Now And Again by Jennifer Ellision Blog Tour: Review & Interview!!

Hello there guys!!

Happy Tuesday! Today I'm super happy to be part of the Blog Tour for Now And Again by Jennifer Ellision, hosted and organized by the wonderful ladies of Pen & Muse Press (thank you Jolene, you're a dear!).

I'll have Jennifer over for a super quick interview as well as my own review of the book, and don't miss out on the giveaway at the end of the post, so you can win your own copy of the book!

But before all that, a lil more info about the book!

Now And Again by Jennifer Ellision

 Unemployed. Broke. Maid of Honor.

All (unfortunately) words that describe Em Hayes.

Without any job leads in San Francisco, Em caves to her mother’s promise of free rent and returns home. Her best friend, Nikki, couldn’t be more thrilled. Em’s degree in Event Management is gathering dust, and what better way to put it to use than planning Nikki’s wedding?

There’s just one flaw in that plan: Cole Connors. The girls’ former roommate. And part of the reason Em hasn’t been back since college graduation.

Em’s never been able to forget Cole—or how close they were before she pushed him aside and ran for the hills. Cole’s never forgotten Em either— but in the past two years, she hasn’t given him much choice but to try.

And, according to Nikki, there’s no better pair to plan the wedding of her dreams.

Em’s usually good at squashing messy feelings, but being around Cole again brings them all rushing to the surface.

And this time, she’s not sure she wants to run.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks | Smashwords

Jennifer Ellision spent a great deal of her childhood staying up past her bedtime with a book and a flashlight. When she couldn’t find the stories she wanted to read, she started writing them. She loves words, has a soft spot for fanfiction, and is a master of the fangirl flail. She resides in South Florida with her family, where she lives in fear of temperatures below 60 Fahrenheit.

Jennifer is the author of the YA fantasy series, Threats of Sky and Sea, as well as the New Adult contemporary novel, Now and Again.

Review

I'm not the most avid contemporary reader, and even less if we're talking about contemporary NA, but I have been getting myself to read more contemporaries since last year and I'm happy to report that for the most part, it's been a pleasant surprise after another.

I really love Jennifer Ellision's fantasy series, so giving her contemporary NA a try was a no brainer for me, and as with her fantasy books, she hooked me up from page one!

Em is coming back home and she's none too happy about it, since she run away all the way to the opposite side of the US as soon as she graduated college. And now that she's back, she has to face everything that she run away from.

The book is told in dual POV, Em's and Cole's, and also switches chapters between the NOW of Em coming back to Florida in time for her best friend's engagement party & wedding planning and the THEN of college times so we learn about the past that shaped Em's flight response.

Cole's POV was easier to read than Em's, and he felt quite genuinely a male POV, even when he was jumping off a window to avoid facing a girl he had just broken up with (again?) (sort of?)... He was more upfront and open with his feelings and tried his best to be honest with Em at all times.

Em's POV was harder to read because she was so closed up and refused time and again to face the past and her feelings. She's very much still avoiding everyone that means something for her and continues to ignore her feelings about the past and those rekindled in the present too. But as hard as she was to read at times, it was also very rewarding to see her grow and finally accept that the answer is not running away from pain or help or love.

Alternating the timelines worked great since it helped us understand both Em and Cole better, and I really enjoyed seeing their friendship develop in the past as well as see when & how things changed. I really liked Nikki being the common thread (and friend) that connected them both with the present and the past and the friendship. Nikki was also a lovely character, a great balance to Em's closed up nature.

I must confess to want a bit more after the ending, maybe an epilogue of sorts? It is the perfect resolution for the story told, but I really wanted to see a bit more of what comes next! Despite my need for a lil extra pages, I absolutely enjoyed this one, so 4 very well deserved stars to this contemporary NA!

Interview

Hello Jen! Welcome to my lil corner of the blogosphere!

Hi Pili! Thank you for having me! It’s an honor to be here. ^_^

I consider myself a big fan of your fantasy series (cannot wait for book 3!) and was quite surprised when I saw the book you were writing next was a contemporary (that despite contemporary not being my fave genre, I've loved too!). How did the contemporary bug bite you? Anything in particular that inspired you to switch genres?

