Our latest Debbie Brown is here to talk to us about her YA sci-fi adventure, AMETHYST EYES.
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AMETHYST EYES is a YA adventure covering 15-year-old Tommy as he is forced to go live with his estranged father after an accident claims his mother’s life. The catch here is that his father is not from Earth and Tommy is expected to live onboard his father’s ship. We have a teen having to deal with the loss of his mother, unanswered questions about his father not being present, the pressure of adapting and fitting in to a life nothing could have prepared him for. Oh, and then there is the legend of the amethyst eyes…
2) What inspired this book?
I had written the first chapter (minus the flashback) as a writing assignment ten years before I wrote the book. I was not aiming for a sci-fi theme. I had read a lot of sci-fi throughout elementary school, but after having received a STAR TREK novel as a gift I became obsessed with the books, reading everything I could get my hands on. I loved the human interaction found within.
3) What is the main theme your story explores?
I guess the main theme would be personal growth or family.
4) Can you tell us a little about what went into developing the characters of Tommy and Jayden?
Honestly, they came to life on their own. There are very few forced or created details. I literally sat back and let them go, writing what unfolded before me. Writing the first draft could be compared to the first time anyone reads the book. I didn’t know any more than the reader did until I saw it and then wrote it.
5) What sort of challenges does writing a science fiction story present?
The first would have to be the technology. I didn’t want to borrow what had already been created, and I didn’t want to invent something that just couldn’t be. The transporter, made famous by STAR TREK, has actually come to be with scientists succeeding in transporting quantum spin information.
The second would have to be life. Creating different people with different abilities, rules, values, living arrangements, food and such…although this could apply to fantasy writing as well.
6) Do you have a favorite line from the book you'd like to share?
Two, actually, 1) Tommy asks his father to tell him a little about his time spent with his mother. In the scene the parents are talking, getting to know one another and Emma realizes Dthau-Mahsz (Thomas) cannot go home, so she says “Then I guess you’ve left the city, too.” It refers back to her decision to leave her city life behind and embrace a more basic and natural way of life in the mountains.
2) The doctor’s comment when he finishes his initial examination of Tommy (following the car accident). “He has been sewn, stapled and screwed back together!” He slammed his hand down on the console. “And badly too!”
7) Do you have any sequels planned?
I am working on the prequel right now, telling the story of his parent’s time together. I am about half-way through. Afterwards I do plan on writing a second and possibly a third book in the series since there are still avenues to explore.
8) Can you tell us about any other projects you have planned?
For now, I’d like to write. I am in the midst of an advanced writing course with the Institute of Children’s Literature, which has me writing another YA sci-fi adventure. The first draft is to be completed by the 16th of March.
I hope I can allow my writing to take more place in my life. I have done a lot of things over the years and it gives me an interesting bag of knowledge to rummage through and use in my writing.
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AMETHYST EYES can be purchased at:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Amethyst-Eyes-Debbie-Brown/dp/1462050158
Chapters Indigo: http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Amethyst-Eyes-Debbie-Brown/9781462050154-item.html?ikwid=amethyst+eyes&ikwsec=Home
Powell’s: http://www.powells.com/biblio?show=TRADE%20PAPER:NEW:9781462050154:18.95
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/amethyst-eyes-debbie-brown/1105283804
SONY Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/debbie-brown/amethyst-eyes/_/R-400000000000000563319
If you want to see more from Debbie, you can find her at:
Facebook Book Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amethyst-Eyes/169207996492385
Goodreads Author Page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5370747.Debbie_Brown
Blog: http://amethysteyesauthor.blogspot.com/
Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaSQLuUkHeo
Email: amethysteyes01@yahoo.ca
For as long as she can remember, Debbie has been creating stories in her head. She hated to go anywhere without a pen and paper, just in case. As a graduate of the Institute of Children's literature, while pursuing yet another writing course, she finds herself doing what she loves . . . learning and writing. The course gives her an excuse to just sit down and write. Over the years she has worked as a nurse, a teacher, a martial arts instructor and a CIC officer in the Canadian Forces. Her hobbies have varied from woodworking, to auto-mechanics, with music, painting, karate, holistic medicine, gardening and camping thrown into the mix. Let's not forget reading. Debbie's perfect cure for a long winter's night is curling up in front of a fire with a good book while snowflakes drift slowly past the window. Never having been much of a city girl, she lives with two of her four children, her husband Jean-Pierre and their pets in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec. She couldn't imagine life without the beauty found in the trees, mountains and lakes that surround her.
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