Author Interview: Brian Yansky

Today we have Brian Yansky, author of Alien Invasion & Other Inconveniences, stopping by!

Having lived in many places, which has been your favorite and why?

Austin is my favorite. This is a big town or a small city. About a million people live here now, but it’s still relatively easy to get around. There’s always something going on, usually many somethings. The atmosphere is laid back, but at the same time cool. There’s great music and a great literary scene. It’s a town with a distinct personality. You have to love a town whose motto is “Keep Austin Weird.”

How did the idea of writing a book about aliens come to you?

How any idea for any book comes to me is a mystery. I think most writers feel that way. Sometimes it feels as if they just fall out of the sky (Hmm. Alien telepathy?) and other times I feel like I really have to work to get them to fall out of the sky. I will say that I wanted to write an alien story that was not about the invasion itself but about what happened after the invasion. And, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, aliens are seriously underrepresented in the fictional landscape. I have nothing against vampires, zombies, wizards, unicorns, and so on but I want to give aliens a voice. LET THE ALIENS SPEAK.

Were there any authors who have influenced you other than Kurt Vonnegut?

Hundreds. Philip Pullman, Michael Chabon, John Steinbeck, John Green, Ursula LeGuin, Gabrielle Zevin, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, J.D. Salinger, Anne Tyler, Pete Hautman, M.T. Anderson, Jonathan Stroud, Jane Austen, Nick Hornby, Flannery O’Conner, John Gardner, J.K. Rowling, Raymond Carver and on and on. Sometimes it’s just one novel by an author that gets me going and sometimes it’s every novel the author has written.

Do you have any must-haves when writing?

Time and coffee.

What is the most interesting or unique thing a reader has ever said to you?

People have been asking me if I believe in aliens a lot lately—oddly enough. One reader asked me if I was an alien. That was kind of interesting. What was my answer? I’ll only say this much: I was adopted by a very nice human couple.

When you were little did you ever think of becoming anything other than a writer?

Sure. I wanted to be a garbage man for a long time. You get to be outside all day and ride on the back of a truck. Then there was fireman and astronaut and mailman. I went through a period when I thought it might be nice to be President of the United States. I’m really glad I got over that. Long hours.

How did you feel when you found out you were going to be a published author?

Like my feet weren’t touching the ground. Like I was ten times larger than before I got the news. Like I wanted to say “I love you” to the world about a dozen times. It was spectacular.

What was the last book you read and loved?

I’ve really, really liked many books I’ve read this year but the last one I fell in love with was MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD by Francisco X. Stork. It is a great novel.

What do you think is the most challenging thing about writing and the easiest?

The most challenging is getting a first draft out. Those are always toughest for me. Writing a novel is a messy business. Everything is so unclear and imperfect in the first telling. It’s ugly in a way. It has no real shape and it oozes out in strange places. It’s hard to get through that first draft. The easiest thing about writing is that you get to do it at home in your pajamas. I love that.

Are there any goals you hope to accomplish in the next year?

I have a sequel to Alien Invasion & Other Inconveniences or perhaps the second novel of a trilogy—I haven’t decided. I would like to get that in good shape by the end of the year.

Where you can find more about Brian Yanksy and his book:

His website.

His blog.

Alien Invasions & Other Inconveniences by Brian Yansky

Title: Alien Invasions & Other Inconveniences
Author: Brian Yanksy
Published: October 2010
Pages:
Rating: 4/5
Summary: A polite race of telepathic killer aliens, a ten-second world conquest, and one teenage boy collide in this wry, gutsy adventure.
Jesse is in history class when a formidable, efficient race of aliens quietly takes over the earth in less time than it takes him to brush his teeth. Most humans simply fall asleep and never wake up. In moments, everyone Jesse knows and loves is gone, and he finds that he is now a slave to an inept alien leader. On the bright side, Jesse discovers he’s developing telepathic powers, and he’s not the only one. Soon he’s forging new friendships and feeling unexpectedly hopeful. When a mysterious girl appears in his dreams, talking about escaping, Jesse begins to think the aliens may not be invincible after all. But if Jesse and his friends succeed, is there anywhere left to go?
 
Review: I had never read a book about alien invasions or anything like that so I didn't really know what to expect. Having saying this, it was a really good book!
 
Jesse is in class when everything changes in 10 seconds. His classmates and mostly everyone has fallen asleep, or what looks like it. Soon he is working for the aliens that have taken over the world along with those who survived. He makes friends and they all know they must leave that place if they want to survive.
 
Jesse was a fun character. He was both serious about the things that were happening but he also made many funny comments. He didn't give up when his friends didn't believe him that they could leave and find the rebels. He kept them going even if they thought it wasn't worth it.

Reading about aliens taking over the world was something that I hadn't done before but I'm glad that I did. These aliens apologized when they killed someone. There were also some aliens that helped Jesse and his friends to get to where they wanted.

This was a really good book that at times was light to read and others it talked about some things that left you thinking. The world after the aliens came is one that I never wish to live in. I would definitively recommend this book to others!

I reviewed this book as part of a tour.