Hi, lovelies!! It gives me great pleasure today to host Ben Gartner and his new book, “One Giant Leap,” here on FAB!! For other stops on his Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $25 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Ben and to increase your chances of winning!!
Thanks for stopping by!! Wishing you all lots of good luck in this fabulous giveaway!!
One Giant Leap
by Ben Gartner
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GENRE: Middle Grade Hard Science Fiction Action Adventure
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BOOK BLURB:
"I’m pretty sure I’m about to die in space. And I just turned twelve and a half."
Blast off with the four winners of the StellarKid Project on a trip to the International Space Station and then to the Gateway outpost orbiting the Moon! It’s a dream come true until space junk collides with the ISS, turning their epic trip into a nightmare of survival. Alone aboard the Aether starship, the kids have to work as a team to save the adults before the ISS is destroyed. Suit up, cadet, and launch into adventure with One Giant Leap!
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EXCERPT THREE:
The absence of any sound after the turbulent ride up was all-encompassing. I heard my own breathing, my heart pounding.
No one spoke.
Then it hit me.
I did it. Something I’d dreamed of all my life and I was here in outer space.
I felt lighter.
Literally. I was weightless.
I swallowed, which required a little force to do. It made me chuckle. Just giddy, I guess.
It was amazing.
Everyone stared out the windows together, down at Earth skimming below. We were over some stretch of brown land, a desert, laced with a river that reflected the sunlight. I wondered if it was the Nile in Egypt.
Tilting my head up, I could see the horizon and the thin blue line of our atmosphere, no thicker than a layer of water on a bowling ball.
Amazing. I had a feeling I would be repeating that word a lot.
And I must admit, I got a little choked up seeing Earth in that way, for real, in person, right in front of me as one giant whole like never before. I’d seen pictures of this view, but just like photos of the mountains or a beautiful sunset, it’s never quite the same as it is in person.
You gotta try it.
I’d read about this inspirational moment, called the overview effect, of seeing fragile Earth from afar, but this time it was me experiencing it, personally.
Our precious little blue marble hovering in space with millions of miles of nothing all around.
I imagined the billions of people below us. The activities and work they were doing, unaware that I was floating right above them, looking down.
Someone hugging their mom before school.
Someone reading a book, snuggled in bed.
Someone drinking water after a hard hike.
Someone crying because their dog ran away.
Someone laughing because their cat licked their nose.
I could see them all below me, in my mind’s eye.
It’s hard to describe, but it made me feel both large and small at the same time. Like a god’s view from the Aether, the upper sky. But instead of feeling like a god, I was reminded more of the people down there, and how I’m just like them, how we’re more alike than different. There are no borders visible from space. We’re all the same, reaching for the stars.
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GUEST POST:
My Favorite Scene in One Giant Leap…
Overall, I had many favorite scenes in One Giant Leap, and the most memorable ones were those which I’d researched carefully and read others’ experiences such that I could imagine myself in the hot seat. For example, it was a little surprising to me to learn that when astronauts blast off they don’t feel a big sudden explosion of acceleration. Multiple accounts that I read talk about the gradual lift-off and how they don’t really know they’ve even left the ground until someone from mission control tells them, or they see the altimeter climbing in their cockpit.
But once they have some lift and have burned off some fuel, that’s when the g-forces start to kick in. Though even then, it’s not much more than you might feel on an extreme roller coaster ride, but with less twisty-turny movements. There is some jostling around, sure, but most of these astronauts describe the ascent as “smooth.” Now, take that in context because many who say that are test pilots and their idea of “smooth” is probably different than yours or mine. They all seem to agree, however, that the descent when you’re coming back into Earth’s atmosphere is when things get a bit more dicey. On the way up, you don’t see any fire, but on the way down your capsule is engulfed in gases superheated into plasma, bits of your heat shield flaring off past your window.
So, yeah, imagining those scenes was a lot of fun to write because I would love to experience it firsthand! In lieu of that, I hope my readers will get a little taste of it in their own imaginations, fed by my words as rocket fuel.
My other favorite scene in One Giant Leap is about Fin adrift in space, when he has his little cathartic breakdown and screams into the void. I think we’ve all been there. Re-living that feeling while writing was somewhat cathartic all over again for me. And I hope my young readers feel it too.
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Thank you for having me on your blog! If people want to learn more about my books, they can check out my website at BenGartner.com. I’m also active on Twitter and Instagram at @BGartnerWriting.
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AUTHOR BIO:
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Ben Gartner is the award-winning author of adventure books for middle graders. His stories take readers for a thrilling ride, maybe even teaching them something on the journey. Ben can be found living and writing near the mountains with his wife and two boys.
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CONNECT WITH BEN:
Website:
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/BGartnerWriting
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/BGartnerWriting
Goodreads Author Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19830422.Ben_Gartner
Goodreads Book Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62841784-one-giant-leap
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Available in paperback, hardback, and eBook everywhere books are sold.
Amazon US eBook:
Amazon US Paperback:
Amazon US Hardcover:
Amazon CA eBook:
https://www.amazon.ca/One-Giant-Leap-Ben-Gartner-ebook/dp/B0BHRDBKZ2
Amazon CA Paperback:
https://www.amazon.ca/One-Giant-Leap-Ben-Gartner/dp/B0BKMNW9CC
Amazon CA Hardcover:
https://www.amazon.ca/One-Giant-Leap-Ben-Gartner/dp/1734155299
Apple Books eBook:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/one-giant-leap/id6443869873
Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-giant-leap-ben-gartner/1142528397?ean=2940166671806
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-giant-leap-ben-gartner/1142528397?ean=9798987075302
Barnes and Noble Hardcover:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-giant-leap-ben-gartner/1142528397?ean=9781734155297
Universal – Books 2 Read:
https://books2read.com/one-giant-leap-ben-gartner
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Ben will be awarding a $25 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble Gift Card (Winner’s Choice!!!) to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this blog. This does not cost you anything, it just helps pay for all those fabulous community outreach projects and awesome giveaways on here**
This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions. Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
