Jazz musician Sun Ra used to tell people he was from Saturn. But while smooth jazz saxophonist Jackiem Joyner makes no such claims — he’s from the planet of Norfolk, Virginia — he does have some spacy connections as well. Literary ones. Along with such albums as 2012’s Church Boy, 2019’s Touch, and the recently released Missing You, Joyner has also released two young adult science fiction novels: Zarya: Cydnus Final Hope and the new sequel Zarya Episode II: Sochi Unleashed (Kindle). In the following email interview, Joyner discusses what inspired and influenced these sci-fi stories, as well as his plans for future space adventures.