Friday, March 6, 2015

Spotlight (Interview &Giveaway): Awoken by Sarah Noffke



Title: Awoken (The Lucidites #1)
Author:
Sarah Noffke
Publisher: One-Twenty-Six Press
Release Date: November 24, 2014

Around the world humans are hallucinating after sleepless nights.

In a sterile, underground institute the forecasters keep reporting the same events.

And in the backwoods of Texas, a sixteen-year-old girl is about to be caught up in a fierce, ethereal battle.

Meet Roya Stark. She drowns every night in her dreams, spends her hours reading classic literature to avoid her family’s ridicule, and is prone to premonitions—which are becoming more frequent. And now her dreams are filled with strangers offering to reveal what she has always wanted to know: Who is she? That’s the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out. But will Roya live to regret learning the truth?


Interview

Amber: Hi Sarah, thank you so much for stopping by Bibliophilia, Please! What was your inspiration or muse in creating a time/dream travel book?

Sarah Noffke: I’ve always been fascinated by dreams and sleep. Not just sleeping, but dreaming, is vital to our survival. If we don’t dream then the human brain deteriorates. REM sleep deprivation in rats has shown to cause a loss of survival behaviors, decrease of pain threshold and depression. In humans, sleep deprivation causes hallucinations because it is so crucial to brain function. All this kept me thinking about the power stored in dreams and dreaming abilities. I spun these ideas around in my head until I concocted a villain (Zhuang) who stole human’s abilities to achieve REM rendering them hallucinating zombies. And maybe also I was inspired by my own sleep deprivation at the time. My daughter was six months old and not sleeping through the night. I’m fairly certain I shouldn’t have been operating a motor vehicle.

I also had to include time travel in my books. This was a must. Time travel makes the plot really difficult, but for that reason it also adds great complexity. I LOVE Doctor Who for this reason.

Amber: Do you write full-time or do you have a day-job? If you have a day-job, what is it?

Sarah: I’m a full-time mom, a part-time college professor, as well as full-time writer. I can say write full-time because I really try to devote 30 + hours to writing, editing, revising, and marketing every week. That means that I never go to bed early, wake up at unreasonable hours and turn down most social invites to get the work done. I work all the time. Never take a day off. Ever. And you know what? I’ve never been happier. :)

Amber: Are you working on any new projects or do you have a new book coming out soon?

Sarah: I’m currently writing a new trilogy. I’ve complete the first two books and hope to start the third by early spring. It another series about Dream Travelers. There’s all new characters. A new society. And it’s WAY more dystopian than The Lucidites. It’s also a lot darker and a little sexier, but still YA. The series is called The Reverians.

Amber: What was your favorite part of writing Awoken - whether it be chapter, scene or character?

Sarah: Ren was my favorite character to write for when creating Awoken. He’s a snarky, British redhead and speaks in long, abusive monologues. It was fun to cut loose and think of clever ways to be offensive. I think that says something about my personality.

I also truly loved writing the Bruce Lee scene. There’s something fantastic about being able to time travel and spy on amazing people in history. There’s something even more exciting about learning from these geniuses. It makes the possibilities endless.

Amber: What do you snack on when writing?

Sarah: When I wrote The Lucidites I actually lost 15 pounds. I totally forgot to eat. This isn’t the same for writing The Reverians. Every book is different and dictates a different schedule, diet, and lifestyle. The Reverians is like the freshman 15. I’m totally eating way too many carbs.

Amber: What were the worst challenges in publishing your first book?

Sarah: The worst challenge was coming out of the writer’s closet. I know some writer’s use pseudonyms and I totally get why. I actually wrote under one for a long time because I didn’t want to be associated with my writing. Sure, if people thought it was good, then great. But if people hated my writing then I could pretend like it wasn’t me. It was safe. However, I knew when publishing that I had to be honest and own my work, and that meant to own the criticism. Most non-writers don’t really understand how writers are constantly being judged. It’s a crazy business. When I told my friends and the world that I was a writer, everyone was incredibly supportive. However, it was still difficult to stand beside my work without the mask on and face the critics.

Now for the fun and silly questions!:

Amber: Beach or mountain?
Sarah: I live in California, so I’m going with Mountain Beaches.

Amber: Chocolate or fruity candy?
Sarah: Chocolate!

Amber: Coke or Pepsi?
Sarah: Coke!

Amber: Morning person or night owl?
Sarah: As a writer and mother, I have to be both.

Amber: Quiet night in or romantic dinner out?
Sarah: Quiet night.

Amber: Diamonds or pearls?
Sarah: Diamonds!

Amber: Ice cream or frozen yogurt?
Sarah: Fro Yo!

Amber: High heels or flats?
Sarah: Oh I love a good pair of heels, but only every now and again.

Amber: Cats or dogs?
Sarah: Fish. They’re so nice and quiet.

Amber: Microsoft or Apple?
Sarah: Microsoft

Amber: iPhone or Android?
Sarah: iPhone

Amber: Texting or calling?
Sarah: Texting all the way

Amber: Books or movies based on books?
Sarah: Books!

Amber: E-book or physical?
Sarah: E-book!

Amber: DC or Marvel?
Sarah: Marvel

Amber: Gold or silver?
Sarah: Silver

Amber: Shy or outgoing?
Sarah: Outgoing…I think. Depends really.

Amber: Shower or bath?
Sarah: Shower

Amber: Sweet or savory?
Sarah: Savory

Amber: Invisibility or ability to fly?
Sarah: Good question. Hmmmm….I’m going with flying, just because being invisible is creepy.

Amber: Thank you again for allowing me to interview you!

Buy Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository| Fishpond



About the Author





Sarah Noffke writes YA sci-fi fantasy and is the author of The Lucidites series. She’s been everything from a corporate manager to a hippie. Her taste for adventure has taken her all over the world. If you can’t find her at the gym, then she’s probably at the frozen yogurt shop. If you can’t find her there then she probably doesn’t want to be found. She is a self-proclaimed hermit, with spontaneous urges to socialize during full moons and when Mercury is in retrograde. Sarah lives in Southern California with her family.





Links
Website | Facebook | Goodreads

Giveaway

Sarah Noffke is graciously giving away a copy of Awoken on Kindle! Please complete the Rafflecopter giveaway form below. Giveaway is open internationally as long as you can accept a Kindle gift book.

Ends at 12:00am CST on March 20th

a Rafflecopter giveaway

4 comments:

  1. I'd like to travel to where I lived when I was 10 years old. That's the happiest time of my life.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would travel back to 2000 because that year was my favorite year in high school I had so much fun that year! Thanks for the awesome giveaway!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've thought about this a few times. I really would love to travel back to meet some of the people that were inventors. Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla (not together, since that wouldn't end well), Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo da Vinci. Probably more, too, but I think those four would be fascinating!

    ReplyDelete

You are going to put words in my box?! *squeezes you* Now I shall stalk YOUR blog!