Buckle in for a long answer, haha. Now and Again was actually the first book I ever wrote, though the published book is very different from what the first drafts looked like. It was my first NaNoWriMo project, my first project that wasn’t fanfiction, and it has its roots in a short piece I wrote for one of my Creative Writing workshop classes in college.

But 1) My female main character, Em was really a tough nut to crack. I couldn’t figure out why she pulled away from Cole (her love interest and the male main character) so much when I knew that she wanted him. And 2) I didn’t have the practiced skill to turn the book into something that I felt was worthwhile. I reluctantly shelved it and spent a couple of years reading more than I ever had before, writing a little fanfiction to remind me what I loved about writing, and starting what would become my first published book, the YA fantasy Threats of Sky and Sea.

Flash-forward to me cleaning out my closet one day and coming across the binder that housed the bare bones of Now and Again. Somewhat afraid of how bad it would be, I read everything I’d
written all those years ago and I realized that I finally knew what made Em tick. And I knew I had to tell her story, so I started the book all over again.

I really enjoyed having the dual POVs on the book. Did you plan it that way from the start? Who was your favourite character to write? Cole or Em?

Oooo, this is tough. Cole’s voice came through for me a lot clearer, so sometimes he was my favorite just because he was much easier. He was a relief to write after the struggle that was Em.

But, there’s something to be said for the challenge of Em. She was never easy to write, but once I understood what made her tick, I connected with her on a level that I really haven’t ever connected with a character before. Em isn’t really cold—she just uses it to hide a vulnerability. She doesn’t hate love or commitment—the idea of letting someone have the power to hurt her just terrifies her. And if I’m honest, those are things I completely understand.

So, I guess I have to go with Em. She’s my girl. ^_^;

The changing timeline from now to then worked great for the book, giving us lil tidbits here and teasing us to discover more. Was it always planned like that?

For the most part, yes! I definitely knew that I wanted to tell both the story of “Now” and the story of “Then.” I toyed briefly with the idea of making it a bit more linear in structure--making the big chunk of “Then” come before the big chunk of “Now”-- instead of a chapter here and there interspersed throughout. But I didn’t even attempt it. It just didn’t feel right.

Thank you so much for being here Jen! 

Thank you again for having me!

Giveaway

Click HERE to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway to win 1 of 3 e-copies of Now And Again!!

Xpresso Book Tours Blog Tour for Hunting Season by Nikki Jefford!!

Hey there everyone! Today I'm taking part in the Blog Tour for Hunting Season by Nikki Jefford, organized by Xpresso Book Tours!

I will be sharing an interview with Nikki herself & a Blog Tour wide giveaway, so click HERE for the full tour schedule! But before that, let's get you some more information about the book & author, shall we?

Hunting Season by Nikki Jefford
(Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter #4)
Publication date: March 3rd 2015
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Better to be a hunter, not prey.

Ever since her partner was kidnapped, Aurora Sky has been on a personal mission to get him back. To do that she needs the vampire responsible for destroying her life.
In order to have a snowball’s chance at success, she’ll have to team up with her most loyal friends—including a certain vampire in black with a provoking talent for distraction.
Old cravings aren’t easily quenched, nor past passions. With knowledge comes danger and Aurora is at risk on all sides.

Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo

 About the author:

Bookaholic, nature girl, and animal lover.

Nikki Jefford is a third generation Alaskan who found paradise in the not-so-tropical San Juan Islands (WA) where she is, once more, neighbors with Canada in a town without a single traffic light.

She married the love of her life, Sebastien, while working as a teaching assistant in France. They reside with their Westie, Cosmo in Friday Harbor.

Loves fictional bad boys and heroines who kick butt.

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

Interview

Hi Nikki! Thank you for dropping by my blog and answering some questions!

Thank you for having me! :D

1.- I know you are a born and bred Alaskan, but I've quite wondered on what made you choose Alaska and Anchorage to be the centre of the action in your books, because the great White North might not seem a very typical vampire friendly place!

But it so is! It’s cold, it’s dark; it’s like Florida for seniors. (Summer’s another matter.) ;-) There are so many reasons Alaska makes an ideal paranormal/sci-fi setting. The Northern Lights look like something from a fantasy realm when they’re weaving across the night sky. Alaska is an insanely gorgeous and wild place. The climate is harsh, the citizens bizarre, and there’s an element of danger. I couldn’t dream up a better setting.


