Rally the Readers: Quantum Entanglement Blog Tour: Author Interview with Liesel K. Hill

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Quantum Entanglement, the second book in the Interchron series! Today I'll be chatting with author Liesel K. Hill, and be sure to click on the link below for your chance to win a copy of the book on Goodreads!

Quantum Entanglement (Interchron #2)
By Liesel K. Hill
Publication Date: September 17, 2013
Amazon | Smashwords | Goodreads

Synopsis:Five months after traveling to a post-apocalyptic future where collectives reign supreme and individuals have been hunted to the verge of extinction, Maggie Harper was returned to her own time until the threat to her life could be neutralized. She thought Marcus and the others would return for her within a few weeks, and now she’s beginning to worry.

When travelers from the future finally show up to collect her, it’s not who she expected. With the return of her memories, she wants more than ever to see Marcus again, but a snake-like woman whose abilities are a perfect match for Maggie’s, an injured Traveler, and decades of civil unrest to wade through all stand in the way of their reunion.

Meanwhile, Marcus and Karl traipse through the countryside, trying to neutralize Colin, who’s promised to brutalize and murder Maggie if he can get his hands on her. When a collective woman is left for dead, Marcus heals her, hoping she’ll be the key to killing Colin and bringing Maggie back. But she may prove as much a hindrance as a help.

The team struggles to get their bearings, but things happen faster than they know. The collectives are coalescing, power is shifting, and the one called B is putting sinister plans into action. If the team can’t reunite and get a handle on the situation, their freedom and individuality—perhaps their very identity—will be ripped away before they can catch their breath.

Interview with Liesel K. Hill

Hi Liesel! Thanks so much for answering a few questions today!

Of course! I’m glad to be here, Lee. Thanks so much for having me. :D

Did you face any particular challenges in writing a sequel?

Sure I did! While I’ve done enough writing now that actually writing a new novel isn’t as hard as it once was, sequels have their own, unique set of dangers. You want to make certain the story doesn’t bog down; that your book doesn’t suffer from “book 2” syndrome, as they call it in trilogies. You must propel the reader forward and keep them immersed in the world you’ve created. Easier said than done.

For me, I also had to deal more heavily with time travel, which is always tricky, and delve more deeply into several characters’ backgrounds, which must be done with both delicacy and conviction. It’s definitely a balancing act.

As a reader, what elements do you like to see in a dystopian novel?

In dystopia, the stakes are the key issue. If the biggest worry for the character is not going to the Friday night dance, well that’s fine for YA contemporary romance, but dystopia is about post-apocalyptic worlds. It’s one character or a select few against a corrupt institution. The stakes must always be earth-shattering—death or enslavement—not just for the main characters, but for the entire world, and all those they hold dear.

Of course, the characters need to have an emotion reaction to what’s happening as well. The stakes must be emotional as well as physical. And a little romance always makes the journey more fun.

What do you love most about writing dystopia?

The scope and grandeur of it. My innermost drama queen can spill out onto the page with abandon. Everything is always so dark and bleak in dystopia. I know not everyone is into that, but for me, it’s just that much more for the characters to overcome. It’s kind of the ultimate life analogy: bleak world, everything going wrong, humans who must fight for what they want—usually their freedom and their lives—in order to make a better world and find peace and happiness. Who doesn’t love stories like that?

If you could swap places with any of the Interchron characters for a day, who would it be and why?

Oh definitely Maggie because 1) Marcus is hot, 2) Karl would be a really fun guy to be friends with, and 3) she has awesome neurochemical powers. I’d like to use them just once, even if it was just to knock over a turtle or something.

If you were at a dinner party with your characters, what topics would you want to discuss with them (and what are the odds that Colin would crash the party?)?

I think I’d like to wax philosophical about the moral consequences of individuality vs. collectivism. I’d also like to know how all their powers work and bug them until they instruct me on how to tap into my own. And I’d ask Karl to do comedic impressions for me.

As for Colin, let’s just call him a B-movie villain. He’ll probably keep popping up in unexpected places; the bug that just wouldn’t die. So the likelihood of him crashing the party would be high. In a way, though, that’d be okay with me. If I’m Maggie, I have the ability to defeat him, and I’d like to take him on. Just to say that I did.

Can you describe in five words or less what you hope readers' reactions will be after they finish reading Quantum Entanglement?

“OMG! Where is the next book!” — If they say that, or something like it, I’ve done my job.

Thank you again for your time, Liesel! I really appreciate it!

Sure thing, Lee! Thanks for having me here. Quantum Entanglement is on sale for $0.99 during the tour, so I hope your readers will snatch it up while it’s cheap! Happy reading, everyone! :D