AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Cindy Cipriano

1. When/why did you decide to become a writer?

I've carried the idea for The Sidhe Series in my head since I was a small child, but I only decided to become a writer eight years ago. 

2. What authors inspired you when you were younger? What books do you enjoy reading today?

When I was younger I was inspired by C.S. Lewis. I also read Margaret Atwood, Gary Paulson, Ronald Dahl, Lois Lowry, Stephen King, and Kurt Vonnegut. Today I read  mixture of genres of unpublished manuscripts through my two writers groups. In published works, I read Suzanne Collins, Veronica Roth, Rick Riordan, Ally Condie, Becca Fitzpatrick, and any middle grades fiction or YA my friends recommend.

3. What was the inspiration behind your novel The Choice and its predecessor, The Circle?

The Choice is the second book in the Sidhe Series. The Circle was inspired by a daydream while I was, er, in time out. I wondered what I would find if I were to lift away a tile in the floor. I imagined an old man working by candlelight, hunched over an old desk. This image stayed with me and the old man came to life as the main character's grandfather, Uilleam.

4. What's next for these characters (without giving away spoilers)?

The setting for The Choice is a middle school. Most of the characters are in seventh grade. What lies ahead for them is life at the top of the chain as eighth graders. Relationships will be stretched and some will break.

5. Why did you decide to write a book about Sidhe, a very ancient Irish mythological creature?

When I first imagined Uilleam years ago (I think I was eight years old), logic told me he'd have to be a faery to fit through a floor tile. When I decided to write about faeries, I knew I wanted to focus on Irish fae. As I researched faeries for the series, I discovered other types of faeries. I included clans in my stories. For example, the main clans in the story include Irish, Scottish, Italian, African, Jewish, and American.

6. Were any of the characters personalities or emotions taken from real life?

No. All of the characters are my creations.

7. What other genres would you like to try your hand at?

I also write young adult novels. My first one, Amaberis, is the story of 17 year old Leath Elliott. Leath is a 17 year old shooting enthusiast who is sick of dating boys from Woodvine, NC. She sets her sights on James Turner, an emancipated transfer student with a questionable past.

8. If you could trade places with any of your characters, who would it be and why?

I don't know that I'd want to trade places with any of the characters in my stories. However, I would very much like to meet Rebeccah (Kischef Clan), and Donnelly (Hobayeth Clan). They have interesting back stories.

9. What kind of research went into creating these books?

I was a tomboy growing up and knew nothing about faeries when I decided to write the series. I bought lots of reference books on faeries and visited many websites. I also studied the meaning of different types of first and surnames of many different cultures, aiming to give my characters meaningful names.

10. Would you like to see The Choice or The Circle as a film? If yes, who do you want to see play your characters?

I would love to see the Sidhe Series books become films. As for characters, I think that would depend upon when the movie was made.

11. Where do you see yourself and your career in the next ten years?

I'd love to say I'd be a mid-list writer. Who knows? I'll keep at it, though.

12. What would you be doing if you weren't writing?

Writing ;)

13. Can you tell KSR what you're working on next?

I have a couple of projects. One is a picture book, as yet untitled.

14. What authors, dead or alive, would you like to collaborate with?

I'd love to collaborate with fellow writer, Lynn Chandler Willis. Hey Lynn - how about a YA Mystery?

15. Thank you for participating in the interview. Can you please leave the readers with three things that may surprise them about you?

1. The Circle won the Moonbeam Childrens Book Silver Award. I think people are always surprised when a small press book wins an award.
2. I'd love a miniature giraffe. I mean, who wouldn't?

3. I absolutely adore the moon.

Find Ms. Cipriano online via:

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AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Phil Williams

1. When/why did you decide to become a writer?

I've been writing for as long as I knew what writing was - it was never a decision. I wrote short stories on the back of cardboard boxes aged 5 or 6 because it was the only material I could find to write on. Though I'm sure we owned paper. As for why, I don't know - it's like a compulsion. Strangely, my desire to write probably got in the way of my doing it professionally  -knowing that I would write no matter what, I've busied myself with a lot of other activities to give me something to write about. 


2. What authors inspired you when you were younger? What books do you enjoy reading today?

Terry Pratchett, without a doubt, was the author I read most when I was young. I adored everything about the Discworld series, and that really instilled the sense of entertainment in writing in me. The sense of taking writing seriously, though, came when I read Catch-22. Joseph Heller made me realise how much effort you could put into a piece of writing. Then I think Kurt Vonnegut bridged the gap between the two influences with his unique blend.

