Author Interview: Beth Reekles

Beth Reekles is an internet sensation. Her first published book, The Kissing Booth, originally on Wattpad, now has over 19 million reads and 40,000 comments. Beth is now a published author with Random House and her second book, Rolling Dice was released on 29th August. 

Before I get into interviewing Beth, here's what Rolling Dice is all about:

They say that the higher you climb, the harder you fall - and Madison Clarke will do anything to keep her new life from crumbling to pieces. Moving from a small town in Maine to Florida, Madison grasps the opportunity to reinvent herself, to forget about those days of being a lonely, loner outcast, and jumps at the chance when the popular kids decide to take her under their wing. A hot boyfriend, parties, friends... If only there wasn't the slight problem by the name of Dwight, a cute, funny and totally nerdy guy in Madison's physics class who she can't help but enjoy spending time with. Running from her past and stumbling through the present, who knows what lies ahead in this new life in Florida?

Please describe Rolling Dice in 5 words. 
New beginnings and first love. 

What made you want to be an author?
I've always really liked writing and reading. I just love books - so being an author always sounded like a dream job when I was younger, but I never thought it would actually happen!

How have your life experiences affected the way that you write?

I think that being a teenager writing about teenagers gives me a different perspective when writing, because I don't have the benefit of hindsight, of knowing that in the long term, nobody's going to remember how badly that maths test went, or how bad that break-up was. I try and write about teenagers in realistic situations that people like me can relate to. I don't base any of my stories directly on my own life experiences, but I draw on them for inspiration.

Do you read books similar to those that you write, or a different genre altogether?

I read all kinds of books: dystopian, historical fiction, fantasy... I mostly write YA romances (and I read a lot of those, too!) but sometimes I'll write other genres, just for fun.

For you, what components make up a good book?

I think that a compelling protagonist is one of the most important things - someone relateable and endearing. As long as the character is someone I like to read about, I'll read almost any story. A good book is usually well-paced, too - not so fast that everything happens in a couple of chapters, but not so slow that in twenty chapters, nothing of consequence has happened.

If you could be any character from any book for just one day, who would you by and why?

I'd love to be someone from Hogwarts - not necessarily one of the main characters, but just a Hogwarts student. I loved the Harry Potter books growing up, so I think it would be really awesome if I could experience the magic and mystery of Hogwarts!

Some authors do certain things while they write like listen to music. Do you need to do anything similar?

I usually listen to music, or sometimes I'll put re-runs of TV shows on. I'm not too picky about what I have on in the background, though - it's just whatever takes my fancy!

Were any of the characters in Rolling Dice, or their traits, inspired by people you know?

As a teenager, I think it's inevitable that you come across people who'll put other people down, so I drew on my experiences of people in high school to develop some of the characters, but I didn't base any of the characters directly on people I know.

What is your favourite book of all time and why?

That's a really difficult question; I've read so many books it's hard to choose! I think that maybe my all time favourite book is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, because it's got everything I could want in a book: it's funny, sad, compelling, and it makes you think. It's a fantastic read and one that I couldn't put down, even when I re-read it. The protagonist is witty and relateable, and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Do you have a favourite book that you've read this year?

I recently read A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, and I couldn't put it down! I thought it was brilliant, and I loved the world that Martin created, and the menagerie of characters.

Thank you Beth for such a wonderful interview. Rolling Dice and The Kissing Booth are out now, published by Random House! 

Blog Tour: Interview with Paula Brackston

Today I am very pleased to be taking part in the blog tour for The Winter Witch by Paula Brackston. I love a good story about witches and I couldn't wait to interview Paula about her reading and writing habits. 

    Please describe The Winter Witch in 5 words.

Wild places make wild people.

What made you want to be an author?

I've always written, and began to see that other occupations were simply getting in the way of what I really wanted to be doing.

