I got an arc of Starflight at SDCC last year and I didn’t get around to reading it until December. I loved it and wondered what took me so long because it really is awesome. Thankfully when I asked Melissa for an interview, she agreed!
Before we get to her answers, let’s check out the book!
Life in the outer realm is a lawless, dirty, hard existence, and Solara Brooks is hungry for it. Just out of the orphanage, she needs a fresh start in a place where nobody cares about the engine grease beneath her fingernails or the felony tattoos across her knuckles. She’s so desperate to reach the realm that she’s willing to indenture herself to Doran Spaulding, the rich and popular quarterback who made her life miserable all through high school, in exchange for passage aboard the spaceliner Zenith.
When a twist of fate lands them instead on the Banshee, a vessel of dubious repute, Doran learns he’s been framed on Earth for conspiracy. As he pursues a set of mysterious coordinates rumored to hold the key to clearing his name, he and Solara must get past their enmity to work together and evade those out for their arrest. Life on the Banshee may be tumultuous, but as Solara and Doran are forced to question everything they once believed about their world–and each other–the ship becomes home, and the eccentric crew family. But what Solara and Doran discover on the mysterious Planet X has the power to not only alter their lives, but the existence of everyone in the universe…
Sounds good, right?
1. Give the elevator pitch for Starflight.
High school enemies Doran and Solara must team up when they find themselves on board a renegade spaceship.
2. Where did the idea come from?
I was initially inspired by a romantic comedy called “Overboard,” starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. (If you haven’t seen it, YOU MUST find a copy! It’s one of the best rom-coms ever filmed.) In the movie, a cruel heiress hires a poor carpenter to do some work on her yacht, but when the work is done, she refuses to pay him. So later when an accident erases her memory, the carpenter claims her as his wife, intending for her to work off her debt to him by cleaning his house and taking care of his wild, motherless sons. But of course, the two end up changing and falling in love. I wanted to incorporate the same “enemies to lovers” trope, but I decided to keep the amnesia aspect very brief. In STARFLIGHT, Doran’s memory returns after a couple of chapters.
3. Why do you love Solara and Doran and why should we root for them?
Solara and Doran do questionable things, but they’re both good people at heart. I love that they’re (eventually) able to put aside their differences and help each other heal.
4. You have quite a cast of characters in this book. Who was your favorite to work with and who was the easiest?
This is difficult to answer because I’m attached to the whole Banshee crew. I think Renny was my favorite. He’s got such a sweet spirit. Acorn was the hardest to write…mostly because I’ve never seen a sugar glider in real life. :)
Speed [ish] round:
1. You get the call/email/letter that says you’re being published for the first time. Describe the next 5 minutes.
Lots of jumping around and squealing.
2. What three things would you take to a desert island?
A water purifier, a fire starter, and a machete.
3. You can only read one book for the rest of your life. What is it?
Jane Eyre
4. Who are your favorite swoony boys/girls?
Bellamy Blake in the CW show “The 100.”
5. What is the one thing about publishing you wish someone would have told you?
Don’t read reviews.
6. You wake up and discover you are Bella in Twilight. You know how it plays out. What do you do differently? {Huge thanks to Bookish Broads for letting me use this question!}
Hmm. Nothing, probably. Almost every character gets a happy ending in Breaking Dawn, and if I did anything differently it would set a new series of events in motion that might ruin everyone’s lives.
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Melissa Landers is a former teacher who left the classroom to pursue other worlds. A proud sci-fi geek, she isn’t afraid to wear her Princess Leia costume in public—just ask her husband and three kids. She lives just outside Cincinnati and writes adult contemporary romance as Macy Beckett.
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Huge thanks to Melissa for taking the time to do this! Make sure you’re checking out her website, following her on Twitter, liking her Facebook page, and adding all of her books to your Goodreads TBR.
Starflight comes out February 2nd, but I’ve got an arc and I want to put it in your greedy hands! Contest is international and additional rules are here.
**Good Luck!!**
LOVE the title/cover/synopsis for this book, so I’m definitely going to be keeping an eye out for it.
Definitely the beach!!
I grew up near the beach so I think I’d go for mountains for a change of scenery!
Thank you for the giveaway! I’d much prefer the beach over the mountains :)
The beach of course! With a nice ice cream! Thank you for the giveaway!
Hmm…. I think I’d prefer the mountains but can I have a leeeetle bit of sun too!
Love the Bellamy-swoon-worthy response :P
Both, it really depends on my mood.
Thank you for the chance!!!
Beach all the way!! Nothing better than reading on the beach and drinking something rum filled.
I much prefer the mountains. I grew up in Florida so I’ve had enough of beaches to last a lifetime.
Ahh :D YAY for finally reading this book Stacee, last month. <3 I have been waiting so long for it. SOON :D And I am thrilled that you loved it. Yay! This interview is so awesome. <3 Thank you the most for sharing :) And oh my gosh, BEST GIVEAWAY :D Crossing all my fingers. <3 Thank you. Hugs. I prefer the beach :) Well, if the water is pretty warm, like it was in Dubai. I love bathing :)
The beach for sure. My ears pop constantly in the mountains. I can never get them used to the pressure. =P
The beach, definitely. This is because almost 90% of the time, whenever I go to the mountainside, allergies hit me, in the most brutal way. Plus, I love swimming in the sea too much to give it up for some mountains :P
Mountains!
Although I’m dying to say mountains, I have to say beaches because every happy memory I have stored in my little noggin involves the beach somehow. But mostly because I am an incredibly unfit potato that couldn’t make it to the base of a mountain, much less climb one. We can’t have everything in life. *sigh*
Thanks for the giveaway. I think I will go to the beach :)
Both, depends on the time of the year. Beach fr the summer and mountains for the rest :)
I definitely prefer the beach, as long as I don’t have to go into the ocean.
I definitely prefer the beach. Love being warm and going swimming!
Beach!
I prefer the beach…..but I also love the mountains. We live at the foot of a beautiful one!
Mountains. Always mountains.
Both! But if I really had to select one I think I’d pick mountains!
Beach all the way! :)
Thanks for the giveaway!
I prefer the beach!