2.- I loved how you decided to give a new twist to the vampire myths and origins. How did you choose mixing blood types and virus as the way to develop vampirism?

Thank you. I knew I had to do something different, but I didn’t know what, so I began reading about vampirism hoping for a lightbulb moment. It came while reading “Vampire Forensics: Uncovering the Origins of an Enduring Legend” by Mark Collins Jenkins. 

  

Throughout time, vampire scares almost always follow an epidemic of some sort.

What if vampirism really was triggered by disease?

The first problem with that is the world would be full of vampires. I fixed this by making only people with the rarest blood type in the world capable of turning.


3.- I also love that instead of vampires being a secret to all of society you decided to go with a more government conspiracy angle. How did you choose to make an agency of special forces of vampire hunters?

Come on, you know the government is hiding all kinds of goodies. Aliens and vampires are just scratching the surface. ;-)

I’m an action junkie (Charlie’s Angels, Alias, Buffy, Supernatural, Stargate SG-1…) and a sucker for good battling evil and the blurred line in between.

 
4.- Female characters abound in your books, and they are all quite different and their relationships go beyond the topical ones. Aurora and Valerie are what can be considered antagonists and even frenemies, but it is way more complex than that. My favourite though have to be Aurora's relationship with her mum and grandma. Did you plan that relationship like that or did it evolve organically?

That’s nice to hear! Aurora’s relationship with her mom was planned out for book one. As with my witch novel Entangled, the mom’s been cornered into making a life and death choice for her daughter. It might not be the right one, but what mother wouldn’t make it if given the option?

Aurora’s Gran wasn’t planned. As things fall further apart in Aurora and Mrs. Sky’s lives, she hops a plane from Florida to Anchorage to whip her girls into shape. LOL I love strong, bossy grandmothers.


5.- I'm usually not a fan of love triangles in books, but I'm finding the one in the series quite intriguing and genuine, so kudos for that! Did you always plan to confront Aurora with two different guys that would represent two sides for her to choose, the vampires or the hunters?

I love how you put that! But, no. I loathe love triangles. But I do love Fane and Dante. I love them both equally for different reasons. Unexpected situations keep cropping up… and continue to surprise me. (Just wait until Whiteout releases next month!)

Dante was never meant to be a love interest. He was there for comic relief. But he can be maddeningly sexy when he chooses. It’s difficult to prevent hormones from taking over when he and Aurora are working together so closely on missions.

Probably the biggest challenge, and biggest complaint I hear from fans, is giving Fane more page time. In Hunting Season, he and Aurora get to team up a bit… and finish car rehabilitation. Finally!

Back in the saddle. J

Thank you for the fantastic questions!

Thank you so much for all your even more fantastic answers Nikki, I'm so excited now to continue reading and Whiteout too!!

Giveaway

Tour-wide giveaway (INTL)
Signed Aurora Sky Paperback of choice

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Interview with Holly Bodger author of 5 to 1!!!

Hello guys!!

The blog is currently on hiatus, but I still have a few posts scheduled here and there because no matter how busy, crazy, crazy busy or totally exhausted that I might be this month with the paperwork, the cleaning, the furniture buying & assembling and the move... I want and NEED to share some things with you all!!

And one of the things that I REALLY NEED to share with you is my love for 5 to 1 and its author, Holly Bodger! I do hope to get to meet her at BEA with some luck! She was fantastic on assuring I got an ARC from NG and she was so nice to agree on coming over here for an interview!

Welcome and thank you so much for visiting my blog, Holly! Feel free to grab a cupcake and sit anywhere except where the two mini-dragons are!





Mmmm, cake.

- First off, I want to start asking you how did you end up writing a dystopian novel set in the Indian subcontinent? We don't get as much fiction written about India by a non-Indian author and even less a dystopian!

The story was inspired by a journal article I read about the effects of son preference and gender selection in countries such as India and China. Once I started to think about what is going to happen in these countries in the future, I couldn’t get it out of my head. I initially put the idea aside because I didn’t think the world needed another dystopian novel (even though I don’t really consider this book dystopian but I knew others would). When I realized I would not get the idea out of my head until I wrote it, I decided to just go for it. The rest is history!