How have your life experiences affected the way that you write?
They must have, though it's not always easy to see how and where experiences surface in one's writing. Certainly growing up in Wales has informed the way I depict the landscape in The Winter Witch. Beyond that I think that living in a place of wildness and peace allows me to be how I need to be in order to write. That sounds a bit artsy, so I'll temper it with telling you that I spend a great deal of my time on the school run, cooking meals, helping with homework, worming the cats, walking the dog, and all manner of everyday stuff. However, when I am actually writing I enter a state that is meditative and dream-like. And in that state I can recall events in my life with clarity. Often it is not the experiences themselves that are useful, rather the emotions or responses that they brought about.

Do you read books similar to those that you write, or a different genre altogether?

Both. I am always interested to see what else is out there that could be seen as similar to my own stuff. That said, I am constantly hungry for something challenging, innovative, or just darn exciting, so I'll read whatever promises one of those things. I love adventures - travel through difficult places, ships in storms, gold prospecting, that sort of thing. Probably because I am a complete wimp and would never undertake such things in my real life.

For you, what components make up a good book?

Something that moves me. I have to be disturbed, shaken up, generally unsettled by a story, so that when I'm reading it I cry or laugh or get angry or afraid, and when I'm not reading about it I'm thinking about it, playing scenes over in my mind. For any of that to happen I have to be fascinated by the characters. I don't have to like them, just find them riveting. If I don't feel a pang when I finish the book I am disappointed. The poignant suffering of the end of a brief almost-love affair should always follow the end of a good story.

If you could be any character from any book for just one day, who would you be and why?

I think I'd enjoy being Becky Sharp from Vanity Fair. It would be wonderful to have her clarity of thinking, her cleverness, her self-confidence, her glamour, and her ability to enjoy herself regardless of what anyone else thinks.

Some authors do certain things while they write, like listen to music. Do you need to do anything similar?

I can write anywhere through any noise, commotion or distraction except that provided by my children. And I must have tea, of course.

Were any of the characters in The Winter Witch, or their traits, inspired by people you know?

I'm sure I draw on everyone I've ever met for material, but that's not to say they will appear, whole and recognisable, in my stories. It might be the mannerism one has with his hands, or the phrase another repeats too often under stress, or the habit another has of answering a question with a question before then answering his own question. Little things tend to transfer well, I think. In the main, however, my characters seem to come to me from some far off place. They start whispering in my ear, or I catch glimpses of them flitting through a doorway or darting behind a tree. By the time I can clearly see and hear them they are pretty much fully formed. I just add the trimmings.

What is your favourite book of all time and why?

This is a dreadfully difficult question, and I confess my answer to it changes depending on when I am asked/my mood/the time of year... I am a huge fan of David Mitchell, so Cloud Atlas has to be always near the top of the list. Such imagination, coupled with such superb prose. Sigh. But I'm also a Thomas Hardy fan, and frequently return to his stories and characters so that they are old friends now. I do like clever stuff, and funny stuff, so the book I have reread most often over the years, and the one of which I always keep several copies, is Voltaire's Candide.

Do you have a favourite book that you've read this year?

Ooh, there have been some really good ones! I'm going to pick Karen Maitland's The Falcons of Fire and Ice. Karen writes with such grace and power, I am always utterly caught up in her stories and whisked off to far away and long ago. I strongly recommend them.

Thank you so much Paula for such a wonderful interview. The Winter Witch is out tomorrow, published by Constable & Robinson. 

Be sure to check out the other posts on the blog tour, which you can find information about below.

Author Interview: Sangu Mandanna

I'm delighted to have Sangu Mandanna on the blog today for an interview. Sangu Mandanna is the author of The Lost Girl, which was released by Random House on 3rd January. Here is the synopsis:

Eva's life is not her own. She is a creation, an abomination - an echo. Made by the Weavers as a copy of someone else, she is expected to replace a girl named Amarra, her 'other', if she ever died. Eva studies what Amarra does, what she eats, what it's like to kiss her boyfriend, Ray. So when Amarra is killed in a car crash, Eva should be ready.

But fifteen years of studying never prepared her for this.

Now she must abandon everything she's ever known - the guardians who raised her, the boy she's forbidden to love - to move to India and convince the world that Amarra is still alive . . .

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Please describe your book in 5 words.

Romantic, heartbreaking, thrilling (I hope!), eerie, sad (okay, that last one was lame)

What kind of research did you need to do for The Lost Girl?

