Earth & Sky Blog Tour: Interview, Review + Giveaway

Welcome to my stop on the Earth & Sky blog tour! Today I have an interview with the author along with my review of the book to share with you - and don't forget to enter the giveaway!!

Earth & Sky (Earth & Sky #1)

Author: Megan Crewe

Genre: YA Science Fiction/Fantasy

Release Date: October 28, 2014

Publisher: Amazon Skyscape

Description:

Seventeen-year-old Skylar has been haunted for as long as she can remember by fleeting yet powerful sensations that something is horribly wrong. But despite the panic attacks tormenting her, nothing ever happens, and Sky’s beginning to think she’s crazy. Then she meets a mysterious, otherworldly boy named Win and discovers the shocking truth her premonitions have tapped into: our world no longer belongs to us. For thousands of years, Earth has been at the mercy of alien scientists who care nothing for its inhabitants and are using us as the unwitting subjects of their time-manipulating experiments. Win belongs to a rebel faction seeking to put a stop to it, and he needs Skylar’s help--but with each shift in the past, the very fabric of reality is unraveling, and soon there may be no Earth left to save.  

1. What inspired you to write Earth & Sky?

I'd been wanting to write a YA novel that was more intensely science fiction-y than the 

Fallen World Trilogy for a while. There were so many post-apocalyptic and dystopian 

stories coming out but hardly any that explored other science fiction elements like 

space travel and aliens. And I've been a huge SF fan since childhood, growing up with 

the original Star Wars movies and the various Star Trek TV shows (and movies) and 

having my parents pass on their favorite SF novels to me. It was just a matter of 

finding the right story.

During that time I read a story, Hero by Yoshitaka Amano, that had a small bit about the 

main character realizing certain details in the world around him had changed overnight, 

and no one else seemed to notice. That idea stuck with me and made me want to play 

around with a similar feeling. It and my interest in SF ended up coming together in 

EARTH & SKY.

2. Did you have to do any kind of research for the book?

Yes, but I read up about different theories about how time travel might be possible and 

related to theoretical physics concepts like parallel universes. I also did a bunch of research

on space travel, space stations, and other concepts that become a lot more relevant in the 

later books in 

the trilogy.

3. Where do you get the ideas for your books?

They really come from all over. I get a lot of inspiration from other stories (see the answer

about EARTH & SKY above), noticing elements that I'd like to explore further or in 

different ways in my own work. But pieces of stories can also come from conversation with 

and observations of other people, music, traveling, etc.

4. Any tips for aspiring authors?

The most important advice I give (which I got from a high school creative writing teacher, 

who got it from some other source) is very simple: Read. Write. Rewrite. To expand on 

that: Read a lot, in a lot of different genres, so you learn how good - and bad - stories are 

put together in a wide variety of ways and see what's already been done and how. Write a 

lot, because you develop your craft through practice. And rewrite what you write, because 

no story is ever perfect or even close to perfect the first time you put words down on a page,

and you need to get used to adding and cutting and rearranging and rethinking if you're 

going to be producing the best work you can.

My other main advice is: Do what works for you. Every writer works in different ways. Not

every strategy is going to bring the best stories out in any given person. Try out different

techniques, sure, but if you find one approach is dulling your creativity or making it hard for 

you to finish anything, it doesn't matter if your favorite author swears by it, go back to doing 

what lets *you* produce the best writing.

5. Favorite book?

It's impossible for me to pick just one! Some of my favorite YAs are DRAMARAMA by E. 

Lockhart, HOUSE OF STAIRS by William Sleator, and the Attolia books by Megan Whalen 

Turner. My fave adult reads include Peter S. Beagle's THE LAST UNICORN, David 

Mitchell's CLOUD ATLAS, William Goldman's THE PRINCESS BRIDE, and Daphne du 

Marier's REBECCA. 

6. What's up next for you?

The other two books in the EARTH & SKY trilogy, THE CLOUDED SKY and A SKY 

UNBROKEN, will be out next year - THE CLOUDED SKY in May and A SKY UNBROKEN 

most likely in November. I have some other projects in the works but nothing I can talk 

about yet - all YA, all speculative fiction of different sorts.   :) 

  Thanks so much for chatting with us today Megan!