Now, I enjoy all sorts - I'm always baffled by how much more out there is I don't know about, so it's a constant process of experimenting. Most recently, it's been a lot of Neil Gaiman and some light crime thrillers.

3. What was the inspiration behind your novel Gun City Bohemian?

I wrote it while I was at university myself; a lot of the more anecdotal elements of the story are interpretations of what I saw around me, and the plot the overtakes the characters was borne from my imagining what-ifs and explaining away things that actually happened in a fantastical way - such as that cursed dripping at night. The details got ironed out over the course of many rewrites though; I wasn't happy with the way the plot fit together until many years later when things just seemed to click.


4. Will we ever see these characters again in the future?

I wouldn't say never, but it's not planned - Gun City Bohemian is rare in my writing in that I always approached it as a complete story, and saw this arc as complete. There are hints towards some of my other novels in there, so there might be some minor cross-overs, but these characters were intended for this story.


5. What is the significance behind the polarizing characters: one who lives in reality and one who prefers inebriation and possible hallucinations?

It takes a straight character to really understand how messed up a crooked one is, and similarly to bring some credence to their wildness when it starts to seem more serious, so the polarization is all about unravelling the characters' respective lifestyles.


6. Were any of the characters personalities or emotions taken from real life?

Originally yes, though over the course of the rewrites I'm sure a lot changed and those elements took on a life of their own. Jodie in particular was taken from a girl who became a very unlikely friend of mine, who no one else really knew. I think she ended up in Australia.


7. What other genres would you like to try your hand at?

I'm always interested in trying different genres - or at least working them into my contemporary fantasy style. I'm working on a take on the crime thriller genre at the moment, which will be a real difference for me.


8. Would you rather trade places with Will or Lisa and why?
In the circumstances, probably Lisa - because I know what it's like to feel like Will, and that nervous insomnia and general confusion isn't especially desirable! A simple life is a nice thing...

9. Why did you tie in fantasy and reality in Will and Lisa's lives? What's the purpose behind the constant polarity in the book?

There are often things we feel we can't explain, or things that seem unreal in a particular moment (even if it's a moment when you're particularly inebriated) - I wanted to get across that feeling, where anything seems possible, even within the confines of otherwise ordinary lives. That's where the polarity becomes most interesting for me, the point where something that seems normal can become completely extraordinary. And, for what it's worth, I think the contrastingly ordinary elements of Lisa's life are just as crazy to Will as his is to her. 

10. Would you like to see Gun City Bohemian as a film? If yes, who do you want to see play your characters?

It's not one I'd have pegged as movie material, I think it would be an interesting challenge though! So I can't say I'd thought of casting options, they'd have to be quite young actors, and I think in its low-key nature it'd owe itself better to unknowns. Although Whythn would be easier, he'd have to have that heart-throb charisma (depending on your preference!) of a Tom Hardy or Tom Hiddleston.


11. Where do you see yourself and your career in the next ten years?

Still writing, but in any number of possible guises. As far as my career is concerned, I would ideally get to use writing to pay all my bills. But I'm open to different options. Maybe I'm not great at planning ahead.


12. What would you be doing if you weren't writing?

Thinking about writing, I imagine. I love telling stories one way or another, if I couldn't do it through fiction I'd probably find another medium - filmmaking, or video game design, perhaps. I'd make art too if I was any good at it.


13. Can you tell KSR what you're working on next?

Sure, I've got a full-blown fantasy epic in editing stages, charting an office worker's 8 year journey through a strange new world (spoilers, he becomes a hardened hero and almost gets everyone killed); and a crime thriller I'm starting out on where a betting shop owner takes it upon himself to hunt down a killer.


14. What authors, dead or alive, would you like to collaborate with?

I've never really collaborated on writing, but there are people I'm sure I could learn a lot from working alongside them - living Neil Gaiman is one of my biggest inspirations. Dead, probably Kurt Vonnegut and Mark Twain. Together if possible, magical things would happen there. Those three are probably already cliche enough, but just to be sure of being unoriginal here - I'd also be fascinated to see Shakespeare at work. 


15. Thank you for participating in the interview. Can you please leave the readers with three things that may surprise them about you?

Thank you for arranging it! Three things... 

