Atlantis Rising
Release date: 1/6/15
About the book:
What would you do
to protect those you love? For
Alison McKye, protecting her adoptive family means being as invisible as
possible. To exist and yet never be noticed. It's the only way Alison can
protect her family from who—and what—she
is...
Alison isn't exactly
human. She's a Dewing, an ancient race of beings with strange and powerful
gifts.She has the ability to “push” thoughts into the minds of others, but her
gift also makes her a target for those who desire her power for themselves.
There's a war brewing
between the Dewing, and humans are caught in the middle. If Alison's gift falls
into the wrong hands, there's no telling what might happen.
And if they're all terrified
about who she is, wait until they see what she can really do...
Buy links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/17glMaJ
B&N: http://bit.ly/1wkq2vo
iTunes: http://apple.co/1BYmoQb
Author Interview
First,
tell me a little about your book and why you wanted to write this particular
story… Atlantis Rising is the story of Alison McKye, a girl with tremendous power and
abilities, who is trying to protect the human family that adopted her. She’s
being hunted by a man who wants to control her and her power. She’s been warned
that he will torture and even kill those she cares for in order to subject her
to his will. Thinking her best option is to hide in plain sight, Alison turns herself
into an invisible girl at Fillmore High School. Things take a turn when Ian and
Brandy Thane start school at Fillmore too. She discovers they are descendants
of Atlantis like her, and they offer to teach her to use her powers better. But
they want her assistance in exchange. They ask her to help them kill the man
who’s been hunting her. Atlantis Rising
is about Alison’s choice to fight her demons head on, it’s about her journey to
power and strength, it’s about her struggle to trust and it’s about the
possibility of falling in love with Ian Thane.
I was inspired to write Atlantis Rising after taking an
anthropology class that focused on undersea archaeology. The lost island of
Atlantis is commonly accepted as fiction these days, but I had a fun teacher
who took a day to discuss some of the theories people once had about it. That
class got me thinking about a highly evolved, extremely intelligent subgroup of
people who had to assimilate into the human world when they no longer had the
Island of Atlantis to live on.
As far as the characters go, I wanted to write
about an imperfect girl’s evolution. I wanted to show her journey through doubt
and uncertainty as she grew into the kind of girl who takes control of her weird
and sometimes frightening life. And I wanted to laugh a little along the way
too.
2.
Do you recall how your interest in writing
originated or did you always just know.
It’s a funny story actually. It revolves
around being bored. I grew up in a really small town. I mean, I started kindergarten
and finished middle school with the same fourteen kids. Because the population
was so small, there was never much to do, and when school was out, the dullness
was brutal. The summer before eighth grade, I nagged my mom probably to the
point of insanity about having nothing to do. She tried everything, from having
me mow the lawn to making me clean the bathrooms, to keep me occupied and out
of her hair.
Eventually, she took a different tack. She slapped
a piece of paper and a pen down on the kitchen table and told me to write
something. She said I couldn’t complain until I’d completed a story with a
beginning, middle and end to it. For probably the first time in my life, I
wrote something that wasn’t a school assignment. That was her go-to solution
from then on. It worked like training a dog. Eventually, I stopped bugging her
and just wrote stories when I had nothing to do. I suppose what started out as
a kind of reprimand turned into something I have a need to do now.
3.
What inspired you to write your first book and
what was it.
The first book I wrote hasn’t been
professionally published yet, but like Atlantis
Rising, it was inspired by my interest in archaeology. It’s a mystery for a
young adult audience that centers around Navaho artifacts being sold on the
black market. I’m hoping to rework it later this year and try for publication.
4.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or
events in your own life?
There are some similarities in my heroine,
Alison’s, experiences and my own. I wasn’t invisible in the high school I was
bussed to, the way Alison chooses to be in hers, but my interests made me a
little hard to relate too. I liked literature, debate and drama at a time and
in a place where those activities weren’t cool. Unlike Alison, I have no
firsthand experience with adoption, but my husband does. I was able to draw
some inspiration from his situation. Most of my secondary characters are
inspired by people I’ve met, but they all took on personalities unique to the
story. How all the seeds of experience grew into unique people and an exciting
story was the best part of writing Atlantis
Rising.
5.
Out of all the characters in your book, who is
your favorite to write? There’s always a fan favorite to read about but
sometimes it’s the side characters that are the most fun.
Of course, I loved writing my heroine, Alison, but writing Lillian was so
much fun. She’s grumpy and rude without realizing it, and her dialogue made me
laugh out loud sometimes. Her character turns out to have surprising depth too.
