Literary Science-Fiction
Date Published: August 7th, 2018
Publisher: Owl House Books
Agapanthus was kidnapped when she was only two years old, but she doesn’t remember it. In fact, she doesn’t remember her home planet at all. All she knows is Deeyae, the land of two suns; the land of great, red waters. Her foster-family cares for her, and at first that’s enough. But, as she grows older, Agapanthus is bothered by the differences between them. As an Exchanger, she’s frail and tall, not short and strong. And, even though she was raised Deeyan, she certainly isn’t treated like one. One day, an Exchanger boy completes the Deeyan rite-of-passage, and Agapanthus is inspired to try the same. But, when she teams up with him, her quest to become Deeyan transforms into her quest to find the truth―of who she is, and of which star she belongs to.
The Seas of Distant Stars tells the story of a young girl—Agapanthus—who is kidnapped by aliens as a toddler. She grows up on an alien planet called Deeyae, and each chapter shows us Agapanthus at a different age. We go on a journey with her from ages 3 to 26, witnessing her grow, mature, and try to fit in as an alien on an alien planet. Agapanthus is bright, curious, loving, and, like all of us, she’s eager to belong.
I recently received my master’s degree in Environmental Humanities, and for my final project, I wrote a novel with themes centering on plastic pollution, industrial agriculture, and climate change. I’ve been revising the manuscript and hope to have it published in the future! I see myself as an environmental writer, and my goal is to inspire love for the natural world through my writing.
The hardest scene for me is always the ending. It’s hard to bring things to an end that’s both surprising and inevitable. My goal is always to leave the reader with both satisfaction and a longing for more.
I’ve wanted to be an author since I was in third grade. We were assigned to write a one-page story about the planet we were studying. I ended up writing not one, not two, but ten pages about the planet Neptune, and I illustrated it as well. It was a creative and silly story involving space goats, pink aliens, and a drink called moon-rock rumble. I had so much fun writing it that I knew right then and there that I wanted to be an author when I grew up!
Interview with Francesca G. Varela, author of The Seas of Distant Stars
Can
you tell us a little bit about the characters in The Seas of Distant Stars?
The Seas of Distant Stars tells the story of a young girl—Agapanthus—who is kidnapped by aliens as a toddler. She grows up on an alien planet called Deeyae, and each chapter shows us Agapanthus at a different age. We go on a journey with her from ages 3 to 26, witnessing her grow, mature, and try to fit in as an alien on an alien planet. Agapanthus is bright, curious, loving, and, like all of us, she’s eager to belong.
Can
you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have planned for the
future?
I recently received my master’s degree in Environmental Humanities, and for my final project, I wrote a novel with themes centering on plastic pollution, industrial agriculture, and climate change. I’ve been revising the manuscript and hope to have it published in the future! I see myself as an environmental writer, and my goal is to inspire love for the natural world through my writing.
How
long would you say it takes you to write a book?
I try to write 500 words a day (besides
vacations and holidays and a few days off here and there), so for a 60,000+
word novel, it usually takes me about six to nine months. However, I wrote the
first draft of the novel for my master’s thesis in only three months!
What is your favorite
childhood book?
I was very little, one of my favorite picture
books was The Poky Little Puppy. When
I was in elementary school, I was
obsessed with The Babysitters Club series,
and when I was in middle school, I loved The
Mediator series and The Princess
Diaries series by Meg Cabot.
If you could spend the
day with one of the characters from The
Seas of Distant Stars who would it be? Please tell us why you chose this
particular character, where you would go and what you would do.
I would hang out with Agapanthus’s brother, Max! He’s super into
the outdoors and loves botany. We would go on a hike and identify plants
together!
What was the hardest
scene from The Seas of Distant Stars to
write?
The hardest scene for me is always the ending. It’s hard to bring things to an end that’s both surprising and inevitable. My goal is always to leave the reader with both satisfaction and a longing for more.
What made you want to
become a writer?
I’ve wanted to be an author since I was in third grade. We were assigned to write a one-page story about the planet we were studying. I ended up writing not one, not two, but ten pages about the planet Neptune, and I illustrated it as well. It was a creative and silly story involving space goats, pink aliens, and a drink called moon-rock rumble. I had so much fun writing it that I knew right then and there that I wanted to be an author when I grew up!
Just for fun
(a
Favorite song: Sinfonia Concertante in
E Flat Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(b
Favorite book: Becoming Animal by David Abram
(c
Favorite movie: A Room with A View
(d
Favorite tv show: It’s a tie between “Outlander”
and “This Is Us”
(e
Favorite food: Thai pumpkin curry
(f
Favorite drink: Kombucha
(g
Favorite website: Not exactly a website,
but Instagram!
Thanks
so much for visiting with us today!
About the Author
Francesca G. Varela was raised in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. In 2015 she graduated from the University of Oregon with degrees in Environmental Studies and Creative Writing, and she then went on to receive her master’s degree in Environmental Humanities from the University of Utah.
Francesca’s dream of becoming an author began in third grade, and her writing career had an early start; she wrote her award-winning first novel, Call of the Sun Child, when she was only 18 years old, and she wrote her second novel, Listen, when she was only 20.
When not writing or reading, Francesca enjoys playing piano, figure skating, hiking, identifying wild birds, plants, and constellations, and travelling to warm, sunny places whenever she can.
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2 comments:
thanks for hosting
Sounds like a very good book.
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