Not much, actually! Most of the places in the book are places I know very well, so I didn’t have to do much there – I remember looking up zoos in England once, and I frequently checked over London tube maps, but that was it – and I also did a bit of research into cloning and clones in fiction but, as echoes aren’t strictly clones (in my head they’re closer to Frankenstein’s creature than they are to clones), I didn’t go into too much detail there. I suppose most of my research revolved around reading and rereading Frankenstein.

Were any of the characters or their traits inspired by people you know?

None of the actual characters were inspired by real people – they usually appear so real and rounded to me that they feel organic, like they’re their own person already, so I don’t think it would ever work for me to try and base a character on someone I already know. But I do occasionally take a detail from someone I know and use it to add a bit more (most often their name!). I picked Ophelia’s shoes, for example, because they’re like a pair my friend Lindsey often wears; Lekha is named after my aunt; and I originally named Erik after my husband Steve, but ultimately ‘Erik’ felt much more right…

How have your life experiences affected the way that you write?

I can’t pinpoint much, specifically, but I would say that three years of studying English Lit and creative writing at Lancaster University really helped me learn about new books, new genres, new styles and, consequently, taught me how to use the things I learned to make my writing better and stronger. Death is also a factor. My aunt died when I was fifteen and that loss has changed me in a lot of ways and ultimately shaped The Lost Girl, which is essentially about people wanting to create a world in which there needn’t be any death or loss anymore.

Some authors do certain things while they write like listen to music etc. Do you have to do anything like this while you write?

I do like to listen to music. All of my stories have their own playlists and music really helps me set the mood or atmosphere. It’s also a huge inspiration. But to be honest if I’m really, really into what I’m writing, it can be silent or noisy or music-y around me and I’ll shut the world out anyway. My husband frequently has to repeat himself, louder and louder each time, before I even notice he’s there! (So I guess that means there isn’t much I do when I write, except write…)

Which YA (human) character would you love to be and why?

Maybe Kate from Maggie Stiefvater’s The Scorpio Races. When I read that book I so wanted to go and live on Thisby, the little island, and race deadly water-horses along the windswept beaches.

Which YA (non-human) character would you love to be and why?

Hermione from Harry Potter. I know she’s human, but she’s also a witch so technically not human? Because she’s so amazing. And I’d get to do magic. Wingardium Leviosa!

What has been your favourite book of 2012?

Tell The Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt. I cried for over an hour after reading it. It’s beautiful and tragic and full of incredibly well-rounded, memorable characters. I also give it full points for making me love and hate its protagonist.

When did you know that you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve always been writing and I’ve always been telling stories, so for a lot of my childhood it was just something I did and would always do and wasn’t necessarily something I was going to do as a job. I had phases of wanting to be other things “when I grew up”, like a ballerina, actress, astronaut… I think the first time I consciously thought “yes, I want to be a writer when I grow up” (and then promptly put aside that thought for another few years) was probably when I was nine. I wrote a story starring myself, typed it up on our home computer, printed it off and stapled the pages together, and, as the little cherry on the cake, I finished by gluing a photograph of myself on the front so that it would look like a real ‘book’ with a real ‘cover’.

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Thanks so much Sangu! The Lost Girl is out now so go and grab yourself a copy. 

Author Interview: Julie Cross

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. 

Author Interview: Tera Lynn-Childs

I am so pleased to have Tera Lynn-Childs on the blog today for an interview. Her newest book, Sweet Venom is published today!!
(You can buy the book here)

Synopsis

Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster.

Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though.

Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they're triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters.

These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful gorgon maligned by myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.

Please describe Sweet Venom in 5 words.

Triplet, monster-hunting descendants of Medusa.

What kind of research did you need to do for Sweet Venom?

I could make something up about scouring the annals of Greek mythology or reading everything I could about Medusa and her sisters. The truth is, the most important research I did was... watching Buffy. I never watched when it was first on, but when I got this idea for monster-hunting descendants of Medusa it seemed like the perfect research for monster butt-kicking. I did nothing but watch all seven seasons (and all five seasons of Angel--just research, of course) for three weeks straight.

