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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Interview with Brian Yansky + Giveaway

Today I have the wonderful Brian Yansky, author of Alien Invasion and Other Inconveniences answering a few of my questions. Check out my review of his wonderful book as well. Also, there will be a giveaway at the end of the post for Alien Invasion and Other Inconveniences. So please read on! :)

How did the idea for Alien Invasion and Other Inconveniences come to you?


I’m not really sure where any of my ideas come from. I just know that I have more of them than I’ll ever be able to write. I will say that when I started thinking about writing about aliens I knew I wanted to write about what happened after the invasion. So many stories about aliens have been about the invasion. I thought that writing about what happened after the invasion might be fertile ground. Also, I thought it might give me a chance to write about colonization, which is something that is historically both interesting and troubling to me.

Approximately how long did it take you to write Alien Invasion and Other Inconveniences?

The first draft only took a month. It just came flowing out of me. It was a volcanic eruption. Unfortunately the revisions ended up taking about a year.

What’s the hardest part of writing? What’s the easiest?

Hardest part is first drafts, always first drafts. Easiest part? Writing the following words: THE END.

What are some of your favorite books?

There are too many to list. Some books that come to mind right now are Philip Pullman’s HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy, WONDER BOYS, HARRY POTTER for sheer fun, CATCH-22, SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE, CATCHER IN THE RYE, MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD, and ELSEWHERE. But these are just a few of many that are like old friends.

What’s next for you?

More aliens. I can’t help myself. For some reason I’m going through an alien period now. I have a couple of ideas for alien novels. I like to claim that aliens are underrepresented in literature and I’m trying to make a place for them among the zombies and vampires and unicorns and wizards and dragons, but really I just find that aliens give me a great space to work in. It’s not that there isn’t plenty to write about here on Earth but why settle for one world when I can write about the whole universe?


I can't wait Brian! I think aliens may be the next big thing, don't you?

Now for the giveaway! As I am the last stop on The Teen Book Scene tour for Alien Invasion and Other Inconveniences, I am lucky enough to be able to offer a copy for giveaway.

Rules:
1. Open to US residents only (no PO Boxes).
2. Please fill out the form below.
3. Contest ends Tuesday, November 23rd at 11:59 EST.


9 comments:

  1. I'm looking forward to this one--I am fascinated by stories of colonization.

    Aliens are indeed gaining ground...but what I'm waitig for is Paranormal Romance type aliens. I can't think of any yet...

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  2. I agree, aliens seem to be coming on strong lately. Sounds like a good read. Thanks for the interview.

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  3. Haven't read a book with aliens in it since Meyer's "Host". Off to add to my wishlist

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  4. He has good taste in books! I agree, I want to see more alien YA.

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  5. Ur right, I havent thought about aliens much since vampires, zombies, etc came onto the scene with such gusto.
    But after reading Kristen's review, I think I'd really like this one:)

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  6. I do end up reading Alien books once in a while, thanks to David Weber :)

    Brian, did you devote the entire month to writing? Was it a leap of faith or did you stick at your job until the manuscript was accepted?

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  7. Thanks so much for having me, Kristen. Great questions. Dee, I teach, and the month I started ALIEN was December in that week after Christmas. So I did have a couple of weeks before I had to be back to teaching. Then I just wrote while I taught. Alas, I'm a firm believer in the keep your day job advice. Just writing a novel is enough of a leap of faith for me. Thanks for the question.

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  8. I'm sooo looking forward to reading this! It sounds so interestng. I love the idea of staring off after the invasion so we can get into the core of how the aliens work.

    Thanks for the great interview and giveaway!

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  9. I love that authors go through minor obsessions - right now I'm really into reading space sci-fi.

    I'm very interested in reading this book - I love the title. :) Great interview.

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