Author Interview with Susan Quinn - YA/Paranormal/SF

 Susan Kaye Quinn

      Welcome as we chat with Susan Quinn in a future Chicago New Metro, sitting in a high school classroom of mind readers, listening to the dead-silence as the teacher and students conduct their lesson via mind-link, and since you’re a zero who can’t read minds, you’re locked out. You'll be surprised at her wonderful background and experience that allows her to bring so much life to her stories! She's giving away an e-book at the bottom so be sure to get your entries in! Let's get started.

 

Reader’s Haven:  Susan, welcome! We're glad you're here with us all week. Tell us a bit about yourself  that our readers might not know.

Susan:  I was a rocket scientist (Ph.D. in environmental engineering as well as degrees in aerospace and mechanical engineering) before I was a writer. Although I was actually a writer before any of those things, judging by the stream-of-consciousness Vietnam Vet story I wrote in the 6th grade. That kind of freaked my mom out.

Reader’s Haven:   Now that's impressive! Wow! What made you want to become a writer?

Susan:  I wrote lots of stories as a child and young adult myself, but it wasn’t until started reading my own children’s books that I rediscovered my love of writing. When I finally allowed myself to sit down and write (I was an engineer, remember, not a writer, and certainly not a writer of books for teens)... well, it was somewhere between Red Bull and crack (not that I know what either of those are really like. Honest). I couldn’t stop. That was four years ago, and I fully intend to die at the keyboard (but not any time soon).

Reader’s Haven:  Please share a bit about your new release without giving away any spoilers.

 

Susan:  My latest releases are two novellas in the Mindjack Origins series, The Handler and The Scribe. These novellas occur between Books #1 and #2 in the Mindjack Trilogy, and look at the origin stories of some main secondary characters. But if readers are new to Mindjack, they should start with Open Minds (Mindjack #1), a story about a world where everyone reads minds, except one girl, who discovers that she can control them instead.

Here’s a synopsis of Open Minds:

When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.

      Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can't read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can't be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf's mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she's dragged deep into a hidden underworld of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her.

TOP 5 FINALIST for 2012 Best Indie Book, Young Adult Fiction - The Kindle Book Review
Mindjack Trilogy (novels): Open Minds, Closed Hearts, Free Souls (coming soon)
Mindjack Origins (shorts): Mind Games (prequel to Open Minds), The Handler, The Scribe

Reader’s Haven:  Congrats on the series! Do you write under a pen name?

Susan:  Nope. I can barely keep track of the one name, much less two.

Reader’s Haven: What types of hero or heroine do you like best?

Susan:  I have a fondness for the reluctant hero, the kind that’s completely ethical, but has to be dragged into a fight. Once there, however, they take care of business. I also love anti-heros, like Han Solo, who are slightly dangerous but you can always count on them coming through in the end. I seriously need to write one of those someday.

Reader’s Haven:  Tell us about a typical day in your life as a writer.

Susan:  Today I’m typing this with a fresh pot of tea stacked precariously on a bunch of papers about to get tea stains. I haven’t opened the blinds yet, so I’m truly in “the writing cave.” Any moment now, one of my cats will demand some attention and I’ll do my best to ignore them. It’s the way we work.

Reader’s Haven:  Do your books have a common theme or are they all different?

Susan:  My first published novel was a straight-up YA romance. The Mindjack series is YA/paranormal/SF. After Mindjack is done, I’m sure I’ll be writing more science fiction as well as more romance, possibly both in the same book. In all my stories, I love to throw difficult choices at my characters, and I love creating mind-bending future realities.

Reader’s Haven:  How long does it take you to write and then edit a story?

Susan:  Usually about 6 months from first draft to last, but there’s a lot of midnight dreaming, pre-planning, and plotting that happens before that.

Reader’s Haven:  Do you have to be alone to write?

Susan:  It helps. But being the mother of three great kids and two needy cats, that doesn’t always happen.

Reader’s Haven:  How do you go about naming characters?

Susan:  Sometimes names just come to me; sometimes I try to build a hidden meaning into a name. Main characters are the hardest for me, because their names have to be just right.

Reader’s Haven:  Is it easier to write about the characters if you find pictures of them before you write or do you write then find character pictures?

