Elana Johnson is one of those Awesome-sauce people that most of you probably already know of because of her impact on the writing community. Aside from running an awesome online writer's conference and producing plenty of tools for the aspiring author, she is a rockin' author, and SURRENDER (follow-up to POSSESSION) is being dubbed as the dystopian series of the summer!
About
SURRENDER: Raine has always been a good
girl. She lives by the rules in Freedom. After all, they are her father’s
rules: He’s the Director. It’s because of him that Raine is willing to use her
talent—a power so dangerous, no one else is allowed to know about it. Not even
her roommate, Vi.
All of that changes when Raine falls for Gunner. Raine’s
got every reason in the world to stay away from Gunn, but she just can’t.
Especially when she discovers his connection to Vi’s boyfriend, Zenn.
Raine has never known anyone as heavily brainwashed as
Vi. Raine’s father expects her to spy on Vi and report back to him. But Raine
is beginning to wonder what Vi knows that her father is so anxious to keep
hidden, and what might happen if she helps Vi remember it. She’s even starting
to suspect Vi’s secrets might involve Freedom’s newest prisoner, the rebel Jag
Barque….
GIVEAWAY: Elana
is hosting a Spectacular Seconds giveaway this week! You can enter to win one
of five signed sophomore books by Beth Revis, Ally Condie, Veronica Roth,
Kristi Cook, and Kim Harrington.
CLICK HERE for all the details and
to enter.
Aaaand, because Elana is so awesome, she stopped by for a short interview...
Welcome, Elana! Quick, tell me about your book in seven words or less.
Rebellion + romance + tech gadgets = SURRENDER
Other than your main character, who's a favorite character in your novel and
why?
I love Zenn Bower. He’s the founder of the Insiders, which is
the rebellion movement the MC joins. Zenn is mysterious and cool, and you never
really know whose side he’s on. I love writing him, and I love trying to get
the MCs to figure him out.
What's one piece of writing advice you would give to aspiring authors?
Write more. Write another book. And another one. It’s through
practice that we get better.
What did you write when you were a teen? Did you journal? Write poetry?
Write overly literary or emotional stories? Or avoid writing altogether?
I was in the marching band in high school. I didn’t read,
really, and especially not the assigned books. I didn’t journal, write poetry,
or write anything. I didn’t like English at all. I took the AP test as a junior
so I could opt out of English as a senior.
What's the last book you read that you really loved?
BEING FRIENDS WITH BOYS by Terra Elan McVoy. One of the best
YA contemporaries ever!
About
Elana: Elana's work including POSSESSION, REGRET, and SURRENDER is
available from Simon & Schuster wherever books are sold. She is the
author of
From the Query to the Call, an ebook that every writer
needs to read before they query, which can be downloaded for free on
her website. She runs a
personal blog on publishing and is a
founding author of the QueryTracker blog. She blogs regularly at
The League of Extraordinary Writers,
co-organizes
WriteOnCon, and can be found on
Twitter and
Facebook.
She
wishes she could experience her first kiss again, tell the mean girl where to
shove it, and have cool superpowers like reading minds and controlling fire. To
fulfill her desires, she writes young adult science fiction and fantasy.
