Equinox Blog Tour - Lara Morgan Interview and Giveaway!

The Tales Compendium is one of many stops for YA author Lara Morgan as she takes part in a blog tour launching Equinox, the 2nd book in her Rosie Black Chronicles series.

Today Lara has stopped by to answer some questions about what the writing experience has been like while writing Rosie Black.

Can you tell us a little about The Rosie Black Chronicles...
It’s a dystopian series set five hundred years in the future centred around the life of sixteen year old Rosie Black and her battles against a powerful corporation called Helios. Rosie’s mother is dead, killed by an incurable disease named the MalX, and her father has never recovered from her loss. Rosie’s only other family is her Aunt Essie, a tough ex-soldier who is now a spaceship pilot. When Helios comes into Rosie’s life she must join forces with a boy named Pip, who she’s not sure she can trust, and a mysterious man named Riley who seems to have myriad hidden agendas. Together they must face up to the might of a corporation who will kill anyone who stands in their path to global domination. To bring them down, Rosie must fight to discover the truth behind the terrible secrets they hide and along the way discover love, loss and betrayal.

Can you describe the series in three words?

Dystopian romantic adventure.

Where did the idea for the series come from?
I’ve long had an interest in what climate change is doing to our planet and how it will affect us, so I wanted to write a series set in a future where much of what may happen has come to pass – such as rising sea levels, climate refugees, water shortages and a strictly regulated society. But I also wanted to write something that had the adventure and romance I love from some of my favourite classic movies like Star Wars and Indiana Jones, so The Rosie Black Chronicles was the result of that.

Do you have a set number of books you are planning or are you just going to see where the story takes you?
At the moment I’m contracted to produce three which will complete the story arc I started in the first book, Genesis, but you never know what can happen in the future. I do have ideas but I can’t divulge them here. *smiles and winks*

What is a typical day like for you?
I wish I could say I sat at my desk at 8am and worked like a demon all day, taking only short virtuous breaks, Unfortunately that’s not what happens. A typical day is probably get up, make tea, drink tea, go through emails and get distracted for an hour with replying then going on Twitter which leads to blogs, which leads to…..you see where this is going? Then I force myself away from that, often unplugging the internet connection so I can’t go online, and get down to the work for the day. At the moment it’s writing the third book in the Rosie series so it’s writing in creative bursts of mad typing for maybe an hour then staring at my notes. I do set myself a minimum word limit of 2000 words per day though so I’m not allowed to finish until I achieve that. And there’s a lot of tea drinking amongst all that. Generally I will be at my desk from nine am to about four or later depending on if I’ve reached my word count. Sometimes I’ll work until well after dark. Aah the glamorous life!

Do you have any must-haves while writing? eg: coffee, chocolate, music?
A cup of tea. I have to have a fresh one made and sitting on my desk so I can hang onto it and stare at what I wrote yesterday before I start. Sometimes I play music but not when I’m writing a first draft, only in the editing stage. And it has to fit the kind of scene I’m working on. I make play lists for certain kinds of books. When I was working on Equinox I listened to Pink, Embassy, Susan Enan and The Vampire Diaries soundtrack just to name.

What is the hardest thing about writing a series?
Getting all the details right so the plot lines run smoothly through all the books. I’m the kind of writer who has to finish one book to really know what is going to happen in the next one – which makes things difficult when you have plot threads running through the entire series. I do have sketch outlines of how I think things will end up but usually things change a lot from the start of writing to the end so it’s very fluid and I end up doing things differently to how I might have started out. It’s annoying but it’s just what works for me. I find if I make too detailed a plot outline at the beginning I get bored when I’m writing because I know too well what’s coming next and I’ll change things anyway, so it’s just the way I have to do things. I guess I like a challenge!

If you were not a writer, what would you like to be doing?
I always thought it would be fun to be one of those people who roam around the world doing critiques on fancy hotels. You know, the secret hotel detectives who report on the comfy factor of the beds and how good room service is. I could cope with that, especially if the hotels were on Greek islands or Tahiti. Does that even exist as a job? Maybe I should write a book about someone who does that, imagine the research I could do!

GETTING TO KNOW LARA MORGAN

~10 quick questions~

What is your favourite...
Season – Spring, warm enough for picnics, cool enough at night for snuggling
Place – that’s too hard! Greece.
Sound – rain on the roof
Food – pasta
Movie – argh! Too many to choose from…. Casablanca
Band/Artist – right now, Diana Krall, it will be different tomorrow
Smell – the sharpness of fresh ink and paper in a new book
Word – tabula rasa (or does that count as two?)
Animal – my dog, though he is no longer with me
Book – The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula Le Guin

A big thankyou to Lara Morgan for stopping by on her blog tour!

Win
To win a free copy of Equinox, simply leave a comment below with your name, email address and what you think would be a cool name for book three in the series (this is just for fun!).

Sorry but entries are only open to Australian postal addresses. Entries close December 1st 2011 (a week after the final blog tour stop).

Lara and Rosie Online

For all things Rosie Black, visit Lara's blog and don't forget to head over to Facebook and 'Like' the Rosie Black Fan Page!


