New Adult Book Club discussion

Hi Katja, I was wondering what inspired you to write The Sea of Tranquility. It's such an original and beautiful story. :)

Hi Katja- You appeared to have named most if not all of your characters with a purpose. I wanted to know if you choose the name Emilia for a character based on the origin of the name (which means to rival, excel, or emulate); or did you already have the name in mind because you "liked" it? Seems like all three of these meanings fit this character, so wondering which came first, the name or her personality?

How did you decide to write a book with a character (view spoiler)[that does not speak? You cannot have the back and forth conversations so I think it would have been tough to write. (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Hi Katja, I wanted to know if you're working on anything else? when can we expect another book from you? I LOVED Sea Of Tranquility and Josh Bennett of course <3 :)

Hi Katja, for me your book is a masterpiece, I enjoyed every second I was reading it. I loved the way that the plot develops gradually along the book, and definetely loved your writing style. I'm sure it will be a blast if you publish it outside the US. Do you have plans to publish it in Brazil?

Did you know the last page when you started writing the book? It was brilliant how you tied everything together. Loved it!

Hello Katja!
Thank you so much for stopping by and answering our questions! Sea of Tranquility was an incredible book and I absolutely fell in love with it!

I was curious to know which books or authors inspired you?

This New Adult group is so wonderful at introducing me to great titles. It sounds like Sea of Tranquility is a wonderful read. This might be an odd question for you, Katja, but I noticed that the book has two different covers - what's the story behind that, and which one do you personally like best?

First off, I loved The Sea of Tranquility.

When you write do you outline or do you free write?

Hi Katja,

I loved reading The Sea of Tranquility. Where did you get the inspiration for the main characters of Josh, Nastya/Emilia and Drew?

It was interesting how Josh and Nastya were drawn to each other and how they helped one another come to terms with the tragedy and unfairness in their lives. The idea of them being soul mates comes to mind because they are always in tune to one another whether they are at school or in Josh's garage.

(view spoiler)[I liked how you tied everything up at the end of the story when Josh's grandfather's words come true as Emilia lets Josh know that during the time she died, right after her attack, she saw his garage. This is when there is an aha moment for the reader, as we realize why Josh's garage was familiar to her that first night she ran past it. It is wonderful that for Josh, no matter what name she wanted to go by, Nastya is Sunshine to him.

Drew's character evolves through the story as well. I liked that he had to face up to how his behavior affected his sister Sarah and Tierney. I also appreciated his loyalty to Nastypants/Emilia and that he saw her as a friend who could keep his secrets - even ones that Josh wasn't necessarily aware of.

It was great that Sunday dinners and the supportive presence of Mrs. Leighton really helped ground everyone in the story and gave the main characters a place of acceptance and belonging no matter what was going on in their lives.

Mostly I was happy that Nastya/Emilia is portrayed as a survivor. While she initially copes by taking on the persona of Nastya with all of her make-up and overtly sexy clothing and chooses to not talk (except to Josh and then Drew), she doesn't let being a victim of a random merciless attack destroy her. She can no longer play the piano but she bakes like a pro, runs to de-stress, learns to finish furniture for Josh and teaches the girls at the Leighton's how to defend themselves and she faces her would-be killer with some degree of bravery and compassion. She is not only supported by Josh and Drew but they also rely on her for strength and affirmation of who they are. (hide spoiler)]

I look forward to reading your next novel.

Rosaria

Brianna wrote: "Hi Katja, I was wondering what inspired you to write The Sea of Tranquility. It's such an original and beautiful story. :)"

I get asked that question often and I don’t have a terribly exciting answer for it. There really wasn’t one thing that I can point to as the specific inspiration. I had a character in my head and the picture of what had happened to her and I wanted to explore the subsequent effects of that incident. The rest of the story grew around that.

Jennifer wrote: "Hi Katja- You appeared to have named most if not all of your characters with a purpose. I wanted to know if you choose the name Emilia for a character based on the origin of the name (which means ..."

The meaning of Emilia’s name actually turned out to be a lovely instance of serendipity. She was the first character I named because the first part of the book I wrote was the scene that took place in the past when the attack occurred. From the time I envisioned her as a fifteen year old pianist, that was her name. The essence of her character and those driven, determined aspects of her personality were already developed by the time I ended up looking up the meaning of the name well into the writing of the book. It was a happy surprise that it happened to describe her so precisely.

Janhvi wrote: "Hi Katja, I wanted to know if you're working on anything else? when can we expect another book from you? I LOVED Sea Of Tranquility and Josh Bennett of course <3 :)"

Thank you so much! That makes me very happy! I am writing now but I don’t want to make any announcements about subject matter or release date until I have the book in hand and I know that I’m happy with it.

Carolina wrote: "Hi Katja, for me your book is a masterpiece, I enjoyed every second I was reading it. I loved the way that the plot develops gradually along the book, and definetely loved your writing style. I'm s..."

