Author of Souls in the Stars
Today, I am excited to chat with Sara Jane Triglia about her debut Sci-fi book, Souls in the Stars which launches today, June 4th, 2024.
Helen: Welcome, Sara Jane. Congratulations on the release of your book. I am so excited that today is your launch day! Tell us a little about Souls in the Stars.
Sara Jane: Souls in the Stars is my debut novel. It’s a thought-provoking sci-fi adventure that explores spiritually in a unique and nuanced way for young, sensitive souls who are seeking depth and meaning. It’s essentially about a teenage girl who has to rescue her little brother after he dies and becomes trapped as an orb of light. But, really, there’s a lot more to the story.
It has some of your favorite YA tropes: chosen one, dystopia/utopia (yes, both), jungle adventure, mystical island, love triangle romance, telekinesis, magical systems, reincarnation, reluctant hero. (Think Hunger Games meets Avatar.)
Helen: Your cover is beautiful, what were your thoughts behind the design?
Sara Jane: The cover began as a simple image of a ball of light—a soul orb—in the dark. For the second version, we tried to make it more interesting, so we created a scene from the novel where Bay is marveling at the soul orb in the jungle. It was a great cover, but we were told to follow cover trends, so we made another cover option that looked more “2024”. Yet, it felt like something essential was missing. So we combined the two covers and got our final cover which I LOVE. I think it’s perfect. My designer did a spectacular job.
(I made a video showing my audience the process of this on my Instagram.)
Helen: It was worth all the effort. How did you come up with the book title?
Sara Jane: The stand-in title during my first draft was “Infinite” but I thought it sounded too amorphous and unspecific. After changing the title three or four more times I landed on Souls in the Stars because it best represented the story while also being a never before used title. The book takes on both spirituality and science in a nuanced way, so the title reflects that. Souls/Stars. At the end of the book there’s a bit of dialogue that explains this more in-depth. What I’m saying is that, yes, there’s definitely a special meaning behind the title but I don’t want to spoil it.
Helen: Book titles can be difficult to nail down! Tell us what made you write this particular book?
Sara Jane: The idea of reincarnation has always been interesting to me and I wanted to explore that more. The stars and outer space have always fascinated me as well. So, I think this novel was born out of those two curiosities.
I dreamt it up back in 2011, but only wrote the first chapter before my inner critic got the best of me. I was only twenty three years old back then. For years, I thought about the story and the characters, jotting down notes and subplot ideas.
It wasn’t until December 2018, when I was thirty, that I got re-inspired and decided it was time to finish the story.
This is my “hard” novel, and I think only writers’ know what I’m talking about when I say that. Basically, writers have no shortage of ideas and some of them we know are easier to execute than others. I once wrote a rough draft of a fluffy romance in a month because it was just that kind of story.
Souls in the Stars was not that. This novel required major research, world-building, and character development. I knew that tackling this story was going to be a rough climb and that was terrifying. I honestly didn’t know if I could pull it off.
There was a time, maybe in my third or forth draft, where I truly doubted myself. But, I worked at this thing for five years, perfecting each word, each line. Getting beta readers and editors feedback. Rechecking my facts. Reorganizing the scenes. Making sure the characters all went deep and were properly fleshed out. Killing all my darlings. Agonizing over word choices. Implementing agent and publisher suggestions. Making sure it had all the elements of a great book as well as being commercially viable.
At this point, I believe I made a great quality novel and did the story justice. I’m proud of what I created.
Helen: Congratulations on persevering and publishing your debut novel. That is an amazing acheivement and one you should be proud of. Who is your protagonist and why did you write them?
Sara Jane: Bay Lilly. I wrote her has a role model that I wished I had as a twelve-year-old.
I grew up watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and it meant everything to me that she was a blonde girl who could kick ass while also being a capable leader. I’m not sure how it is today, but as a blonde girl, I heard nothing but “dumb blonde” jokes everywhere I went. I never felt capable or smart and I struggled with that most of my adolescence.
I wanted Bay to be someone that teenage girls could look up to and in more ways than one. In that she is strong and capable, but also sensitive and empathetic (two traits that are often looked at as a weakness). Her biggest strength of all doesn’t end up coming from her ability to beat people up, but in her emotional intelligence and compassion. Most of all I want girls to know they can be pretty (and blonde) but also capable and valuable as a sensitive, empathic person. And not just valuable, but needed in this world.
The irony is that it took me so long to finish this novel that I now have an eleven-year-old blonde daughter who reminds me a lot of Bay. So, in many ways, Bay is for her.
Helen: Having reached this milestone and released a novel, and after the well deserved celebrations, are you working on anything else?
Sara Jane: My husband is begging me to take a break. This debut novel has been more than a part-time job and I need my next project to be myself. I have a lot of self-care I need catching up on.
With that said, I have an old (finished) manuscript I want to tweak for my next release. It’s a young adult magical realism romance and I love it.
Helen: You have a young family, and you said it was quite hard to write Souls in the Stars. How do you fit writing into your daily life?
Sara Jane: I stay up way too late. I have young kids who I homeschool, so that’s basically my only choice. What’s crazy is that I don’t drink coffee. So, on those long writing days I basically run on the high of creativity.
Helen: Thank you so much for talking to us today. Just to close us out, could you share your favourite book that you would recommend to others?
Sara Jane: The Giver by Lois Lowery. It’s the book that made me want to be a writer. I’ve loved it since sixth grade. It’s so clever and emotional and tragic.
Thinking about it now, I think it has some of the same undertones as Souls in the Stars. A sci-fi dystopian/utopian society that is trying to be so perfect that they lose their humanity—their empathy—and they need someone to remind them how to feel.
About the Author
Sara Jane Trigalia
SARA JANE TRIGLIA is a young adult sci-fi, fantasy, and mindfulness author writing from the slopes of a volcano. As a sensitive person who craves depth and meaning, she loves to bring these elements to her stories for young readers. From children’s books to young adult novels, Sara’s stories are often emotional, adventurous, and thought-provoking. Sara has published short story eBooks, including, Jumping Caspian and The Origins of Raine.
In 2021, she published her mindfulness children’s book The Littlest Magnolia which she wrote and illustrated when her daughter was diagnosed with epilepsy. As a former YouTube vlogger, Sara loves to share her passion for writing on social media. When she is not writing, you can find her homeschooling her kids, practicing mindfulness, or folding a massive pile of laundry.
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Purchase Sara Jane’s book: Souls in the Stars
Link to book on Amazon UK: eBook | Paperback
Link to book on Amazon US: eBook | Paperback
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If you enjoy fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love SoulBreather, or my epic fantasy Sentinal series. As a new threat against Remargaren is discovered, only one man can wake the ancient guards who can protect them, only he doesn’t know how. Start the adventure and stay for the journey.
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