The Questions
- 1) You’re marooned on a small
island with one person and one item of your choice—who is that person and
what item do you have?
Are we allowed to choose fictional
people? If so, I would pick The Doctor as my companion and the TARDIS as the
item of my choice. We wouldn’t be marooned for long. If it has to be a real
life individual, I’d choose my husband, and a cell phone as our item of choice.
We could call for help. Or for pizza. And then relax and hope our kids haven’t
tied up the babysitter. But in the true spirit of the question, I would say I’d
take my best friend and writing buddy, Kristinn, and a huge pad of paper. She’d
bring the pen and we’d write novels while we wait for rescue.
- 2) Which musical would you say
best exemplifies your life – and which character in that musical are you?
I’m not familiar with musicals, honestly.
But I love Hamilton and listen to the
soundtrack constantly. So I’ll choose that. And I’m like Hamilton – ambitious,
but socially awkward. And I do write like I’m running out of time. (because I
usually am.)
- 3) Take these three words and give
me a 100 word or less scene using them:
galaxy, jet, cream
“Excuse me?” Andy said, waving at the
flight attendant. “Can I get some cream for my coffee?”
The attendant flashed a thousand-watt smile,
easily the brightest one in the galaxy, and winked. “Sure thing, handsome.”
The jet engines rumbled beneath him,
matching the thrum of his pulse, as the attendant leaned in and dropped the
packets of cream in Andy’s open palm.
- 4) You’ve just been let loose in
the world of fiction, with permission to do anything you want. What’s the
first thing you do and why?
I am going to Hogwarts and getting
sorted! (Pottermore says I’m a Slytherin, but I lean toward Ravenclaw.) That’s
the first thing. Easily. And then I’m off to Ollivander’s to get my wand. I’ve
always loved the idea of myths and magic and hidden societies/realms. My novel The Star Host can be described as magic
in space. It meshes two of my favorite things – magic systems and spaceships.
- 5) What is your idea of how to
spend romantic time with your significant other?
Honestly, time spent alone with only us
two. Not that we don’t love our three kids, but we need time to decompress and
just be with each other. I never knew lying in the bed talking could be
romantic but it is.
- 6) When you start a new story, do
you begin with a character, or a plot?
I’m definitely a character-driven writer.
I may have a vague idea of plot when I get started, but I develop my characters
first. And then I outline the plot arcs. For The Star Host, Ren, my main character, existed first and the
adventure followed.
- 7) If they were to make the story
of your life into a movie, who should play you?
I am going to say Natalie Dormer. I look
nothing like Natalie Dormer. We share absolutely nothing in common. But she
could definitely play my Slytherin-esque personality.
- 8) Who’s your favorite horror
villain and why?
I don’t have a favorite horror villain
but I do have a favorite horror franchise. Evil
Dead introduced me to Bruce Campbell and I absolutely adore it. Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness are the superior films in the series, in my humble
opinion. Also, the name of my other main character, Asher, is in homage to
those movies.
- 9) Do you have an historical crush
and if so, who is it?
This may be the Hamilton soundtrack
talking, but I have a huge crush on revolutionary figures. I used to work at a
Revolutionary War reenactment museum and I loved listening to the reenactor who
played Patrick Henry. There's something about hearing the famous and passionate
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death speech in person.
- 10) Is there a story that you’d like
to tell but you think the world isn’t ready to receive it?
No. I think the world is ready for the
stories I want to tell. I think young adult audiences especially are ready for
stories that feature diverse characters. I wrote The Star Host with a bisexual lead because I believe representation
matters, especially in young adult fiction. Everyone deserves to find
themselves represented in media and I want to be a part of that.
Book Name: The Star Host
Series: Broken Moon
Book: One
Release
Date: March 3, 2016
Blurb:
Ren
grew up listening to his mother tell stories about the Star Hosts – a mythical
group of people possessed by the power of the stars. The stories were the most
exciting part of Ren’s life, and he often dreamed about leaving his backwater
planet and finding his place among the neighboring drifts. When Ren is captured
by soldiers and taken from his home, he must remain inconspicuous while
plotting his escape. It’s a challenge since the general of the Baron’s army is
convinced Ren is something out of one of his mother’s stories.
