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

Find Liesel K. Hill:

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Pinterest

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Quantum Entanglement

by Liesel K. Hill

Giveaway ends September 30, 2013.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Author Interview with Malia Ann Haberman

Today I'm excited to welcome to the blog Malia Ann Haberman, author of the middle grade fantasy novel Chase Tinker and the House of Magic. This was such a fun read, and you can check out my review of the book here.

Welcome to Rally the Readers, Malia! Thank you for answering a few questions today.

What made you want to write a book about magic?

I love fantasy and magic because so many fun and incredible things can be done with the worlds that are created. You can let your imagination go pretty darn crazy. After all, where in real life can you conjure a pepperoni pizza from your nose? Or really become invisible? Or shoot lightning bolts from your eyes? I have such a good time coming up with all the different ideas.

Are there any particular challenges you face writing for younger readers?

There are so many distractions for kids these days; I would say one challenge is writing a book that's fun, exciting and interesting enough to hold the reader's complete attention. You don't want them tossing aside your book just because they became bored or discontented with it.

Growing up, what were some of your favorite books/who were some of your favorite authors?

I really can't remember any particular favorites. I just read tons of books. I always had a book in my hands. (I'm proud to say that I mastered the art of reading and watching TV at the same time.) Oh yeah, I was also a huge Nancy Drew fan.

I absolutely loved the whole concept of every room in the Tinker house having its own magical power. How did the idea come about?

Almost 7 years ago, I was working as a Real Estate Agent. After a day of showing homes to my clients, that night I dreamed I was living in a huge house where every room had magic in it. I don't usually remember my dreams, but this one stuck with me. And it's a good thing, or Chase Tinker would be in the same dark place as all those other forgotten dreams. :)

What can we look forward to in Book 2, Chase Tinker and the House of Secrets?

Well, I can't give too much away, but I can share that an awesome and unexpected character joins the cast, and a stunning revelation knocks the pants off everyone. Lots of exciting stuff.

And now for a few random questions:

If you could have any magical power, what would it be?

I'd want the ability to teleport. I'm kind of afraid of flying so with that awesome power, I could go anyplace in the world in the blink of an eye. I'd also use it to constantly drop in on my family members who live in other states. Ha! I'm sure they would love that.

Favorite room in the Tinker house?

The Library. Besides having tons of books, you can conjure up almost anything you want in that room. Plus, it has a pirate ship, a hot air balloon, a tree house and other fantastic things to have fun with.

Period in history you'd most like to travel back in time to?

As long as I didn't have to live there, because I happen to love indoor plumbing, electricity and my computer, I wouldn't mind visiting the wild, wild west with lots of, hopefully, sexy cowboys. :)

Favorite color?

I like all different shades of blue and purple. And green. And red. And gray. Oh, and pink.

Thanks again for your time, Malia! I really appreciate it!

You're welcome, Lee! Thanks for taking the time to talk with me. :)

About Malia Ann Haberman

Author of "The Chase Tinker Series" Malia loves dancing, reading, writing, sunsets, ladybugs, playing video games on her iPod, watching TV, and chocolate. She also has terrible motion sickness and hates onions. She's always wanted to have the ability to teleport and the power to move things with her mind. She lives in the Seattle area with her four wild and crazy ferrets.

You can find Malia on her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

Author Interview with Ally Malinenko

Today we're thrilled to welcome Ally Malinenko, author of the enchanting middle-grade adventure Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb, to the blog. You can check out our reviews of the book here.

Welcome to Rally the Readers, Ally! We thank you for chatting with us today.

Hi! Thanks for having me!

How did you first become interested in William Shakespeare and his works?

I’ve always been a big fan of Shakespeare, ever since I was younger, but it wasn’t until recently that I learned that there is a name for that. They call people like me Bardolators. Isn’t that hilarious? I love it.

I think the first time I read Hamlet was in middle school. I remember thinking that once you got you used to the language it all sort of came together. And it was sad and beautiful and also funny (though it’s possible I was probably the only seventh grader in my class who thought so). Not long after that I saw a movie version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and from then on, I was hooked.

