Author Interview: Jill Tew and Rayana Johnson’s Giant Leap Giveaway

Happy Monday, Everyone! Today I’m excited to have Jill Tew here to celebrate the release of her MG, Rayana Johnson’s Giant Leap. It sounds like a great contemporary story that addresses many of the issues middle graders experience, and I’m looking forward to reading it. 

Here’s a blurb from Goodreads:

 

Rayana Johnson always thought that turning thirteen would mean being old enough to stay home alone, go on her first date, and attend Galaxy Camp, a sleepaway camp that’s all about her true passion—space exploration.

But instead of having a blast on flight simulators and multi-axis trainers or learning about what it takes to explore the stars, Ray’s mind is stuck on Earth, wondering why her parents are arguing, why her best friend isn’t acting like herself, and why her totally-crushworthy-counselor keeps treating her like a kid. And even worse,
puberty throws her the ultimate curveball—she has her first period.

In the span of just a few days, Ray’s gone from having total certainty in her universe to barely being able to count on anything—not her parents’ marriage, not Galaxy Camp, and not even her own body. Will she ever feel grounded again, or is the rest of her life destined to be as nebulous as the Milky Way? 

Hi Jill! Thanks so much for joining us. 

1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer. 

I always loved stories growing up, but knew that when it came time to make a career choice I needed to make a practical decision. I was lucky enough to get into a great college and graduate with a business degree, and from there I worked in corporate environments as well as startups. But the whole time I felt like kind of a square peg in a round hole; even though I was good at these jobs, it felt like something wasn’t quite natural. 

One day, some coworkers suggested we go see a movie after work period that movie was “Divergent”, and walking home from the theater I felt like a spark inside of me had been rekindled. This was what I wanted: to create stories that made people think, and imagine, and question, and dream. That night, instead of going home to work on a PowerPoint presentation for work, I began outlining my very first novel, and the rest is history. 

2. How cool that you decided to write because it fulfilled you more. Where did you get the idea for Rayana Johnson’s Giant Leap? 

I was the responsible kid, from really early on, and it took me a long time to realize that a lot of my preparedness actually came from anxiety about all of the ways something could end in disaster (which it almost never did). And then my parents announced they were getting divorced, which actually was a disaster, and to me, anyway, came out of nowhere. Middle grade is that age where you start to realize that life is a lot more complicated than you’ve been told, and you start to be let in on more adult situations. Rayana’s parents’ divorce really shakes her up, because it’s like– what else don’t I know? Throw in getting her very first period on top of that, and I think that disorientation is an experience a lot of kids can relate to. 

And I did, in fact, go to space camp, where the book is set! And it was the coolest. I was part of mission control for my team’s final simulation, and I still remember that experience fondly.  

3. That’s so cool that you went to the space camp where your story is set. Tell us about your writing process for this story. Did you flesh it out, develop a plot, or just start writing? Why does this system work for you? 

I'm definitely what people call a “plotter”, someone who likes to outline and plan their stories before digging into the draft. For this story I had a really clear sense of the arc I wanted Rayana to go through, and a few ideas of the types of space camp shenanigans I wanted her to experience. So I went through chapter by chapter and wrote down a couple of sentences about what I thought would happen in that chapter. I sent that to my editor, because I always like to get a thumbs up before I begin spending time on a draft. When we were happy with the shape of the story, I began to write! 

I have two young kids and every minute that I can get away to write is precious, so it's really important to me to have a plan before I sit down in the chair. Something about knowing exactly where the story is headed for the scene I need to write that day (or that hour) really helps me stay focused. 

4. How did you incorporate Rayana’s love of space exploration into your story? Did you have to do any research into the types of opportunities available at this type of summer camp? 

Being a big space nerd myself definitely helps! Like I said above, I did go to space camp as a kid, and was able to rely on those memories to flesh out the story. There are also a ton of YouTube videos online from the US Space and Rocket center in Huntsville, Alabama, and I was able to find a Facebook group of space camp alums to help refresh my memory when things got hazy. 

5. Rayana deals with a lot of issues—worries about her parents, friendship issues, a crush, and her first period. What made you choose these issues, and how did you weave all these plots into your story? 

I think I was just relying on my own experience of being twelve! I went through all of these experiences, and had friends who did too, in middle school. I think it's a time when you're trying to figure out who you are, but life is lifing in ways that it never has before. Things just seem to be changing so quickly and it can be a bit chaotic. I thought that was the perfect backdrop for a story about a girl who, more than anything, wants to be in control. 