He
finds companionship in the occupant of the cell next to his, a drifter named
Asher. A member of the Phoenix Corps, Asher is mysterious, charming, and
exactly the person Ren needs to anchor him as his sudden technopathic ability
threatens to consume him. Ren doesn’t mean to become attached, but after a
daring escape, a trek across the planet, and an eventful ride on a merchant
ship, Asher is the only thing that reminds Ren of home. Together, they must
warn the drifts of the Baron’s plans, master Ren’s growing power, and try to
save their friends while navigating the growing attraction between them.
Pages or Words: 258 pages
Categories: Fiction, Gay fiction, M/M
Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Excerpt:
Once
at the hangar, Ren broke away from the two guards and entered the lancer,
walking up the stairs, irritation a heavy feeling in his chest.
“Reporting
for work,” Ren said, his tone heavily laced with annoyance.
Janus
popped up from a console she had been working under, goggles on her face, gray
hair sticking up everywhere. “You!” she snapped. “I told you not to come back.”
Ren
rolled his eyes. “It’s not my choice. I don’t want to be here anymore than you
want me here.”
“Where
are your guards? I told the dumb one not to bring you back, Abiathar’s orders
be damned. I don’t want your kind working on these ships.”
She
poked a finger hard into Ren’s chest and he staggered back, and rubbed his hand
over the spot.
“What
the stars do you mean by my kind?”
Her
eyes grew comically large behind the goggles. “You don’t know?” She laughed,
bordering on hysterical. “You’re more dangerous than I thought. You can’t try to
control it if you don’t even know what you are.”
Ren
frowned. His tolerance for the cryptic nonsense everyone had spouted since he
arrived was gone. He took a step toward the hull and Janus stiffened.
“Don’t,”
she barked.
“Don’t
what? Touch it? What will happen, huh?”
Her
face paled and her chest heaved with panicked breaths. “You don’t know what
you’re capable of.”
Ren
laughed. “I’m capable of nothing. I’m a duster, planet-born with very limited
experience with tech. You have no reason to be frightened of me.”
He
moved closer to the hull, hand outstretched, fingers splayed.
She
whimpered. “Please, don’t.”
Ren
slammed his hand against the hull, his fingertips leaving greasy marks on the
shiny surface. As he predicted, nothing happened.
He
turned back to Janus. “See? Nothing–”
His
word tangled in his throat, cut off, because suddenly, Ren was consumed with power, rushing from his toes to his
fingertips. A blue tint clouded his vision, and his body suffused with golden
warmth. And then he was floating amongst the wires, connected to the ship, to
the energy source, to everything. The lancer pulsed under his skin,
tangling in his veins, its systems integrated with his senses.
It was freeing and frightening.
His consciousness raced along the
circuits and he could fix it. He
could fix everything. He found the tangle of wires in the artificial gravity
system and bypassed it. He found the broken circuits in the air recyclers and
with a pulse of power, refurbished them. He saw the static in the com system, a
physical entity, and he cleared it away with a brush of his metaphysical hand.
The longer Ren floated through the
ship, the less connected he was to his physical body. And if he thought about
it, he didn’t need his body. Why would he need his body? He was free here. He
moved around with ease, the wires and the systems his route, and the more he
pushed, the more he felt the other ships too. They were nearby, on the edge of
his perception, and he could go to those, he could jump to the other ones and
repair them too.
He could.
He could.
Buy the book:
Interlude Press Web Store: store.interludepress.com
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1RHWcQ5
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-star-host-ft-lukens/1122958972?ean=9781941530726
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/593341
Apple iBookstore: The Star Host
All Romance eBooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html?referrer=55feb862851f8
Meet and follow the
author:
F.T.
wrote her first short story when she was in third grade and her love of writing
continued from there. After placing in the top five out of ten thousand entries
in a writing contest, she knew it was time to dive in and try her hand at
writing a novel.
A
wife and mother of three, F.T. holds degrees in psychology and English
literature, and is a long-time member of her college’s science-fiction club.
F.T. has a love of cheesy television shows, superhero movies, and
science-fiction novels—especially anything by Douglas Adams.
Connect
with F.T. at authorftlukens.wordpress.com on Twitter @ftlukens, on Tumblr at ftlukens.tumblr.com and on Goodreads at goodreads.com/ftlukens.
Publisher: Duet Books, the Young Adult imprint of Interlude Press
Cover
Artist: C.B. Messer
Tour Dates & Stops:
Rafflecopter
Prize: $25 Interlude Press Web Store gift card (grand prize)
+ 5 winners of The Star Host eBook
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thank you for hosting me!
ReplyDeleteSounds really interesting. I've added it to my wishlist =)
ReplyDelete