YA Action Adventure Fantasy | Science Fiction | LitRPG
Publisher: Fire & Ice Young Adult Books
Date Published: August 27, 2019
Gwen Nielson is a gamer and she’s damn proud of it. Her mother may be a former beauty queen and her kid sister may participate in every pageant the state of Colorado has to offer, but Gwen is content to stay at home and play on her Xbox. To her, life isn’t about fashion and make-up; it’s about making a difference and keeping a low profile. And while most of the girls at her high school hang out at the local country club vying for the popular boys’ attention, Gwen is cool with having a boyfriend she’s never met. Pete is a fellow online gamer who lives in California. He’s funny and sweet, and his father owns a gaming company, which is an added bonus because Gwen gets to test out new games before they’re released to the public.
When Pete mails a new game for her to beta test, Gwen patiently awaits its arrival, but the package is never delivered. To make matters worse, when she calls to let Pete know, she discovers that he’s at the hospital after succumbing to a mysterious illness. Hours later, an ambulance arrives next door because her neighbor’s youngest son, Ben, suddenly becomes ill too. His parents and doctors aren’t sure why he has slipped into a coma, but when Gwen finds her opened package in Ben’s bedroom, she begins to suspect that the game is responsible for both of the boys’ eerily similar conditions.
Even to Gwen, the idea of a game making people sick sounds absurd, so she decides to test her theory before going to her parents. Unfortunately, her neighbor’s older brother, Ryan, insists on checking out the game with her. That’s when they discover that the disc isn’t a game at all—it’s actually a portal to a high-tech government simulator named Eve 2.0 who’s programmed to trap players until they can complete all of the timed objectives.
With her top-notched gaming skills, Gwen is a formidable opponent, but she quickly begins to realize that playing a game versus living it is a lot harder than she ever imagined. And as the objectives become more difficult and the four kids are forced to work as a team, Gwen concedes that she may not be as good as she needs to be, which just might end up costing her not only her own life, but Pete, Ryan, and Ben’s too.
Paperback for fun; eBooks for work!
Interview with Winter Lawrence
As a writer, what would you choose as your
mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
A German shepherd, in honor of my much beloved furbaby
Copper Rose.
How many hours a day do you put into your writing?
I try to write at least ten hours a week, though those
hours can change radically depending on what project I’m working on and what
deadlines I’m working with. The key, of course, is balance, since like most
authors, I have a day job and a family, so as much as I would like to spend
twenty-four hours a day with my nose in a book or with my fingertips on my
keyboard, I have other responsibilities and obligations.
Do you read your book reviews? If yes, do they affect what
you write in the future?
I’ll be the first to admit that book reviews are tough
for me, because as much as I would like to take them as constructive criticism,
it’s sometimes difficult to separate myself from a story I’m emotionally
invested in—and I’m invested in all of them because they’re all special to me for
different reasons. The rule in my house is that my hubby or my daughter reads
over all the reviews and they pick out the ones I can use for promotional purposes.
Even still, I’ve read my fair share of good and bad reviews. The good ones
uplift me—they inspire me to continue writing. The bad ones always hurt, but
they help me try a little harder every time, and with those especially
difficult ones, I’ll go onto Amazon and I’ll pull up one of my favorite books
and I’ll go through those reviews. There are always great ones listed, with
five-star ratings, but even with award-winning, critically acclaimed works,
there are one-star, cringeworthy reviews. It’s humbling to see, because it
reminds me that no matter how well you write and how entertaining or moving
your work is, you can’t make everyone happy. People have different tastes,
different experiences, and different perspectives, so you can’t write something
that everyone will like. It’s impossible, so I always tell writers to write
what they know; write what they love, because at the end of the day, they need
to be proud of themselves and proud of their accomplishment.
Do you leave hidden messages in your books that only a few
people will find?
Absolutely! Slightly altered names are a big one, but I
add special places and events or incidences that usually only my family will recognize.
I also leave Easter eggs about previous stories or ones that I know I’ll
publish one day.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Eve 2.0: The
Ultimate Gaming Experience?