Ask for weaving them in, I think it helps that they are all helping Rayana reach the same conclusion about what to do when life starts to spin out of control. At the end of the day, pretty much all of these issues are things that she doesn't see coming, and situations where trying to hold on too tightly can actually make things worse. So, it was kind of like a juggling act, thinking about when to slot them in and how to braid them together, but luckily for me none of the issues Ray faces were ever in tension. 

6. Reviewers have described this story as funny. How did you add humor to your story? What tips do you have for other writers on including humor in their stories? 

I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but I was a pretty funny kid, especially in middle school. Laughter and humor were my coping mechanisms for being awkward, for being one of the only Black girls in my friend group, for having buck teeth and bad acne-- you name it. Joking about situations helped me feel in control of them, and I wanted to have Ray’s humor be a way that she retains command of situations where she feels uncertain. 

I also think funny characters, especially in middle grade, are a lot of fun to root for. I wanted Ray to feel like your best friend, because she actually was my main character's best friend in my middle grade debut Kaya Morgan's Crowning Achievement. Ray leapt off the page then with her humor and loyalty to Kaya, and I wanted to make sure she stayed just as funny in her own book, even as she was facing some very real challenges. 

7. Yes, you can say that you were a funny kid. You published two dystopian YA novels and two middle grade novels (including Rayana Johnson’s Giant Leap) within a few years. How have you been able to keep publishing so many books? 

It's definitely been a juggling act! Planning out my books before I sit down to write definitely helps make every minute count. I've also been able to work with some fantastic editors to help me stagger releases and keep all of the balls in the air. It's also been kind of a nice brain rinse, in some ways, to jump back and forth between genres. Whenever I'm feeling like my brain is tired from worldbuilding in my dystopian books, I can always jump back to the real world for my middle grade. And if I'm ever feeling like I miss my sci-fi tech or my romance arcs, I can always turn back to my YA stories. I think a lot of authors carry these multitudes of stories and genres inside of us, and I'm very lucky to have been able to publish across a wide spectrum of my interests so far. 

8. How are you planning to promote Rayana Johnson’s Giant Leap? 

We've been able to reach out to fans of my middle grade debut Kaya Morgan's Crowning Achievement, to see if they'd be interested in following Kaya's bestie’s journey in her own book. I've also been lucky to participate in some events for Black families and children here in Atlanta, where I'm based. Lastly, we're having a big launch party early in May at one of my favorite bookstores here in Atlanta called Brave and Kind books, and my friend Jordan Ifueko (New York Times bestselling author of the absolutely phenomenal Raybearer series), is going to moderate that. I'm so excited! 

9. What are you working on now? 

I'm currently jumping genres and age categories yet again to work through developmental edits for my adult debut next year, a sci-fi romance called Headspace. I like to say it’s “The Expanse meets Emily Henry”—for any fans of the space opera TV show Firefly, this would be right up your alley. (Wow, with a pitch like that, I’m definitely not beating the nerd allegations any time soon!) 

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Jill. You can find Jill at: 

www.jilltew.com

https://jilltew.substack.com/

https://www.instagram.com/jtewwrites/

https://www.threads.com/@jtewwrites

https://www.tiktok.com/@jilltew 

Giveaway Details

Jill is generously offering an ARC of Rayana Johnson’s Giant Leap for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by April 18th. If I do not have your email (I can no longer get it from your Google Profile), you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media sites and/or follow me on Twitter or Bluesky or follow Jill on her social media sites, mention this in the comments, and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This ARC giveaway is US.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his blog. 

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops 

Wednesday, April 8th, I have an agent spotlight interview with Saritza Hernández and a a 45-minute Ask-Me-Anything giveaway 

Monday, April 13th, I’m reviewing Jennifer Nielsen’s MG The Free State of Jax and Magnitude with a book giveaway 

Thursday, April 16th, I’m participating in the Rain Drop on Roses Giveaway Hop 

Monday, April 20th, I have an interview with Van Hoang and a giveaway of her MG Auntie Q’s Golden Claws Nail Salon 

Monday, April 27th, I have an interview with Gareth P. Jones and a giveaway of his MG Solve Your Own Mysteries 

Wednesday, April 29th, I have an agent spotlight interview with Erica Bauman and a query critique giveaway 

I hope to see you on Wednesday!