BookSurge (2009)
ISBN 9781439222805
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (12/09)

Today, Tyler R. Tichelaar of Reader Views is pleased to interview Kelly Beltz, who is here to talk about her new novel “Beyond the Stars: Kataria.”

Kelly Beltz has a master's degree in science with a concentration in nurse anesthesia from La Roche College, where she has taught in the anesthesia program. She is also an entrepreneur and holds one US patent. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two daughters.

Tyler:  Welcome, Kelly. I’m excited to talk to you today. To begin, will you tell us about the novel’s main character, Samantha Gerris? What do you think will make her appeal to readers, and how does she stand apart from heroines in other science-fiction novels?

Kelly:  Samantha is a likeable character. She is kind, smart and humble. She is accepting of people and has the ability to love easily. Samantha tells the story from different parts of her life which show her in multiple roles. She is seen as a mother, daughter, wife, lover, friend and co-worker making her appealing to multiple generations. She not only displays her strengths, but shares her vulnerabilities with the reader. As the story progresses, so does she. Samantha not only becomes stronger and braver, but discovers her own inner strength she had all along.

Tyler:  Kelly, in your promotional materials, Samantha is described as having the “professional goal of creating the impossible.” What is that goal?

Kelly:  Samantha is working for a company called the Space Island Group (SIG) with the ultimate goal of commercialization of Space. The company is building solar satellites for clean energy to be beamed back to Earth as well as a giant space resort/space station. The word impossible is used because nothing of this scale has ever been built. The outer space resort would become a getaway for tourists as well as a manufacturing and research center for companies requiring zero or partial gravity to create their products. It would create new jobs and make Space travel almost as commonplace as jumping on a plane. We all can admit that Space development has a long way to go and all of the benefits of working in Space are yet to be discovered. We already know that there are many amazing things that can be made in Space that cannot be manufactured on Earth; things like new life enhancing medications and stronger metal alloys which would dramatically improve the things we build. Samantha is aware of all of these potential benefits. It makes her feel her career is revolutionary and beneficial to society as a whole.

Tyler:  Despite her interest in science, Samantha is content to stay on earth. Why doesn’t she want to explore space?

Kelly:  Samantha is the kind of person who needs to be persuaded to try new things. Although she can be brave and adventurous, she requires the help of the other characters in the story to do so. She also has a fear of flying which makes her equate Space travel with possible death. In the story, she has moments in her life where she is quite daring and others where she reverts back to being a hermit that is happy to stay at home.

Tyler:  Will you tell us a little about Space Island Group (SIG), the company where Samantha works?

Kelly:  The Space Island Group (SIG) is a real company based in California focused on Space development. Since they are a private company they will be able to do some things a government funded group such as NASA cannot. They will be able to bring private citizens and companies into Space as business and service providers. I believe private companies are our only hope when it comes to advancing our presence in Space. If we are limited to using taxpayer money alone, we will continue to lag behind and deny ourselves all of the amazing discoveries awaiting us. We all need to work together if we are going to get anywhere. I believe our society has reached a point where it is no longer possible to ignore the galaxy we live in. It is negligent to our future to do so.

Tyler:  Kelly, I’m surprised that SIG is a real company. Did you have any concerns about depicting it in the novel? Why did you choose not to fictionalize it?

Kelly:  I was excited when SIG gave me permission to use its name. It’s thrilling to think that there’s a real company working toward building solar satellites and future Space stations right now. It makes the story seem probable. It doesn’t get any better than that. I hope that the book will entice people to learn more about the developments in Space and increase the public awareness of companies like SIG. I think dreams can become realities when you start to believe you can do something. When I was writing, I focused on portraying the company’s goals while adding the fiction elements around it. People know SIG is not hanging out with aliens or secretly working with them to improve our technology. It’s easy to tell where the story isn’t real. However, it makes the reader wonder, what if it were possible? It also makes you think about how you would react if you were in the character’s shoes.

Tyler:  I understand Samantha’s children do want to explore space. Will you tell us about them and Samantha’s relationship with them?

Kelly:  Samantha has a son and a daughter in the story. She is well bonded to her daughter and somewhat tormented by her son’s lack of closeness. Both children tend to take after their father who is naturally brave, adventure seeking and driven. Without giving too much away, the kids are growing up in a time when children attend college at a young age and take on adult responsibilities earlier in life. This causes Samantha stress because she isn’t in a rush to see them move out and worries about their safety.

Tyler:  Samantha does end up going to space, and she has several adventures. I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, so what are you willing to tell us about Samantha’s adventures?

Kelly:  The story begins on Earth because I wanted to write a book that made you feel like it could happen to you. Our world is changing at a rapid rate and technology is going to make things that were once believed impossible a reality. By the time the story reaches Space, the reader is familiar with the world Samantha is living in. Samantha travels to the Space resort and accidentally ends up traveling across the galaxy on an alien starship. Here she uncovers secrets to the Universe she was previously oblivious to while living on Earth. Being inexperienced in Space travel, the journey is not only difficult for her to survive, it makes her miss her previous life on Earth even more. She is faced with multiple challenges which help her to become a stronger person. She forges friendships she never could have foreseen and falls in love with an intelligent, sexy alien. Overall, she gains a deeper appreciation for the blessings in her life and makes a conscious decision of how she would like to live in the future.

