Jennifer Ann Richter is the author of the new middle grade novel The Star of Moon Village. Her other work includes the middle grade novel Bird Nerd. She lives in Delaware.
Q: What inspired you to write The Star of Moon Village, and how did you create your character Priscilla?
A: I have to dig way back into my memory for that one! But let’s start sometime in the early 2010s, when I wrote a rather ambitious short story called “Space Girl.”
In that case, after shaking my head at the antics of some entertainers—especially those who seemed to have the most influence over young girls—I was inspired to tell a story about celebrity culture and idol worship. I set it on the moon because…well, why not?
It never got published in any children’s magazines, so in 2015 I embarked on expanding it into a novel. The story went through quite a few iterations from that point on, and the themes changed, too.
In general, though, every manuscript I’ve written is a twist on that old and oft-misinterpreted bit of advice about writing what you know.
In my case, I often start with what I love—namely, my hobbies and interests. I’ve been a space nerd since childhood, and I have such fond memories of learning about celestial objects and stargazing in my backyard. I wanted to share that love with young people and use it as a framework to tell a bigger story.
The final version of The Star of Moon Village touches on themes such as courage, how we define ourselves, perseverance, and even faith.
As for Priscilla—well, first and foremost, I feel it’s my mission and responsibility to add to the canon of stories that feature Black female protagonists. I think it’s also important to show them in ways that may not seem conventional, mainly because I was an unconventional kid.
I can imagine how excited I would have been as a child to read a story about a Black girl going on a lunar adventure or taking part in a birdwatching competition, like Nyla does in my novel Bird Nerd.
I should note that I didn’t base Priscilla on myself, although there are pieces of me within her. In fact, that’s probably the case for most of my characters, since I often have to call upon my own experiences and feelings in order to imagine what my characters’ reactions would be.
But at the same time, I also spend a lot of time thinking about people who are different from me, who have different perspectives and personalities. So Priscilla is a little bit me and a little bit of everyone else I’ve encountered in my life.
Q: How did you create the world in which the story is set?
A: First, I tried to imagine where we’d be in terms of space exploration and technology in the year 2079. There’s a lot of guesswork involved with that, of course. Movies and books from 50 or 60 years ago predicted we’d all be traveling in flying cars by now and have sentient robot housekeepers (although with AI, that scary prediction might actually come true sooner than we think!).
Another challenge was that I needed to create two separate worlds—one on earth and one on the moon. Not a lot is set on earth, but because this is a hopeful book, I made it a point to show that the planet hasn’t been destroyed by an environmental catastrophe, and almost all transportation has been moved underground, making outdoor life a bit quieter and greener.
As for the moon, I did as much research as I could about the terrain—even downloaded a moon map app where I could pinpoint exact locations in the story. That was really fun! I also researched exact moon phases for 2079 and also what the sky would look like from the exact coordinates of Moon Village.
For the indoor action at the Village, in particular the main building, I thought of the shopping malls I grew up hanging out in back when I was a teen. That’s just one of the examples of the retro-futuristic elements I snuck into the story!
Q: The Publishers Weekly review of the book says, “Rich with scientifically faithful lunar details and speculation, it’s a story about strength and pursuing one’s dreams that’s sure to spark reader curiosity.” What do you think of that description?
A: I love it! In general, I was so happy (and relieved) that The Star of Moon Village got such positive reviews. Quotes like this one got me particularly excited because, as I mentioned earlier, I did put a lot of research into my story’s world to try to make it as conceivable as possible while still keeping it fun and whimsical.
My hope is that young readers will find it easy to immerse themselves in this spacey-quirky world that I built.
Q: How would you describe the relationship between Priscilla and Starletta?
A: Without revealing too much of the story, I’ll begin by saying it’s complicated. The complication, however, starts off as rather one-sided, with the antagonism being purely from Priscilla, who’s been holding a grudge against Starletta for years after a rather sour meeting between the two.
Starletta, on the other hand, is completely oblivious. Priscilla has long dropped from the superstar’s radar (if she’d ever even been there in the first place).
What I wanted to explore in this relationship is how actions that might seem rather insignificant can have an impact on someone’s life down the line, and from the other perspective, how holding on to past hurts can stunt one’s growth.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Right now I’m rewriting a YA manuscript that had sparked some interest but didn’t quite make it to publication. It’s set in Germany, where I lived and worked back in the ‘90s.
The characters are basically the same, but I’m moving the action from the Frankfurt area to a small village in the Black Forest. I’m also changing the central theme to deal with a more timely issue: social media and our struggle to find our way back into the real world.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: How about two things? First, for any aspiring writers out there, especially those who want to go the traditional route, perseverance is key. It took me four manuscripts and over a hundred rejections over the course of 20 years to get a book deal.
And second, I’ve finally drummed up the courage to begin doing school visits. Check out my website, jenniferannrichter.com, for more information.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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