Fun Friday - An Interview with Stacey Rourke

It's always so much fun interviewing authors, so this week the YA Storytellers are interviewing each other so that you guys can get to know a little more about us.

I was lucky enough to get Stacey Rourke as my pick and it's so cool to have her on YAlicious today.
Welcome, Stacey!

What would you find in your refrigerator right now?

Leftover birthday cake, beer and three kinds of coffee creamer. Huh. I really need to go shopping...

If you could wave a magic wand and have any career (besides writing) what would it be?

Heiress to a fortune that has unlimited financial resources to shop, vacation, and do whatever suits me. That would be swell. 

What inspires you out of writer's block?

Two things: music and people watching. Music inspires emotional heavy scenes for me, while people watching can help me create situations I couldn't have dreamed up otherwise--all while being a slight creeper and staring at strangers.

Any works in process that you are passionate about?

I have a new adult speculative fiction series I am working on now that I am insanely excited about. I'd tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you. 

Which of your characters would you like to be friends with?

Rowan from the Gryphon Series, he's such a cocky ass but he's always good for a laugh. Plus, that drunken pirate thing really works for me, hence my love for Captain Jack Sparrow. 

Which of your characters do you like writing about most?

Grams, a crazy old lady that speaks her mind and has a love for anything animal print. She is always a hoot to write! 

What is your favorite 80s movie? band? song? TV show?

Beetleguise, he's not a band but Billy Idol, "Hey Mickey" and 21 Jump Street

Do you have a favorite charity?

Toys for Tots, Coats for Kids or basically any that help better the lives of children. 

Tell us about your favorite Christmas tradition.

On Christmas Eve my kids and I make sugar cookies for Santa and lay out carrots for his reindeer. Then we snuggle in with some hot chocolate and watch The Polar Express. Right before bed we read T'was the Night Before Christmas and I tuck them in. One of my favorite times of year, by far!  

Do you see any current trends in YA literature?

The trends change constantly. But whatever we can do to keep our young adults reading I am all for! 

Thanks so much, Stacey. I read T'was the Night Before Christmas to my kids on Christmas Eve too. It's such a special treat :)

If you'd like to find out more about Stacey, you can check out her links and books below.

And if you'd like to read some more YA Storyteller interviews, check out YA STORYTELLERS FUN FRIDAY.

RONE Award Winner for Best YA Paranormal Work of 2012 for Embrace, a Gryphon Series Novel
Young Adult and Teen Reader voted Author of the Year 2012.

Stacey Rourke is the author of the YA Fantasy Gryphon Series and the nonfiction autobiographical I'm Not Crazy, I'm on Lupron; a Journey Through Infertility. She lives in Michigan with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant, drooly dogs. Stacey loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head. She is currently hard at work on the continuations of the Gryphon Series as well as other literary projects.

Visit her at www.staceyrourke.com, diaryofasemi-crazyauthor.blogspot.com, Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stacey-Rourke/ or on Twitter @Rourkewrites.

AMAZON / SMASHWORDS

AMAZON / SMASHWORDS

AMAZON / SMASHWORDS

AMAZON / SMASHWORDS

Author Highlight - T. G. Ayer

It is very cool to have T. G. Ayer visiting my blog today. She is an amazing writer and has become a close friend. Her latest book Skin Deep is now out. I'm halfway through reading it. She has created a fascinating world and I can't wait to see how the book ends. Keep an eye out for my review post next week :)

But for today, as part of her Skin Deep Blog Tour, here is Tee's interview on Skin Deep and writing.

1. What inspired Skin Deep?

I'm a fan of paranormal and fantasy. the idea of shifters and magic has always enthralled me. Kailin's story came about when I read a scene in a novel where a killer removes the skin of his victim- that inspired the skinned Walkers body being found by the main character- everything just flowed from there. And this book was not plotted - totally on hundred percent pantsed.

2. Who is your favorite character in Skin Deep and why do you like them so much?

Tara the metal-singer -besides Kailin of course  - I love Tara's power, would love to be able to mold any metal to whatever shape I like - and of course, Tara will have her own DarkWorld tale in time

3. If Kailin and Bryn (from your Valkyrie novels) met each other, how do you think they'd get along?

I think they would. Kailin's a bit of a mommy and in many way's so if Bryn. Both are strong and like to be treated with respect. Of course, Kai won't trust Bryn entirely becuase even if she's a Valkyrie she was raised a Human and Shifters don't trust many Humans.

