Author Interview: Caroline A. Gill #blogtour #giveaway

Flying Blind
Caroline A. Gill
(The Flykeeper Chronicles, #2)
Publication date: May 21st 2016
Genres: Dystopia, Paranormal, Young Adult

Synopsis:

In a broken America, seventeen-year old Iolani Bearse encounters a world full of wonder and danger.
Lani discovers a secret: houseflies have magic.
Stealers have no mercy.
Armed with memory-draining lanterns, the stone-cold hunters relentlessly follow catastrophes, laying traps, preying on the weak.
Together with her father, Eleanor, Sam, and Mango, her beloved pinto mare, Lani rescues victims from the grasp of Memory Stealers. One by one, she saves whomever she can, looking for any path that leads to safety. When her family’s farmhouse is attacked, Lani must act quickly to save those she loves.
Can Lani unmask their powerful, hidden enemies before the flies’ magic fails and everything burns to ashes?
Will the loss of one of her greatest friends become her downfall?
Can Lani overcome the evil that is tearing her world apart, flying blind?

 

Author Interview

Hi, Caroline! Welcome to We Do Write. Tell us a bit about yourself.  

Thanks for having me here! I am a novelist and I say that proudly, it’s been quite a journey to get here. Growing up in southern California, Florida, and Utah gave me a perspective on what it means to be American. There are so many ways we are all different, but we are still the same. I met the love of my life at UCLA, and married him nine years later. We have four sons and a daughter who rules us all and now live up in the midst of the sequoias of northern California. Trained as a fine artist, I received an MFA in printmaking and metalsmithing, and a Masters in Art History. I love teaching but for now that skill is limited to the small copies of myself running around the house. I started writing to keep myself sane. The kids can mess up a room in five seconds flat, but what I write or draw stays safely tucked away. At the end of each day, I know I accomplished a measurable thing. It makes the weirdness of kids’ messes tolerable. Dishes are dishes. They never end. But page by page, a novel is written.

Tell our readers a bit about FLYING BLIND. What’s the story about?

Flying Blind is the second book in the Flykeeper Chronicles. It is the continuation of Iolani and Malcolm’s journey.

Flying Away started when Lani was fourteen. She is sixteen when Flying Blind begins, living on her family’s farm, saving people when she can. She sees the danger around her and feels that it is her responsibility to fight what others cannot. Using flymagic, she watches the memory stealers arrive at emergencies in fake ambulances and use the disorder of disaster to empty the minds of stragglers and other abandoned people. Lani fights to save whomever she can.

And then, she is betrayed. Her farmhouse is attacked and Lani must flee for her life, saving all those who are precious to her with the flysight and hope.

She tries to find safety only to be turned away and imprisoned.

Now, Lani must bargain for her life in order to escape a lifetime of slavery and misery. Can one girl outsmart the traps laid all around her? Can Lani save those she loves, flying blind?

How did the idea of the story come to you?

I wrote Flying Away two years ago as part of National Write a Novel in the month of November. I had these ideas of an orphaned girl staring out the window, lost in sorrow and of the houseflies that flew around her. And I thought, “Why can’t there be magic?” Magic comes from wonder and belief. Magic is found in the simplest of things. Even unattractive objects become beautiful when they are loved. That is what houseflies are, for me: pests who hide a wild, unknown magic that can save the world.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

The characters are pantsed. They write themselves for the most part. But I sketch a skeleton of a story frame, following a plot line and interacting surprises. I feel like that is the only way to write: I have to know where I am going to find my path there.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Quiet.

In a household full of children, there is only so much ps3 or Disney I can absorb before I can’t concentrate. Ear plugs are my friends. With them, I can hear what is happening but the shrieking is more of a soft lullabye ;)

What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

A brilliant light, a leather chair, some sunshine, dark chocolate, a Monster drink, and a cuppa.

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

Stopping Time. It marches on, so quickly, so relentlessly. It really is true: we are all dust in the wind. Seize the day, my friends, and hold on tight.

What's the weirdest thing you've googled?

What are the symbols and meandings of the words written on the carpet in the Oval Office?

Finish this sentence: If I'm not writing, I'm probably …

Sitting at a park, drawing or napping whilst madly planning the next chapter.

Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.

I really appreciate you taking the time to support Flying Away and Flying Blind. Writing a novel about something as pest-y as flies has meant getting down and dirty in so many ways.

Giselle at Xpresso Book Tours has been really helpful to me. SASS has promoted my work and cheered me on with enthusiasm. Thank you, Mel, Julie, Sabrina, Gaynor, Stacie, Jo, and Casey.

Cheer Papworth has been a HUGE help as has Amy Bartelloni, Audrey Southwick, and Jennifer Long. There have been so many times when I was frustrated with the book’s cover, and all of them were so patient with me as I finessed the final design. Kate Corcino has had my back almost daily as I work through plot and marketing challenges. Maria Pease has been an absolute joy to work with as an editor. I really value both her insights and her enthusiasm. Mostly, I really want to thank Lathe Gill, my husband who shares his life with me, through thick and thin. You are my anchor, baby.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog!

About the Author

Unusual stories attract me, ones in which the reader cannot easily see the ending or most of the journey. Visiting Rome during university studies, I found a simple truth sitting on buses, traveling all over the ancient city: the joy is in the Journey, in the people I meet, not in the destination. So, I write for you. I write for sanity. I write for chocolate and really good pizza.

Author Links:

Website | Facebook | Goodreads

Giveaway:
Tour-wide giveaway (INTL)
$10 Amazon Gift Card + signed copy of Flying Blind


a Rafflecopter giveaway

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