Today I have the pleasure of hosting an Author Interview and Book Giveaway with Anna Carey, debut author of EVE. After my interview I have a great contest opportunity for you to enter, so please stick around and check out the information provided on this wonderful new novel and author.
Anna Carey was a face painter, nanny, horrific cocktail waitress, gift wrapper, sofa saleswoman, and children’s book editor before becoming an author—the one thing that allows her to be all of the above. She graduated from NYU and has an MFA in fiction from Brooklyn College. She developed THE EVE TRILOGY, a post-apocalyptic story of love and survival, with Alloy Entertainment. While she’s authored middle grade novels, EVE is her first series for young adults.
Hello Anna, and thank you for visiting the Tales of the Ravenous Reader blog and answering a few questions. So, let us begin.
RR: Why did you decide to write a novel for Young Adults?
AC: I grew up on THE BABYSITTERS CLUB--I had hundreds of those books. Out
of all the teachers and authors who've I've read or been influenced
by, I can honestly say I owe the most to Ann M. Martin. That series
helped me think of myself as a reader, which in turn helped me realize
I was a writer. THE BABYSITTERS CLUB was my gateway drug to the
reading and writing life.
RR: How did you come up with the idea for EVE?
AC: I wanted to write a character who discovers everything she's ever
learned is a lie. What if everything you believed to be fact were
proven false? How do you recover from that? Would you have the
courage to relearn your life?
RR: What makes EVE stand out in today's market of Dystopian novels?
AC: I wrote EVE as more of a post-apocalyptic book than a dystopian one,
though it has a lot of the same qualities as an adventure-driven
dystopian. It's not a story about some strange, futuristic world with
different rules. It's a story about our world in the wake of an
unfathomable disaster. How would the survivors move on? In the midst
of chaos, would we stay true to the values our country was founded on
or follow the first leader with a clear vision? How can you possibly
fall in love when it's hard just to survive?
RR: Eve is an interesting character that you cannot easily forget. Why
do you believe that is the case?
AC: The adventure follows Eve through three states and over hundreds of
miles. She's fighting against the elements, wild animals and gangs,
all while being chased by the King's army. But in my mind, the book
has always been about how she changes and grows in the process--her
internal journey as opposed to her external one. When she escapes
School she has few supplies and absolutely no survival skills. She's
not only been taught that men are dangerous and violent, she's been
taught that going beyond the School wall means certain death. She's
terrified, but she overcomes that terror. To me, that has always been
the most interesting thing about her.
RR: What are you currently working on and can you divulge the title?
AC: EVE is the first in a trilogy (ONCE, the sequel, comes out July 2012).
I'm writing the last book now. I can't reveal the title yet, but soon!
RR: Because I am curious, what is on your nightstand?
AC: My sleep mask (which makes me seem impossibly high maintenance, but
which is actually the best invention), a pad to write ideas on, and a
book (right now it's THIRTEEN REASONS WHY by Jay Asher).
RR: What is one of your favorite YA reads and why?
AC: I finally read IF I STAY by Gayle Forman and I loved it. I haven't
read a book that moving in a long time.
Jill over at Breaking the Spine started this and I believe that it's awesome" This blog post is to alert those that visit about "the" book that we cannot wait to get our hands on.
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