Book info:
Title: Awaken
Author: Calista Lynne
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press
Cover Artist: Aaron Anderson
Published: July 14th, 2016
Genre: YA magical realism, LGBQT protagonist
Synopsis:
Victoria
Dinham doesn’t have much left to look forward to. Since her father died
in a car accident, she lives only to fulfill her dream of being
accepted into the Manhattan Dance Conservatory. But soon she finds
another reason to look forward to dreams when she encounters an
otherworldly girl named Ashlinn, who bears a message from Victoria’s
comatose brother. Ashlinn is tasked with conjuring pleasant dreams for
humans, and through the course of their nightly meetings in Victoria’s
mind, the two become close. Ashlinn also helps Victoria understand
asexuality and realize that she, too, is asexual.
then Victoria needs Ashlinn’s aid outside the realm of dreams, and
Ashlinn assumes human form to help Victoria make it to her dance
audition. They take the opportunity to explore New York City, their
feelings for each other, and the nature of their shared asexuality. But
like any dream, it’s too good to last. Ashlinn must shrug off her human
guise and resume her duties creating pleasant nighttime visions—or all
of humanity will pay the price.
Buy links:
Harmony Ink Press: https://www.harmonyinkpress.com/books/we-awaken-by-calista-lynne-399-b
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/We-Awaken-Calista-Lynne/dp/1634769953/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1466868261&sr=8-1
Author Interview:
like? Do you know the whole story when
you start? Or do you just start writing
and go with it (seat of the pants writing)?
If you plan it out, how do you do that?
Outline, note cards, post-it notes, etc.?
this way. The most important part of planning is writing up a list of scenes.
My theory is that if I plan it all out and make a numbered list of everything
that I know happens, I can just move on to the next number if I get stuck. It’s
helpful for avoiding procrastination and writer’s block.
2. With your story being about a dancer,
are you a dancer yourself? If not, how
did you learn about the dancing world?
the tap dancing lessons I took for a year in high school and the pathetic moves
I break out at weddings. I study Drama & English and have worked in a few
theatres. The drama and dancing community are closely intertwined in many ways
so I was able to get firsthand experience and hear anecdotes, plus you can
learn anything through research these days.
3. What made you want to write about the
topic of asexuality?
young people feel broken because they don’t know what asexuality is and my goal
was to prove that anyone can have a happy ending regardless of whether or not
they feel sexual attraction.
4. Dreams play a big part of your
story. I often have very vivid dreams that
I remember. Do you remember your
dreams? What do you think about dream
dictionaries and their “definitions” of different dream topics?
don’t believe a word of them. They are helpful in thinking up symbolism for
novels, though. I tend to remember my nightmares more frequently than other
sorts but I don’t have them too frequently. Dreams have just always excited me
and I love stories that involve them. My favorite book in elementary school was
The BFG and I love the Sandman graphic novels.
5.
Favorites:
Books/authors/genres American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Actually, all his books.
Also I’m partial to Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by
Benjamin Alire Saenz.
Movies/TV Shows The Princess and the Frog. My favorite TV programmes are
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Fargo.
Music Broadway show-tunes get me going real good.
Food/writing snack Coffee and tea
Social Media Site Tumblr is a lot of fun for book photography. Twitter
confuses me but I use it.
Author Bio:
Calista Lynne grew up on the American East Coast and is currently
studying in London. She is having difficulty adjusting to the lack of
Oxford commas across the pond and writes because it always seemed to
make more sense than mathematics. Look for her near the caffeinated
beverages.
Author links:
Tumblr: http://calista-lynne.tumblr.com/
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What a pretty cover. This one certainly sounds unique and I like the topics addressed. Thanks for calling my attention to it.
It is a beautiful cover and a very interesting sounding book. I hope to get around to it some day. Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for sharing <3
Thanks for visiting!