This is my stop during the book blitz for Ghost Heart (The PSS Chronicles #3) by Ripley Patton. This book blitz is organized by Lola's Blog Tours and runs from 20 till 26 October. You can view the complete blitz schedule on the website of Lola’s Blog Tours.
So far, this series contains 3 books: Ghost Hand (The PSS Chronicles #1), Ghost Hold (The PSS Chronicles #2) and Ghost Heart (The PSS Chronicles #3).
Ghost Heart (The PSS Chronicles #3)By Ripley Patton
Genre: Paranormal Thriller
Age category: Young Adult
Release date: October 14, 2014
Blurb:
In the aftermath of a brutal tragedy, Jason and Passion are on the run. Marcus is lost beyond reach, and The Hold is in shambles. If that weren't enough, Olivia Black has been taken by the CAMFers to be used as Dr. Fineman's personal lab rat in his merciless quest to uncover the mysteries of Psyche Sans Soma once and for all. But only if he can break her.
They are scattered.
They are devastated.
They are ruined.
Their only hope is Olivia's stubborn determination to thwart her captors and unlock the secrets of her ghost hand before Dr. Fineman can. Will she finally find the strength within herself to embrace the full power of her PSS?
And will it even matter if Marcus has already betrayed her?
You can find Ghost Heart on Goodreads.
You can buy Ghost Heart here:
- Amazon
- Barnes & Noble
- Kobo
I was lucky to be chosen to do an interview with this author. I had worked with her previously on a Read 4 Review program that I coordinate through a Goodreads group, but I didn't know her on the level that I do now. Thank you Ripley, for taking the time to answer my questions.
When did you first
realize you wanted to be a writer?
I
discovered my skill at storytelling when I was very young, but it wasn’t until
I was a teen that I began to understand the power of it for myself. It was when
my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer that I began to write in earnest,
finding it both an escape and a way to create meaning out of life’s chaos. I
distill and process all my life’s experiences through story, and writing has
always been my bliss.
How long does it take
you to write a book?
My first novel took
me three years to write and involved seven revisions, but I was a newbie then
and just learning the ropes, not to mention I moved over seas and back again
during that time My second novel took me
about six months, and my third just took me eight months to finish
Writing a series, how
hard is it to stay true to the characters from Book One to The End?
That hasn't been too hard for me. For the first two books of
the series, I'd even say it was easy because I only used one point-of-view
character, Olivia Black, and I know her about as well as I know myself.
However, with the most recent book, Ghost Heart, I branched out into three
other character's point-of-views and that was challenging. But still fun.
With a series, how do
you decide when the story will be completed?
I saw that you had originally thought The PSS Chronicles was
going to be trilogy, but are definitely going beyond that.
Ha, I honestly have no idea. This is my first series and the
story just keeps getting more interesting. I love the world and the characters,
and I have a feeling it's going to be hard to let go. However, I know for
myself as a reader, I usually get bored with a series around the fourth book.
So, I'm really going to try to wrap up this series with the next book. I could
feel the story beginning to wind down in Ghost Heart, so I think that is
doable.
What do you think
makes a great story?
The answer is different for everyone and thanks goodness
because that's what keeps us authors in the business. However, for me, I like a
story that grabs me by the neck, pulls me in, shakes me up, and doesn't let me
go until the last page. The plot idea has to be unique and done well. The
characters have to be compelling. And I want the story to surprise me without
suspending my belief. And that's exactly what I tried to create with The PSS
Chronicles. A series to get happily lost in.
What is your work
schedule like when you're writing?
I write from about noon to dinner time ever week day and
take weekends off to spend time with my family. I'm not a fast writer. I'm
happy with one to two thousand words a day. I do a lot of processing and
thinking when I write and that doesn't always happen when the laptop is in my
lap. The story more often opens up for me when I take a walk, or garden, or
hang out in my hammock.
How do you balance
family and writing?
