Fresh off the Starship by Ann Crawford
Readers Favorite book-award winner: A friendly, bewildered alien aims to land in Washington DC where she could help humanity on a grand geopolitical scale, but ends up in…Kansas! Wrong place, right time? Laugh through and be inspired by this fun, feel-good, moving and captivating tale that reminds us how truly awesome life on Earth and this being-a-human thing are.
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Ann Crawford has lived by one shining sea, then the other, then the prairie, and now the mountain – just to combine a couple of our great patriotic songs here. She grew up in New York, about an hour north of the city, and then went to college at Boston University. She then lived in Northern California for 23 years until love at first sight called her to move to Kansas. She and her family moved to Colorado about 10 years ago and her writing nest has a view of a grove of trees in a beautiful garden, with the Rocky Mountains in the near distance.
Some of Ann’s social media bios say that she’s a world-traveling, high-flying, deep-diving, life-loving author. Those are all literally true: She’s visited all 50 states and 70+ countries and territories and counting. She can fly a plane (and she even aced the FAA exam!) and loves to scuba dive. Another hobby is playing the piano, including taking lessons.
Jobs? Oh, Ann’s had more than a few. She’s worked in advertising and marketing, talent management, and the financial industry. She’s also an award-winning filmmaker. For her first movie she went to Viet Nam with a group of veterans and filmed them doing humanitarian work and returning to their areas of operation. This movie won a very prestigious award. For her second movie she traveled the world talking to people from all walks of life about how we can make world peace. But her great love is writing books. Ann has won several book awards and is a #1 Amazon bestselling author.
What inspired you to write your book?
My husband grew up on a farm in western Kansas, and ever since he took me to meet his people out there, I've wanted to write a book about them and their land, which gets such flack as a "flyover" area from so many. Also, ever since I heard that line from the movie "Starman," which goes something like "You [humans] are at your best when you're at your worst," I've wanted to write an outsider's point of view of how beautiful we are and how majestic this life we have here on Earth is.
Here is a short sample from the book:
Matt hands her a large drink with a little mountain of fluffy white stuff on top, with stripes of brown dripping down the mountainsides.
“Here, got you extra whipped cream and lots of car’mul on top, just the way you like it.”
Missy takes a lick of the whipped cream and her eyes go wide. “Oh!”
“Well, yer not supposed to lick it like an ice-cream cone. Sip it.”
She does and then slaps her hand on the table.
“Missy! You okay?”
“Oh, my! How can you beings ever complain about anything?”
“How’s that now?”
“Nothing.” She takes another sip and moans again. Several customers seated nearby look over at her.
“Missy, sweetheart, can you calm yourself a bit?”
She takes a bite of the round treat on a stick he’d set down by her. The moans escalate.
“Geez,” Matt says, trying to sink farther into his seat, “I feel like I’m straight out of When Harry Met Sally.”
“Who’s Harry? Who’s Sally?”
“The main characters in one of yer favorite movies. You made me watch it at least half a dozen times.”
She takes another sip and bite. The moans escalate even more. By this time everyone in the café is looking at her.
“Missy! Perhaps we should eat these in the car.”
“Wherever you want!”
The customers in the café receive one more rendition of “Ohhhhhhhh!” as Matt leads her out the door and she takes another sip of her drink. She climbs into the truck as he walks around to the driver’s side.
Okay, maybe it’s not thaaaat bad here.
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