I am so pleased to have Julie Cross, author of Tempest (which was released in paperback on 30th August) here today for an interview. Tempest has also been pre-empted by Summit Entertainment for a feature film!
Synopsis
The year is 2009. Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.
That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.
Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities. But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveller. Recruit… or kill him.
Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.
Please describe Tempest in 5 words.
Mysterious, fast-paced, romantic, emotional, action-packed
What kind of research did you need to do for Tempest?
I did a lot of research on New York City geography and also on the years referenced in the series. I had to make sure that all my pop culture mentions and details were in synch with the different dates mentioned...like what year did they change from subway tokens to the card that you buy from a machine? If Jackson got on a subway in a past year, I needed to get everything right and at the same time, using those details within the text was a great way to show the reader some of the tiny difficulties that arise with time travel...things that only a time traveler would think of.
Were any of the characters or their traits inspired by people you know?
Oh boy....does any author answer yes to this question? I guess they probably do but only in certain situations. But no, my characters are probably all a tiny reflection of me because I'm writing them, but I'm very good at making up imaginary people...okay that sounds a little odd. But it's true.
Some authors do certain things while they write like listen to music etc. Do you have to do anything like this while you write?
For me, its more about what I don't do while writing. I tend to forget to eat, even for long stretches. I put off going to the bathroom to an emergency point at times...I've had some close calls in that area. And if I'm writing something really intense, I might come out of my mental writer's cave and realize a fort has been built in my living room by my three children and eight other neighbor children are scattered through out my house and they've all eaten cereal with chocolate milk for lunch and I never noticed a thing.
Which YA (human) character would you love to be and why?
I would love to be Katniss from Hunger Games because I truly lack survival skills. I'm not sure I could actually hunt and kill an animal and I don't like the woods or camping or bugs. I never think of using random objects as weapons. I would be the first to go if the Zombie Apocalypse happened. I could really use Katniss' survival knowledge, just in case.
Which YA (non-human) character would you love to be and why?
Do wizards count as non-human? I'd love to go to Hogwarts...of course I'm a little old and it would be a lot like Billy Madison but I'd still want to give it a go. Otherwise, I'll go with mermaid. They seem so exotic.
What is your favourite book of all time and why?
Little Women because I loved watching the sisters grow and fight with each other and still have this intense love and ties to their family because they are family. I love they're selfish and selfless at times. I love how different each girl is and the interactions with the parents and the family next door.
When did you know that you wanted to be a writer?
I knew i wanted to be a writer in May of 2009 when I started writing my first novel. It was a very enlightening time to watch the story pour out of me with more ease than anything else I've ever done in my life. All I wanted to do was write and I didn't really care if anyone ever read the story of if I become published or not, it just became part of who I am. Now I can't believe I wasn't a writer before then.
Thanks so much for stopping by Julie! The sequel to Tempest, Vortex will be published by Macmillan Children's Books in January 2013. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of that to see what happens next to Jackson and Holly.
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