Monday 4 January 2016

PROMOTIONAL SPOTLIGHT - NEXIS - TRICKSTER SERIES BY A.L. DAVROE

Title: Nexis
Author: A.L. Davroe
Series: Trickster
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Genre: YA, Science Fiction
Release Date: 1st December 2015

BLURB supplied by A.L. Davroe
In the domed city of Evanescence, appearance is everything. A Natural Born amongst genetically-altered Aristocrats, all Ella ever wanted was to be like everyone else. Augmented, sparkling, and perfect. Then…the crash. Devastated by her father’s death and struggling with her new physical limitations, Ella is terrified to learn she is not just alone, but little more than a prisoner.

Her only escape is to lose herself in Nexis, the hugely popular virtual reality game her father created. In Nexis she meets Guster, a senior player who guides Ella through the strange and compelling new world she now inhabits. He offers Ella guidance, friendship…and something more. Something that allows her to forget about the “real” world, and makes her feel whole again.

But Nexis isn’t quite the game everyone thinks it is.

And it’s been waiting for Ella


PURCHASE LINKS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A.L. (Amanda) Davroe writes both YA and adult speculative fiction. She prefers revisionist tales in paranormal, romance, Steampunk, and fantasy. She is the author of Salvation Station (adult psych horror), The City Steam Collection (adult psych horror), For Your Heart (YA Paranormal Romance) and her YA Sci-Fi novel, Nexis, is coming out with Entangled Publishing  December 1, 2015!

By day, Amanda lives in Connecticut with her two feline hench-creatures and makes cheese.  She's a terrible blusher, has a weak spot for cuddly animals, loves Laffy Taffy and Cadbury MiniEggs, and she's a huge advocate of alternative healing methods.  Amanda also wears purple shoes and corsets...Though not always in the same ensemble.  She's a Capricorn, a Hufflepuff, a bit gothic, and a few nuggets short of a Happy Meal.
 

AUTHOR LINKS
Author Email: ALDavroe@gmail.com
Author Website: www.ALDavroe.com
Author Blog: www. ALDavroe.com
Author Twitter: @ALDavroe
Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ALDavroeFanPage
Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5212441.A_L_Davroe
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/RBlXP

***GIVEAWAY***
a Rafflecopter giveaway


AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Would you tell us a little about Nexis please?
Nexis is a futuristic dystopian about a young woman who becomes disabled and begins to play a virtual reality game in an effort to cope with her newfound limitations.  It’s a story within a story – Ella’s stagnant life in one world and her vibrant life in another…and how those worlds collide.

Can you also tell us something about what to expect from the Trickster series in the future?
The Trickster Series is…complicated to explain!  LOL!  Well, I suppose that, as a whole, this series really examines what the world would be like if we attempted to strive for a perfect version of humanity.  Yet, everyone has their own version of perfection.  We see what happens when certain paths are taken and others not taken.

How long did it take you to write Nexis, from the original idea to finishing writing it?
The first draft of Nexis only took me a few months to write.  It went right to my agent after that and we started pitching immediately.  During the submission process I gave it a little overhaul, but for the most part, the story is nearly the same one that I wrote.  It’s one of the fastest books I’ve ever written.

What genre would you place Nexis into?
Nexis is firmly a YA Sci-Fi.  It’s futuristic dystopian which is right at home in Science Fiction.  And it’s YA because the protagonist is a young adult.  BUT, there are a lot of aspects to this book that straddle the fantasy line and there are many themes and aspects of this book that would appeal to adults.

What made you decide to write that genre of book?
I have always loved both science fiction and fantasy and I tend to write in either of those arenas.  I suppose for this one I wanted to do something more futuristic because I hadn’t tried that yet.  I like to try new things, see what worlds I can build…

Do you have a favourite character from Nexis? and why are they your favourite?
If you had to choose to be one of your characters in Nexis which would you be? and why?
You know, I’m quite partial to Quentin – though you don’t get to know him until book 2, really, so I’ll pick someone else.  In book 1, I think I’d have to go with Meems as my favorite.  She’s just an interesting character and I wish I had been able to explore her a bit more deeply.  I think she’s so intriguing because she’s not-quite-human, yet she’s so human at the same time.  I love the idea of exploring those boundaries of what makes us people – both in our own eyes and in the eyes of others.  If I had to be a character…Oh gosh, I don’t want to be any of my own characters!  I’m mean to them!  I suppose I’d be Ella if I had to.  I mean, she’s the main character, I’m least likely to kill her, right!? (though maiming is obviously not off the table…)  She does get a hunky boyfriend though…

How did you come up with the Title and Cover Designs for Nexis? Who designed the Cover of your books?
Entangled had me fill out a special form for the cover.  It was a basic: give us a summary, character descriptions, and what you do and don’t want to see happen on the cover.  I filled that out and that was pretty much the only involvement I had in the design.  There was a different cover for Nexis, initially.  It was very pretty.  I asked for a number of changes and got a couple of them, but overall it was more “futuristic Sex in the City feelings than I wanted.”  Then, the publisher changed the cover about three months before the book was supposed to come out!  I was a little freaked out about that, but then I opened the new concept files.  The new cover is so much cooler than the last one that I couldn’t complain.  There was literally nothing I wanted to change about this new cover, it’s perfect.  The artist for this one is a woman named Louisa Maggio of LMCreations, she works for the publisher, and I think she’s an absolute genius.