Were any of the characters or their traits inspired by people you know?

Not consciously. I'm sure there are things that my characters have in common with people in my life, maybe little things like eating habits or idiosyncrasies. That's just a natural part of being an observant author who tries to make her characters as real as possible.

Some authors do certain things while they write like listen to music etc. Do you have to do anything like this while you write?

Yes. My writing ritual involves leaving the house. I usually head to the nearest cafe or coffee shop--I should own stock in Starbucks--with my laptop, my iPhone, and my earbuds. I find a comfy chair, plug in the music, and tune out everything else.

Which YA (human) character would you love to be and why?

I would say Katniss Everdeen, but that means I'd have to fight to the death and I totally wouldn't win. Instead, I'd choose Cammie Morgan from Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series. I'd love to have her super spy skills!

Which YA (non-human) character would you love to be and why?

Definitely Jacinda from Sophie Jordan's Firelight series. Not only can she transform into a dragon, but she can fly and breathe fire!

What is your favourite book of all time and why?

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen for oh so many reasons. Mostly because of the beautiful romance (ahem, Mr. Darcy) but also because it was the first book I read for a class that I really loved.

When did you know that you wanted to be a writer?

After graduate school, I moved back home and was spending a lot of time house-sitting alone. I started reading. A lot. I would go to the bookstore and pick up a new stack of romance novels every week and I devoured them. The more I read, the more I wanted to make the characters do or say something different. I finally decided that I would have to write my own to make that happen.

Author interview: C.J. Redwine

Today on the blog I have debut author, C.J. Redwine for an interview. Defiance is published by Atom as a paperback original and an eBook on the 6th September 2012, £6.99

Synopsis

Rachel’s world is confined to the protective walls around her city. Beyond them are violent wanderers, extreme terrain, and a danger straight out of legend: a beast called the Cursed One that devastates everything in its path.

When Rachel’s father goes missing, she is desperate to search for him. But her attempts to flee the city bring her to the attention of its overbearing ruler. His efforts to control her make the world within the walls seem as dangerous as that outside.

Her only chance at escape is Logan. Once her father’s apprentice, and now her only protector, he feels that helping her might mean losing her completely. But if he can put his feelings aside, they might be able to save more than Rachel’s father. They might be able to break down the walls, and set their people free.

Please describe your book in 5 words.

Swords, action, romance, monsters, and fire.

What kind of research did you need to do for Defiance?

The easy research involved determining what the world would look like fifty years after all infrastructure and major cities were destroyed. (Hint: Mother Nature says GIVE IT ALL TO ME) The hard research involved almost every single thing Logan does. :) He's an inventor, and I had to figure out what technology could survive the destruction of factories, electricity, and anything digital. I had to look up how to make batteries, bombs, and other weapons from scratch. I'm probably on any number of government watch lists just for those internet searches alone!

Were any of the characters or their traits inspired by people you know?

Not inspired by, but I certainly draw from what I've experienced and observed in both myself and in others when I write my characters.

Some authors do certain things while they write like listen to music etc. Do you have to do anything like this while you write?

I listen to a playlist I build for that specific book. After a few weeks, just listening to those songs in that particular order instantly puts me deep into the world of the story.

Which YA (human) character would you love to be and why?

Hermoine Granger. Girl has brains AND magic. What's not to love?

Which YA (non-human) character would you love to be and why?

I don't really want to be a non-human character. I want to be Batman. Can I be Batman? *crosses that off the bucket list*

What is your favourite book of all time and why?

Ohhhhh. I just made a sound that was somewhere between being stabbed in the heart and choking on a chicken nugget. I have to choose ONE??? *thinks hard* I'm going to say Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (even though my brain is busy throwing titles like Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and others at me!) because I read and re-read that book so much when I was younger that my copy literally fell to pieces.

When did you know that you wanted to be a writer?

After I finished reading The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe in second grade and realized that someone had to think of the story and write it down for me to be able to read it. I started writing stories and haven't looked back since.

Thanks so much for stopping by C.J. Defiance sounds so exciting and I can't wait to read it!