- As someone that has been part of an Indian family for a few years and spent time in India and living the society from the inside, I love all the lil touches that make the book so realistic, like the different names for the family members and the like, how much reseach did you do? Anything very interesting or curious that you learnt but didn't end up using?

I did an insane amount of research and probably used only 5% of it in the book. I would have loved to go on and on about all the beauty and the ugly of India, but I needed to stay true to what Sudasa and Kiran would notice and so I had to leave a lot of that out. I also had to keep reminding myself that this Koyanagar had separated from India because they wanted to fix things, and so it would not have made sense for them to keep all the laws and customs of India.


- I love how your story was told in dual POV and how we get to see the two sides of the story and how the main characters see each other. Was that always part of the plan for the story or did it happen later as you were writing or editing? If so, who was the sole POV you started with?
I wrote the book entirely as verse from Sudasa’s point of view first. It was only when I was told that something was missing that I realized I needed to add Kiran, too. At the time, it had never occurred to me to write a half-verse, half-prose book, but now that I’ve done it, I can’t imagine it any way else!

- Your descriptions of Indian food and clothes and jewelry are fantastic! Have you worn a saree yet or do plan to? Your favourite Indian food? I do hope you'll get to try cheese naan soon!

I have not yet worn a sari, although I have a friend who says she’s going to put me in one soon! I do own a salwar kameez, a kurta, several dupattas, several pairs of juttis, and tons of Indian jewellery. I eat curry probably once a week (more often after Christmas and Thanksgiving since I love TURKEY CURRY!) My lack of cheese naan really deserves some kind of attention from a national foundation. J But don’t worry, I am going to be in New York several times this summer and I’m sure I’ll find it there!


- I love how your book uses a dystopian setting to explore big and important issues as feminism and gender equality. It seems like this world started as a way to protect the women from the horrible treatment that girls still get to this day in India, but those good intentions go awry pretty soon and oppression of the other gender is not a better option. I wonder how did you decide to turn the tables to make us see how wrong gender inequality is?

I did this for two reasons. The first was because the reality of gender selection is that countries such as India and China will soon find themselves without enough girls of marriageable age. As of 2011, India had 7 million more boys than girls under the age of 6. Fifteen years from now, that means there will be 7 million boys who can’t find a wife or partner. The girls who marry will have their pick of boys which is why I imagined them all ending up with the rich ones, thus gaining more riches and power for themselves.

The second reason I did this was because I felt like there were already enough people yelling about gender inequality from the rooftops and yet their words have been falling on deaf ears. I wanted to show the situation in a different way; in a way that shows that this will hurt boys too. That is the real crux of the situation: gender equality helps everyone while gender inequality hurts everyone.


- I'm a big fan of mehendi/mendhi and when I saw your cover I was in insta-love! How was the process of the cover? Were you involved at all or was it a stunning surprise for you too? Is there a particular meaning on the fishes drawn in the palms?

I am going to be interviewing my cover designer as part of my book launch blog tour and plan to ask her these same questions. I really had no idea what to expect and was extremely surprised when I saw the first comp of the cover. I’m guessing that she used the fish because of Kiran’s poem at the end, although I like to imagine that she knew I was a Pisces and wanted to incorporate that. J

- The ending of the book was quite open and although I'm sure it could stay as a standalone, I must confess to hope and wish for a sequel to see what else is there in this world! Might we be getting lucky? If so, will it be a proper sequel, a companion novel?

I would love to publish a sequel to this book. I always imagined it as a two-parter: one part in Sudasa’s world and the other in Kiran’s. I have also been thinking about the idea of a companion, however those thoughts are mostly still inside my head!


Thank you so very much for all your answers, Holly! Be sure to check your pockets and bag so neither dragons or sheep try to smuggle out! Take another cupcake for the way!

Mmmm, cake. You know the way to a girl’s heart!