If you could travel back in time and have a conversation with Shakespeare, what would you talk about?

I would love to say that we would talk about politics and how corrupt Elizabethan England was or that we’d talk about the theater and his players or what his writing schedule is like but just recently I had the great fortune to meet Mr. Peter S. Beagle, the author of The Last Unicorn, one of my favorite books and movies from when I was a kid. I was all set to tell him about what an influence it was and how much it meant to me when I was growing up and how now that I had my first novel published I wanted to thank him for being such an influence but as soon as I opened my mouth, I started crying, full on, blubbering. I completely reverted to a 10 year old girl, clutching her copy of The Last Unicorn, looking at her hero-author and sobbing her eyes out. So chances are good, I’d be catatonic if I met Shakespeare!

How important was it to you to include Shakespeare’s contemporary, Christopher Marlowe, in your story?

Very. While Shakespeare’s work has stood the test of time better than any of his contemporaries, during his day and age, it was Marlowe who was considered the brightest star in the sky. His tragic and unfortunate death opened the door for Shakespeare to become the person that he was. Without Marlowe, it’s possible that Shakespeare would never have been THE Shakespeare we know today. Plus they had so much in common. They were born in the same year, both from middle class workers (Shakespeare’s father was a glove maker and Marlowe’s was a shoemaker). There is also a large contingent of “scholars” of which I am not a member, who believe they were the same person. Or that Shakespeare wasn’t real and Kit wrote half his plays. There are all sorts of strange conspiracies.

From the beginning I knew that if Shakespeare was going to be a part of this story then so would Marlowe. Though I do feel bad about making his descendant the bad guy! Sorry Kit! I still love your work.

Did you need to do lots of research for all of the mythical figures that make an appearance in the book?

I’ve always been interested in Greek mythology but when I decided to create the Muses and the Mythkind, I knew that I needed to brush up. I started this book right before I got into graduate school and while I was working and going to school full-time, I put the brakes on actively writing and instead started reading everything I could get my hands on regarding mythology and Shakespeare. I checked a bunch of books out of the library (Yay! Support your libraries!) and started making charts of characters I wanted to use and then how I would change them or combine them with other characters to create something new. Actually, doing the research for Lizzy was one of my favorite things about writing it.

Who is your favorite character in the novel?

Probably Jonathan. He knows more than he’s letting on. He’s playing this one pretty close to the chest. Jonathan has Lizzy’s best interests at heart, but he also knows she has a dangerous destiny to fulfill. And he isn’t going to be the one to stop her.

Lizzy’s nemesis, Dmitri Marlowe, seems like a pretty high-strung guy. How did he end up with a hipster like Cole for a roommate?

Dmitri moved to Brooklyn to be a writer but having failed terribly at it he was forced to get a roommate to split the bills. Lots of hipsters answered the advertisement because they all wanted to live in the trendiest part of Brooklyn but Cole was the only one who bothered to return Dmitri’s call when offered the place. And Cole was 10th on the list. What can I say? It must have been the eye-patch and the plans for world domination. Turned all the other applicants off.

What adventures are in store for Lizzy in the next book?

I’m actually working on the next book right now which is tentatively called Lizzy Speare and the Hall of Hecate. Hecate is the Greek Goddess of Magic and her hall contains every magical object in this history of myth or legend. Looking for the Vorpal Blade that killed the Jabberwocky? It’s there. So is King Arthur’s sword. Once the Hall of Hecate is robbed and all that magic is released, Jonathan realizes that Marlowe’s plans don’t end at destroying Lizzy. They begin there. And all of Mythkind are in trouble.

We’ll see the return of some old friends and we’ll get to meet a few new ones. And few other Muses. Jonathan isn’t the only show in town, you know. And we’ll get to go to Hagsmoor Copse, the land of the satyrs and find out more about Cleo and the war with the harpies.

And now for the obligatory random questions:

Favorite Shakespearean work?

Only one??? Either Hamlet or A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I refuse to pick just one.

