Lauren will be awarding $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Lies I Live By
by Lauren Sabel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: YA Thriller
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. What or
who inspired you to start writing?
When I was
in second grade, my teacher Mrs. Stanley read us the poem “Two Dead Boys” by
Shel Silverstein. I was fascinated by how the author turned and twisted the
language to make things both true and false at the same time. I remember wanting to be able to do that, and
trying when I got home (to no avail). After that, I received a stamp set for
Christmas, and, with my parents’ encouragement, started writing stories to entertain
myself. A few years later, I won a
writing contest in a Colorado elementary school competition for 5th
graders, and I was shocked (and pleased) that someone else thought my stories
were fun to read too.
2. What elements are necessary components for this genre?
To write YA
fiction, I think you have to want to really investigate your teenage years. I’m
not saying that you have to want to return
to them (never!), but you have to want to look into them and analyze the
emotions you felt and the experiences you had at that time.
Ages 14-16
were by far the hardest years of my life, and so I tend to write for that age
for a couple of reason:
1. I hope that I can be a voice that some teen hears through
the suffocating darkness of her teenage years, shouting that everything will be
okay if she waits a few more years,
2. I’m fascinated by some of the
choices I made and the things I felt at that time, which are radically
different than what I choose and feel now, as a more confident adult.
3. I guess I want to know the 14 year old me. Does that make
sense?
3. How did
you come up with your idea for your novel?
I don’t
think I actually came up with it. Callie’s voice came to me and I kind of
jumped aboard. Of course, I’ve been
fascinated by the US government’s remote viewing program during the
1960’s-1980’s for years, and so digging into that research was absolutely
fascinating to me. But it was Callie’s voice that kept me going, and it was her
voice that took the actual research I did and transformed it into fiction
rather than fact.
4. As far
as your writing goes, what are your future plans?
I love
writing young adult fiction. I don’t think I’ll ever stop. It’s just the voice
that naturally comes out of me when I sit down to write. I also tend to write
in the thriller genre of YA, which is not really a choice either. It’s the
voice I hear when I go to sleep, when I wake up, when I shower in the morning.
However,
I’m also dipping my toes into the picture book realm, which strangely also
feels authentic to me. It’s like I’m either fourteen or 4 deep inside of
myself. It’s a struggle to wrestle my almost 40 year old self back into the
world sometimes.
5. What is
the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)
When I was
20 years old, a writer in his 60’s told me that because I was so young I had
nothing of value to say. This was by far
the most scarring ‘advice’ I ever received because I think I kind of believed
it. It was absolutely untrue!! It’s not your age that gives you something of
value to say; it’s who you are deep inside.
The best
advice I ever received was from my mother. She’s always said, “Somebody’s gotta
make it. Why not you?”
6. Do you
outline your books or just start writing?
I just
start writing. I think that the most exciting part of writing is digging into a
new idea and finding out what words flow naturally from it. I also love discovering a new character, and
outlines don’t help me to do that. But
of course, not being a plotter has some serious disadvantages too, like being
very confused later when the plot doesn’t work out and you’re not sure why.
7. How do you maintain your creativity?
Lots of
daydreaming, mostly. But I also give
myself time to take hot baths, long walks, time to think over mochas, and I
always stop for dark chocolate gelato when I’m not feeling inspired. But I also
have a lot of creative friends who push me to be my best every time I sit down
to write. It’s an effort sometimes, but real writers are the people who push
through the hard parts.
8. Who is your favorite character in the book. Can you tell us why?
I really
like Jasper. He intrigues me. I’m not
sure he’s my “favorite”, since I’m so partial to Callie, but he’s certainly the
character who keeps me up at night. He’s also based on an ex-boyfriend of mine,
who I never really understood to begin with. It’s fun to write people based on
real people, especially when you were once close to them, and you found them
puzzling back then too.
9. Are your plotting bunnies angels or demons?
Demons.
(ROAR!)
10. Anything else you might want to add?
Thank you
for this opportunity. Bloggers are a hugely important part of the writing
community.
Thanks the Angels
BLURB:
These are the facts:
My name is Callie Sinclair. I am seventeen years old. I live in San Francisco.
I love my boyfriend, Charlie. I work for a secret governmental agency. I am a
psychic spy. This romantic, action-packed twist on the classic spy novel is
perfect for fans of Ally Carter’s Embassy Row series or for any reader who
enjoys cinematic writing and stories of romance and intrigue.
At
seventeen, Callie is the government’s youngest psychic spy, trained to track
dangerous people and weapons in her visions. When another young—and handsome
and witty—psychic joins the agency, Callie’s personal and professional lives
get messy all at once. If she can’t find a way to change the events she’s seen
in her visions, she could lose the people she loves most . . . and her mind.
Literally.
Richly
painted against the backdrop of San Francisco and Berkeley, Lauren Sabel’s
enthralling novel captures the thrill of exploring a unique power in a
dangerous world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
These
are the basic facts about me:
I
am 17.
I
live in San Francisco.
I
work for a secret governmental agency.
I
spend many hours a day out of my mind.
I
am a psychic spy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Lauren Sabel lives in the
quirky dark spaces of her mind, and she tries to shed light on these spaces in
her books. After publishing VIVIAN DIVINE IS DEAD in Summer 2014 with Katherine
Tegen Books, an imprint of Harper Collins, she confronted her lifelong fear of
being psychic by writing LIES I LIVE BY (pub May 2016). Since in this YA
thriller, teenage psychic spy Callie Sinclair works undercover for the
government, forced to hide her real identity from everyone she loves, Lauren is
now certain she’s on the CIA watch list.
Social Networks:
Website: www.laurensabel.com
AND http://liesiliveby.com/
Blog:
http://laurensabel.tumblr.com
Twitter: laurensabel
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/author.laurensabel/?ref=hl AND
https://www.facebook.com/LIES-I-LIVE-BY-1060641787289541/?skip_nax_wizard=true
Instagram: laurensabel AND liesiliveby
Book Purchase Links:
LIES I LIVE BY:
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0062231987/ref=cm_sw_su_dp
Nook: http://bit.ly/liesiliveby
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062231987
VIVIAN DIVINE IS DEAD:
http://www.amazon.com/Vivian-Divine-Dead-Lauren-Sabel/dp/0062231952
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/vivian-divine-is-dead-lauren-sabel/1117005007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
Lauren will be awarding $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a
randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f1533