1) I've lived in some very strange locations teaching abroad, including an oil town in the middle of the Abu Dhabi desert, and a building site in Russia

2) I've probably read more books about gambling than on any other subject (and that's mostly non-fiction)

3) alongside my fiction I've also published a rather popular English grammar guide

Find Mr. Williams online via:

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BOOK REVIEW: "Gun City Bohemian" by Phil Williams

Will Carter toils through books and beer without really knowing why. A student without purpose, he shelters from life in inebriation. And occasionally sees things that aren’t really there.
Lisa Shelling barely stops working, dedicated to an education that will better people's lives. She doesn't have much time for socialising, fun or imagining the unreal.
Neither could have imagined the impact their meeting would have - on themselves, their friends, the city around them and reality itself.
Gun City Bohemian is an urban fantasy where the power of two people's love causes art, fallen angels and amateur journalism to collide. An endearing tale of romance and dark humour that pits the carefree nature of student lives against the horrors of adult responsibility and rising Hell.

Gun City Bohemian is a very different take on urban fantasy. I'm so used to "urban fantasy" being ingenues falling for rugged werewolves, that I was very (pleasantly) surprised by this book. It seems so normal for much of the narrative, detailing the characters' lives and personalities. You'd never expect fallen angels and Hell to become a part of the plot.
The story works well as a romance with dark humor, but paranormal elements were added and it adds another level of interest and entertainment to the story.
The humor is very dark, British that you'd see on the older shows like Are You Being Served or the intelligent humor of the more modern Sherlock. It flows easily, entertaining you for a few hours. You get to know two disparate yet equally interesting individuals, people who seem as real as you are.
Mr. Williams has a lot of talent, and I'm excited to read his future works!

4/5--a writer with amazing potential!

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BOOK REVIEW: "Best Friends...Forever?" by Krysten Lindsay Hager

Landry Albright hopes the new year will start off in an amazing way—instead she has to deal with more frenemy issues, boy drama, and having most of her besties make the cheerleading squad without her. Suddenly, it seems like all anyone can talk about is starting high school next year—something she finds terrifying. 
Landry gets her first boyfriend, but then gets dumped just as things come to a head with her friends. She feels lost and left out, but finds good advice from what she considers an unlikely source. Landry learns to speak up for what’s right, tell the truth (even when it hurts), and how to get past the fear of failure as she gets another shot at competing in the American Ingénue modeling competition.

High school. Stephen King said he'd never trust anyone who looks back fondly at their high school years. I feel the same way, and so does poor Landry, a seemingly normal girl who, by rights, should have a fun high school existence. Despite getting the chance to be a model, she's feeling more left out than ever. Her boyfriend dumps her, which is pretty depressing on its own. Plus, she's left out again when her friends make the cheerleading squad.
As someone who stood out and never went with a clique (nor did I ever want to join the cheerleading squad), I can't imagine what it must be like to be Landry, to try so hard to fit in yet still be pushed out and made fun of.
This is a textbook case of how kids get depression in school. It also shows that, even if you seem like a "normal" person, you can still be an outsider in your own skin.
Ms. Hager once again gave us a wonderful, touching and classic tale of teenage life in upper-middle-class America these days. A book for parents, teachers and high school students alike!

4/5--a realistic story.

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BLOG TOUR/GUEST POST: "Pure Death" by Liah Penn

Description:

A murdered society debutante, her body sprinkled with 89 Costa Rican butterflies. A headless, gutted corpse washed up on shore with a beautiful, dead teenager. The case is anything but straightforward, and in an uncertain future, where resources are limited and the genetically defective are banished to a ghetto territory for Impures, Chief Detective Ina Stone and her partner, rookie detective Sam Fujimoto, must cross into Pure Territory to find a killer. An Impure herself, Ina must overcome her defect. And when her life is threatened, she must learn to rely on Sam, whose interest in her seems more than just professional.

Yet the Pures may have created a world in which even they don’t want to live anymore. Resources have become too scarce to hide, and a black market for medicine comes to light. When a third murder is discovered, Ina and Sam know there’s a connection. With too many suspects and not enough time, they must find that connection before the killer strikes again. I had been born Pure, just after the War, a perfect baby, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and parents who tested in the top one percent of the intelligence quotient. But I wasn’t perfect. When I was pulled from my mother’s womb my left hand was withered, damaged, and bent. Now, as I walked home, I pulled the defective hand out of my pocket and left it out. Just in case. IP Territory was a dangerous place to live.

The rain had stopped by the time I left the bar, so as I navigated the oily streets, my ears were alert for signs of trouble. It was nearly two o’clock in the morning. The mist hung in sheets and my hair was beaded with pearls of moisture like spider’s eggs on a black widow’s web. I could feel the damp and cold seeping into my bones. I recalled the glistening of body fluids under the decomposed body, oozing from the flesh as it fell like parchment from the sinewy muscle and bones.