Earth & Sky is the fantastic first book in what promises to be a phenomenal science fiction trilogy. The story follows our main character Skylar, or Sky, as she goes about her normal teenage life as a senior and dealing with incredibly powerful panic attacks that happen when something around her feels "wrong." Nothing bad has ever come after these attacks, so Sky has found a way to cope on her own and appear normal in front of everyone - including her parents. Sky's world is turned upside down when she meets the mysterious and seriously cute guy named Win - who can finally explain what's happening to her and why she gets the attacks. Apparently the Earth has been a place for alien scientists to conduct various experiments that manipulate time. It's been happening for thousands of years and the Earth is beginning to show the effects of the experiments - it's very existence and reality is slowly unraveling right around everyone. There is hope though, in the form of a rebel faction of aliens who want to free the Earth and its people from being mere test subjects. Win happens to be a member of this alien rebellion and is on Earth to help find a weapon that their leader has left somewhere in Earth's time and space that will stop the scientists once and for all. Win needs Skylar's help to find the weapon and stop the experiments - before the world literally falls apart.

I found this book to be a truly refreshing breath of fresh air for the YA science fiction genre. There are so many books out there right now that seem to be blending together, but this one takes concepts and aspects of science fiction that aren't normally written about and melds them into a unique and enthralling novel. I don't normally read a lot of science fiction, especially ones that have to do with aliens - mainly because I usually can't connect with the alien characters or I can't immerse myself into the story. I encountered neither of those problems with this book - it actually had the opposite effect on me. I was drawn into the world the author created right from the beginning and I didn't come back out until the very end. The Earth setting in the book is just like our world today, so everything in it and about it was completely familiar to me and put me at ease immediately. I think that had a lot to do with the way I responded to the alien aspect of the story - I slid easily into the book at the beginning, which is just Sky's normal life - just like anyone's now. When Win was introduced into the story and the real plot of the book was revealed, it just didn't seem like that huge of a leap for me. I think another reason that I could get into the story was because the aliens looked just like normal people, and the concept of time travel is nothing new to me as a reader. No matter the reason(s), I was surprised at how much I identified with the characters - human and alien - and how I readily accepted the plot about aliens. 

Speaking of the characters, they were all very realistic with distinct personalities and traits. I loved Sky as the main character because she was realistic. The daily problems of high school, friends, family and others - and because she suffers from intense panic attacks. This aspect of her character really resonated with me because I myself suffer from panic attacks, so I could easily empathize and identify with how she felt and what happened during them. The entire story was incredibly well written with a fast pace but an easy flow that has the reader inside the book without them even knowing it. I loved getting to know all the facts and details about Win's planet and his people - everything from their history to how the scientists manipulate Earth in experiments and how the rebels are planning on stopping them. There's a lot that builds up during the book that foreshadows what's going to be happening in the next couple books - and I can't wait to see where the story line will go! I'm already dying to read the next book in the trilogy so I can continue on the adventure alongside Sky and Win. I very highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys science fiction, fantasy, time travel, aliens, and those looking for a unique and mesmerizing first book in a series like nothing else out there.

Like many authors, Megan Crewe finds writing about herself much more difficult than making things up. A few definite facts: she lives with her husband, son, and three cats in Toronto, Canada (and does on occasion say "eh"), she tutors children and teens with special needs, and she can't look at the night sky without speculating about who else might be out there.

Author Links:

Website: http://www.megancrewe.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/megan.crewe
Twitter: http://twitter.com/megancrewe
Goodreads
Tumblr: http://megancrewe.tumblr.com/

Trilogy Website: http://www.EarthSkyTrilogy.com 

Buy Links:

Amazon 

Powells 

Book Depository  

 (1) Grand Prize Winner will receive a Kindle Paperwhite with custom EARTH & SKY cover and pre-loaded with the ebook. 

(9) Other winners will receive a signed paperback copy of the book.

All winners will also receive an EARTH & SKY swag pack including star candies in Win's favorite Earth flavors, signed bookmark, magnet, and sticker. (Open Internationally)

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