Hi Carolina,
Yes, I am very excited to say that TSoT will be published in Brazil. I don't have the exact release date yet but it is definitely happening. :)

Shelly wrote: "Did you know the last page when you started writing the book? It was brilliant how you tied everything together. Loved it!"

Thank you! That ending and that particular element of the story was in my head throughout the writing of the book, which was vital because I needed to make sure that the foreshadowing was there along the way and that everything followed accordingly. I never wanted it to be something that came out of nowhere and it was important to me that if you went back and reread, it would all be right there, hiding in plain sight. That said, I didn’t know that I was going to make that revelation the absolute last line until I was well into the writing of the book.

Beth wrote: "How did you decide to write a book with a character [spoilers removed]"

Hi Beth,

(view spoiler)[ I actually didn’t know immediately that she wasn’t going to speak. The fact that Nastya didn’t talk wasn’t so much a conscious decision that I made as it was dictated by the character herself. That was her way of dealing with what she was going through or perhaps, more accurately, not dealing with it. She didn’t want to answer the questions (or lie for that matter) so she ran away from them the only way she could think to do that; she stopped talking.

Writing it that way was a challenge on more than one level. You can get a lot of information and personality across through dialogue. It’s an extremely useful tool and it helps move things along more quickly; most readers crave dialogue. So was it a risk? Yes. I had to be conscious of keeping Nastya’s inner voice interesting and revealing enough to hold readers. Although challenging, I believe this was ultimately helpful. By being in her head, you have the opportunity to get to know Nastya far more intimately and thus truly understand her character and her actions. This ends up being vital to the story as a whole and everything that comes later on. Throughout the book, even Josh, who does speak, often says very little. I’ve always believed that, in real life, what isn’t said is often more interesting and always more telling than what is spoken. (hide spoiler)]

Faith wrote: "What do you find more intimidating dealing with failure or dealing with success?"

That’s an excellent question without a very simple answer. It’s one of those things I try not to dwell on too much because it can be paralyzing. Failure is intimidating for obvious reasons. No one sets out to fail and the fear of that failure is what often keeps us from trying anything at all. But success comes with its own pitfalls. I think if you achieve success it brings with it a certain set of expectations and those can be overwhelming when you’re faced with having to live up to them. Honestly, I find myself intimidated by the thought of all of it on a daily basis, but I think that's true for many writers.

Ava (Book Nerds Anonymous) wrote: "Hey Katja, we are so excited for you to answer our questions.

Will there be anymore from The Sea of Tranqulility gang *cough* Drew *cough* or is their story complete?"

Haha! There is a possibility that I may write a story that follows one of the secondary characters in the book. However, I don't want to make any promises about that until I am certain that the story is there and the characters are strong enough to support it.

Trisha wrote: "Hello Katja!
Thank you so much for stopping by and answering our questions! Sea of Tranquility was an incredible book and I absolutely fell in love with it!

I was curious to know which books or a..."

Hi Trisha,
I read just about anything and everything I can get my hands on but one of my all time favorite books that I am still drawn to to this day is A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. It's an incredibly poignant, original book. My Antonia by Willa Cather is another book that I read years ago and has always stayed with me. These days I read a lot of YA literature, but I have too many favorites to list. :)

Nicki wrote: "This New Adult group is so wonderful at introducing me to great titles. It sounds like Sea of Tranquility is a wonderful read. This might be an odd question for you, Katja, but I noticed that the b..."

There are two covers because when I released the book originally last September it was self-published. Simon & Schuster picked it up and re-released it in November with the redesigned cover. I don't really have a favorite. The original cover has sentimental meaning to me and I love the coins because of what they represent in the story. At the same time, I think the new cover is absolutely striking and incredible in the way that it ties in the concept of optical illusions from the book. I love them both!

Amanda (mandy) wrote: "First off, I loved The Sea of Tranquility.

When you write do you outline or do you free write?"

Thank you! I'm so happy you enjoyed it! :)
I attempted to outline at one point while writing TSoT but I learned quickly that it didn't work for me. I actually write completely out of order. I have a basic plan in my head of where I'm going and where I need to end up but there's plenty of room for the characters to develop and make their own decisions along the way.

Rosaria wrote: "Hi Katja,

I loved reading The Sea of Tranquility. Where did you get the inspiration for the main characters of Josh, Nastya/Emilia and Drew?

It was interesting how Josh and Nastya were drawn to..."

Thank you Rosaria!

I'm terrible at answering questions about inspiration because it's such a tricky thing for me to pinpoint. Although there are certain elements of their personalities that I pulled from my own experiences, there really wasn't any one specific person or incident that inspired any of them. I started off with the image of this young pianist and her hand and what had happened to it. Everything else grew out of that. The other characters and the relationships between them developed and evolved along with the story. I didn't start out with them fully formed in my head.

Thank you so much to everyone for having me. I truly appreciate you reading TSoT and I loved hearing your questions. Thank you especially to Ava for taking time to arrange the Q&A. Take care! <3