I stopped in my tracks and thought. Was the ground under the body dry? No, it was wet. But not just from the body fluids. No blood. We saw that. But the dirt, not dry. Moist. Black, silty Mississippi river mud. Had the body been placed after it had started raining? Or had it washed up on shore? Was that what Melker meant when he said the person hadn’t died there? I felt the evidence bag in my pocket. I’d have to log it in on Monday.

I walked on, the street lamps casting an amber hue, burnishing the decaying buildings with its light. Oil on the streets weeped into puddles creating rainbows in the grime. The shiny pen-like object on the chain. Why wasn’t it dirty and oily? Or had it been washed clean by the rain before the body had been placed at the dump site? Was it even related?

Bio:

Liah Penn is an author and attorney who resides outside of New Orleans, Louisiana with her husband and two sons.  A former prosecutor, she has worked on an Indian reservation, on the Mexican border and as a small town lawyer.  She is hard at work on the second book in the Ina Stone and Sam Fujimoto mystery, “Pure Justice”.

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Guest Post:

How I Name My Characters

You probably think there is a science to naming characters. Well, there is. Sort of.

Names are just as much a characteristic as the color of my character’s hair, or the way they walk. My hero has to have the name of a hero: Jack, Blane, Hank, Jude. Single syllables. Hard consonants. The heroine must be appealing. When’s the last time you heard of a sultry heroine named Mildred? Or Agatha? Or Bessie? I give her a strong name with just enough uniqueness to show that she is special. Ada. Elizabeth. Grace. Maya.

I look at the phone book, or steal the name of a friend. In the case of my novel, “Pure Death”, I used the name “Ina” for the heroine. Ina is the name of a street in Tucson, named after a pioneering woman. It’s strong and unique. It seemed to fit my character perfectly.

Sometimes I name characters after friends or family members. My father, my son, my mother-in-law show up in my novels. A friend who has been supportive gets a role. If I can’t find a name among friends, I resort to the internet or phone books, or real books propped up on my desk. A name on the spine, a publisher, a poster. Does it role off the tongue? Is the name more suitable for a dog or a turtle or the five fish in your son’s aquarium? I don’t use it.

The villain can’t be Ashley or Bob. I give my readers something to chew on. Does it feel distasteful in my mouth? Damian. Vincent. Vlad. Somehow, without even knowing it, the reader has detected the bad guy in my story.

*UPDATED* ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Matt Lande

Matt Lande reveals the interaction between what is wrong and right, making his colors vast and opposing, yet relatable and fused. Visions of divine satisfaction being stolen away by earthly pain and dreams of tragedy turning into promise, swirl in your mind as you listen to his music. This is just a part of what makes up Matt's ethereal and powerful writing style. If you ask him what else might ignite his passion for writing, producing and performing, he might tell you "past demons, love, suffering and often taking a journey through the eyes of others."

​Matt is an alternative recording artist from Portland, Oregon. He has been compared to the smooth vocalist, Darren Hayes (Savage Garden) but with some extra edge. Fans of Matt are found to also be fans of 30 Seconds to Mars, Muse, HIM and David Cook. Thus far, his musical journey has brought him to tour the country on several occasions, fulfill two record deals, and perform, write, produce and record with multi-platinum artists. Starting off in his small town of Inverness, Florida, Matt grew from playing small churches, to becoming lead guitarist, writer and backing vocalist for the band StorySide:B. StorySide:B released their debut album titled "Everything and More" in 2006. Matt co-wrote the title track which became one of the band's #1 hits. After feeling that there was more to do in his musical journey, he left the Christian music industry and moved to Los Angeles to pursue the mainstream. Shortly after arriving, Matt signed an independent two album deal and released "Stories From Yesterday", followed by "Welcome Home The Child" a couple of years later. Both were adored by fans and critics alike. In 2014 he independently recorded 3 tracks that are featured with promotion of the novel "DarkStar" and also released a best of album which featured his top 15 tracks chosen by fans.

​As of late, Matt has relocated to the Pacific Northwest. He continues to work with talented musicians and within the television and film industry on shows such as NBC's Grimm & TNT's The Librarians. He is currently recording his new album "Glow", which is set to release on December 1st, 2015.

You can now listen to clips from each song on the album by clicking the video below!

