Day 13 of Romancing September and today my guest is Kristy Feltenberger Gillespie, after this you can head over to Georgia in just a few hours to catch up with Kristy once more at Stephanie Hurt’s blog. Here Kristy will talk about writing romance in today’s society.
So let’s get straight on and learn more about Kristy’s writing;
1) Where is your home town?
I was born in Johnstown, PA (known for several horrific floods) but I reside in Warrenton, VA now.
2) How long have you been writing romance?
I consider Jaded more a young adult thriller, but there’s definitely a love story there.
3) “Jaded” has been entered on the “Swoon Reads” web site, can you tell us what Swoon reads is all about? Who is behind it? Who can join? and How we can support your work there?
Swoon Reads is an imprint of Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan Publishers. Anyone can submit a young adult novel in the romance genre as well as read, rate, and comment on the ones listed. If you’re interested in reading Jaded, it would be awesome if you could give it a rating (5 stars is the best) mark whether the novel has heat, tears, thrills, laughs, and a quick comment. Follow the link folks and get voting to help Kristy get her book published by Swoon reads, Kristy didn’t tell you but the book with the most votes after a period gets the chance to be published.
4) Please can you remind us the age group your book is aimed at?
My novel is aimed at high school students as well as adults, however, I’m a middle school counsellor and it’s appropriate for mature middle school students as well. I’ve kept it PG.
5) You have chosen an interesting setting for your book, a commune. Have you ever lived in a commune?
No, I’ve never lived in a commune but I have lived in several small towns, which is how I got the idea.
6) There are all sorts of sub divisions in romance what made you choose thriller/ romance?
I had originally placed Jaded in the dystopian genre but was told by several agents to change it to thriller because “dystopian” is dead. I sure hope that isn’t the case because that’s my favorite genre to read.
7) The character Jade, sounds as if she has a lot of growing up to do fast to deal with what she soon discovers, what life lessons can come out of your book?
Jade learns that even the people that love you are capable of lying to you, that ignorance is not bliss, and nothing in her world is as it seems.
8) How does the daughter of the commune leader help Jade, does she cross rules of the commune and put her own relationship with her family at risk?
Peaches, the commune leader’s daughter, and Jade have a symbiotic relationship- they both rely on each other. Peaches does break the commune rules and puts her relationship with her family at risk but she’s done this before she even meets Jade. Peaches has been a rebel the entire time.
9) Are you planning a sequel, one reviewer wrote about several unanswered questions?
Yes, I’m working on a sequel which starts off where Jaded left off. I’m also working on a novella that tells the history of the commune, circa 1860.
10) Do you have a working title for the next book? Will you also be planning to submit it to Swoon reads?
For the title of the sequel, I’m leaning towards Hunted, after Ty’s uncle Hunter, who Jade becomes close to in the sequel. If I finish in time, I’ll definitely submit the next one to Swoon Reads- it’s a great opportunity for writers!
Thank you Kristy you’ve opened my eyes to a new publishing opportunity for writers. Swoon Reads Good luck with the new book.
Rosie Amber 