Tyler:  Will you tell us a little more about the aliens in the book and Samantha’s “intelligent, sexy alien” specifically?

Kelly:  Since the book is told in the first person and from a female’s point of view, I added several strong male characters to add balance to the story. I wanted the male readers to have someone they could relate to. The aliens you are referring to are just like us. Their planet seems like a parallel universe to Earth. Samantha ends up falling in love with an alien on her voyage. He has all of the traits you would expect for someone who travels on a starship. He is quick to respond, has good judgment, and above all, he is happy to be living in Space. He has a few quirks as well, but they just add to his charm.

Tyler:  Kelly, why the subtitle “Kataria”?

Kelly:  I wanted to name the book “Beyond the Stars” after I wrote a passage in the book where a handsome alien points to an area of Space and tells Samantha that Kataria is just beyond the stars. I think that line excited me because I love to think about the colossal size of our own galaxy as well as the size of the Universe. It’s mind-boggling and makes me feel so small yet thrilled to be a part of it. We don’t know what or who is out there. The possibilities are endless. I love it! I added the subtitle “Kataria” to differentiate the book from previous Beyond the Stars novels and to give a hint to what the story entailed—a trip to Kataria, not a book on astronomy.

Tyler:  Kelly, will you tell us more about the setting. At what time in the future is the novel set and why did you decide on that specific time period?

Kelly:  The book is set in the not-so-distant future. I am optimistically predicting the story could take place twenty to thirty years from now. The book covers a twenty year span. The story begins at a time when we have successfully achieved our presence in Space. It then flashes back twenty years to a time that could easily be perceived as our present day. The story swiftly returns Samantha back to the original future, setting the course for her outer space journey.

Tyler:  Kelly, why do you optimistically predict that living in space could happen in thirty years when it’s been already forty years since man stepped on the moon. It doesn’t seem like we’ve made much progress since then? What changes in science or space exploration make you optimistic?

Kelly:  There are more people working toward making it a reality. Currently private companies like Virgin Galactic, Space X, Blue Origin, Bigelow Aerospace, and a dozen others, are designing outer space living quarters and spaceships capable of reaching low Earth orbit, as well as engineers aiming to build a Space elevator. We also continue to improve our technology on a daily basis. A cell phone or computer could become outdated almost as soon as you buy it.

Tyler:  If living on other planets were to become realistic, do you think you would do so?

Kelly:  No, I’m a spoiled Earthling. I would however love to visit a Space station in Low Earth Orbit if there were an affordable way to get there. I would want to bring my daughters with me because it would be great to share the experience with them. My husband would stay home. He jokes by saying, “go—have fun.”

Tyler:  You mentioned the previous “Beyond the Stars” novels. Will you tell us a little more about them?

Kelly:  When I was thinking of the title Beyond the Stars, I did a search for the title and found Beyond the Stars used in various forms of older book titles. The books are mostly out of print and I have never read them. Having fallen in love with the name, I decided to use it.

Tyler:  What do you find most difficult, and what most enjoyable about creating a science fiction novel?

Kelly:  I wanted to write a story that was as realistic as possible. Good science fiction takes what we know today and considers the possibilities of tomorrow. The story takes the liberty that we have succeeded in building in Space and have made contact with beings from another world. I tried not to over-glamorize the aliens in the story. Instead, I focused on keeping them real and believable. Through the writing process, I ended up shortening and editing the science portions of the story. I would write in-depth descriptions of things I found intriguing and read them to my husband and mother only to have them say, “No, you geek.” That’s when I aimed my story to reach a broader audience instead of the die-hard science fiction fan.

Tyler:  Often science fiction and fantasy are lumped together as a genre, but I’ve always thought aside from the imaginative aspect, they are radically different. What do you think might be some of the main differences between them, and what challenges might a fantasy author face that a science fiction novelist might not, or vice versa?

Kelly:  I think science fiction and fantasy can overlap to a point. Science fiction differs where the imagination of a writer has the potential of becoming a reality where fantasy cannot. For example, a science fiction story may include something yet to be invented, where you probably can’t create a unicorn.

Tyler:  Would you say you’ve been influenced specifically by any science-fiction writers, or are there certain interests you have in science itself that inspired you?

Kelly:  I wasn’t influenced by other science fiction books, but I do enjoy watching science fiction shows like “Star Trek.” The inspiration for my story came from non-fiction. As a hobby, I like to read about the progress of Space development, physics and advances in technology and medicine. The story was something I started thinking about when I couldn’t sleep. Over time, I would keep myself entertained by thinking about the characters in my head until I fell asleep. I finally got to the point where I wanted to share the story with others. I would think of the scenes, their humor and sexual tension, and thought, this is just too good to keep to myself. That’s when I started writing.

Tyler:  Kelly, will you tell us some of your plans for the future books in the series and when we can expect the next one to become available?

Kelly:  I am currently working on the next book in the series. I have ideas for a third, but want to write one book at a time. I am hoping to have the next book out in the Fall of 2010.

Tyler:  Thank you, Kelly, for joining me today. Before we go, will you tell us about your Web site and what additional information may be found there about “Beyond the Stars: Kataria”?

Kelly:  Thanks for having me and for the thoughtful questions. It’s been fun discussing my first novel. I hope that the story brings happiness and entertainment to its readers. For updates on my book, please visit my website at www.beyondthestarsnovel.com. Thank you Tyler!