Blog Tour
Lara's next stops on her tour will be over at The Paperback Heart and Burn Bright on Thursday (November 17th).

To see the full lists of blogs taking part, click here.

Genesis by Bernard Beckett

Title: Genesis
Author: Bernard Beckett

Release Date: 1st August 2006. Republished 1st January 2011

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb:
It’s the year 2075.

The island Republic has emerged from a ruined world. Its citizens are safe but not free. They live in complete isolation from the outside world. Approaching planes are gunned down, refugees shot on sight. Until a man named Adam Forde rescues a girl from the sea.

Anaximander, a young Academy student, is put through a gruelling exam. Her special subject: the life of Adam Forde, her long-dead hero. What secrets has she discovered and what is her own surprising link to Adam? She is forced to confront the horrifying truth about her totalitarian world.

Genesis is a thriller that asks the big questions. What is it to be human? What makes a soul?

My Review:
Genesis is a deep, philosophical science fiction novel that leaves your brain churning over the concepts well after you have finished reading it.

As Anax answers questions about her hero Adam Forde, the story unfolds through her answers. We learn the history of The Republic through her knowledge and the holograms she has created about Art, the artificial intelligence that became Adam's companion after his imprisonment for rescuing an outsider. We witness the development of Art, as he watches, learns, and argues with Adam over what differentiates man from machine. Is it the ability to think, to create ideas? Is it the physical aspects? A conscience? A soul? It questions morals, ethics and humanity, and as Anax comes to the end of Adam and Art's story, she has a realisation that blows her world apart.

There were two surprises that I did not see coming and I was completely thrown by the ending. Genesis is a thought-provoking, original read that will bring out the philosopher in all of us. This novel would make for fabulous discussions and would make a great school reading text. Teachers notes are available here, Reading Group notes here.


Genesis has been published in more than 22 countries and has won the 2010 Young Adult Category of the Prix Sorcieres (France), the 2007 Esther Glen Award, and the 2007 NZ Post Book Award. In 2005, Bernard was awarded a fellowship where he worked on a project examining DNA mutations. This led to the writing of Genesis.

Perth Writers Festival Happenings and Giveaway!

Over the last week, I have been working in the book tent at the Perth Writers Festival. For those of you who didn't see my post back in January, PWF is an annual event in Perth held over the long weekend at the beginning of March and at the end of the Perth International Arts Festival. It is three days of local and international authors giving talks and workshops.

We don't get a lot of memorable moments working in the book tent but I did get to briefly meet Perth author Amanda 'AJ' Betts whose book, Wavelength, I reviewed last year. She came up to the cash register to buy something and I got a bit nervous and tongue-tied when I introduced myself, but she was lovely :)

There were quite a few talks I had hoped to attend but unfortunately, my shifts in the book tent were at the same time so I was unable to make it to any of them, except for half of the Melina Marchetta and Bernard Beckett talk (which I embarrassingly had to leave in the middle of, to make it to my shift).

Marchetta and Beckett

I'm sure most of you have heard of Melina Marchetta, someone Australian bloggers talk about and whose books are recommended left, right and centre, but Bernard Beckett, is a slightly lesser known New Zealand YA author. I have seen some of his books around in the past but never actually read one. But this weekend, I bought two (and had to stop myself from buying the others)! I can't wait to start them!

August, Beckett's latest book which was released last week, and the multi-award winning Genesis were the two I chose. I desperately wanted to get both these, and a couple of Marchetta books signed, but, being stuck in the extremely busy book tent, wasn't able to get away. Instead, my amazing friend Bryton lined up for me! She is totally awesome. Unfortunately, Marchetta wasn't signing (so, so annoyed and I could rant about it for quite some time, but I wont) but Bernard was, and he very generously posed for a photo so I could actually see him signing my books :D

GIVEAWAY!

At my request, Bryton also got a second copy of both August and Genesis signed for two lucky followers! The give-away is open Australia wide until March 31st 2011.

To enter there are two simple steps:

1. You must be a follower.
2. Leave me a comment on this post with which title you would like to win and tell me something that you like about The Tales Compendium.

Also, telling others isn't required but is appreciated. Please feel free to use the give-away button found below and link it back to this page.

August by Bernard Beckett

Trapped in a car wreck, upside down, bleeding, broken and in pain, Tristan and Grace are staring at death.

As they await their fate, with only a glimmer of hope they might be seen and rescued, we discover the stories of their lives, the sequences of events that brought them together and the shocking truth behind the cause of their crash.

Part philosophical thriller, part love story, August is a compelling novel of power, humanity and desire.

Genesis by Bernard Beckett

It’s the year 2075.

The island Republic has emerged from a ruined world. Its citizens are safe but not free. They live in complete isolation from the outside world. Approaching planes are gunned down, refugees shot on sight. Until a man named Adam Forde rescues a girl from the sea.

Anaximander, a young Academy student, is put through a gruelling exam. Her special subject: the life of Adam Forde, her long-dead hero. What secrets has she discovered and what is her own surprising link to Adam? She is forced to confront the horrifying truth about her totalitarian world.

Genesis is a thriller that asks the big questions. What is it to be human? What makes a soul?