 5 TO 1 by Holly Badger

Publishing date: May 12th 2015
Knof Books for Young Readers

In the year 2054, after decades of gender selection, India now has a ratio of five boys for every girl, making women an incredibly valuable commodity. Tired of marrying off their daughters to the highest bidder and determined to finally make marriage fair, the women who form the country of Koyanagar have instituted a series of tests so that every boy has the chance to win a wife.

Sudasa, though, doesn't want to be a wife, and Kiran, a boy forced to compete in the test to become her husband, has other plans as well. As the tests advance, Sudasa and Kiran thwart each other at every turn until they slowly realize that they just might want the same thing.

This beautiful, unique novel is told from alternating points of view-Sudasa's in verse and Kiran's in prose-allowing readers to experience both characters' pain and their brave struggle for hope.

 About Holly Bodger:




HOLLY BODGER has a BA in English Literature and has spent her entire career in publishing. She is an active member of RWA and is a 2013 Golden Heart finalist in the Young Adult category. She lives in Ottawa, Canada.

The Infinite by Lori M Lee Blog Tour: Interview & Review!!

Hello there guys!

I'm extremely happy to be part of the official blog tour for The Infinite by Lori M Lee and even more to host Lori herself for an interview on the blog!

And since I was also approved on NetGalley for an ARC of the book, I'm also adding my review at the end of the post but before the giveaway! ;)

But first of all, a lil bit of information about both Gates of Thread & Stone and The Infinite!

Gates of Thread & Stone by Lori M Lee

In the Labyrinth, we had a saying: keep silent, keep still, keep safe. 

In a city of walls and secrets, where only one man is supposed to possess magic, seventeen-year-old Kai struggles to keep hidden her own secret—she can manipulate the threads of time. When Kai was eight, she was found by Reev on the riverbank, and her “brother” has taken care of her ever since. Kai doesn’t know where her ability comes from—or where she came from. All that matters is that she and Reev stay together, and maybe one day move out of the freight container they call home, away from the metal walls of the Labyrinth. Kai’s only friend is Avan, the shopkeeper’s son with the scandalous reputation that both frightens and intrigues her. 

Then Reev disappears. When keeping silent and safe means losing him forever, Kai vows to do whatever it takes to find him. She will leave the only home she’s ever known and risk getting caught up in a revolution centuries in the making. But to save Reev, Kai must unravel the threads of her past and face shocking truths about her brother, her friendship with Avan, and her unique power. 

IndieBound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Brilliance Audio | iTunes

The Infinite by Lori M Lee

The walls of Ninurta keep its citizens safe. 


Kai always believed the only danger to the city came from within. Now, with a rebel force threatening the fragile government, the walls have become more of a prison than ever. 


To make matters worse, as Avan explores his new identity as an Infinite, Kai struggles to remind him what it means to be human. And she fears her brother, Reev, is involved with the rebels. With the two people she cares about most on opposite sides of a brewing war, Kai will do whatever it takes to bring peace. But she’s lost her power to manipulate the threads of time, and she learns that a civil war might be the beginning of something far worse that will crumble not only Ninurta’s walls but also the entire city. 


In this thrilling sequel to Gates of Thread and Stone, Kai must decide how much of her humanity she’s willing to lose to protect the only family she’s ever known. 

IndieBound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Brilliance Audio

About the author:

Lori is the author of young adult fantasy novels Gates of Thread and Stone and The Infinite. She has a borderline obsessive fascination with unicorns, is fond of talking in capslock, and loves to write about magic, manipulation, and family. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband, kids, and a friendly pitbull.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook | Tumblr | Pinterest | Instagram

Interview with Lori M Lee

I very recently finished reading Gates of Thread and Stone (that damned TBR pile is ever growing and I keep postponing books here and there) and I had no idea that aside from the fantasy setting, there were also so dystopian/postapocalyptic elements and I loved those! How did the mix of both elements came to play in the world you were creating for Gates? Did the world came as fantasy or postapocalyptic first? 


The book was originally written as a cyberpunk fantasy. There were hovercycles, virtual adverts, and holograms. The advanced technology in contrast with the grittiness of Ninurta’s slums was initially the groundwork for that cyberpunk/scifi element. Toss in Kai’s powers and the Infinite, and I loved the genre mashup. 


However, things changed in editing, and the book became a straight fantasy. But of course, you can still see the influence of the cyberpunk and the roots of where the world of Gates of Thread and Stone original began.


