set up in the hallway, and the boys slid into the places indicated as she took her own seat.
“So, all the planets and ships and ports and everything—you made all that up?” Riley’s eyes were stretched to their widest point. “Was it hard?”
“Naming the ships and planets and things—not really. Trying to wrap my brain around the theoretical physics of faster-than-light travel—yeah, there’s a reason I didn’t get too far into those details.” The author chuckled as she glanced at the paper she held.
“Wait, but—” The smaller boy spoke up with a puzzled frown. “Aren’t our months named after spaceships? Did you make those up too?”
“Half of them are real history; the rest I made up.” The author smiled over at him. “And in case you’re wondering, Luca…Vostok, Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Mir are all real milestones of spaceflight; Vanguard, Pegasus, Hope, Elysium, and Dauntless haven’t happened yet—if ever.”
“So you made up, like, half the history of space exploration just to write our story?” Riley was leaning so far over he almost slipped off his stool. “Whoa! So wait, was it like, you had this space idea, and we just ended up being in it?”
“No, Riley, you were the seed of the idea from the very beginning. You and your dad, and a spaceship, and your favorite adventure show. It took me a while to see where it would go from there, but those pieces all made it in.”
“Wait, hold on! So you wrote Jake’s show too? Or is it real, and you just put it in?”
“I thought I was the one who was supposed to be asking you questions here!” The author laughed. “Yes, I wrote everything of Jake’s show that we saw in the books, although I did take some ideas from different shows that I know. That ended up being more fun than I expected, especially when I found a way to work it into the rest of what was going on in your story. Which wasn’t terribly hard, since your thoughts kept going back to Jake so often.”
“I uh—really like it?” Riley grinned sheepishly, and the author smirked.
“Yes, you do. And food too—I’m positive I’ve never had to plan and describe as many meals as I did for your story, because that was something you definitely noticed! Speaking of which—” She glanced at her paper again. “You mentioned in the story that orange flavor is your second-favorite soda, but you never told me or anyone what your first favorite is.”
“Oh. Strawberry. Definitely. I just don’t see it very much.” Riley shrugged and turned to Luca. “What’s yours?”
“We don’t get it a lot. But I like the regular stuff, I guess—like the lime-lemon flavor?” He glanced up hesitantly, as though gauging the author’s reaction, and she smiled.
“So what kind of food is your favorite, Luca? Is there something special your mom makes?”
“Mmm.” Luca closed his eyes. “Everything she makes is good, but I think the lasagna is best.”
“And is it hard for her to get the ingredients to cook on a spaceport?”
“Um, not really. They count it all in the deliveries for the kitchen, and then Momma and Mina and anyone else who likes to cook their own gets it from there.” He squinted up at her and cocked his head. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but it’s more fun to let you say it.” The author chuckled. “Why don’t you tell me about Mina? How long have you known her?”
“Oh…” Luca lifted his eyes to the ceiling and shook his head slowly. “Ever since we came to Etzio. I don’t really remember. I was two when we got there. It was right when Talia was born. My dad didn’t even know we were going to stay here at first. They were looking for where we should go, and then Talia came, and it was hard for Momma, and they met Mina and found out the port needed a church, so we stayed. The commandant wasn’t a Christian back then, but Mina was.”
“Sounds like there’s a story there.” The author’s mouth curved up, and Luca glanced at her and smiled a little.
“There’s a lot of stories there. But you knew that too.”
“You’re very smart, Luca. All right, Riley, one more question for you, and then I’ll let both of you ask one more for me. I know it wasn’t the most exciting life, but what was your favorite thing about growing up on Kondor?”
“Umm…” Riley thought for a minute. “Oh, birthdays. Definitely birthdays. We always did all of my favorite stuff, and at the end, we’d go out somewhere away from all the lights and watch the stars. It felt almost like being in space.”
“I can see how that would be special to you.” The author’s voice was soft. “Okay, quick, before you go back, what else do you want to know from me? Luca?”
Luca scrunched his forehead in thought for a minute, then his face brightened.
“Momma’s new baby—is it a boy or a girl?”
“A boy. You deserve a bit of evening out.” The author’s smile was reflected in Luca’s eyes. “And you, Riley?”
Riley’s face grew thoughtful, and his eyes flicked from Luca to the floor to the wall before raising slowly to the author again.
“Is—is my dad—really happy—with what I picked?”
“Yes, Riley.” The author’s voice was soft. “And not just that, but he’d have been devastated if you’d picked anything else. You really do mean that much to him.”
Riley let out a long breath and sat up straight again.
“Okay, is that all? Is it over?”
“Well, almost.” The author winked. “There are a couple of things I wanted you to help me tell the audience about. Besides yourselves, I mean.”
“Oh, right!” Riley turned eagerly to face the camera. “Because if you haven’t read our story yet, One in a Galaxy is on sale for a dollar off in the store here through Wednesday!”
“But didn’t you say all your books are a dollar off? Including your new one? And that makes some of them free?”
“Good memory, Luca.” The author nodded. “Yes, everything in my own ebook store is on sale, including my short stories. Be sure to check them out if you’re interested.”
“Oh, and if you have ideas about more interviews you’d like to see, or questions you want to ask them, you should put them in a comment or use the form she’s going to give you.” Riley glanced back at the author again. “Did I miss something?”
“No, I think that’s all. Thanks again to everyone reading, and sorry it took so long to get this one out. I’ll try to see you again before the month is over. Go on back home, boys.” She motioned toward the door with one hand and lifted the remote in the other. “That’s all for now!”
