Tuesday, December 13, 2016

SPOTLIGHT w/Author Interview - Girl of Glass by Megan O'Russell

Girl of Glass
by Megan O'Russell
Date Publishing: December 6th 2016
Published by: Fiery Seas Publishing
Genre: Young Adult
Two worlds...one glass wall...no turning back.

BLURB
The human race has been divided. The chosen few live in the safety of the domes, watching through their glass walls as those left on the outside suffer and die. But desperation has brought invention, and new drugs have given the outsiders the strength to roam the poisoned night unafraid – but it comes at a price.
Seventeen-year-old Nola Kent has spent her life in the domes, being trained to protect her little piece of the world that has been chosen to survive. The mission of the domes is to preserve the human race, not to help the sick and starving. But when outsider Kieran Wynne begs for Nola’s help in saving an innocent life, she is drawn into a world of darkness and danger. The suffering on the other side of the glass is beyond anything Nola had imagined, and turning her back on the outside world to return to the safety of the domes may be more than she can stand. Even when her home is threatened by the very people Nola wants to help.


MY INTERVIEW WITH MEGAN O’RUSSELL
How would you describe youR style of writing to someone that has never read your work?
I’m not sure if this is going to sound wrong, but conversational.  By that I don’t mean that multisyllabic words aren’t allowed. I mean that everything, even action sequences and descriptors, is meant to sound like a person is speaking. I read every manuscript I write out loud multiple times to make sure that the words all flow together in a way that sounds natural.

What mindset or routine do you feel the need to set when preparing to write (in general whether you are working on a project or just free writing)?
I don’t really have a set routine. I’m a stage actor by trade, and I move across the country for shows at least a few times a year, and in cast housing I have new roommates all the time. Ideally, I want to wake up in the morning, find a nice quiet place and spend two hours writing. In reality, quiet is a rarity, solitude never happens, and the only writing constant I have is my wonderful husband bringing coffee. I’ve written on tour busses, fancy patios, and backstage at shows. It’s a crazy life, and I take what time I can get!

Do you take your character prep to heart? Do you nurture the growth of each character all the way through to the page? Do you people watch to help with development? Or do you build upon your character during story creation?
I do take character prep to heart. I want to know what their goals are, where their hearts lies, and what they would be most terrified to lose. From there I let them grow as the story progresses. But those three things always stay with them, unless something deliberately massive changes.

Have you found yourself bonding with any particular character? If so which one(s)?
I love Nola Kent. I love her meekness and her strength. I know it sounds contradictory, but it’s what I admire about her. She is a quiet person, not one to seem the type for extraordinary bravery. But if people she cares about need her, she’ll do everything possible to protect them. From her aptitude in STEM fields to her claustrophobia, I’ve really enjoyed my time with Nola.

Do you have a character that you have been working on that you can't wait to put to paper?
Always! Right now I’m working on the start of a new series, and there is a terrifying character I can’t wait to work on!

Have you ever felt that there was something inside of you that you couldn't control? If so what? If no what spurs you to reach for the unexperienced?

I think most writers probably feel like that. If the story isn’t burning to come out, is there really a need to write it? For me it’s usually a scene I really want to put down. It’s a snappy line of dialogue or the perfect moment for a first kiss. And if you think of the grand scale of the world, the amount that each of us has experienced is really relatively small. You’re going to have to write about things you’ve never done; that’s what research, interviews, and imagination are for.

Author Info
Megan O’Russell is the author of the young adult fantasy series The Tethering, and Nuttycracker Sweet, a Christmas novella. Megan’s short stories can also be found in several anthologies, including Athena’s Daughters 2, featuring women in speculative fiction.

Megan is a professional performer who has spent time on stages across the country and is the lyrist for Second Chances: The Thrift Shop Musical, which received it’s world premiere in 2015. When not on stage or behind a computer, Megan can usually be found playing her ukulele or climbing a mountain with her fantastic husband.
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