The first book in the series, The Final Six, is about a group of 24 teens from around the world who are handpicked by the UN and international space agencies to compete for six spots on a risky, one-way mission to colonize Jupiter’s moon, Europa. Please describe the content of your latest book and what can readers expect from the read. Why do you feel books with powerful and relatable characters are so popular and have such a voice right now?Įveryone needs to be able to see themselves in the stories they read, and when you can relate to a character, that’s what brings the character to life-and makes the story feel so much more real. 🙂 From family relationships and traditions to our personality traits, there is so much that she and I have in common, and that really helped me bring her to life. She’s my first protagonist to share my Iranian-American heritage, so it’s almost like seeing myself on the page. More than any other character I’ve written to date, I relate to Naomi Ardalan. Once those story threads came into my mind, I was off and running! What character do you most relate to and why? That was so wild to me, and then I had the thought hit me like a lightning bolt-what if it wasn’t a choice? What if people were drafted to space, just like people have been drafted into war? And the reason for this particular draft in my story would be to find a new home for humanity, after all the climate change crises here on Earth. She was a woman with a husband and family and a full life on Earth, who was willing to leave it all for the chance to see and to colonize Mars.

Aurora: What was your inspiration behind your most recent novel?Īlexandra Monir: I got the idea for the first book in this series, The Final Six, while listening to a radio interview with an aspiring astronaut who had applied for this experimental, private mission to Mars.

Alexandra monir the life below