Review + Interview Space Between Us by Jamaal Aflatooni

  

An outcast boy, Darwin Sanders, learns just what an outsider he really is.

The world he grew up knowing that was carefully crafted for him comes crashing down when he learns of his true identity. The world itself is put to the test when it learns the same about Darwin.

AMAZON : https://amzn.to/2Yt2koi

<3 4 STARS <3

This is a great read, it's my first from this author and I can say it will be not my last!I loved the writing and I find the story captivating!I was intrigued!The story follows Darwin, a teenager who is having visions from another world.



Darwin is a uniue character, I really like him and felt sorry for him!The story general was realistic and the pace in the beginning was a little bit slow yet I like it!It was a great read!

I'm looking forward to read more books from this author!

INTEREVIEW

1) Could you sum up Space Between Us in five word or less?

 1. Understanding our place in this vast universe

2) What inspired you to write Space Between Us ?

2. I had the idea for this story in 2009, at the time it was initially going to be a story about a kid who hadn’t discovered quite yet who he was and often felt out of place in society. It sounds a little silly now, but I wanted to emulate something similar to J.K. Rowling and the character she developed for Harry Potter. I never got around to writing the book until 2016, where I evolved the story quite a bit. 2016 was a difficult year in the U.S., with such a combative political climate leading up the national election. I try not to be too political myself, but it was shocking to me how much violence, hatred, and prejudice that election created in our society. Of course, it still hasn’t gotten any better. Society is still incredibly divided today in our beliefs and politics with everything from race relations, income inequality, to even the pandemic and how we should be approaching it. 

I often thought, what would someone think of our society and how we treat each other if coming upon the world for the first time? We always wonder when will be that first time we discover an alien civilization and what their society would be like, but what if they discover us first? And if they did, what would they think of us? Would they even want to visit us knowing how we treat our own kind? A long-winded answer to your question, but this is what led to my creation of this story. It’s a sci-fi story, but more so a story about us as a society and how we shut ourselves out from those who differ from us.

3) What do you find to be the most challenging thing about writing?

3. The most challenging thing is finding the time. I have a full-time job and a young daughter so even taking some time to formulate ideas or an outline of a story can be difficult. The other challenge is just questioning your work. You always want to be writing in a way that is captivating and interesting to your audience and you can often times find yourself second guessing your writing and making multiple revisions before finally settling on a scene, character or plotline.

4) What's next for you?

4. I'm in the process of writing another book, but it is coming along very slowly. This book is a little different in that it isn't sci-fi, but addresses some of the same principles and concepts in Space Between Us. The story will take place in the future and address the challenges of an age where technology has taken away our social independence.