Favorite color?

Blue or purple or black or brown. Apparently I have trouble picking just one of anything.

Favorite authors besides Shakespeare?

C.S. Lewis, Madeline L’Engle, Peter S. Beagle, Salinger, Kerouac, Sexton (do poets count?), Rowling, Pullman, and about a million more.

Biggest pet peeve?

Mean people.

Best thing about Brooklyn?

Pizza.

Thanks again for taking the time to answer our questions, Ally!

Thanks so much for having me! This was lots of fun!

About Ally Malinenko

Ally Malinenko lives in Brooklyn where she wakes at an ungodly hour to write. She's had poetry and stories published online and in print, including her first collection of poems, entitled The Wanting Bone (Six Gallery Press). Her second book of poems, Crashing to Earth, is forthcoming from Tainted Coffee Press.

Her children's novel Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb, the first part in a series, was recently published by Antenna Books.

To learn more you can follow her on Twitter - https://twitter.com/AllyMalinenko or visit her blog: http://allymalinenko.com/.

Author Interview with Michael Diack

Today I'll be chatting with Michael Diack, author of The Super Spud Trilogy, a fun, original collection of adventures starring some genetically engineered potato chips/crisps. If you'd like to check out my review of the book, you can click here.

Welcome to Rally the Readers, Michael! Thanks for answering a few questions today. You probably get this question a lot, but I have to ask it anyway—what inspired you to write a book about genetically engineered potato chips/crisps?

I actually wrote a short story in primary school when I was ten years old about Colin and Lucy the crisp packets. They come alive after their use-by date and, after becoming separated, meet up again in the local rubbish tip and live happily ever after. When I was 19 I remembered the story and went from there. Being older, I changed the tone of the story and I wanted to make it as funny, unpredictable, quirky and adventurous as possible. Being a student, I guess I thought the story would appeal to my age group primarily but during the editing process I made it accessible for teenage readers as well. The irony is I don’t even eat chips that much, I much prefer snacking on chocolate and sweets!

How did you decide which Super Spud personality best suited each of the various Super Spud flavors?

As you know, the key aspect of the story is that the ingredients of the flavouring influence the personalities of the different Super Spuds. For some flavours it was quite simple to match up, for example, the steak and spinach flavours are loaded with iron so they naturally become the strongest of the Super Spuds. I guess I had Popeye in my head, after he eats a can of spinach he becomes super strong and I wanted this flavour to also be strong, courageous and natural leaders – hence they adopt a military persona. Ready salted flavour, despite tasting nice, was always the most boring flavour on the supermarket shelf so I decided this Super Spud would have a boring personality to match – as no one ever bothered to excite their ingredients, then why should they bother to excite anyone’s life? At my school, most students always chose salt and vinegar flavours so I wanted to make this flavour super arrogant. This Super Spud flavour knew they were popular with the humans and assumed they would be too with fellow Super Spuds (although everyone despises them really). I guess I thought of the flavour first (some conventional, others invented), then I’d create their respective personality based on the name and packaging. Thinking of new flavours and the associated personalities is certainly the most enjoyable part of writing these stories.

King Henry the Super Spud makes a reference to the human King Henry VIII and his wives. In the book, King Henry the Super Spud goes a bit mad. The history nerd in me needs to know if this is a reference to another human king named Henry, Henry VI, who also went mad, or is it just a coincidence?

It’s certainly true that I wanted to reference our history and draw parallels between our world and the Super Spud world. I thought this would be entertaining for the reader to read and recognize all the geographical, historical and cultural references. As for King Henry I definitely had King Henry VIII in my mind but not, I’ll admit, King Henry VI. Now I think about it, it probably would have been fun to have that character include all the different personalities of the different human King Henry's! In the story, he goes mad after being unable to cope with calling himself Frank and hiding his true identity as King Henry. Unless a Super Spud is a tuna flavour, for the most part they are unable to cope with long periods of using their brain and in the case of poor King Henry, it drove him mad.

