Book Spotlight: Parched by Georgia Clark (Author Interview)

Title: Parched
Author: Georgia Clark
Publisher: Holiday House
Publication Date: March 14, 2014

Synopsis: Robots, renewable resources, and romance get tangled together in this thrilling futuristic adventure novel about a utopian city struggling to keep its peace.

A gutsy teen living on an arid, depleted Earth two centuries in the future faces danger and shocking revelations when she covertly joins a subversive group.

Sixteen-year-old Tess lived in Eden, a seemingly idyllic, domed city where access to information and water is regulated by the governing Trust. After a rogue robot killed her scientist mother, Tess fled with a terrible secret to the desperate, arid Badlands, where she’s recruited by Kudzu, explained to her as a “nonviolent collective working to undermine the Trust and free the Badlands.” Learning Kudzu plans to destroy Aevum, the Trust’s latest advanced robot, Tess reluctantly returns to Eden, where she finds the luxurious life morally unconscionable and secretly trains with Kudzu. Living with her uncle, who’s involved with Aevum, Tess is strangely attracted to his sympathetic assistant, Hunter. During a Kudzu raid on the Trust’s lab, Tess discovers that Aevum will be used to eradicate all inhabitants of the Badlands—and that Hunter’s not what he seems to be.

Tess’ first-person, present-tense voice lends chilling immediacy to her no-nonsense story of mixed loyalty, disturbing secrets, and ethical dilemmas associated with diminishing natural resources and scientific experimentation.

About the Author: Georgia Clark is a young adult novelist with a weakness for hot nerds and cheese platters, not necessarily in that order. She lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and spends a lot of time hanging out with improvisers and searching for the perfect pair of skinny jeans. She loves Katniss, Katsa, Karou, Clary, Grace, Puck, Lena—you get the picture.

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Author Interview:

First off, I'd like to thank you for joining me on the blog today! 

1. Describe Parched as a tweet (140 characters or less)! 
16 y.o. girl, Tess Rockwood, joins rebel underground group to destroy an AI prototype. Action, adventure and romance ensue.

2. If you could re-title Parched what would you call it and why? 
My agent actually named Parched: I suck at naming my own books! The working title was Project Aevum. I think that sounds kinda cool and sci-fi-y.

3. What inspired you to start writing? 
I was always a writer, from a very young age. I love inventing characters, building worlds, telling stories. I have a very active imagination, so novel writing is an outlet; a way to tame it so I don’t go crazy.

4. What kind of research, if any, did you do for Parched? 
I did a ton of research for Parched. Essentially, I had to teach myself about cyborgs and artificial intelligence; the mechanics and the ethics. I listened to podcasts, subscribed to science magazines, interviewed experts in the field, read similarly-themed YA and watched sci-fi movies and documentaries, and more. I’m not a natural sci-fi geek, so all the sci-fi elements in Parched were the product of many months of research.

5. Do you have a specific place where you write? 
Yes, I work from the New York Writers Room, in Manhattan, NY. It’s a members-only space for professional and aspiring writers, offering a quiet sanctuary in the heart of noisy New York. I’m in there at least two days and several nights a week. I edit at home, and read out my first drafts to my girlfriend, snuggled into her couch with a glass of wine.

6. What are you reading right now? 
I’m reading a book called My Education, by Susan Choi, about a college student who has an affair with her college professor’s wife. It’s enjoyably precocious.

This or That... 

Ebook or Real book? 
Real book! I like the weight, smell, and feeling of a paper book, and I never want bookstores to become a thing of the past.

Twitter or Facebook? 
Probably Facebook. But I’m not a big social media gal. I don’t own a smart phone (my cell phone is literally eight years old). I’m a luddite!

Chocolate or Vanilla? 
Vanilla. Or better yet, salted caramel *drools*.

Past or Future? 
Future, natch! I’m excited for the future. Nothing but good things on my horizon. I look on my past fondly, though. I’ve made so many hilarious mistakes…..

And just for fun- What is the strangest thing on your desk right now? 
I have a very odd framed painting of an excited-looking sloth that most people find disturbing but I find wonderful.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog! 
 THANK YOU!!!

-Kristen ♥