Susan:  I visualize first, spend tons of time looking for just the right picture, discard it, and then just write what’s in my head. I’m trying to eliminate steps #2 and #3.

Reader’s Haven:  How do you pick locations for your stories?

 
Susan:  My stories have all centered on Chicago, where I live, but then roam near and far. I love Google Earth! I’ve virtually walked all over the planet.

     Susan Kaye Quinn is the author of the bestselling Mindjack series. You can find all her books on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and iTunes. Susan's business card says "Author and Rocket Scientist," but she spends most of her time writing, because she loves it even more than shiny tech gadgets. When she's not writing, you can find her wasting time playing on Twitter, Facebook, and her blog.

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Author Interview with Elly Zupko, YA Fantasy

Deanna and Louise chat with Elly Zupko this week while trapped in a dark cellar. Yes, you read it right. Like Paranormal reality shows, we've decided to be locked in a cellar all week to see who stays the longest. At any time, we are allowed to call on our cells, if we get service....ummm better check....and request the door to be unlocked.

We have flashlights, sleeping bags, plenty of food/snacks and bottled water. Join us as we hang out with Elly and sleep among the night creatures...spiders, rats and who knows what else. Bahahaha 

Elly Zupko

Stuff Your Eyes With Wonder

Reader’s Haven: Hi Elly! Thank you for....well inviting us to this very dark and scary place. LOL Tell us a bit about yourself  that our readers might not know.

Elly:  I’m a new author, so your readers probably have a lot to learn about me! An interesting fact is that I’ve been working on an iteration of my debut novel, The War Master’s Daughter, in one iteration or another since I was 16 years old. With my 30th birthday approaching last year, I vowed to make it finally happen.

Reader’s Haven: What made you want to become a writer?

Elly: I’ve always been a natural storyteller. If you catch me at a party, I’m probably telling some tall tale, stretching out the moments that keep my audience in suspense. Writing was a natural extension of wanting to weave a good yarn. I just want my readers to get wrapped up and swept away. 

Reader’s Haven: Please share a bit about your new release, The War Master’s Daughter, without giving away any spoilers.

Elly:  In the midst of 16th century Europe, the once-peaceful nations of Mitoch and Fairgos are locked in a bitter war. Lady Aurora, however, has known only quiet privilege for her 21 years inside the walls of the Cavalcata manor house. As the educated, eavesdropping daughter of the Fairgosian Royal War Master, she is confident she knows more than most . . . except when the promised Fairgosian victory will bring her father home for good.

But when the currents of war sweep her, half dead, to the shores of brutal, backwards Mitoch, Aurora will unlearn everything she thought she knew—about the war, her country, her father, and herself—and discover what is really worth fighting for.

Reader’s Haven: Do you write under a pen name?

Elly:  I wanted to for the longest time! I used to hate my last name. But I’ve learned to love it, and you can find my books easily—they’re usually the last one on the bottom shelf.

Reader’s Haven: What types of hero or heroine do you like best?

Elly:  I love to write a hero who goes go on a psychological journey as well as a physical one. All people have so much to learn, but one first has to acknowledge their lack of knowledge before they can find the truth. The best heroes are the ones who know there is more and seek it out.

Reader’s Haven: Tell us about a typical day in your life as a writer.

Elly:  I haven’t been able to quit my day job yet, so I spend the 9-to-5 in an office doing technical writing. When I get home, I have a quick dinner (usually a veggie burger and sweet potato tots!) then settle in with my laptop . . . and maybe a glass of wine. My cats sit on either side of me, and I write until my eyes get blurry. I try not to go back and re-read what I’ve written previously; I’m a full-steam-ahead kind of gal. 
 

Reader’s Haven: Do your books have a common theme or are they all different?

Elly:  The book I’m writing now is very different from The War Master’s Daughter, but they share a common theme: No one knows the whole story. Every person is living from a different perspective, perceiving the world through different senses. That means there is not always one truth, but many.

Reader’s Haven: How long does it take you to write and then edit a story?

Elly:  If I’m doing a short story, I can usually draft it in a day or two, and editing takes another few days. If I’m working on a novel, the timeline is measured in years.

Reader’s Haven: Do you have to be alone to write?