Kai is ready to go to hell and back for her brother, even if he isn't her brother by blood, and I found it very refreshing that the biggest motivator for her was not romantic love but familiar love. Was that a choice you made consciously or did it come from who Kai was and the story you wanted to tell? 

It was one of the first decisions I made about the plot. Family is one of the prevailing themes in many of the books I write, so I knew immediately that the best way to push Kai into action would be from a threat to her brother. 


The concept of the Infinite is fantastic and both similiar and different enough from gods to be familiar to us all but keep us intrigued and surprise us. How did you decide how your mythology was going to work? Are we going to meet more of them in book 2? (more Infinites in The Infinite, makes sense, right??) 

The Infinite began as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. That was back when the story was a cyberpunk fantasy. But as Kai’s story developed into a straight fantasy and into its own contained secondary world, the magic and the gods had to evolve as well. Therefore, I created the Infinite as beings that helped to shape and guide the human world—and stir up trouble as well.


As fo your second question... Weeeeeell, you will learn more about the Infinite themselves. Many more things are explained in the second book—things about the world, about its history, and about the role the Infinite play in it all. Just keep in mind there will still be secrets kept for the last book ;)

Thank you so much for coming over Lori, and please check your pockets since Morrigan and Mini-maug have a tendency to try and smuggle out when people come to visit! 


Thanks for having me! :) 

Review

I had preordered The Infinite before I had even read Gates of Thread and Stone, and I when I got approved for this eARC I was beyond happy! It was fantastic having it there once I reached the ending of GoTaS!

The Infinite was exactly what a sequel needs to be. There are some ongoing issues that are addressed here, if not resolved, and also the world get broader and bigger. The characters must deal with the consequences of the battle at the end of book 1 and all the mysteries that were revealed.

I will clearly try my best to keep my review spoiler free for this book but I might discuss some reveals from book 1 that could be spoilery, so you have been warned!

Kai has put an end to the regime of Kal Ninu, but dealing with the consequences is never as easy as it could be, and the citizens of Ninurta and the politicians are both in turmoil. There's mistrust of the new leadership, inestability and although Kai wants to make things better, change is very hard to implement, not matter if it's for the best.

And not only Kai is mixed on politics now, she's also dealing with her heritage and meeting her father, her new relationship with The Infinite but also with Avan's new situation. Not having lost him was amazing for Kai, but she is no longer sure if she has or hasn't lost him after all.

Avan is quite an intriguing character in this book because he is both familar and alien. He is quite confused himself too because he's lost his memories but he still has some feelings and reactions that he cannot explain, and he is sure that he feels something intense and important for Kai, but he has some insticts now that make him also a different person.

And then our plot takes us to new places, because we discover that Ninurta is not alone, there are more humans and more city and some of them quite closer than anyone (except maybe Kal Ninu and the other Infinites) could have imagined or known. And meeting them is both a joy and a danger and Kai finds herself in a position where she would have never imagined she'd be, having once again to make choices that pull at her different sides: human and not human, duty and family... And I love that this book never really goes down the usual path.

The relationship between Avan and Kai is rather different now and much more complicated since even if the feelings are still there, as intense as ever, so much has changed on who they are, Avan even more than Kai. There are small hints of a third person but I wouldn't say it makes a love triangle, because Kai's feelings and Avan's feelings haven't changed.

We learn some more lore about the world about the Infinite but there's still so much more to learn and I do hope we'll get loads more info in book 3! Also after that ending... No, there's not exactly an awful plot cliffhanger, because the main plot theme is resolved and the battle is finished, but there is an underlying plot line that has just been started to unravel and that I cannot wait to see how it plays in the next book!

And of course, emotionally... damn, that ending! Kai will continue to fight and her choice to be strong and finally accept all of who she is will be very interesting to read, but yeah, I really need to get the next book to see how everything plays out and hope someone comes back properly!!

A fantastic sequel, very much deserving of 4 stars!

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It's nearly time for LIARS INC! Interview with Paula Stokes!!

Welcome everyone! Today I am extremely pleased to be part of the celebration for Liars INC by Paula Stokes!

