GCC Presents: Elana Johnson! (And a giveaway!)

Another one of my girlfriends from the Girlfriends Cyber Circuit has a fabulous new release out! Let's hear about Elana Johnson and her new book SURRENDER, shall we?

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…

About the author:

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.

The Interview:
 Q: What inspired you to write this book?

ELANA:  Necessity. SURRENDER is the second book in the POSSESSION series. It’s a companion novel, so it was sort of like writing an entirely new book. But I wrote it to follow-up POSSESSION, so I wasn’t technically inspired to write it.

 Q: The main character of my first book, I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE, is the kind of girl I wanted to be (a rock star!), the MC of my second book has a lot more in common with teenage me. Is your main character someone you wish you could be, someone a lot like you, or your total opposite? How so?

ELANA: SURRENDER has two narrating characters, and one of them is a guy. So Gunn’s not so much like me. Ha! But his personality is something I wish I could be more: calm and laid back. I’m so intense, and he’s not. Raine is the other MC, and I think she’s a bit like me. She goes along with what her parents want until she reaches a breaking point. I was sort of like that. Then it’s all bets off, baby!

 Q: If there was a soundtrack for your book what are five songs that would be on it and how do they relate the story?

ELANA: Crush by David Archuletta – This describes Gunn and Raine’s relationship perfectly. Waiting for the End by Linkin Park – SURRENDER is all about the rebellion movement against the controlling dystopian government. So this song is perfect because it talks about waiting for something to end, and how to start something new.

 Q: In addition to writing books, I also write for a website for teens called Rookie, which has a regular feature called "Literally The Best Thing Ever," wherein we write about a thing that we think is super mega awesome (even if it is the type of thing that others might call a guilty pleasure, we believe there is nothing guilty about pleasure!) and explain why we think it is literally the best thing ever. It's generally a kind of unexpected thing, for example I wrote one about the soap opera, One Life To Live. I don't expect you to write a whole essay obviously, but can you briefly tell us what either you or your character (or both!) would say is "Literally The Best Thing Ever" and why?

ELANA: I think one of the best things ever are cell phones. Literally. I was watching an episode of Seinfeld (also literally one of the best things ever!) and Jerry was stranded at someone’s house after a party. He had to ask to borrow their phone, and then Kramer was late, because he couldn’t find the place. All of that would’ve been eliminated had there been cell phones in the early 90s. So my cell phone is literally one of the best things ever.

 Q: What are you working on for us next?

ELANA:  I’m polishing a sci fi thriller with time travel aspects.

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.