Hello! I got the lovely opportunity to work with author of the novel Gifted, Jessica George. She kindly provided an interview all about herself as an author and about her novel. You can read my review of Gifted here.
Tell us a little about yourself.
My name is J.A. George and I am the author of Gifted – The Hayven Series. I like to eat, write, read, bake and hang out with my friends, preferably at the cinema or at a restaurant.
What job did you wish to have when you were younger?
I use to want to be a doctor. Odd, considering I hate blood and delivering bad news…
What’s your favourite food?
Pizza. I really love pizza. I could eat one every day. I just…yeah, pizza is my answer.
What TV show are you into right now?
I’m slightly obsessed with Game of Thrones at the moment. Yes, I turn away and close my eyes at the really bloody, gory bits which, now that I come to think of it, means I probably miss out on 40% of the actual show!
What is the name of your latest book?
Gifted – The Hayven Series. I always add the series name to the end because there are a few books with the same “Gifted” title.
Tell us about Gifted in five sentences.
Okay. (That “okay” doesn’t count as one of my sentences!) Gifted is about a nineteen year old university student who meets a woman a little on the strange side, and then meets a young man a little more on the stranger side. These meetings lead to the eventual discovery of Hayven – a city separated from the rest of the world where only those with gifts can go. She makes an eclectic bunch of friends, who, even though I’m biased, are awesome. But Hayven has its dark side – Cliders. Gifters turned rogue, Cliders are determined to see Hayven return to the way it was one thousand years ago when the city was under the dominion of Madrina.
What genre is Gifted?
It’s a contemporary YA fantasy novel with hints of romance, adventure, mystery and…comedy, maybe?
Why did you write Gifted?
I started off writing Gifted because I wanted to read a contemporary YA fantasy novel that didn’t feature instant-love, a chosen one or a girl growing up in a dystopian society. I just wanted to read about someone normal, someone I could relate to. Someone who worries about the way she looks, but never says it out loud, has a sense of humour, thinks about the small stuff. Then I wanted to take her and place in a world she never thought existed. I also wanted to read about real young adult relationships. How falling in love isn’t as simple a process as one might think and how lust, fascination and curiosity don’t always mean love. I just wanted a realistic contemporary YA novel with fantasy thrown in for good measure.
How many editions of Gifted are there? How different are they?
Two and they are INCREDIBLY different! Edition two is almost unrecognisable. I’d say a good 95% has been changed between editions.
What is one major change you did to edition one that didn’t make it into edition two?
Romance. I incorporated heavy romance into my novel at first because I thought that was what readers wanted. I’m not the gushy, romantic type; I’m the kind of person who cringes at the unrealistic love scenes in a book and will more often than not, skip over it. I honestly thought you couldn’t have a YA novel without romance, so I forced it in despite my reservations and feelings towards it. My first edition of Gifted was full of scenes like this and I hated writing them. Honestly, I would cringe at my desk as I typed it out. I just…bleugh…it’s not for me. One evening, I’d just had enough and I deleted all of the romance scenes and completely revised my novel, resulting in edition two, and I am unbelievably happy with the way it is now. Gifted still has hints of romance, it’s just not heavy, unrealistic instant-love.
For you, what makes a good story?
When I read a book, I can tell whether the author has really enjoyed writing it. I know it sounds rather strange, but sometimes I can sense the author’s excitement and then I get really excited to read on!
Finally, how do we become authors?
Write. And keep writing until you’ve written a book you’d happily read.
J.A. George
Twitter: @JGeorgie_
Blog: www.thejourneyofgifted.com
Download a sample of GIFTED from amazon here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gifted-Hayven-Book-1-ebook/dp/B01E83HZPC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1460835483&sr=8-1&keywords=gifted+J+George
