Well, there have been a few mentions of the book in various spots around the web, at least. 

First and freshest, there is a conversation with author Robert L. Fouch over on his blog. Rob's book is Christmas Carol & the Defenders of Claus, which is possibly a legal thriller but probably a middle-grade novel that everyone will enjoy a lot. Rob -- the latest in a series of successful middle-grade authors who got their start sitting next to Mike at a newspaper early in their careers -- extracts the truth about writer's block and also posted a really embarrassing photo. So check him out. And buy his book.  

If you attended the University of Kansas, you have now had two chances to read about Revenge of the Star Survivors. The Jayhawk Journalist did one of the first, and now the Kansas Alumni magazine has one of the nicest. Thank you, Kansans, and Rock Chalk! (This is sort of like a secret password among Kansas people ... just ask one of us, and we will be happy to explain. At length. Did you know that the Kansas state motto is Ad Astra Per Aspera  -- "To the stars,  through difficulties"? That could be Clark's motto, come to think of it.)

Finally, over at the Texas Book Festival's site. Emily Vernon has been "Reading Our State."  When she got to Dallas, she found all kinds of great writers, and also Mike. She noted that "Revenge of the Star Survivors resonates with children and adults alike." For which we say -- thank you, Emily. 

Speaking of the Texas Book Festival -- it's a great event for anyone who loves books. Mike is ecstatic to be scheduled for a panel Nov. 5 with two best-selling authors; check the festival site soon for details. 

Mike has several public appearances coming up in October; check the events page for details. Hope to see you there! 

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Dallas-area podcaster Mark David Noble last week. We agreed to meet over lunch, and I was a little surprised when I saw that he had brought along equipment that looked as if it had just wandered off of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru’s farm.

Thingamabob I had to speak into.

Actual droid (courtesy Wookiepedia)

But I was immediately put at ease when I saw that one of the beverages served by this establishment was known as a Rebel Alliance. 

The interview is posted here. Mark has done a neat trick where you can listen to the Soundcloud file while staring at a photo of me. So you can hear my voice without seeing my lips move. Most people dream of the world where the opposite happens, but I think it makes me look like the galaxy’s greatest ventriloquist.

Michael Merschel is an editor at the Dallas Morning News. He's also written plays, contributed to A Prairie Home Companion and composed an out-of-office reply that appeared in The New York Times and on NPR. Although he was featured on Humans of New York, he lives in Texas with his wife and three kids, who tell him he is not all that funny, usually. Michael's new book, Revenge of the Star Survivors, is now available at fine booksellers near you. Special thanks to Buzzbrews / Deep Ellum for providing us space to record this interview. Recorded by Mark Noble, August 4, 2017.

Right off the bat, he asked an excellent question -- one I can’t believe I have never been asked before, and one I was stunned to not have a ready answer to. The question was: “What’s the first book you remember buying with your own money?”

You can listen to me talk my way around an answer, but the truth is, I can’t pin it down. I remember my first album, my first 45 (which, if you are the age of the characters in “Revenge of the Star Survivors,” I might need to explain later, but it was a thing), my first video games, and the first time I went clothes shopping on my own and bought a very ill-advised pair of white Levi’s … but that first book escapes me.

But if I don’t remember the specific title, I remember the general feeling. And it was almost indescribably wonderful.

My usual currency would be a B. Dalton Bookseller gift certificate. They were paper certificates back then -- and in my mind, the paper was heavy, like parchment or a stock certificate or the Constitution or the Gutenberg Bible. I would get certificates for my birthday or Christmas (thanks, family members who loved me) and hoard them as long as I could stand it. And then, finally, I would get my mom to take me to the mall (which was across a lake and practically another universe, even though it took probably less than half an hour to get there) and I would stare at the shelves, agonizing over my choices.

Courtesy Goodreads

A $10 certificate could probably three or four paperbacks. I still own some of them -- well-known books such as “How to Eat Fried Worms,” “The Mouse and the Motorcycle” and of course, “A Wrinkle in Time,” but also some lesser-knowns, such as “The Midnight Fox” by Betsy Byars and “The Strange But Wonderful Cosmic Awareness of Duffy Moon,” by Jean Robinson.