Uncovering what made her tick was bittersweet for me. I hope the reader will be
amused by the way she says things, and ultimately they’ll see how deeply she’s
hurting. Then hopefully they’ll understand and love her as much as I do.
7.
Is your book part of a series, and if so, how
many will there be?
Yes. Atlantis Rising is the first in a
three book series. I finished the second book this February. I believe it is
due for release January 2016.
8.
What are you working on now?
I just finished outlining the third book in
the Atlantis series. I’m really excited about putting the pieces together over
the next couple of months.
9.
How do you chose when/which characters die in
your book.
In this instance, I knew from the moment I sat
down to write who and when one of my characters was going to die. Knowing
didn’t make it easier, though. This particular character came to mean a lot to
me. As the time to write the death scene got nearer, I tried to put an alternative
situation in place to keep it from happening. It just didn’t work. Ultimately,
the best I could do was write the death of this character with as much dignity
as possible. I went through a strange period of mourning when I finished that
scene. No joke. I’m still a little messed up about it.
10.
Who do you look up to as a writer?
A lot of people…but for different reasons.
I admire the work ethic of Steven King and Nora Roberts. I respect the unique creativity
of J.K. Rowling. And since I was fourteen, I’ve appreciated how Elizabeth
Peters a.k.a. Barbara Michaels puts characters together.
11.
If you had to do it all over again, would you
change anything in your book?
No, I don’t think so. Once I signed off on
the last edit, I believed my story had its own legs to stand on. It could exist
outside of me from then on. Of course, not everyone is going to get it the way
I hope the will, but I’m at peace with what I created.
12.
Is there
anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Writing the last chapter is hard for me.
I’ll write everything up to that point and then start editing before I’ll write
the final ten pages. I think it has something to do with not wanting to give up
a story that has been exclusively mine. I can be a good sharer, but it’s difficult
to invite others into your head the way you have to do when you let them read
your stuff.
13.
Who designed the cover? And do you help with
them?
My editor Liz Pelletier designed this
cover. We had a different mock-up in place until about two weeks before
Atlantis Rising was due to go to print. Liz sent me an e-mail one night, saying
she’d had second thoughts about the mock-up and suggested the current cover. I
loved it and said… oh yeah, that’s the one.
14.
Did you learn anything from writing your book
and what was it?
On a personal level, I learned the power of
positive thinking. At times, I’d hit a wall or get to a point where I couldn’t
decide which direction to take the story. I’d start doubting myself. After all,
I majored in Anthropology not Creative Writing or English. When I realized I
was second-guessing myself, I’d turn the self-doubt off. I made myself believe I’d
figure things out as long as I kept moving forward in the writing process.
15.
If you could be one of your characters, who
would you choose?
I would be the girl version of Ian. He is supremely
comfortable in his own skin, he doesn’t get embarrassed and he doesn’t
intimidate. If he has a weakness, it’s probably over confidence. Regardless, he
faces every challenge with his chin up and no doubt he will conquer.
16.
Are there any books you think some of us should
read, just because?
Villette
by Charlotte Bronte.
Sunshine
by Robin McKinley.
The
Book of Ivy by Amy Engel
Darker
Days by Jus Accardo
17.
We all love Supernatural, so which Winchester
brother is for you?
Dean. He’s funny, and he looks like the guy
I had a serious crush on my second year of college.
18.
Do you have anything specific that you want to
say to your readers?
Thank you! Thanks for giving some of your
time to read my story. I really hope you liked it.
19.
This or that…
A.
Coffee addict? Diet Coke addict.
B.
What’s your favorite alcoholic beverage? I actually don’t drink.
C.
What is your favorite food? Panda Express…I
have expensive taste…LOL.
D.
If you had to choose Coffee or Chocolate? Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate.
E.
Beach or mountains? Hard one…I’d have to go with beach.
F.
Winter or Summer? Summer.
G.
Vampires or werewolves. It will always be vampires…thank you, Robin McKinley, for Sunshine.
H.
Cold or hot? Hot.
I.
Favorite color? Depends
on the day…usually blue.
J.
Night or day? Night.
K.
Moonlight or sunlight? Moonlight.
L.
Bad boy or good guy next door? A little of both please.
About Gloria Craw:
Gloria Craw grew up reading and
daydreaming in the desert southwest. She attended the University of Utah and
graduated with a degree in Anthropology. These days, she lives near Seattle,
Washington. She creates alternate realities, featuring suspense, the
supernatural and a twining of romance. When she's not writing, she's fangirling
over Arrow and Grimm. Sometimes Sleepy Hallow and Covert Affairs too.
Find
Gloria online:
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/GloriaCraw01
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/gloriacraw15
Website:
http://www.gloriacraw.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment