Author Interview with Katie Emmons ||| The Blood Race BLOG TOUR

 About the Book

He’s spent his life running from who he is. She’s been trying to escape her past for 100 years…

Born with unexplainable abilities he struggles to control, college student Ion tries desperately to integrate into his new school and finally put his dark past behind him. But after making a serious enemy, which leads to an accidental rendezvous with the mysterious old man next door— and his hauntingly beautiful but troubled young protégée Hawk, Ion realizes his life will never be normal again.

Late one evening, Hawk drags him by the hand into a closet-turned-rabbit-hole to an extra dimension, and Ion finds himself stumbling involuntarily into a secret society of training for “anomalies,” teenagers with a special set of abilities. Just like him.

As they train to become Protectors of future Earth, battling each other as well as their own demons, both Ion and Hawk begin to realize that they are far more alike than they realized. Unsettlingly so.

When the Dimension is shaken by an unthinkable betrayal, will an ancient prophecy bring Hawk and Ion together—or will a deadly threat hidden in plain sight cost them both their powers… and their lives?

Author Interview

Hello everyone!  Today I have Katie Emmons, author of The Blood Race here with me today!

What inspired you to start writing?

Thinking back, would probably have to say it was the fact that my mom read to my sister and I every single night when we were growing up. I grew to love literature and the art of storytelling largely because of that. 

I started writing short stories and alternate endings for video games when I was super young… some single digit age, and from there went on to write my first novel when I was in my tweens. 

Do you remember the exact moment you came up with the idea for The Blood Race?

I do have a very distinct memory of hanging out in my living room one summer day probably staring at a potted plant when the idea came to me. Just kidding about the potted plant part though.

What is your favorite part of the writing process?

Plunking myself down at my desk, or across the dining room table from my sister with a big mug of coffee and letting the words flow. I love the actual writing process, especially on a good day, when I feel super pumped up on the story. 

Second to that, I love listening to music in the car and thinking about the characters and whatever scene I happen to be working on. 

Coffee or tea?

I think I gave myself away a bit in the question above! Coffee! Although, I am a big tea drinker as well when it’s cooler outside. Sure, coffee is hot too, but... how could we do without it? 

What was the hardest part about writing The Blood Race?

Hmm. The trickiest bit was probably writing some of the slower technical aspects on days when I was itching to write something faster paced. I like to speed write, and sometimes with technical aspects, I’ll make myself slow down and take a step back to get a fresh perspective so I can bring just as much energy to a discussion as I do to a fight, or some other climatic scene.

Would you rather The Blood Race be made into a movie or TV show?

Movie, all the way! 

I honestly run the story through my head all the time in movie form (I’m very visual), and I see the characters and the setting in my mind’s eye as I write it as if I am watching it play out in front of me and just jotting down what I see/feel as the character I’m writing for. That being said, actually seeing The Blood Race in movie form, up on the silver screen would be pretty epic. 

Who would direct the movie?  Who is your dream cast?

Ooohh, tough one! I’m one of those people who barely pays attention to actor/actress names, and producer names. I’m a fan of Spielberg - the films I’ve seen of his have been boss. (Thinking of Bridge of Spies and War Horse here). I’m sure there are a few others I would love to see direct it as well.

As for the dream cast… I guess you could say it’s still very much under construction and I am open for suggestions! I would be really curious to hear from my readers what actors and actresses they would cast as the characters.

Thank you so much for joining us today, Katie!

Thank you so much for this opportunity, Alea! I so appreciate it! <3 :d="" a="" answer.="" div="" fun="" lot="" of="" questions="" to="" were="" your="">

About the Author

When she’s not hermiting away in her colorfully-painted home office writing her next science fiction, passionate story-teller and adventurer Kate Emmons is probably on the road for a surf or hiking trip, listening to vinyls, or going for a power run. Emmons lives in the often-snowy hills of rugged Vermont with her husband and dog named Rocket.

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Oops...I Left My Heart In Peru

Like I mentioned in my last post, I spent 10 days in Lima, Peru.  It was absolutely amazing and changed my life.  I feel like a different person.  Normal life doesn't feel normal anymore--it feels dull.  I miss the people of Peru.  I miss my friends on Team 1 (and our fan club member, Amber).

Okay, I'll start at the beginning.

We did this trip with Never the Same Missions/Big World Ventures.  If you haven't heard of them, they are a fantastic organization that does summer mission trips for teens.  (Adults can go on it too, but it's geared towards teens and young adults.  Adults are there mainly to minister to teens.)  During the day, we ministered to the people of Peru and at night, we had a youth conference sort of thing.

On June 24, we arrived at the Embassy Suites in Ft. Lauderdale, FL for leader training.  My sister and I hung out with some other the other "kids" while Mom was in training.  This involved many, many Dutch Blitz games and some very violent games of Spoons.  Also, there were some Coldstone Creamery runs where almost all of the people on the trip went.  We filled up the entire store.  I'm pretty sure that the people working there hated us.

Mom and my sister in front of the hotel.

June 26 is when things really started picking up.  The rest of the people arrived and we had our first FUAGNEM (fired up and going nuts every minute...aka the youth conference) and drama auditions.  This mission trip is based around a drama that presents the gospel, which is awesome and fun!  I was cast as the baseball player (shocking because I'm not athletic at all) and my sister was cast as a mime.

The next day started intense drama practice.  Intense as in from 9am to 6pm with an hour for lunch.

Here's a little excerpt from what I wrote on the second day of drama practice:

I'm exhausted.  My legs are sore, my eyes stay open from sheer need to remain awake, and I hear video-game style music playing over and over in my head.  Today was a very long day...and it's not over yet.  This morning, we had to eat breakfast at 7, meet with our team (GO TEAM 1!) at 8, and be ready for drama practice at 9.  Since then, I've had two 20 minute breaks and an hour lunch break.  But I'm not complaining because I'm having so much fun!  I've met so many amazing new people who are on fire for the Lord!  (Our team is so lively and amazing!)

Then on July 29, we flew to Lima.  The flight was very longgggg and boring because the airline we flew on didn't have TVs.  I also forgot earbuds...

 

Okay, so like I said in my post last week, traffic is insane in Lima.  So, it took us about an hour to drive to the hotel...even though it was about midnight.

The next morning, we had to be up at 7 to go down to breakfast.  Team time was at 8 (where we met with our team for devotions) and we left at 9.

This is breakfast on one of the later days.

There were two kinds of ministry days:

1. Drama days - we performed the drama three times in public places like parks and marketplaces.

Here we were at a school.

Here we're at a park.

People watch our drama in a market.

2. Community days - we spend the day in a community doing some small work projects, playing with the kids (painting faces and making balloon flowers + swords.) 

Me painting a little girl's face.

One of the communities was on a cliff.

We also had a couple of free days.  On the first free day, we went to a local restaurant called Cafe Cafe.  Oh my goodness was it amazing.  That night, the entire mission team went to Shalom Church.  It was one the most amazing services I've ever experienced.  We had an hour and a half of worship in both English and Spanish.  Then, Susie Shellenberger gave a message (with a translator).  We performed the drama for the church.  Also, there was a dance party at the end, which was super cool.  It was amazing to worship with the Peruvian people!

The second free day was an excursion to the Peruvian desert where we went sandboarding (basically snow boarding on sand dunes.)  I'm still dumping sand out of my tennis shoes.

When we were here, all I could think about was
how much this looks like Katie Grace's novel,
Song of the Desert!

The third free day, my mom and sister went to the market, but I stayed back because I was coming down with a cold and we were to fly back home that night (fun, right?).

Other Cool Stuff That Happened

1. I gave my testimony for the first time.

After every drama performance,  someone would explain the drama and then someone else would give his/her testimony.  The last day, God gave me the courage to share what He's done in my life.

2. We invited a school to come watch the drama.

3. A lot of people got saved!

There will be people in heaven because a bunch of teenagers and adults took part of their summer to go to Peru.  Oh, and one girl on our team got saved...but I'll talk about that in a minute. :)

4. This is cool as in cold.  At our hotel, the hot water didn't always work.  Not fun.

The guy who organizes the trips says usually the hotels are a step up from where we stayed.  However, the hotel we stayed at this time had a lot of character.

  

You could go out on the roof, which was AWESOME.

5. The guys put on a special candlelit rooftop cake party.

Each girl got a rose, note, and a slice or two of cake.  It was so special!  There are great, godly guys out there. :)

6. FUAGNEM

These things were incredible.  The worship.  The messages.  Oh, they were so life-changing.  One night, we talked about not waiting to let go of our sins.  Don't wait.  And that's the meaning behind the green shirt you saw me wearing while eating breakfast that says "Today.  Right Now.  Immediately."  That was such a moving night.  We separated into our teams and let go of all of our sins.  There was a lot of hugging and crying (hence the nickname "Cry Night")--especially when one of our team members gave her life to Christ!  Oh, it was so amazing.  We'd all been praying for her so hard!  I started sobbing I was so happy.

This was on 4th of July.

