Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Sky Curse: A Near-Future Apocalyptic and Spiritual Novel



Janet Kravetz is award-winning author and is nearing her launch date for her upcoming novel, Sky Curse: A Near-Future Apocalyptic and Spiritual Novel. Frankly, the novel is gripping and the world that Kravetz created is amazing. If you love sci-fi with a strong protagonist, then this upcoming book is for you.  However, you'll have to wait as the book does not come out until September 20, 2020. Stay tuned as I update you on this launch. For now, get to know Janet Kravetz.

JANET KRAVETZ

Sky Curse: A Near-Future Apocalyptic and Spiritual Novel


Tell your readers a little about yourself, where you grew up, where you live now, where you went to school etc. Let them get to know the personal you.

I was born in Ukraine. When I was seven years old, my family moved to Israel after the collapse of the Soviet Union. I am a member of the Israel Bar Association; as a law student at Bar Ilan University, I specialized and worked for leading non-profits in the field of environmental law. Later I embarked on a career as a professional researcher. In 2009 I moved to Canada, and I still currently live in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

What inspired you to author your book?

Writing previously under the pen name Topaz Ruby, I shared my Jewish-Ukrainian, Israeli, and Canadian legacy and my vision for the world in my 2013 debut poetry book, Reaching Beyond Ourselves: Leading a Peaceful, Spiritual and Diverse World. The book won the 2nd Annual Beverly Hills Book Awards in the Poetry category. Around that time, I realized that to ensure a peaceful, spiritual, and diverse world, there must very soon be a global move towards more environmentally sustainable ways of thinking and living, which touch upon almost every aspect of social norm and human spirit. Writing an environmental science fiction novel was the next step, and I used my professional research skills and imagination to catch a glimpse of one of the many possible futures awaiting humanity.

Inspired by the book ‘War of the Worldviews: Where Science and Spirituality Meet – And Do Not’ by Deepak Chopra and Leonard Mlodinow, I’ve created a sci-fi and urban fantasy world, where the battle between science and spirituality has never before had more dire consequences.

I hope that Sky Curse will resonate with readers from around the world and make them consider possible futures awaiting them and future generations.



Where did you get the inspiration for your book’s cover?

I was imagining a future in which humans colonize another planet (perhaps Titan), then humanity faces a doomed Earth in the age of global environmental chaos and interplanetary politics. Thus, the picture of burning Earth and across from it – Titan.

Who has been the most significant influence on you personally and as a writer?

In my childhood, my older sister loved reading books to me and instilled in me a great appreciation for that art form in my early years. When I was five years old, she read to me my first novel in Russian– it was Captain Grant’s Children by Jules Verne. It became my favorite book, a tale of traveling adventures, new languages, and new places. I remember wanting to write before I could even read. Wanting to explore the world, live in different countries, speak various languages, and learn new cultures. Today my sister continues to inspire me to write and experiment with different writing styles.



What were your struggles or obstacles you had to overcome to get this book written?

Writing in my third language (Russian and Hebrew being my first languages), I often struggle to find the right English words to describe something complex. That forces me to research the topics of my writing to learn the right jargon. It is tedious work that slows me down quite a bit (it took me around six years to research and write this book), but my readers benefit from a wide array of information that I pass on to them in my writing as a result of extensive research. Writing science fiction wasn’t easy, and it had a significant learning curve, but I love learning, so I enjoyed the process overall. I can only be as good as my support team and I was lucky while writing Sky Curse: my friends volunteered information I needed for writing and my amazing editor and proofreader ended up giving me the support I needed to polish this novel and overcome the language barrier. 



Tell your readers about your book.

This is my first novel. Titled Sky Curse: A Near-Future Apocalyptic and Spiritual Novel, it is a thought-provoking, spiritual, and environmental science-fiction, and urban fantasy novel.

The year is 2045, and the world’s population has grown to a horrific twenty-five billion people who are divided into two politically opposed groups – Localists in Canada and Universalists around the rest of the world. Most are planning to abandon Earth and leave it to its fate to colonize a new world through Titan Pioneering. However, there are those who still hold on to hope for Earth and humanity untainted by AI. As humanity struggles to survive, nothing is as it seems, but one thing is clear -- you reap what you sow.

Cecilia Miller, an American, has dedicated her life to science and dream technologies. A cyborg herself, she works for DITT Corp., striving to develop technology to help humanity survive global climate chaos until a sudden revelation about the company forces her decision to leave and launch her own start-up. When Canadian Duncan MacDougall has a plan to save humanity and Earth through the use of ancient Mayan crystals, he recruits a team of hand-picked people to help, including Cecilia Miller. Cecilia is skeptical, yet eager to make a difference, but these crystals come with a curse, and she soon must learn that the answer to saving humanity does not lie in technology alone.



Who is your target audience, and why?

In a perfect world, my target audience for this book would be every teenager and adult who cares about Earth’s future and sustainability. The book is written in simple English and has a quick pace that caters to most ages. Realistically speaking, my protagonist is a female, so it might be more appealing for females and feminists who read science-fiction and urban fantasy as well as readers who are interested in topics of environmental sustainability and spirituality.

If you were going to give one reason for anyone looking at your book to read, why should they buy it?

The book is dealing with one possible near-future scenario where Earth is overpopulated and technology is extremely advanced, but not advanced enough to stop global climate chaos or provide food and water for an ever-growing world population. This scenario is important to consider. If even a fraction of that science fiction actualizes, this book will become very relevant to every human being on Earth. On a light-hearted note, if nothing else, you might learn how to bribe a robot in the age of AI singularity, when robots are writing their own code.



What do you consider your greatest success in life?

I have been committed to life-long self-learning from an early age - learning new languages and different cultures. My greatest success in life is that I have been able to be surrounded by people who constantly teach me new things, inspire me to grow and keep me on my toes. 

What one unique thing sets you apart from other writers in your genre?

I actually managed to slip into my science fiction and urban fantasy novel some poetry. In Sky Curse the year is 2045, humans are colonizing Titan, and the norm is that political speeches in the age of interplanetary politics are delivered in the form of spoken word poetry. 



How do you overcome writer’s block?

I jump from one genre to another. If I get stuck in poetry – I start writing a novel. If I get stuck writing the novel – I start writing a children’s book or a screenplay. After writing for ten years in the English language - I have many almost-finished manuscripts and even one screenplay in my drawer, ready to be pulled out when writer’s block strikes.

What one piece of advice do you have for new authors.

You always know more than you give yourself credit for, so don’t be afraid to experiment with new genres and ideas, it’s thrilling and exciting.  Consider all the applicable knowledge you have from different disciplines, then go ahead and apply it to writing. For example, I have learned a lot about the economy of words from studying law. When I first started writing, I realized that if I could draft a contract – I could probably write a poem.

Tell your readers anything else you want to share.

Writing this book has been an incredible journey of learning and following my imagination. I’m already thinking about the next book I want to write. I don’t know if it’s something that’s already in my drawer, or something completely new, but I’m getting thrilled just thinking about my next creative project.