Elly:  My cats would never have it! But no, I don’t have to be alone. To be productive, a writer has to be willing and able to write in many harrowing circumstances—including having other people around.

Reader’s Haven: (Louise) Did anyone bring some Raid? (Deanna) Just ignore the spider, Louise. Elly, how do you go about naming characters?

Elly:  *glances at the spider* Well, I’m a huge fan of BabyNames.com. I really enjoy etymology and using a name database like that helps me choose names that have significant meaning behind them. The character of Dymphna actually explains the story of her name in the book. However, sometimes I choose names just because I think the sound cool, like Storey and Cashel. 

Reader’s Haven: Is it easier to write about the characters if you find pictures of them before you write or do you write then find character pictures?

Elly:  I have a background in art and graphic novels, so I actually find myself drawing pictures of characters. I tape them up around my desk so I just have to glance up, see their face, and get a really emotive idea of who they are.

Reader’s Haven: How do you pick locations for your stories?

Elly:  For The War Master’s Daughter, I created two imaginary countries in a real setting. The plot required unique political environments and power structures, so I couldn’t just rely on what history had to offer. I designed Fairgos and Mitoch to be geographical representations of the human struggle happening among the characters.

Reader’s Haven: What are you working on now and what should readers be looking forward to from you in the future?

Elly: I plan to have a full draft of my next novel completed by the end of the year. Bugged is the story of a teenage girl maligned with delusional parasitosis and her strange relationship with her penpal—an entomologist. It should be ready for release by summer 2013! 

Reader’s Haven: Well, we've made it through one night. Five more to go. Where can readers find out more about you and your books? 

Elly: Readers can find me on the following sites:

Book site /  Author blog /  Twitter @EllyZupko / Facebook Fan page / Goodreads / AmazonAuthor page

Purchase Links

Paperback on Amazon / eBook on Smashwords / Kindle

And I'd like to gift the following to four winners. Enter the contest through the Rafflecopter below and good luck!

****GIVEAWAY****

3 E-BOOKS AND ONE SIGNED PAPERBACK!

“Countries do not fight each other. Men fight each other. And they only fight so that they can stop fighting and go home. It is the most horrific irony in the world.” The once-peaceful nations of Mitoch and Fairgos are locked in a bitter war. Lady Aurora, however, has known only quiet privilege for her 21 years inside the walls of the Cavalcata manor house. As the educated, eavesdropping daughter of the Fairgosian Royal War Master, she is confident she knows more than most . . . except when the promised Fairgosian victory will bring her father home for good. But when the currents of war sweep her, half alive, to the shores of brutal, backwards Mitoch, Aurora will unlearn everything she thought she knew—about the war, her country, her father, and herself—and discover what is really worth fighting for. The War Master’s Daughter tells the story of battles we all fight—those we wage with each other and also within ourselves. 

5 Star Reviews on Amazon!

About the Author:

Elly Zupko is a professional writer living in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. She grew up in rural Harford County on a four-acre property and now doesn’t even own a plant. Studying under acclaimed novelist and National Book Award finalist Madison Smartt Bell, she graduated Goucher College in 2003 with a degree in English/writing. She has had both her fiction and non-fiction published in a variety of outlets, including Preface, The Eloquent Atheist, The Baltimore Writer’s Project, Why Vandalism? and APMP’s Executive Summary.

Her short stories “What It Means to Be Alone” and “Fixed” are available to read online through their respective publications. Elly has been making things up since she was old enough to hold a crayon and turn Big Bird purple. Her passion for fiction extended into middle school, where she learned to forge signatures on bad progress reports, and through high school, when she finally began her first novel—incidentally, a very early iteration of The War Master’s Daughter.

Her first job out of college was at a small Baltimore publishing house, where she edited 11 novels that would go on to publication. This experience has given her an edge on navigating the rapidly changing publishing world, and she shares her experience and knowledge on her blog, Stuff Your Eyes With Wonder. Independently published under the SMLX Books imprint, The War Master’s Daughter is Elly Zupko’s first novel (...that you know about). 