4. I know you are passionate about your craft. What is your favourite part of the process?

I love writing but I also love the part where the ideas begin to fall into place. Where as soon as you ask yourself a question about the MS a whole bunch of ideas and solutions fall into place like pieces of a gigantic puzzle. Love it.

5. Do you listen to music when you write? 

I do listen to music but I tend to prefer quiet during the day. Most of my wriitng is done listening to the three Cold Play albums I have running on repeat- for some reason their music helps me shut everything else in my mind down and allows me to concentrate.

Five Favourites

1. Author - Dean Koontz - cos to this day he still manages to hold my attention and give me the chills

2. TV Show - Revenge - isn't it fun to live vicariously through someone avenging herself against the people who have wronged her.

3. Movie genre - Anything thats fantasy - I love M. Night Shymalan's movies - a little horror a little fantasy- perfect

4. Actor - Gerard Butler - need I say more? 

5. Place to read - by the fire, under a blanket sipping hot chocolate - and since I have no fire sitting in the sunshine will have to do. - oh and lots of rain will make it totally perfect

Thanks so much for visiting YAlicious today. It's so super cool to have you :)

If you'd like to connect with Tee online, you can follow the links below.

tgayer.com
www.facebook.com/TGAyerAuthor

twitter.com/#!/TGAyerAuthor

tgayer.wordpress.com

www.goodreads.com/author/show/5726831.T_G_Ayer

Screwing Up Babylon - New Release by C. M. Keller

 Babylon, one of the most powerful and notorious empires ever, is the last place Mark wants to go. But when he discovers his girlfriend Miranda has been kidnapped and given to the king as a concubine, he travels through the colors of time to rescue her. It won’t be easy, not when the Hanging Gardens are a trap, his life is the prize in a game, and time is a prison. It will take all Mark’s cunning, the help of his friends, and a crazed chimp to free Miranda. When he does, time itself begins to unravel, and a life must be sacrificed or no one will survive.

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of this book and I loved it. You can see my review here.

Since the book has just come out, I invited C. M. Keller to visit YAlicious and tell us why she chose Babylon as her setting for the second book in her Screwing Up Time series.

* * * * * 

One of the joys of writing time travel is that all of history becomes your playground. No time or culture is off limits. Of course, the question then becomes what time period do you choose. And that’s the question Melissa posed for me when she asked me to write this blog post. Why Babylon?

I have to admit that Babylon has fascinated me for most of my life. My first contact with Babylon was the story of Esther—an ancient beauty pageant winner who almost ended up as a concubine. Then, I fell in love with the story of Scheherazade, a Persian woman who survives by cleverness and stories. When I was in school, I read about the Code of Hammurabi and the Hanging Gardens. Later as an adult, I taught the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Yale Museum of British Art’s paintings of Babylon captured my imagination.

When I began Screwing Up Babylon and discovered that Peter had kidnapped Miranda to use her to manipulate Mark, I knew where Peter would take her. Babylon. I actually tried to talk myself out of the location because I knew it would present several problems. One, the language—the people of Babylon speak Akkadian, and my main characters do not. So it would be a huge challenge to engage the reader in the plot when Mark and Miranda can’t understand what anyone around them is saying. My other concern was that the culture of Babylon was violent and life was cheap. I knew if I set the novel there, the story would be darker.

So I tried to think of other settings, but they weren’t right. This sequel had to take place in Babylon because Babylon itself was a character—what was going to happen in the story could only take place in Babylon. So I stopped trying to force the story to fit somewhere else. And when I did, the story wrote itself.

Hopefully, readers come away from the book not only with a better understanding of many sides of Babylon, both the exotic and the bleak, but also a greater appreciation of their own culture.

* * * * * 

I loved seeing Babylon through the eyes of Mark and Miranda. You captured the city beautifully and it was the perfect setting for Screwing Up Babylon. Thanks so much for your insights, Connie.

The first book in this series - Screwing Up Time - is currently only 99c on Amazon. If you'd like to pick up a copy and grab yourself a copy of Screwing Up Babylon, you can follow the link below.

Amazon.com