taroballerina
asked
Phil Stamper:
I've been looking at the some popular Young Adult books on Goodreads, and I found your book! I read the description and I was totally into it. What inspired you to write this book?
Phil Stamper
The inspiration for The Gravity of Us stemmed from my admiration for the 60s space race and the missions that followed. Over the last decade, I've read dozens of astronaut/engineer memoirs, watched every documentary I could find, and I've even been known to raid antique shops in my search for LIFE magazines from the era.
While I've always been fascinated by the science and technology behind these missions, one thing always called out to me in the background of every memoir or documentary. The astronaut families essentially became the celebrities of this era, frequently gracing the covers of magazines and giving interviews for national news outlets. This meant the astronauts' spouses and children had to be immaculately dressed, polished, and ready to entertain, all while not knowing if their husbands or fathers would come home alive that night.
In The Gravity of Us, I wanted to capture this brilliant tension while also showcasing a contemporary queer love story. Thanks for this question!
While I've always been fascinated by the science and technology behind these missions, one thing always called out to me in the background of every memoir or documentary. The astronaut families essentially became the celebrities of this era, frequently gracing the covers of magazines and giving interviews for national news outlets. This meant the astronauts' spouses and children had to be immaculately dressed, polished, and ready to entertain, all while not knowing if their husbands or fathers would come home alive that night.
In The Gravity of Us, I wanted to capture this brilliant tension while also showcasing a contemporary queer love story. Thanks for this question!
More Answered Questions
Lillian Clark
asked
Phil Stamper:
As a fellow space fan (one of my characters is an aspiring astronaut), I am so excited to read your book! A book question: What draws you to writing YA contemporary? And a book-adjacent question: Given the opportunity (and all realistic constraints aside) would you volunteer for a manned mission to Mars?
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