Evernight Teen Publishing

Friday, September 20, 2013

Author Interview with Amaris Chapman, Author of YA Novel Prevailing Life.




Interview with Amaris Chapman

 
When did you start writing:

My first story I started when I was 15 and finished in my early 20’s. Reading it now its pretty terrible grammar wise and I don’t think it will ever see the light of day. Prevailing Life is the second YA I wrote and I’m really pleased with the result.

 
What is your typical writing day like:

I don’t really have one. I work full time so can only write at home or in my lunch break. Generally this happens on my fast dieing laptop in front of the TV. I really find watching movies helps with the creative process. And Coke helps too J

 
Tell us about the story:

 
Prevailing Life is the first in a trilogy about the life of Maggie, a teenager who discovers her soul mate is an angel named Dina. Now that they are reunited Maggie has to walk the line between her world and the information Dina gives her. I remember being a teenager and frankly I wouldn’t want to deal with the things Maggie does! We also have some very alluring young men in the book who add that extra spice. They get a whole lot more interesting in the next book too.

 
So there are more to come?

 
I’m working on the second one now and have some great ideas. We see a new character and Maggie is moved even further out of her comfort zone.

 

 
Can’t wait!

 

If you want to get your copy of Prevailing Life follow the links below, it’s available in print or e-book. There is also a contest to win some collectible custom designed buttons on Amaris’s website all you have to do is read the book and leave a review on Amazon! Easy!



 
Blurb:
 
Maggie is a teenager with a secret. The strangest part of her life isn’t that she works in a graveyard—it’s the fact that her best friend is an Angel named Dina. They have lived thousands of years together, but as a mortal, Maggie must die, leaving Dina to find her in each new life and start again.

Someone has been setting fires, and the town is ablaze—literally. Someone or something is fueling the flames, and one of the suspects is the devilishly handsome Justin. With the memories of past lives coming back to her and Justin vying for her attention, Maggie may get more than she bargained for.
 
Excerpt:
 
I felt as weightless as if I were made of light. I gasped and felt us drifting, and then the cool salty smell of ocean air washed over me. I looked down. We were sitting on the rail of a lighthouse overlooking the small dots of light, which marked a town nestled in the hills. Then I looked up and gasped. Stretched out above us was a vast expanse of glowing sky, each star as bright as a lamp sweeping across a great black expanse. My mouth fell open as I gazed in wonder at the universe stretching out above me. How was this possible? The sky felt unlimited.
“Where are we?” I asked still gripping her hand and holding on to the rail as tightly as I could with the other my face turned up to the pale moon above us.
“We used to live here. This is the tower you were talking about.”
I looked back at the twinkling lights, which ran from the water’s edge and up what looked to be, in the dark, a hill surrounded by mountain terrain.
“This is the town from the fire painting you are making.” I could make out the main street, which snaked through the hills. The line of lights at the bottom must mark the dock and jetty, which had doubled in size from the time that Dina remembered it in her painting.
“But this is in another country. We came here, my family and I, when I was little. It took us a day to get here by plane.” I looked at her in awe. Knowing she was an angel was one thing; I had even seen the ghostly shape of her wings. But to be at home one minute then, as fast as I could think it, be in another country almost sitting in a sky that seemed to just envelope us was unbelievable.
“I’m light, remember?” she said, her strong voice hushed by the wind that raced up from the waves. “I travel as light and air.”
“But I’m not, how did…no, I don’t care. This is incredible.” My voice trailed off as I took in the true magic of where I was. No lights obscured the sky, and the stars stretched out in a blanket of white light above us. Dina closed my mouth with a finger under my chin. I laughed but didn’t take my eyes from the sky. In all my life I had never seen anything so beautiful. My blocked head and fever forgotten, I sat surrounded by the sounds of the ocean and air crashing together. It was as I shivered that I remembered I was ill.
“I’ll be back in a moment,” Dina said.
Before I could ask what she was doing she had launched herself from the railing. I rocked forwards to catch her in a reflex and almost fell from the narrow rail. As I watched, the light shape of her body rose, the ghostly outline of her wings bright in the night sky. Her light darted to the town so fast she looked like nothing more than a reflection in the lighthouse’s turning lamp. I watched until the town's lights swallowed hers then gazed out over the sea.
From my seat, I could hardly make out the white of the waves breaking on the rocks at the base of the small island the lighthouse stood on.
A wave of fear swelled in my chest as I looked down. My blood left my face and rushed to my heart. I took a deep breath to calm myself, telling my body that it was being silly and that Dina wouldn’t have brought me here if I could have fallen. My body rebelled; my pulse quickened, and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. I fought to keep breathing, taking deep breaths to try to calm myself. I knew I should just look up or close my eyes, but I was too scared that if I looked away it might somehow make me fall. My hands tightened on the rail, the cold metal biting into my palms. In my head I called out to Dina to hurry up and get back. I couldn’t bring myself to look up and see where she was. My body was rigid, even the cool wind that had been soothing just moments before now threatened to knock me from my perch. My thoughts scrambled, as I imagined myself falling and smashing like porcelain on the rocks. I could see my body lying broken below, the waves knocking me off into the sea.

Author Bio:

Amaris lives in Canberra, Australia. Since a young age she has written Young adult fiction in order to give her characters a voice and ensure her stories end with a bang. 
 
Currently working as a Librarian she enjoys reading fiction about strong heroines with kickass attitudes who don't laydown and surrender in the face of a fight.
 
Review coming soon!
 
 
 
 
 

No comments:

Post a Comment