G-James delivers an incredible speech in which he mentions just about every James Bond film. Was that difficult to write, or did it come together easily?

I’m a big James Bond fan and I knew I wanted to write a tribute to the films. I had the list of the films in front of me and I just began writing the speech, some parts worked well I think but sometimes I had to be quite obscure to fit some of the film titles in, especially Octopussy. It was great fun to write though and I think it is the longest speaking part of any Super Spud in the three books.

Which Super Spud do you think you’d be best friends with?

It would be good to be friends with a steak and spinach flavour because you know a general would always save your life in dangerous situations, although it’s unlikely they’d be around for long enough. I think Colin would have been the best choice, his strawberry and cream personality was normal in comparison to everyone else and all he wanted was to stay safe, find love and be happy. I guess King Martin would be a good friend to have as well, he was very rich and would pay for everything, even if he’s likely enlist you in some crazy adventure every other day.

I read on your blog that there’s going to be another installment of Super Spud adventures. Can you talk a little bit about what’s in store for the Super Spuds this time around?

I listened to all the feedback and reviews from The Super Spud Trilogy and I wanted to make Book 4 as strong as possible. The story focuses on four main characters and is one big plot where everything leads up to the final confrontation, so it’s a lot more conventional in that way. The story starts with King Martin going to China to rescue G-Boa, and then sees the Super Spuds sail the oceans, visit America, walk around Hollyspud, fly on Air Spud One, fight against zombies, pirates and even make a trip to the moon. The key thing with the next story is a lot of the action takes place at sea with the inclusion of the sea salt flavours. I hope readers will find it just as enjoyable.

And now for the obligatory random questions:

Favorite author?

JRR Tolkien

Favorite movie?

The Shawshank Redemption

Coffee or Tea?

Tea

First thing you’d buy if you won the lottery?

A beer

Favorite place to write?

On my sofa with my laptop and music playing

Thanks again for your time, Michael!

About Michael Diack

Hi, my name is Michael Diack and I’m 26. I studied geology at the University of Manchester and, after graduating, I was lucky to find a job in Oman working for a geophysical company. I enjoy table tennis, music, films, football, sailing and writing about magical potatoes with a taste for adventure and humour. I’m also a proud geek and I enjoy computer games and playing a four hour game of Risk with my friends. I always wanted to be a volcanologist, like Pierce Brosnan in Dante’s Peak, but I enjoy my current job and lifestyle. I released my debut novel back in April 2012 as a paperback and e-book for Kindle.

You can find Michael on his blog, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Author Interview with Scott Cramer

Today I'm excited to welcome Scott Cramer, author of Night of the Purple Moon, to the blog. You can read my review of this young adult dystopian novel here. The Kindle edition of Night of the Purple Moon is available for free download from Amazon today! US readers can click here, and UK readers can click here.

Welcome to Rally The Readers, Scott! Thanks for answering a few questions today. First, what inspired you to write Night of the Purple Moon?

I wanted to write a story that people of all ages would enjoy and in the end would inspire them.

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry and Homecoming by Cynthia Voight are two novels I really like. In each book the young main characters faced incredible odds and took dangerous journeys.

In thinking about NOPM, I wanted to increase the odds and raise the stakes. Rather than have one or both parents die, what if all parents die? What if the electricity stops and there is no more running water? What if all the survivors have a ticking bomb inside them, the act of growing up; puberty becomes a death sentence.

That is a gut-wrenching, perilous situation for young teens and children to find themselves in, and that is the germ of the idea that led to my writing Night of the Purple Moon.

Did you base any of the characters on people you know in real life?

Every character starts out with elements of people I know, and perhaps even elements of my personality.

But that’s just to get me started. Perhaps like an artist doing a rough sketch with a pencil.

The more I explore the characters the more they take on lives of their own. You know you have succeeded in creating a strong, three-dimensional character when as a writer you start to guide them, rather than dictate what they should do. They take over and very often surprise you with their decision making.

What is your favorite scene in the novel?

