Marked
by K. A. Gandy
GENRE: YA Dystopian Romance
BLURB:
On
the run from the men who murdered her parents, there's only one way
to save herself. Marriage to a genetically-matched stranger.
Demy
has been on the run since she was thirteen years old. Mysterious men
in black cloaks have been chasing her, and so far she's evaded them.
Something, though, has changed since she turned eighteen. Their
attempts to capture her have gotten closer and closer, until she's
only got one option left: turning herself over to the NLC, for the
compulsory marriage program.
She
doesn't want to get married, but with her would-be captors on her
heels, she's got no choice but to hope the NLC's strict security
protocols will be a safe haven. Marriage is a small price to pay for
her life, after all. And maybe, just maybe, she'll finally have the
space to discover why she's being hunted.
***
Marked
is a new entry point in the Populations Crumble world, but many
familiar characters will be present from the original trilogy.
Purchase Marked on Amazon
Excerpt:
“Do you think one of the guys got here early? I already picked two of my three.” She does an excited little shoulder shimmy at the thought, but I want to run back to my room. I’m not ready to meet my guys, and I really hope we’ll get a little more time.
I still haven’t even opened the app. Though, if people are going to start showing up . . . I need to get on that. I trail behind Cammie and Leilani to the top of the grand staircase, and we only make it halfway down before a chipper, feminine voice calls out.
“Whassup, my ladies?!”
My head snaps up from the woven stair runner, and I see another blonde girl waiting in the middle of the foyer.
Cammie and Leilani both call out excited greetings, and I belatedly add a, “Hello,” to the mix.
We make it down into the foyer, and she’s bouncing on the balls of her feet like a boxer. Though, as a boxer I can’t imagine she’d do much. She’s maybe a hundred fifteen pounds soaking wet, short and delicate-looking in a slouchy green t-shirt, ripped jeans, and scuffed-up tennis shoes.
“My name’s Nell, and I’m joining you three for this round of matches! Have you guys met your dudes yet?”
“Uh, no? We just did all the medical exams this morning. The schedule in our e-planners says we have a week of training classes before the introductions,” Cammie answers, mirroring Nell’s peppy tone.
A week before any guys show up? Oh, thank God.
“Okay, so the fun is just beginning, nice!”
“Uhm, have you done this before or something?” Leilani asks.
“Oh, yeah. Couple years ago, now. But, uh, things didn’t work out.” She shrugs one shoulder blithely, but doesn’t offer any other explanation. “So, this is round two for me. Sucks I couldn’t have gotten here after the boring classes, though.” Nell rolls her eyes dramatically.
“So, what was it like?” I blurt the question, suddenly needing to know everything, while simultaneously afraid to hear what she has to say.
“Which part? The matching? The honeymoons? The breakup?”
“The matching—let’s start with that,” Leilani cuts in, anxiety ratcheting her voice up to a higher register than usual, and for a moment, I feel a sense of camaraderie. We’re all going through this roller coaster of unease and unknown.
Interview with K. A. Gandy
How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
I just completed number eleven, and my favorite is always the most recent one! Something about living in that world while I’m writing it always brings it to the top of the list.
If you’re planning a sequel, can you share a tiny bit about your plans for it?
Ooh, well, I don’t want to give too much away . . . but we’re going to see huge personal growth from Demy. She’s going to be tested against her life-long fear, and come out victorious.
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
I typically write in trilogies, so they are not standalones. It’s just too much to cram a whole dystopian world into a single book! But yes, I love that connection, and getting more time to spend with the characters.
How did you come up with the title for your book?
Marked comes from something unique about the main character, Demy, that’s revealed towards the end of the book. Populations Crumble refers to the fact that this dystopian world has had a near-collapse level decline in the human population, which is why the government is forcing people to marry strangers.
How long did it take you to write this book?
About seven weeks, for the first draft. The whole process takes a lot longer, but the first draft is usually pretty speedy!
What does the title mean?
She’s been on the run her whole life from the men who killed her parents . . . but why has she been marked, and why do they want her?
What did you learn when writing the book?
Lots of fun science! Cloning, gene therapy practices, a bit about DNA . . .
What surprised you the most?
I was really sure which main character she was going to end up with, until I wrote the last chapter. Then I had to re-evaluate, which I really didn’t expect.
Have you ever killed off a character your readers loved?
No way! That’s my least favorite trend in literature, and I refuse.
What do you do to get inside your character’s heads?
The characters usually come to me pretty clearly. I don’t start writing until I know who they are, what motivates them, and how they’d respond to any particular decision that comes their way. As far as what I do, lots of boring household chores while I think about them and their lives so far. Haha.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
K. A. Gandy was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, and is married with two kids. She has worked as a restaurant hostess, library book shelver, ranch hand, tour guide, Realtor, tech whiz, landlord, and small business consultant, all in addition to pursuing her passion of writing. She likes to write late in the evenings and thinks drinking hot tea and baking great cookies fuels hopes and dreams. If you would like to find more of her works, you can sign up for her newsletter at https://www.subscribepage.com/kagandy. You can also get updates on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KAGandyAuthor. I’ve also recently started a facebook group for readers, who enjoy YA Dystopian books, and am available by email at kagandyauthor@gmail.com as well, if you’d ever like to drop me a line directly!
5 comments:
Have you always wanted to be a writer ?
Thanks for hosting!
I enjoyed the interview.
The book sounds very interesting. Thanks!
I enjoyed your interview. I especially like that you AREN'T into killing beloved characters.
Post a Comment