Marked by K. A. Gandy

Please welcome K. A. Gandy author of Marked

K. A. Gandy will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Marked

by K. A. Gandy

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GENRE:   YA Dystopian Romance

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INTERVIEW:

1. What or who inspired you to start writing?
2. How did you come up with ideas for your books? 
They come to me! I’ll be doing the dishes, taking a walk, playing with the kids, and then—BAM! There’s an interesting character, out of the blue, with a story that wants to be told.
3.  What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?
4.  As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans? I hope to be writing and publishing for a lifetime career, since it’s really my passion. I’m working on my next fantasy book right now, and then I’ll be back around to the Populations Crumble world for the next book in this series.
5.  If you could be one of the characters from any of your books, who would it be and why? Hmm, Sadie from Dwindle is loosely based on my early life experiences. Small-town girl, loves horses, tight-knit family. But if I could choose any character, I’d be Calida (The Lost Talisman) or Nyx (In the Dust). Calida has fire magic, which would be so cool if it was really an option. Nyx doesn’t have magic, but she’s the most adventurous, bravest woman I’ve ever written. I think either would be great to embody.
6.  If you were the casting director for the film version of your novel, who would play your leading roles? For Marked, I would choose the cover model to play Demy, because she’s gorgeous and exactly how I envisioned her. She has three genetic matches in the book, so Beckett would be Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jax would be Theo James, and Fletcher would be Jason Momoa. Fun note, I actually celeb-cast most of my books, so I can more easily keep the characters straight in my head as I’m writing.

8. Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing? I’ve only joined one this year! It’s harder to give critiques than I thought, and my first book has just been submitted for the rest of the group. I’ve learned a ton just from reading and trying to identify points where others’ books could be strengthened, already. I’m anxiously awaiting my own notes, so, I can’t comment on that side of it yet. It takes a lot of guts to do it, but I think it’s a positive thing.

10. What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing) Oh goodness. There’s so much advice out there that makes it seem like to be successful you have to do XYZ or else you can’t possibly be successful. Frankly, that’s hogwash. The more writers I meet, the more I realize we’re all successful because of our differences, not because of mashing ourselves into the same-old boxes. Best advice was to just keep writing, even when the first book didn’t immediately take off. It’s now my best seller, but it took time to get there. To give specific “worst” advice, you have to write every day to be successful or a “real author”. That’s not how I write, and it took me a long time to realize there wasn’t anything wrong with my process.

11. Do you outline your books or just start writing? I outline, but it’s sparse. Some chapters might get a single bullet point to denote what happens, some get a full index card front and back and I’m twisting them sideways to squeeze a bit extra in the margins. It just depends on how much I know before I start. I often fill in future cards after I’ve started writing and more becomes clear to me.

12. Do you have any hobbies and does the knowledge you’ve gained from these carry over into your characters or the plot of your books?

13. Do you have an all time favorite book? Only one? That’s a hard question. If I can only choose one, the book that’s stuck with me longest is Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier. But I’m a true bibliophile and have about a hundred favorites. We could talk about books for a week, if you want. 😆

14. Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your book? Not at the time of this writing—I’m currently plotting out The Hatchling, and working out some twists and turns. I should be writing again soon.  

BLURB:

On the run from the men who murdered her parents, there’s only one way to save herself. Marriage to a genetically-matched stranger.

Demy has been on the run since she was thirteen years old. Mysterious men in black cloaks have been chasing her, and so far she’s evaded them. Something, though, has changed since she turned eighteen. Their attempts to capture her have gotten closer and closer, until she’s only got one option left: turning herself over to the NLC, for the compulsory marriage program.

She doesn’t want to get married, but with her would-be captors on her heels, she’s got no choice but to hope the NLC’s strict security protocols will be a safe haven. Marriage is a small price to pay for her life, after all. And maybe, just maybe, she’ll finally have the space to discover why she’s being hunted.

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Marked is a new entry point in the Populations Crumble world, but many familiar characters will be present from the original trilogy.

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EXCERPT:

The man in black found me yesterday. I was able to slip away for the night, but he’s getting closer. It’s awful timing, him cropping up right now—as I’m only two blocks from the bus stop—but I just caught a glimpse of his hood again. For the last five years, whenever one of them catches my trail, I lie low until they lose my tracks, and then hop the next bus or train out of town and hit the farthest tri-state I can afford the fare to.

Simple. Clean. Safe.

Unfortunately, that’s not an option right now. I have to be at the bus stop at three p.m. The shuttle only comes once a quarter, and I’m not going to make it another three months. I look down at my banged-up watch and see there are only fifteen minutes left. Making a split-second decision, I take a hard left into the alley in front of me, and duck into the side entrance of a smoke-filled bar. As soon as the door shuts behind me, I dash into the bathroom—a single stall, thankfully—and slide the bolt home.

I don’t know what’s changed since I turned eighteen, but I haven’t made it a full month since without one of them finding me, and it’s freaking frustrating. What’s changed? I honestly don’t know. But after five months, I’m out of cash and out of options. I can’t keep a job long enough to build up my cash cushion without getting busted again.

Which is why I finally pulled my last-resort card and contacted the NLC about getting matched.

Yes, I technically have six months left before the deadline to meet my genetic match and start popping out babies, but I don’t have six more months of running in me. And I refuse to be caught.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

1. A. Gandy was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, and is married with two kids. She has worked as a restaurant hostess, library book shelver, ranch hand, tour guide, Realtor, tech whiz, landlord, and small business consultant, all in addition to pursuing her passion of writing. She likes to write late in the evenings and thinks drinking hot tea and baking great cookies fuels hopes and dreams. If you would like to find more of her works, you can sign up for her newsletter at https://www.subscribepage.com/kagandy. You can also get updates on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KAGandyAuthor. I’ve also recently started a facebook group for readers, who enjoy YA Dystopian books, and am available by email at kagandyauthor@gmail.com as well, if you’d ever like to drop me a line directly!

Amazon buy link: https://www.amazon.com/stores/K.-A.-Gandy/author/B08NLQQTZF?ref

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:

K. A. Gandy will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f4503