Today is my stop on The Interrogation Of Ashala Wolf Blog Tour.
I have featured a Guest Post and a giveaway open to AU/NZ only.
The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf (The Tribe #1)
The Reckoning destroyed civilisation. Rising from the ashes, some people have developed unique abilities, and society is scared of them. Guided by the ancient spirits of the land, Ashala Wolf will do anything to keep them safe. When Ashala is captured, she realises she has been betrayed by someone she trusted. When her interrogator starts digging in her memories for information, she doubts she can protect her people forever. Will the Tribe survive the interrogation of Ashala Wolf?
Published July 2012 by Walker Books Australia
Purchase At: Fishpond + Booktopia + Dymocks + Angus & Robertson
Add It On Goodreads: The Interrogation Of Ashala Wolf
Guest Post: Inspiration Behind The Writing Of Ashala Wolf
I’ve said before about writing Ashala Wolf
that sometimes you find a story, and sometimes a story finds you. The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf was the
story that came to me. The primary source of inspiration for the novel were the
characters themselves – Ashala and Ember and Georgie, Connor and Jaz, the
saurs, the Serpent and the Firstwood. Ashala’s reality is different from mine,
of course. To understand her world, I drew on things I knew. I can point to
specific things that influenced what I wrote – the tuart forests of the
south-west of Western Australia inspired the Firstwood; and the saurs are
loosely based on a species of Australian megafauna that lived thousands of
years ago. But beyond all the small details of Ashala’s reality were the
characters themselves, telling their own story and teaching me of a world that I
always felt I discovered more than created.
It’s a great responsibility, to tell a
story. You owe your characters all your skill and knowledge. And you have to be
brave. Firstly you’ve got to believe that you can do it, and that can be hard,
to continually maintain that belief in yourself through every draft and long
rewrite. Secondly, you have to prepared to suffer some pain. When I wrote this
novel I lived everything I wrote, experiencing Ashala’s journey as she did. It
was often a shock to me to look up from the computer screen and find myself
sitting in my house, rather than surrounded by the towering tuarts of the
Firstwood, or the white walls of the detention centre. Ashala’s best and worst
moments were my best and worst moments too – when she was happy I was happy,
and when she despaired, I despaired. So there’s moments in the book that it
hurt to write. I love Ashala and all the rest of the Tribe so much that I
didn’t want any of them to be in trouble. I wanted them to be happy and
carefree and safe. But that wasn’t the story they came to tell me, at least,
not yet.
People sometimes ask why I write. I feel like
they might as well ask why I breathe! It certainly isn’t easy – like a lot of
other authors, I don’t have the luxury of being a full time writer. I write
whenever and however I can. Usually it’s late into the night, when everything
is quiet and still, so it’s just me and the steady tapping of my fingers on the
computer keyboard, not to mention many, many cups of coffee. Writing can be a
lonely business. But, like Ashala herself, I am never truly alone. I have Ash
and Ember and Georgie, Connor and Jaz and the rest of the Tribe, and the
Firstwood and the saurs and Serpent. To me, these are people and places worth
knowing about, and worth fighting for. And I am proud to consider myself their
friend.
Giveaway.
1 Copy Of The Interrogation Of Ashala Wolf
Open To AU/NZ Only.
Posie Graeme-Evans' War of the Roses series are my favourite books by an Aussie author. Not YA but they are seriously awesome :)
ReplyDeleteCan it be a series?
ReplyDeleteObernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody is a definite fave! I don't know how many times I've re-read this series and can't wait for the final book next year!