 

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Author Interview with Evie Glass - YA Fantasy Author

Evie Glass

YA Fantasy Author  

NunHead Cemetery

London England

      The virtual location setting for this week's interview is from one of London’s beautiful Victorian graveyards, Nunhead Cemetery! Our guest author is also from London. How exciting! Let's all stay close, pull up your collars to stay warm and enjoy the interview! We do have warm coffee and lattes over at the vendor stand for those needing a little more warmth. Click the cemetery link to hop over and take a real look at the graveyard! Don't forget to come back here though! You won't want to miss meeting Evie...Shall we get started?

Reader’s Haven:  Welcome to our Haven, Evie! Our readers are anxious to meet you! A meeting at a cemetery is quite fitting for an October interview. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Evie:  I love spooky stuff. My dad always said he was psychic, so since I was a girl I’ve been interested in the paranormal. I was brought up near Pendle, where the biggest English witch-trials were, I’m good with a tarot-pack, and I have a thing about visiting famous graves! 

Reader’s Haven: (Deanna) oooo - I so love the paranormal stuff! What made you want to become a writer?

Evie:  I wrote my first ‘novel’ when I was six, so I can’t remember a time when I didn’t plan to be a writer.  There’s a lovely Susan Sontag quote which I agree with: ‘What I really wanted was every kind of life, and the writer’s life seemed most inclusive.’

Reader’s Haven: Please share a bit about your new release ‘Delilah Dark and the Teacup of Doom’ without giving away any spoilers.

Evie:  It’s my second book about Delilah Dark, a cynical 12-year old who can see the future in her crystal-ball. Along with other psychic children, all with different powers, her enemy is BigCorp – a shadowy business organization who seem to be deliberate trying to destroy the planet.  In this second book their evil plot involves a new talent show called ‘Global Pop Puppet’ which aims to create an army of drones, and computer game so addictive it might literally be the death of you! 

Reader’s Haven: Do you write under a pen name?

Evie:  Yes – I’ve published several books of poetry under the name Clare Pollard.  But my poems are very much for adults – I felt it would be a good idea to create a different persona for my children’s fiction.

Reader’s Haven: What types of hero or heroine do you like best?

Evie:  Ones with a sense of humor.  I hate heroes who take themselves too seriously!  Delilah is partly based on one of my heroines, the writer and wit Dorothy Parker – she has the same sharp, black bob and quick tongue.

Reader’s Haven: Tell us about a typical day in your life as a writer.

Evie:  As a freelance writer it could involve anything – I teach creative writing, do readings, blog, mentor, translate poetry, edit, write reviews (I review children’s fiction for Indie E-Book Review).  I’m not a morning person, so I tend to do admin in the morning with a strong coffee, and then write after lunch once I’m properly awake!

Reader’s Haven: Do your books have a common theme or are they all different?

Evie:  I’m interested in morality – how in real life it’s not as straight forward as saying things are good or evil. I’m interested in love. I like magic, but not harking back to ancient times – my work’s always modern. I write children’s books that deal with the world now: social networking, the X-Factor, climate change, Cheestrings!

Reader’s Haven: How long does it take you to write and then edit a story?

Evie:  The first drafts take about a month – writing children’s fiction is such fun, I can’t wait to get to my desk every day and laugh at my own jokes! Editing can take a bit longer –it’s useful to have trusted readers.

Reader’s Haven: Do you have to be alone to write?

Evie:  Yes.

Reader’s Haven: How do you go about naming characters?

Evie:  Sometimes they’re from real life.  As a writer you collect interesting names – my friend once dated a guy called Brandon Spray which I thought was brilliant, so I’ve used the name for Delilah’s nemesis. Or I like funny names – there is a villainous TV-presenter in this book called Piers Down – he’s like Piers Morgan but more arrogant!

Reader’s Haven: Is it easier to write about the characters if you find pictures of them before you write or do you write then find character pictures?

Evie:  I just see them in my head. They appear fully formed.

Reader’s Haven: How do you pick locations for your stories?

Evie:  Well, I live in London, which is such a huge, amazing, diverse city, so that’s where Delilah Dark lives.  But I was brought up in the English countryside, so that features a lot too. It’s easier to write about places you know – it’s the little details that bring a place to life.

Reader’s Haven:  (Deanna) I love everything about England! I find the castles fascinating and the graveyards, too! What are you working on now and what should readers be looking forward to from you in the future?