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BOOK REVIEW: "Riding In Cars With Girls" by Evangeline Jennings

A transgressive and cauterizing crime fiction collection with more twists and turns than a high mountain road, Riding in Cars with Girls is a hard, fast, and beautifully dangerous read. Consider the evidence: 
FIREBIRD -- A small town cocktail waitress. A glamorous stranger behind the wheel of a stolen muscle car. A raging forest fire. What could possibly go wrong? 
ESCORT -- A high class hooker fucks a Mafia Don to death and the fallout forces an undercover Fed to make the toughest call of her career. Should she do her job or the right thing? 
911 -- Alex is doomed. Nikki's along for the ride. Something about fjords. 
AUDI -- South London's finest teenage car thieves stake their lives on an illegal road race. 
TRANS AM -- A widow hunts her husband's killer across America. Route 666. 
CROWN VICTORIA -- Two young runaway lovers with a steep price on their heads take a savage roadtrip through every kind of crazy. 
Riding In Cars With Girls -- Dangerous curves ahead.

Riding In Cars With Girls is a great, fast-paced short story collection. It has a dark, noir setting, adding in hot rods driven by kick-a** females. My personal favorite was Audi, but no story here is lacking anything. You've got murder, sex, burglary and so much more crammed into very little space. But it's not crowded, it's just right. Like a bunch of teenagers filling a car to capacity, you know what you're getting into, but still run in to some surprises.
I can't give this a very involved review, because I don't want to spoil the mystery of the stories for you. Just know that Evangeline Jennings wrote a great collection, one that many readers will be able to enjoy, no matter your gender.

4/5--fast-paced and bad-a**!





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BOOK REVIEW: "Rise: Rejection Is A Lie" by D.U. Okonkwo

At age eleven, Ria Ofor was caught in a fire that left her facially-scarred. Devastated by the apparent rejection by her father, Ria, now twenty-seven, is a gifted sculptress but lives a semi reclusive life. Avoiding art galleries and their consequent publicity, she sells her artwork online, scraping a living through online sales. But when she's hit with a repossession notice on her home, it rocks the shaky foundations she’s been living on.

On borrowed time, Ria knows she must land a gallery contract in order to survive. That means stepping out of her comfort zone and coming face to face with what she’s spent the last sixteen years trying to avoid: rejection. But competition for lucrative gallery contracts is cut-throat, and Ria soon discovers that some artists will stop at nothing to keep the spoils of the glittering art world for themselves.Torn between the events of her past and the lies threatening to also destroy her future, Ria makes a decision that changes her life forever.

I received a copy of Rise in exchange for an honest review.

Shyness. Fear. Low self-esteem. Undeniable talent. Those things could all be used to describe heroine Ria in Rise. But she is not the sum of her parts. Ria is so much more, a bright spirit filled with a drive to create.

She was hurt badly as a child, and has never really overcome her insecurities. In the story, she is forced to reject her self-impose reclusion and go into society. It's that or lose her home.

No recluse likes being forced to go outside. As someone who has social anxiety and have known people with agoraphobia, I know this for a fact. So I sympathized with Ria for most of the story, being if fear of the public.

It's also a statement about the world itself: they will antagonize her. They will see her scars and they will use them as fuel for the firestorm of insults. Society is a cruel place, and not for the faint of heart. Ria is a very brave soul to finally have to face her fears and overcome them. She's a wonderful character, written with just the right amount of strength, humility, and even a little self-deprecating humor. One thing she doesn't have is pity. There is no pity for Ria; only a little sympathy or empathy. And a lot of admiration.

Ms. Okonkwo wrote a touching, realistic and beautiful story. A must-read!

5/5--beautifully done!

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BOOK REVIEW: "Soulless Shadows" by Sarah Desir

To become an full-fledged Nephilim is the highest honor in Soraya Markheim's world. A seventeen year old Nephilim, Soraya has spent her entire life protecting her best friend, Nero, from the creatures that want only one thing: The Apocalypse. Soraya's school, Saint Michael's Academy, trains humans with angel blood to fight monstrous creatures- Vampires, Demons, and Dark Angels. Soraya vowed to always protect Nero from harm, but what happens when Soraya can't protect Nero from the only creature she can't fight: Himself?