That's all that I can think of for now.  There might be a part 2 later. (Unless you guys are tired of me rambling about the trip and how amazing it was.)

To close this post out, here are some words from my Mom:

Next year, Big World Ventures is going to Guatemala, and we would love to go.  (Many people participate in these trips year after year.)  We are praying about God’s plan for us.  If any of you feel called to do a mission trip next summer, we would highly recommend this trip for all ages.  One woman on our trip is in her 60s and pulled around her oxygen with her everywhere that we went.  You would not believe the health problems that she has, but she does not let anything stop her, and God used her in mighty ways to impact many lives.  Please let us know if you are interested.

Have you ever been on a mission trip?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

8 Things You Might Not Know about Lima, Peru

A week ago today, I got back home from a 10-day mission trip to Lima, Peru.  Next to Realm Makers, it was the most amazing trip of my life.  We served in communities and put on an evangelistic drama, as well as a lot of other incredible things.  (I plan to do a recap post sometime in the near future.)  For now, here are some crazy things you might not know about Lima.  The culture shock is real, friends.

1. The traffic is insane.  

Picture a very large city with a ton of traffic.  Now picture that same city where the traffic laws don't have to be followed. Car horns = hi, I'm here; big car/bus = I'm first

This is an intersection.  Yeah.  Crazy, right?  (Photo Cred: Mom)

2. You can tell kids in public school about Christ.  

Wouldn't that be nice to adopt in America?  One time, we invited a whole kindergarten to watch our drama.  We had to do spur-of-the-moment public speaking and it was actually pretty embarrassing.  (How can you even embarrass yourself in front of 5-year-olds?)

Here our team is praying with school children...
on school premises!  It was amazing!
(Photo Cred: Mom)

3. You can't flush toilet paper.  

There's a little trash can to the side of every toilet to put used toilet paper in.  Isn't that gross?

4. There are pickpockets everywhere.  

Story idea for a gang of Peruvian orphans trying to find their way in the world?  (First thing that came to my mind.) When in very crowded areas, you have to wear backpacks on your front and hold it close to you.  It's kind of awkward to walk like that.

5. The people are super nice and open to the Gospel.

Unlike in America, people like tracts.  They will listen to you tell the story of how Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again to save us from eternity without Him!  When in doubt, tell someone your testimony.

6. The roads are SUPER bumpy.

Especially when you're trying to do face paint in the back of a bus.

There are also these really cute taxis.  They're actually enclosed
3-wheeled motorcycles.  (Photo Cred: Mom)

7. The soccer fields are usually concrete and very dusty.

Since Lima is in a sort of desert, there isn't much grass and water has to be brought in on trucks.  Thus, concrete soccer fields.

Here's a very dusty soccer field.
(Photo Cred: Can you guess?  Mom)

Another picture of the soccer field, featuring an adorable
little girl (sadly, I forget her name), and myself.
(Photo Cred: Mom)

8. They think Americans are the coolest (mostly the kids).  Especially people with light hair and/or light eyes.

Here's my sister with a very adorable little girl after we performed
our evangelistic drama.  (Photo Cred: Mom)

Have you ever been to Peru?  What did you think of it?  Have you ever set a story/part of a story there?

How to Take Critiques without being emotionally destroyed by them

At some point or another, someone is going to read your writing.  This could be a school essay, a short story, or your baby (novel).  It's scary because you wonder if you are good enough.  Is this good enough to get published?  Is this good enough to get a good grade?  Am I actually a good writer?  Did I to X plot point right?  Are my characters realistic and likable?  I find that a lot of times, I use beta readers as validation that my work is finally good enough.  I hope hope hope that it is...but then the critiques come in.  It's a very sad feeling to know that you still need to fix things.  Sometimes, it makes you feel like a failure.  Here are some ways to combat those feelings.

1. Separate yourself from your work.

Your identity is found in Christ, NOT your writing.  Before sending your work out, take a step back from it.  Realize that this isn't personal anymore, it is a product that you made.  (I learned this from Thomas Locke at Realm Makers last year.)

2. Realize that beta readers are your friends.

They offered to critique your story because they want to help YOU.  It isn't an evaluation of how good of a writer you are.

3. Be open to change.

I've beta read for some people who defend every single editing decision they made.  Yeah, that's a little frustrating because how are they supposed to get better?

4. It's okay to be upset, but don't dwell on it.

This isn't quite as easy as it sounds.

5. There's always another novel.

So this novel is beyond hope (at least for the present time).  Write another one!  And another one!  And another one until your writing improves.  Even published authors haven't hit their "ceilings".

Have you ever gotten harsh critiques?  How did you get over them?