I don’t want to give anything away, but I am very proud of a tender scene I wrote with Jordan and his mom that takes place toward the end. There is also a 20-page sequence that involves Toucan. I spent a long time working on it and I think it came out really well. Many people have reported they needed a box of tissues for that part of the book.

Which character did you find easiest to write about? Most difficult?

Actually, they were one in the same: Abby Leigh, my main character. It was difficult because I am not a 13-year old girl, but it was easy because I have two daughters.

In the early stages of writing about Abby, I asked my two daughters lots of questions about puberty and growing up. It wasn’t long before they got used to my questions.

And then, as so often happens when creating characters, Abby took on a life of her own. I no longer needed to ask people questions or do Google research. Abby told me what she wanted to do, how she would act . . . .

If you were one of the kids on Castine Island, what would your survival plan have been?

There is an equal chance I would have done one of these two things.

A) I would have panicked and found a boat, sail or motor, and ventured immediately to the mainland. Knowing what I know, though, that would have been a big mistake, because as difficult as things were on Castine Island, life on the mainland was even more chaotic.
B) I would have tried to plan ahead, way ahead. The catastrophic epidemic took place in April. On the island, there would have been plenty of food during the summer. I would have looked ahead to the winter and thought, what do we need to store for the lean months.

The ending of Night of the Purple Moon perfectly sets up a sequel. Will there be one, and if so, can you divulge any details about it?

I can divulge that I am diligently at work on a sequel and that the title is ‘Colony East.’ More than that? Hmmm, I better follow my instincts and say the story will have to speak for itself.

And now for the obligatory random questions:

Favorite color?

My favorite color is turquoise. But I have an admission to make. I am definitely not color blind, but I have what I would describe as “color amnesia.” If you asked me right now, “Scott, what is the color of your living room wall?” I couldn’t tell you. I would have to guess.

But it’s not as bad as it might seem. Whatever energy/molecules missing in the part of my brain that deals with color, all went to increase my sense of smell. I have an incredible, almost genius ability to detect subtle odors. Sight to the eagle is like an olfactory ability to me.

Once in a while I see on television a person who works for a perfume maker whose job is to smell perfume. I could do that, I think. In fact, I would love to do that, make money with my nose.

One time a woman stepped out of a car 30 yards away. A gentle breeze was blowing my way. I said, “excuse me, but are you wearing L’air du Temps?” She was!

Favorite ice cream flavor?

Mocha chip.

Favorite place to write?

Holed up in my small office in my house, shades drawn, with Misty-Duck (our cat) and a cup of cold black coffee by my side.

Book you’d take with you to a desert island?

One of those 1000-page plus Russian novels by Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky.

Thanks again for your time today, Scott! I really appreciate it!

Find Scott Cramer:
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads

Pledged Blog Tour: Author Interview with Gwynneth White

Today we'll be chatting with Gwynneth White, author of the upcoming Pledged, which will be published by Swallow Press on September 1. You can enter to win one of five eBook copies of Pledged, as well as read our interview with two of the book's characters, Sophia and Jared, by clicking here.

Our Interview with Gwynneth White

Welcome to Rally The Readers, Gwynneth! Thanks for joining us today.

The pleasure is mine! I’m delighted to be with you.

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

You know, it wasn’t really a decision. It was more like . . . it just happened. I was writing stories when I was very young. When I first started working, life thrust me into jobs where they needed someone with writing skills. I seemed to be it. Then my husband – he’s a writer/publisher/film-maker – needed a travel guide written, so I did that too. It became a bestseller. No one was more surprised than me. A second travel guide followed. Then I had a loooooong hiatus while I raised my children. But all through that drought, I had a story brewing in my head. When it refused to go away, I decided to give it voice. And I cannot tell you how happy I am to be out of the wilderness and back in the writing world. It is truly my first professional love.

What is your writing process like?

My stories always start with the characters, from there I move onto plotting. And do I ever plot! I like to write out a broad narrative of the whole story before I start writing. I need quiet to work, and often I burn aromatherapy oils, which seem to inspire my creativity.

What inspired you to write the Soul Wars Saga?