I was extremely lucky to read LIARS, INC early and it kept me up reading till I was done with the book, even when I had a biiig case of jet lag! And today I'm once again lucky to have Paula over in the blog for an interview!

LIARS, INC by Paula Stokes

For fans of Gone Girl, I Hunt Killers, and TV's How to Get Away with Murder.

Max Cantrell has never been a big fan of the truth, so when the opportunity arises to sell forged permission slips and cover stories to his classmates, it sounds like a good way to make a little money and liven up a boring senior year. With the help of his friends Preston and Parvati, Max starts Liars, Inc. Suddenly everybody needs something and the cash starts pouring in. Who knew lying could be so lucrative?

When Preston wants his own cover story to go visit a girl he met online, Max doesn’t think twice about hooking him up. Until Preston never comes home. Then the evidence starts to pile up—terrifying clues that lead the cops to Preston’s body. Terrifying clues that point to Max as the murderer.

Can Max find the real killer before he goes to prison for a crime he didn’t commit? In a story that Kirkus Reviews called "Captivating to the very end," Paula Stokes starts with one single white lie and weaves a twisted tale that will have readers guessing until the explosive final chapters.

 About the author:

Paula Stokes writes stories about flawed characters with good hearts who sometimes make bad decisions. She’s the author of THE ART OF LAINEY, INFINITE REPEAT, LIARS INC., and several other forthcoming YA novels. When she's not writing, she's kayaking, hiking, reading, or seeking out new adventures in faraway lands. Paula loves interacting with readers. Find her online at authorpaulastokes.com or on twitter as @pstokesbooks.


 Liars INC | Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Interview

Today I have the pleasure to welcome to the blog Paula Stokes, fellow nurse (part time) and full time awesome author!
Welcome Paula and thank you so much dropping by for an interview! Never mind the two dragons and sheep fangirling around you, they're (mostly) harmless.

That makes me think of How to Train Your Dragon! *wonders if your dragons ever carry off your sheep and feed them to a big super-dragon* And the interview has taken a dark turn already... ;-)

Oh dear... Morrigan, Mini-maug don't you get ideas!! *stern look at dragons*

- Let's get going. I read and loved Lainey last year and it was a cute & fluffy read with depth to it. How did you come to write such different books? Liars INC is both a thriller and a murder mystery and is as different from Lainey as it comes! Was that a conscious choice or simply something you wanted to write?
I've always been more into darker things. I wrote three work-for-hire historical murder mysteries and I remember telling my Paper Lantern editor I was writing a book with zero dead bodies and she was kind of like, "Why?"
 
Why, indeed! I started out just writing the stories that I most wanted to write, regardless of the reasons. This is the biggest benefit of not having an agent or editor--you literally can write anything you want without worrying about option clauses or branding or the market, etc. I had the idea for LIARS in early 2010, before the idea for LAINEY, but I started LAINEY after a painful breakup and writing her story healed me. Now I feel a like I have a dark audience and a light audience, so I'm going to try to release a book for each of them every year.


- Is there anything that sparked the idea of writing a murder mystery or was it a mash up of things coming together? Also, what came first, the Liars or the murder?

I grew up reading Christopher Pike and Dean Koontz, two guys that really know how to spin some wild tales but make them feel believable enough to be scary. I was definitely inspired by them, but actually the liars came before the murder. I knew what set-up I wanted to use, but it took me a while to figure out what happened to Preston, and more importantly to determine the character motivations behind everything that occurred. I know in the real world people commit all kinds of crimes for seemingly arbitrary reasons, but I think fiction works best if you can look at the actions of all the major players and really understand where they're coming from, whether or not you agree.


- We see a lot of (very welcome) diversity in this book with Parvati being half Indian, Max's adopted twin baby sisters being Korean... how much of it came from a conscious choice to make the book more like life and how much the characters arrived fully formed like that in your mind?

I guess I'm lucky that a wide array of characters naturally appear in my mind, because I'm not sure how organic it would feel if I designed them with a diversity quota in mind. I do believe strongly in diversity, cultural and otherwise, in fiction, but my first loyalty has to be to the story. I generally take the characters as they come and don't change their races, major personality types, etc., unless there's a specific plot need to do so. Obviously if I wrote a book and realized it had no diversity at all I would stop and make some changes, but that hasn't happened to me yet.
 