Evie:  I’m about to start writing the third and final Delilah Dark book ‘Delilah Dark vs Destiny’. The reason why BigCorp are trying to destroy the world will finally be revealed! And there’s a massive plot twist. I’m excited…

Reader’s Haven: Congratulations on the third book in the series and we wish you luck! Readers, we hope you're taking notes here! Where can readers find out more about you and your books?

Evie:  My site links are listed below:

Delilah Dark has a FaceBook page

And you can buy the book from Amazon

Twitter @EvieGlass

Reader’s Haven:  Evie, thank you for visiting with us at the Haven. Readers, we thank all of you for stopping in to read. Please show Evie and Delilah some love and head over to their links. Thank you all!

                                  Delilah Dark and the Teacup of Doom

SYNOPSIS:

      Delilah Dark, the sarcastic 12-year-old psychic, is bored, bored BORED. But then she sees an advert for Global Pop Puppet, a new Saturday-night show presided over by the arrogant Piers Down, which appears to turn its contestants into an army of drones

      The shadowy corporation BigCorp is back - and this time their evil plans involve entertainment. How do they get all the Pop Puppets to sing in tune? And are they behind Infinite Quest, a computer game so addictive it might actually be the death of you?

       Delilah Dark discovers she has new powers – she can heal and read tea-leaves. But with the cups full of bad omens, are BigCorp just too powerful to stop?

EXCERPT:

       You know how they say you should be careful what you wish for? Well, they mean it. It’s not just some silly phrase grownups trot out when they’d like you to shut up.  You should genuinely be extremely careful what you wish for.  If child psychics like Delilah Dark teach us anything, it’s that the mind is a very powerful thing.

     Because sure enough, the evening after Delilah wished it, the most evil force in the world did start showing signs of being extremely evil indeed.

     It was wet weather.  Delilah had spent a couple of hours watching DVDs and was now curled up under her duvet with Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories and reading the scary bits aloud to Spitty as he wrapped up a fly.  She had been drunk several very black coffees so was a bit twitchy, and when her phone gave a little buzz and jump on her bedside table she almost fell off the bed.  It was a text – the first she’d had in months.  It said:

Check out Spy TV now

      The number was withheld, which meant it was probably one of SKIVE (they were forbidden from leaving traceable calls).  She wondered who it was.  Will? Polly? Was it that awful smug idiot Brandon Spray?  But there was no time to waste pondering - Delilah leapt up and turned on her TV, flicking it to Spy-TV, the channel that BigCorp had recently bought.  All her psychic nerves felt on edge.  This was it – the thing she’d been waiting for!  The end to boredom!

      There was an advert playing for a new Saturday night programme.

     ‘Soon Saturday will be about staying-in,’ the smarmy-voiced announcer told her.  ‘On Saturdays no one will leave the sofa!  Saturday will mean the show you’ve all been waiting for.  The show where we find the most talented Idol the world has ever seen.  Not just the X-Factor, but Y and Z-Factor too…’

     Yawn, Delilah thought.  Hardly the most evil scheme ever.   And anyway, Simon Cowell had been there, done that.  She felt very disappointed.  But then she realized some disturbing images were flashing up - not just a microphone, but a wig, a glittering scalpel, a picture of a scientist experimenting on a robot…

     ‘We’re looking for the star that can go that extra mile,’ the croony announcer continued. ‘Who’s willing to sacrifice everything…their face, their voice, their life.  Who will never ever give up on their dream, only their home, family and sense of self.  That’s right, this time we’re going to find the GLOBAL POP PUPPET!’

     And then a troupe of identical singers came on stage.  Really identical – like dolls.  They were very skinny and had big doll-eyes.  The boys had blonde quiffs and the girls had big sticky mouths like half-eaten cupcakes.  And they began to sing: 

Dream it – Do it!

Leave yourself behind.

 Let us mould you -

Maybe you will find

 You’re a GLOBAL POP PUPPET!!

       ‘Join the global auditions next weekend’ the announcer suggested.  ‘Text PUPPET for details.  Calls from landlines cost £1.50, mobile phone calls will cost more, probably a lot more. No, we can’t say how much.’