It was a process. The soul mates came first because I love the concept that we knew and loved our life partners before we were born. Then came the demons and angels . . . while I was writing one of the many drafts of Pledged, my mother contracted cancer. After she died it seemed like I heard her voice in my head, encouraging me to finish the series. Thus the involvement of the dead – angels and demons – was born. And finally the time travel? Well, at first Pledged was set in ancient times, but I decided it needed a modern twist. Enter Seth and Erin. With their story came the diamond Seer-Stone which enabled them to time travel. So I guess the creation of Pledged reflects the many layers contained in the actual story.

Are any of the characters modeled on real-life people?

Yes. Erin, Stephanie and Kate are modeled on my daughters (including their names) and the similarities between them are pretty startling.

Is there one character you especially love to write about, or is it too hard to pick a favorite? (After all, we don’t want to make Seth jealous or anything.)

Jared. I just love him. If anyone has leapt off the page for me, it’s that sardonic, arrogant young Warlord. He’s not uber good-looking, but he’s got a strong, commanding face, which pretty much tells the world what he’s about. When you first meet him, you’ll find him hugely egotistical, but if you win his heart, he will be loyal to you unto death.

If you could spend a day in Shenaya, what would your ideal day be like?

Is there are ideal day in Shenaya? I don’t think so. Fighting for your soul mate and avoiding Pledging to Reuel are all-consuming, leaving little opportunity for idle sightseeing. And then there are those pesky angels and demons hounding you all the time.

If you had a Seer-Stone and could travel back in time, where would you hope it would take you?

I’d like to go back to before my birth to see what promises I made before coming into mortality. I have no doubt that there were some - I just hope I’ve lived up to them all.

What can readers look forward to in the next book, Sacrificed?

The by-line for Sacrificed is: Everyone has a soul mate. But what happens if the only way your soul mate can live is for you to die? As you can imagine, in Sacrificed life is very dark for all the characters, both modern and ancient. Reuel seems unstoppable, betrayals are rife, and relationships are shattered. I’m sorry to say, but it ends on another cliffhanger.

And now for the obligatory random questions:

Favorite book?

That is a horrible question! How can I possibly answer that when I have dozens of ‘favourite’ books? But if you insist, then I will say current favourites are Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card and Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi.

Favorite fictional character?

Ditto my answer to the favourite book question! Impossible to answer. I love Harry Potter. I think the Hobbit is amazing. Tris is great. But so is Alina. How does one pick only one favourite?

Who would win in a fight: Gideon or Reuel?

Reuel, probably, because he would cheat.

If you could change anything in the past, what would it be?

Change the past? But that’s not possible – even with a Seer-Stone. As Seth and Erin learned, all we can hope to do is change the future through our choices in the present. That sounds really wacky! So how would I like the future to be? Simple. Everyone should have the best chance to be with the one they love.

Happy endings or tragic endings?

I’m a sap for happy endings. Life is often tragic enough without having sad endings in the books I escape to.

Thank you again for your time today, Gwynneth. We really appreciate it!

About Gwynneth White

I have spent my entire life living in a parallel universe of make-believe characters, only coming back to reality for long enough to check that no one burnt the house down in my absence. A few years ago I decided to commit some of those ‘friends’ and their stories to paper. The Soul Wars Saga is the result of those efforts. Before that I co-authored two non-fiction travel books – The Complete Guide to 4x4 Trails and The Ultimate 4x4 Guide. Both books became instant best-sellers in South Africa where I live. And before that even, I studied a degree in African History and Politics at the University of Stellenbosch. When I’m not writing, I am a wife to Andrew and a mom to Stephanie, Erin, and Kate, our teenage daughters. My family and I live in a small town outside Cape Town with two dogs, a cat, a horse, and some neglected fish. Now that you know a little about me, I would love to get to know you. Please befriend me at:
Twitter: @GwynnethWhite
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gwynneth-White/172095512890074
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7360328-gwynneth-white
Blog: http://todayinshenaya.blogspot.com
Email: gwynnethwhite@4xforum.com