Also, as I mentioned in my interview, a lot of Hardy Boys books. And “The Great Brain,” series by John D. Fitzgerald. (I’m not sure how well those hold up -- as I recall, the plot of one involves a boy rendered mute by trauma; the hero of the books, an otherwise nice kid who has a brother who is basically a con artist, gets the mute boy to grieve by spanking him until he cries. Which is hailed as a brilliant move by the adults. I am not sure that would pass as recommended therapy these days, so if you are not an adult, ask a librarian for advice before you check this one out. Also, don’t spank someone rendered mute by trauma. Seriously.)

It would take a lot of effort not to start reading in the car on the way home. But no matter when I started, they rarely stayed unused more than a day: In the summertime, I could stay up pretty much as late as I wanted reading them. And re-reading them. And then reading them again. Because that is what you do with books when you are in love with them.

In the interview, Mark asked me what I liked about the titles I mentioned. And again, you can hear me have to talk my way around an answer. Because sometimes, asking why you like a book is like asking why you like air: You don’t really know. It’s just always been there, and you can’t imagine life without it.

Anyhow, it was a fun lunch, and I hope you enjoy the interview.

Because of my job, I often get to attend events that feature cool authors. On Saturday, that meant Newbery Medal winner Kwame Alexander.

Now, getting to meet an author who wrote a book as powerful as The Crossover would make for a good day no matter what. But the people at the Dallas Museum of Art, where I interviewed him onstage, made it doubly nice by displaying my book on a table right next to his.

This is where I have to step back and say that the word “Newbery” has sort of a spiritual quality to me. My grade-school library had a poster that listed all the winners; I checked out and read and re-read every one of them I could get my hands on. You know how Clark in Revenge of the Star Survivors feels about people associated with Star Wars? This is how I feel about people associated with the Newbery awards.

The first Newbery-related person I met was Adam Gidwitz. He won a Newbery Honor earlier this year. His book The Inquisitor’s Tale amazing -- when I introduced him at another Dallas Museum of Art event, I told the audience how it inspired me to work twice as hard on the revisions to my book, because his is so perfectly crafted. He's since said some very nice things about Revenge of the Star Survivors, and each time that has happened, my head has exploded a little. 

So true: "Revenge of the Star Survivors, written by Michael Merschel, is quirky and fun and everything a middle-grade book should be." https://t.co/IY6grYRG9f

— Adam Gidwitz (@AdamGidwitz) May 12, 2017

Kwame Alexander, however, was the first Newbery Medal winner I had met. And I had a good time interviewing him in front of the crowd.

@kwamealexander & @mmerschel @DallasMuseumArt pic.twitter.com/88iVzxif19

— Madeline Schnurr (@maddieschnurr) June 10, 2017

My day got even better after that, though, because the Dallas Museum of Art people let me sign my own book for a few people as he signed his. The book-loving boy who lives inside my head was pretty excited. (That's middle-aged me on the right; the actual book-loving boys are on the left.)

Michelle Witcher

But if the 12-year-old boy in my head was pleased so far, you can imagine how he felt when Kwame Alexander walked over with several copies of Revenge of the Star Survivors for me to sign. Actually, you don’t have to imagine it. I think the goofy look on my face here might say it all.

Michelle Witcher

One of the things Kwame Alexander spoke about when he was onstage was his years as a student of the poet Nikki Giovanni. He describes himself as a stubborn, argumentative pupil. But even when he didn’t seem to deserve it, she supported him with acts of kindness that launched his career.

Kindness has surrounded me from the moment I started sharing my manuscript. I certainly have not deserved all that I have received. A few of the people who helped me are mentioned in the back in the acknowledgments. Many others have done things, small and large, since the book was published.  

Most writers I know have similar stories. I'll bet even Nikki Giovanni does.

Which – aside from the fact that it gives me an excuse to post a photo of a Newbery winner holding my book – is my point in writing this.

To point out that even on our real world, where the headlines are full of truly terrible and scary things, it’s possible to find a chain of good, kind, selfless people that stretches back as far as I can see.

It makes me think – this is actually a pretty nice planet to be on.