Hi, I'm Zibi Owens, and this is Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books.

As a mom of four kids and a writer myself, I know all too well how short everyone is on time,

so I'm here to help. This episode of Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books has been sponsored by

Nini's Treats, N-E-N-E-S treats, Nenis Treats.com, an amazing family-owned and operated crumbcake

business based in Charleston, South Carolina. You can buy their delicious crumb cakes at nini's

treats.com or on goldbelly.com. Nini's treats, you won't leave a crumb.

I'm really excited to be talking to Jeff Norton today. Jeff is the award-winning author,

writer-producer, and founder of Awesome, a UK-based production and publishing company.

He has written many books from the MetaWore series and the children's book, Stomp School,

to his latest release, alienated, grounded at Groom Lake,

a graduate of Queen's University, Canada, and Harvard Business School. He currently lives in

London with his wife and two sons. So welcome Jeff to moms don't have time to read books.

Thank you very much. It's such a pleasure to be here. And we are joined today for the first time ever by a special guest interviewer, Owen Wright, age 11, one of your biggest fans.

So I've brought him along to help me ask you some questions about your amazing new book.

I love that. I love that because I very much write, Owen, for yourself and people your age and mine.

So this is such a treat that you are part of the

interviewing as well. It is a treat. I am a treat.

So, Jeff, how did you come up with the idea for alienated, grounded at Groom Lake?

That's a really good question. I mean, I think in a weird way, you know, books for me and stories

stay with me for a long time. So I think in a way, the concepts started way, way back when I was in

high school. So I definitely remember going from middle school to high school where I felt like a

total outsider. I didn't know how anything worked. And it's daunting. You know, that move from middle school to secondary school is really daunting. And, you know, the funny thing is, like, it's the same no matter what you do, because then you go to university and there's that the same thing all over again. And you and I went to business school and the same thing all over again, where are you going

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