I did make the conscious choice to make Parvati Indian because one thing that irks me about CIA-related books and movies is their over-reliance on Caucasian characters when the real CIA recruits people of color heavily because they are easier to station in foreign countries. The Korean little sisters are based on two of my students that I taught English to when I lived in Seoul.


- Given that the murder in the book is a high profile one the FBI gets called in and take over the case. Your FBI agents don't seem as much cocky arrogant bastards as they are sometimes portrayed in most tv shows. Did you do a lot of research about FBI agents and procedure/protocols?

I interviewed a Major Case Squad detective who answered a lot of police/legal procedural questions but recommended using FBI agents for the story due to Preston being a senator's son. I hemmed and hawed a bit and made the switch to FBI agents in one of the later drafts, so there are more changes to the finished book that I made after speaking with additional experts while the ARCs were being printed.

The agents are even more professional now--for example Gonzalez doesn't call Max a jackass anymore, he handles the pictures he shows Max with more tact, and McGhee is portrayed as heavy but not quite as obese as he reads in the ARC, as FBI agents have fitness standards that most local detectives don't have. I also got help from a lovely law student who looked up the proper terminology for all the crimes Max commits during this book and critiqued my arraignment proceedings, etc.

My main thing with McGhee and Gonzalez is that I didn't want them to come across as complete nimrods. I'm not a fan of books where the fifteen year old protagonist solves the crime while the adults can't see the clues right in front of their faces. That doesn't feel real to me. These FBI agents aren't perfect, but you get the idea they know how to do their jobs and would eventually solve this case on their own.


- I felt like Max was written so very well and with such a genuine voice, how hard/easy was it to write a male teen POV? Was it harder or easier than writing Lainey or say Micah?

I've always been a tomboy. I grew up following around my older brother, rock climbing and playing Dungeons & Dragons. In my twenties, I spent six years working as a line cook/kitchen supervisor in a restaurant kitchen. Most of the cooks were boys like Max--just regular guys that you have to get to know to see what makes them special. A lot of people would have seen "high school dropouts" or "slackers" or even "thugs." Maybe that's what I saw when I first started working there, but not once I spent time with them. They were all so unique and worth knowing.

Being the only girl in a group of almost all guys was really informative once I convinced them they didn't have to censor themselves around me, and I definitely channeled a lot of my coworkers for both Max and Micah. But I also gave the LIARS manuscript to several guys to read. My Y-chromosome betas helped me weed out the occasional girly phrase and pointed out places where Max was being too dramatic or introspective. Random funny: The original draft had Max mentioning Parvati's "platform ankle boots." Yeah that got cut quickly once I got my "boy notes" back.

I wouldn't say Max was easier or harder to write than Lainey--just different. He was probably easier to write than Micah, because Micah is such a fan favorite that I was really worried I might mess up his voice in INFINITE REPEAT.


- Although Liars INC feels like a finished and contained story on its own, given how everything is resolved, I feel like I'd love to read more about this characters, specially Parvati since I must say she's probably my favourite. Can we expect more about them? Like novellas or companion novels or any sort of extras? *crosses fingers*

Well I made the mistake of putting Parvati's Guide to Lying up on Goodreads, so I guess I have to write that now ;-) That's just going to be a fun 20-page booklet where P talks about how, when, and where to lie, as well as pointing out the times you should probably never lie. You'll be able to read it free on Wattpad.

A companion book that takes place after LIARS, INC. and features Parvati as the main character alongside a cast of diverse teens is outlined and partially written. Think Homeland meets Nikita meets Jennifer Lynn Barnes The Naturals books. I'd say there's a 95% chance I'll finish writing that, even if I can't sell it to a traditional publisher, but I do have two books under contract I *should* write first >_>

And that's all folks! Thank you so much Paula for answering all the questions and not freaking out when Morrigan almost set your hair on fire, she's also a big Parvati fan and got excited thinking about more Parvati stories!

Eek! I thought I smelled burnt hair. Wouldn't be the first time, or the second time, but those are stories for another day :-) Thanks for having me on your lovely site, Pili! *eats cupcake* *tucks second cupcake into purse for later*