Author Interview with Ben Gartner, People of the Sun

The explosive reveal about who John and Sarah really are and why they’re travelling through time, with their most gut-wrenching challenge yet.

Welcome to the February 10th stop on the blog tour for People of the Sun by Ben Gartner with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, author guest posts & interviews, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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Author Interview

Do you have any tattoos?  Where? When did you get it/them? Where are they on your body?
I don’t have any tattoos, but I’ve always kind of wanted one. Call me fickle, but I just can’t land on something I’m willing to put on such a permanent pedestal. I’ve even thought about getting an eye of Ra, but…

Is your life anything like it was two years ago?
Well, this is sort of a loaded question “cuz COVID,” but at the same time much of my life is actually fairly the same as it was two years ago. I work remotely in the same job. Live in the same house with the same wife and the same kids. Though, my kids’ evolution in those two years has been a lot of fun to watch, and to participate in. Navigating COVID has been a challenge, but my kids are champions.

How long have you been writing?
I wrote a bunch as a kid and through college, then basically put it aside for years. Got a job, married, kids, then picked it back up again. And I’m so glad I did. I’ve been having a ball on this new journey.

What advice would you give a new writer just starting out?
Have fun. Don’t ever let that die. If you start putting too many expectations on yourself, you will kill the joy, and the writing will die with it. I know you will have expectations since that’s only human, but like a good meditator who keeps coming back to their breath when inevitably distracted, if you can come back to the “Have fun” mantra, you will keep that writing joy alive.

Tell us something about your newest release that is NOT in the blurb.
Like the first two books, the specific era and location of ancient history was selected by my son. Specifically, he had just studied the Aztec in school and wanted to learn more. So, not only was it fun to research more with him, but it also made an obvious and easy tie-in to school curriculum!

Thank you for having me on your blog! If people would like to learn more about me or my books, the best place to find me is my website. (linked below)

About the Book

People of the Sun
The Eye of Ra Book Three
by Ben Gartner

Published 21 January 2022
Crescent Vista Press

Genre: MG Historical Action-Adventure, Time Travel
Page Count: 262
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

The explosive reveal about who John and Sarah really are and why they’re traveling through time, with their most gut-wrenching challenge yet.

In the time of the Aztec, a scoundrel named Cortés arrives and the kids are forced to make an extremely difficult decision: If you could change history, should you? For more twists, more danger, and more fun, read the third book in The Eye of Ra series, People of the Sun!

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | IndieBound | B&N | Kobo | Apple | Books2Read

Excerpt

When they came out of a pine forest and could see the lake below, with Tenochtitlan as a dazzling island city, John couldn’t help but mutter, “Wow.”

He heard his sister mumble the same thing.

The city sparkled and spread out with a much bigger footprint than John had imagined. He’d heard of the famed city of the Aztec, but he’d always pictured something . . . smaller. This was a regular metropolis, with suburbs and floating islands and multiple huge temples. Canoes drifted on canals like the pictures he’d seen of Venice in Italy, though these canoes were loaded with goods headed to market. Farther out into the lake, men cast nets and brought up flopping silver fish, their scales sparkling in the sun.

John’s mouth watered when he saw a floating garden bursting with leafy greens. The rectangular plot of land had poles sticking out of each side, securing boards that held the dirt like a raised garden bed back home. But this was in the middle of the lake. John squinted at the marvel of it all.

The sound of sloshing water pulled his stare toward a stone trough that started in the hills and was then suspended on man-made islands right across the lake and into the city. “An aqueduct?”

“For our drinking water,” Ome said.

“But you’re on a lake,” John said, implying that there was fresh water all around.

“Lake Texcoco is too salty to drink. Great for the fish, bad for the people,” Huitzi said.

“There are dikes that keep some fresh water close to the island, but that is used for farming,” Ome added.

Wow. John never knew that either. They lived on a lake and yet had to build a system of aqueducts to bring in safe drinking water. Amazing.

About the Author

Ben Gartner is the award-winning author of The Eye of Ra adventure series for middle graders (ages 8-12). His books take readers for a thrilling ride, maybe even teaching them something in the meantime. Ben can be found living and writing near the mountains with his wife and two boys.

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Giveaway Alert!

One randomly drawn winner will receive a $50 Amazon or B&N gift card.

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