Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Lanie Bross Author Interview


Photo Content from Lanie Bross

Lanie Bross was born in a small town in Maine, where she spent the next 18 years dreaming of bigger places. After exploring city life, she and her husband and two young sons ended up coming right back to the wilds of Maine where they now live just one house down from where she grew up. Fate, perhaps? She loves chasing around her rambunctious kids, playing tug-o-war with her 95 pound Lab, and writing for Young Adults. Fates is her first novel.

      


Age Range: 12 and up
Grade Level: 7 and up
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press (February 11, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385742827
ISBN-13: 978-0385742825


Praise for FATES

“Different and imaginative.” Kirkus Reviews

Are we doomed to live out a scripted life, or can we change our futures? Because she questioned the rules, Corinthe has been cast out of her home world and sent down to live among humans. To earn her way home, she must ensure that certain events come to pass. She is determined to follow the rules this time, until she meets Luc and realizes she is destined to kill him. With doubts setting in and forces beyond her control using her to secure their own ends, the stakes are raised. Bross has done a lot right: backstory hints lend mystery and depth to secondary characters, the plot moves along at a good clip, and the book ends with plenty of story left for the sequel. Corinthe and Luc are a bit too perfect, but perhaps they might get the necessary depth as the story continues. By the conclusion, many characters are fighting against their fates, but the one fated thing readers are aware of does come to pass, despite everyone’s best efforts. Can we change our destiny? Only time (and book two) will tell. Grades 10-12. Peggy Hailey



Was there a defining moment during your youth when you realized you wanted to be a writer?
I actually never even thought to try writing until I was around 35. I had always been a voracious reader, starting as a child, but the idea that I could actually write a book was always just one of things you kind of think you’d like to try, but don’t do anything about.

It wasn’t until my dad died in 2005 that I really started to consider it. If I didn’t try and make the time now, who’s to say I’ll have that time in the future, you know. So I did it. I sat down and wrote a really bad novella! But that opened my eyes and after that, I couldn’t not write.

Why is storytelling so important for all of us?
I think it helps us to escape from reality for awhile. I know that’s why I read, even now. I love to lose myself in a good book and sort of step outside myself for a few hundred pages. 

Beyond your own work (of course), what is your all-time favorite book and why? And what is your favorite book outside of your genre?
It’s probably cliché, but Lord of the Rings. That was my first look into fantasy and it opened my eyes to a whole new genre of books. Prior to that, I loved a good historical romance!

Wow, choosing a book outside my genre is too hard! I just really love a good contemporary story. (Something I am horrible at writing myself!)

What is the best piece of advice you ever received from another author?
Butt in chair, hands on keyboard. Seriously, you just have to sit down and write. All the rest, the revising, the GMC, the grammar and punctuation, come later. Just write.

In your Debut Novel; Fates, can you tell my Book Nerd community a little about it?
It’s about a girl Fate, Corinthe, who makes a mistake and is punished by being exiled from her home to the human world. She must ensure that things happen according to the Universes plan, and she does, until her very last task involves killing a human boy, Lucas.

In order to return to her home, his fate must be executed, but Corinthe suddenly wonders how one boy could possibly impact the universe enough to warrant his death. Of course it doesn’t hurt that he’s really cute! Emotion is something new for Corinthe, and because she hesitated, Lucas gets away and so begins a journey, both together and separately, that leaves them both questioning the laws of the universe.

What are some of your current and future projects that you can share with us?
Well, the sequel to FATES will be out January 2015 and I’m really excited about that. We have a couple of short stories that will be released in between set in the same world as FATES. I also have a YA Historical series coming from Disney/Hyperion starting the summer of 2015.

When asked, what’s the one question you always answer with a lie? 
My weight! LOL

What's the most memorable summer job you've ever had?
I was boring. I waitressed all during high school. I did see Tom Selleck walking through town one time while I was working though!

Who was your first boyfriend?
LOL. Wow, you are making me go way back here! His name was Josh and I swore I was going to marry him. (this was in middle school)

Tell me about your first kiss.
It was in 6th grade I think, on the bleachers in the gym, and all I remember is that the guy was really…sloppy! (Not above mentioned boyfriend, just to clear that up. LOL) It was definitely not like the kisses you read about in books!

What would be harder for you, to tell someone you love them or that you do not love them back?
Definitely that I love them.

When was the last time you cried?
During the Superbowl. That Budweiser puppy ad KILLED me!

What decade during the last century would you have chosen to be a teenager?
The one I actually lived through! 80’s baby! Great music, BIG hair, and no technology to record all the stupid stuff I did in high school!

What is your greatest adventure?
I am living it right now! :)


One moment. One foolish desire. One mistake. And Corinthe lost everything.

She fell from her tranquil life in Pyralis Terra and found herself exiled to the human world. Her punishment? To make sure people's fates unfold according to plan. Now, years later, Corinthe has one last assignment: kill Lucas Kaller. His death will be her ticket home.

But for the first time, Corinthe feels a tingle of doubt. It begins as a lump in her throat, then grows toward her heart, and suddenly she feels like she is falling all over again--this time for a boy she knows she can never have. Because it is written: one of them must live, and one of them must die. In a universe where every moment, every second, every fate has already been decided, where does love fit in?

You can purchase Fates at the following Retailers:

And now, The Giveaways.
Thank you LANIE BROSS for making this giveaway possible.
1 Winner will receive a copy of Fates by Lanie Bross.
jbnpastinterviews

7 comments:

  1. The first thing coming to mind is back in November when I won tickets to the avant-premiere in my town to Catching Fire. Awesome night! =D

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  2. Spending an uninterrupted time with my kids.

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  3. Most fun would be creating artwork.

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  4. Trip to California with the hubs! XOXOXO

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  5. Staying at the beach for a week it was a blast!

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  6. Enjoying time with my family!!

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