Title: To The Stars
Author: Tiaan Lubbe
Publisher: Self/Indie
Release Date: 23rd September 2014
BLURB supplied by the author
When the world finds out its inevitable end will
come in sixty years, it seems like all hope is lost. Until a man steps from the
darkness. He offers salvation, but demands total control. The world accepts.
Sixty years later, the old
saviour’s son is leader and watches over the last proceedings of his father’s
plans – Seven Ark ships called the Astrum Portas.
Noah is the next leader. He doesn’t
want to be.
Zara is the girl he’s in love with.
She doesn’t know it.
Three lives become complicatedly
intertwined when a bomb on the Astrum Porta unexpectedly throws them into a
whirlwind of secrets, forbidden love and violent clashes all while the looming
apocalypse approaches rapidly.
The final adventure awaits...
PURCHASE LINKS
GUEST POST
I always say that writing is the only thing
in the world that simultaneously kills me and keeps me alive. A lot of people
frown when they hear this, probably writing me off in their heads as just
another crazy, ‘creative’, writer. This is what I say when they, albeit seldom,
ask me to explain myself:
Writing, to me, has always been like having
an ambiguous mistress. It’s both physically and emotionally exhausting and can
cause a lot of stress and frustration. However, there are moments of such
immense pleasure, such indescribable joy and such pure satisfaction that it
makes it all worth the while. The act of writing might kill me, but those
wondrous moments are all that keeps me alive. I cannot live without it, but it
might just be the thing that destroys me in the end. A beautiful problem, isn’t
it?
Writing To the Stars was exactly this
experience. Though since it was my first, a lot of this knowledge I now have at
the end of it, was all muddled up confusion, doubt, frustration and all those
other words writers dread so much. But, it was all worth it and I think that
what came out of that dark birth canal is something beautiful. At least to me.
It took me nine
months to write the first draft and another four to edit, proofread, edit and
proofread again. The idea of the book came much easier. I was watching those
set of channels that everyone uses to lull themselves to sleep, and I use to
make myself feel smart. A documentary
came on about all the different possibilities in which Earth could meet its
doom and how humanity could go about saving themselves or at least the species.
And there, BOOOM! The idea of To the
Stars exploded into my head like the Big Bang! Less dramatic, though.
I’ve always read
books in the genres of Young Adult, Science Fiction and Fantasy. My bookshelves
overflow with books like Rick Riordan’s Percy
Jackson series, Christopher Poalini’s Inheritance
series, Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games
and all the like. I absolutely love them. So naturally, the first book I would
attempt would end up being in that genre. And, I fear, a lot of my books that
follow will also be.
The idea for the
dystopian world of the book came as I fleshed out my initial idea over a good
few weeks. Writing little notebooks to their deaths. Though I think that my
fascination with the notion of a single man or group controlling the masses for
the ‘good of them all’ was what prompted me in this direction. History is full
of examples of how this could go badly, but my interest lie in the questions:
Is it always a bad idea? Or are there scenarios and moments in humanities
existence (past or future) that would need this?
The title came as
part of the book’s story. It is derived from the slogan of the Last Empire of
Earth in the book. Ad Astra Imus, which
is Latin for To the Stars we go. See?
The characters,
like I think is the same for most writers, drew their traits and personalities
from the people in my life. From my sister and my father to a third grade
teacher with a permanent nasty mood. There are even traits of myself embedded
in one of the lead characters, Noah. A son with a lot of pressure on his
shoulders from his father. I think that’s maybe why he might just be my
favorite, if I could choose favorites. He reminds me of myself, which is also
why he irritates me the most.
Though it has
been a hard process writing my first novel and a huge, and I mean ginormous,
learning curve, it has also been immensely satisfying. My next endeavor will
then of course be another book. I’m currently almost done with the first book
in a three-part series. The title is still a heart’s secret, but it will also be
in the young adult realm, mixing science fiction with fantasy adventure and
throwing in a little bit of Greek mythology for good luck. I can’t wait for it
to see the light of day beyond my cramped little office. Also, one of my
dystopian flash fiction pieces is going to be published in a spectacular
anthology called Baby Shoes: a flash
fiction anthology.
This might be
cliché beyond apology, but I have to say it: Watch this space. There’s a lot
more words in this ‘creative’ person.
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