After moving to a new town and
getting her heart broken, Gwen Nielson resorts to gaming as a way to pass time until
she graduates high school. That’s when she discovers that she not only enjoys
gaming but that she’s really, really good at it! With her newfound talent, Gwen
soon makes a new set of virtual friends, and when enough time passes, she dares
to love again, hoping that this time, with her boyfriend being on the other
side of the country, she’ll avoid another heartbreak…
Pete Sampson is the spoiled heir to
the throne of RPG Extreme, a high-tech gaming company that specializes in PC
games. As a self-proclaimed genius, Pete skips college and goes straight to
work for his dad. That’s when he “meets” Gwen. She isn’t like any of the
California girls he’s used to dating. She’s smart, with a natural beauty, and
she isn’t impressed by his family’s wealth, which oddly enough, hooks him like
he’s never been hooked before…
Ryan Nelson is the boy next door
who, after one night of making some terrible choices, breaks Gwen’s heart. In
the years following his folly, he tries to win her love back at all costs, but
Gwen refuses to give him an inch, that is until a random twist of fate lands
his little brother in a top-secret government simulator. In the confusion that
follows, Ryan insists that he goes in with Gwen to help find his brother, but trying
to win her back has become so ingrained in his system that when he finally has
her as a captive audience, Ryan pleas his case, and for once, Gwen may actually
be listening…
Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have
planned for the future?
Book 2 of The Gamer Series, Eve
2.0: Night Terrors, is currently in the editing stages and is scheduled for
release in mid-to-late 2020. I’m so excited! I also recently signed a contract
for a young adult paranormal mystery that’s due to release in June 2021, so I’m
busy as a bee!
Do you allow yourself a certain number of hours to write or do you
write as long as the words come?
If I could, I would write all day
every day, the problem, of course, is that I can’t do that for several reasons.
When I am entrenched in writing a first draft, I tend to write for long hours,
with many breaks in between. During my “normal” work days, I try to get in at
least an hour of writing a day.
Do you have a certain number of words or pages you write per day?
I actually spend a lot of time
reigning in my word count because I can be amazingly long winded! With a lot of
practice and schooling, I’ve learned to outline my stories more accurately, so
I don’t feel compelled to add in material that unnecessarily beefs up my
manuscripts.
What inspires you to write?
My daughter and every kid on the
planet inspires me to write. As a Hispanic female from a uniquely different,
very impoverished family, I’m intimately familiar with hardships. I also, sadly,
understand what it’s like to be bullied and harassed. I’ve lived through the
violence that hatred and ignorance cause and I know what it’s like to be
discriminated against. Through my writing I definitely want to entertain
people, because at the heart of it, that’s why we tell stories, but I also want
to take my unique perspective of life to help other people who may suffer from
loneliness or feel isolated or different. I want them to know they aren’t
alone; that all things are surmountable and that they are special; they are
loved; and they can accomplish their dreams.
Would you rather…
Read fiction or
non-fiction?
Fiction!
Read series or
stand-alone?
Both! Typically, I’m a series kind-of-gal, but lately, as
life gets busier, I love finding a great stand-alone read!
Read Science fiction
or horror?
Oh. Tough call! I’ll go with science fiction, but it’s by a
close margin!
Read Stephen King or
Dean Koontz?
Oh, my! That’s another good one! I love them both, and while
The Tommyknockers will always be in my most beloved top-ten list, I’d have to
go with Koontz! The Door to December was a life-changing read!
Read the book or
watch the movie?
My knee-jerk reaction is to say read the book, but they’ve
done a couple of really great book-to-film movies lately that I’ve been really
impressed with!
Read an eBook or
paperback?
Paperback for fun; eBooks for work!
Be trapped alone for
one month in a library with no computer or a room with a computer and Wi-Fi
only?
Wow! You’ve got some really great scenarios here! LOL, after
some consideration, I’d have to go with a room and a computer with Wi-Fi,
because that way I have the entire world at my fingertips, along with movies,
music, funny animal videos, and a bunch of different screensavers to make me feel
as though I’m in some far-off, exotic location!
Do a cross-country
book store tour or blog tour online?
The environmentalist in me says online blog tour, especially
because you can really reach a massive audience that way, but the road-tripper
in me says cross-country book tour, especially because I love to meet and
mingle with people!
About the Author
Winter lives in the moment and loves nothing more than being surrounded by her family, her fur-babies, and a ton of great reads! When she doesn't have her nose stuck in a book, she's usually thinking up far away, fantastical worlds or she's cooking up a storm in the kitchen!
Because of her love for all things literary, Winter pursued a Master of Arts degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. Professionally, she is a manuscript editor and, in her spare time, she enjoys hosting author spotlights, posting book reviews, and teaching creative writing workshops.
In her private time, she is an avid reader of science fiction, fantasy, and paranormal romances, and one day she hopes to inspire young readers in the same way her favorite authors continue to inspire her today.
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1 comments:
thanks for hosting #rabtbooktours
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