The last time I saw a Nephilim, it was being murdered on Supernatural. I think they're an underutilized creature (though Elizabeth Corrigan did a great job inserting them into her work), and I loved seeing one as a heroine in a story, facing off against a myriad of other paranormal creatures.
Soraya is a strong, sassy character, determined and brave. Ms. Desir brought out the humanity within her as she protects her friend and tries to stop the Apocalypse. Out of all the teenage heroines in literature today, she's one of my favorites.
Nero is a great supporting character, and I think you'd instantly ship them with each other. He's the other half to a great duo.
Plot wise, what could've happened was you got a mishmash that didn't work conceptually. But what actually happened was a clean, concise story that was extremely visual and entertaining. I read the book over two days, immersing myself in a great fantasy world filled with love and danger. It's a story about friendship, and about light beating the darkness.

4/5--definitely add this to your TBR!

Purchase Soulless Shadows on Amazon (available in all countries).

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: "Interim" by S. Walden

~A lot can change in the space between devising a plan and carrying it out. That space is called the Interim.~

High school seniors Jeremy Stahl and Regan Walters aren’t friends. Not even close. He’s a picked-on, picked-apart loser outcast. She’s a cool kid running with the popular crowd. It’s unlikely they’d ever speak to one another. Too bad he’s madly in love with her. But what does it matter, anyway? He’s got no time for love. Only revenge.

Meticulously detailed in the pages of his battered red notebook is his master plan: April 14, 9:30 A.M., two guns, eighty rounds of ammo, backup knives, eleven victims. He’s finally ready to answer every single taunt, jeer, and flying fist—unwarranted abuse that’s spanned six years of his lonely life. He’s justified. He’s ready. But he never readied himself for her.

Regan finds his journal. She reads it, and when he discovers her intrusion, he has to switch tactics. She’s a liability now.

Better fix that.

(WARNING: This is a New Adult standalone that contains graphic language and violence, including gun violence. If school shootings are an especially sensitive subject for you, then I urge you to refrain from reading this book.)

Excerpt:

His heart plummeted when their eyes met that morning. And then the anger bubbled up in his chest almost immediately. The things she must know! He knew she read it. A girl would have read it. Fucking girls. It was written all over her guilty face, her deer-in-headlights eyes. Her body language. He saw the imperceptible tightening of his words against her chest—her biceps flexing as she secured his notebook to her body. Like she owned it. Like she owned him.

The hell you do, he thought.

Letter to the Reader:

Dear Reader,

Not many authors will discourage you from reading their work. After all, the goal of our stories is to grow our readership, not diminish it. I’m well aware of that, but when I first became inspired with Jeremy’s story, I knew I would have to go about promoting it in an entirely different way—something far removed from my past marketing campaigns. I knew I would have to hide the book, stamp disclaimers all over it, plant seeds of doubt in your minds, decline requests for advanced reviews—in essence, all the things an author SHOULD NOT do when marketing her book. That’s why it took me so long to write the damn thing—over a year of worrying, second-guessing, flip-flopping, arguing. Jeremy sat waiting patiently, and I stared back at him wondering just how much he would destroy my career.

Then I remembered that his story is exactly the type of controversial social issue I enjoy tackling. I knew I had to write it because I could. I could be sensitive to the subject matter without being PC. I could leave my political and moral opinions out of it. I could make it a human story, not a gun story. I could do all these things if I worked very hard—if I was diligent and faithful to my characters and their experiences. Once I realized these things, I stopped fretting and just started writing, careful to keep all the details private and sacred. That’s how writing should be: private and sacred.

Now Jeremy’s story is no longer private, but I hope you will find it sacred. I hope you will throw off your preconceptions and bury your social and political views, your moral judgments. It’s too easy to go into a story like this already angry, especially if you or someone you love has experienced gun violence. I urge you to think long and hard before starting Interim if you are especially sensitive to the topic of school shootings. There are extremely violent, descriptive scenes, and I do not wish for my book to be a trigger for you.

I am well aware of the social debate a book like this may provoke. I did not write it for debate. I did not write it to make a statement about guns, gun control, gun access, Constitutional rights, etc. I am not interested in comparing my story to the horrific school shootings that have taken place in the United States. I have no motive other than to tell a story about an abused boy who felt he deserved justice. What you take away from the novel is entirely up to you.

Love,

Summer

S. Walden used to teach English before making the best decision of her life by becoming a full-time writer. She lives in Georgia with her very supportive husband who prefers physics textbooks over fiction and has a difficult time understanding why her characters must have personality flaws. She is wary of small children, so she has a Westie instead. She is the USAToday bestselling author of Going Under. When she's not writing, she's thinking about it.

She loves her fans and loves to hear from them. Email her at swaldenauthor@hotmail.com and follow her twitter feed at @swaldenauthor.

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