Do you choose a title first, or write Nexis then choose the title?
I had a completely different title for this book while I was writing it and I really liked that title.  But, my agent hated it and told me it needed to go.  Next to re-naming Quentin, coming up with the title for NEXIS was one of the biggest headaches of my life!  I made a list like twenty titles long and hated them all.  I could not pick anything I liked.  Eventually I just picked “Nexis” because that’s what the game was called.  It definitely suits the book, but in some ways I’m annoyed with it because it’s spelled weirdly and it causes confusion for people when they search it.  But, that’s the title I picked for the game and that’s what it needed to stay.  Once names are picked in my head, it’s very hard to change them – even into new spelling.  I wouldn’t change the title now for anything, it is what it is and it has become Nexis and couldn’t be anything else at this point. 

How did you come up with characters names and place names in Nexis?
I answer character name things below, so I’ll just focus on place names here.  For the locations in the game most of them just came to me.  Some of them were meant to appeal to historical titles but somehow be a little jumbled -- the Fief of Lau, for example is supposed to have that East meets West jumble to it.  Other locations have almost comical “amusement park” titles – Discoland and Canal Town.  Garibal is actually a little hat-tip to my love of Babylon 5 – Garibaldi.  Now, the dome names in Post-America all have a particular rhyme and reason.  Evanescence is not called that because I like the band!  Besides the fact that I just think it sounds cool, the meaning of the word, evanescence, is “to gradually fade away.”  I liked the idea of that, especially in the wake of an apocalypse like the Bio-Nuclear War.  I wanted the names of the cities to invoke emotions that new citizens might have had the day they entered the domes.  Some are positive feelings, like Selestia ( heavenly) and Allegra (joy or living).  Other city names have a sad quality -- like they are supposed to remind you of the humanity we used to be – Cadence (end notes -- but perhaps not the end of the song), Evanescence (gradual fading – like walking off into the distance until no one can see you anymore), Adagio (slow beat – like the plodding of feet going into the dome or the constant heart of humanity).

Are character names and place names decided after their creation? or do you pick a character/place name and then invent them?
The name usually comes to me at the very beginning.  Every so often, I’ll have a little difficulty thinking of a name for someone, but a little baby-name searching on Google and I usually find something that clicks.  Sometimes I change names, but not often.  Quentin’s name changed at the request of the publisher (It was incredibly hard to pick a new name for him and I was very uncomfortable with the change until I wrote Book #2 and he told me all about how he’s a Quentin).  I changed the name of Zane on my own because after I wrote him a little, I decided that the original name I had picked for him wasn’t fitting for him.  Everyone else got their names from the start and the names stuck.

Did you decide on character traits (ie shy, quiet, tomboy girl) before writing the Nexis or as you went along?
I don’t usually decide what a character is going to be personality-wise ahead of time.  I knew Ella was going to be a “Natural” and that she was going to be much like every other teenaged girl out there – wants to fit in and be popular.  Her love of designing clothing was a surprise and the way her personality assembled itself was also a surprise.  Minus a few distinct tid-bits where I go into a character thinking “I’m going to write an ‘X’ character,” every character tells me who he or she is as I write them.

Did you basic plot/plan for Nexis, before you actually began writing it out? Or do you let the writing flow and see where it takes the story?
I had originally wanted NEXIS to be a Cinderella retelling…that lasted about two minutes then it took a life all its own.  Most of my work tends to just assemble itself as I write it, even if I want to follow an outline.

Are there any hidden messages or morals contained in Nexis? (Morals as in like Aesops Fables type of "The moral of this story is..")
Well, like all good Sci-Fi and Fantasy, NEXIS touches on a number of issues that aren’t necessarily morality based so much as cautionary tales.  There’s some touching on environmental issues, allowing technology to get the better of us, loving who we are, etc.  But, I tried not to go too crazy with beating anyone over the head on what’s right and wrong.  I suppose it might feel that way because the story is written in first person and Ella is learning some tough lessons throughout the book.

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about?
Only that it was a blast to write and I hope that readers love it as much as I do!


No comments:

Post a Comment