My kids are teens, so they aren't that interested in hanging
out with Mom. My husband is used to me
disappearing into my writing cave. However, I do take weekends off to spend
time with the people I love. And I usually take the Fall off from writing
because it's my favorite season and full of the holidays and weather I love the
most.
Where do you get your
information or ideas for your books?
The
main idea in the story world for The PSS Chronicles came from an actual medical
phenomenon known as Phantom Limb Syndrome in which people who are amputees or
were born without a limb can still feel or sense the physical presence of that
missing limb. I have a friend who is an amputee, and one day when I was
visiting him and we were walking in his back yard, he said, “You know, I can
still feel the grass between my toes on the foot that I don’t have. And sometimes
I still get a cramp in the middle of the night in the leg that I don’t have.”
This was such a fascinating concept to me that I asked myself “What if these
phantom limbs really existed? What would they look like and act like? What
power would they hold? And how would society react to those who possessed
them.” That is how the paranormal birth defect featured in my books came into
being. But at first I didn’t have a name for it. A nurse friend of mine came up
with the term Psyche Sans Soma (PSS) which loosely translated from Greek means
”Life without flesh.” And I guess I did a good job of making it a convincing
because readers often tell me that they stop mid-read to go look it up on the internet to find out more about it.
What was one of the
most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
Well,
the first thing I learned was that I could, in fact, write a book. That was a
huge revelation because I honestly hadn’t been sure. I also learned that
writing is a one part magic, one part just-sit-down-and-write-so-the-magic-can-happen.
You have to have both the magic and the work. Finally, I learned to trust the
story. It knows what it’s doing and where it’s going. Mostly. Sometimes you
have to rein it in, but a lot of times, if you’re brave enough to give it the
reins and let it lead, you’ll end up somewhere more interesting than you ever
imagined.
How many books have
you written? Which is your favorite?
I have written over thirty short stories, one novella, and
three novels. My favorite, at the moment, is Ghost Heart, probably because it
is the most recent. But just like my kids, I love them all.
Are your characters
based on anyone you know?
Olivia
Black in my main character and she is a combination of my inner Goth, the teen
I wish I’d been brave enough to be, and my daughter who is one of the most
kick-ass sixteen-year-olds I’ve ever known. I feel like Olivia hasn’t just been
in my head since I was a teen, she’s been in my heart and my soul, and maybe
even in my DNA. My other characters are often a combination of people I know,
have met, or have read about.
Do you have a favorite
place you love to write?
My bedroom in my bed. It's so comfy and it's my favorite
place to read. So why not write there? Unlike many authors, I absolutely cannot
write in public at a café or in a park. It makes me feel way too exposed.
How hard is it to get
published?
Pretty hard if you want to go the traditional route with an
agent and publisher. But if you have the ingenuity and bravery to self-publish,
it's actually pretty easy. Everything you need to know you can learn on the
internet or ask fellow indie authors to help you. We're a very friendly bunch.
What do your family
and friends think about your books?
Some
of them read it and are huge supporters, like my Grandma Lucille who calls me
after the release of each book to tell me what she thought (I’ll give you a
hint- she loves them). Others don’t read them because it just isn’t a genre
they read. As for my husband and kids, they love my writing and support me
every single day. My husband has heard my plots backwards and forwards and both
my teens are brutal beta readers of my books. In fact, my son seems to think he
gets to choose the next series I write out of my oodles of ideas.
What do you like to
do when you are not writing?
I love to read, garden, hike, watch reality television, play
board games, and go camping dressed like someone from the 1600's.
Do you have any
suggestions to help aspiring writers better themselves and their craft? If so,
what are they?
Tell
the story you want to read. Tell it to the best of your ability and get it out
into the world. Then write the next one. Don’t let people tell you it isn’t
good enough. Writing is a process and a journey, not a destination.
As a child, what did
you want to do when you grew up?
Beautiful and strong.
(I personally LOVE this answer!)
What are your favorite
books and which authors inspire you?
Growing up, I devoured Anne McCaffrey, Ursula K. Le Guin,
Lois McMasters Bujold, and Juliet Marillier. I read books by men too, but I was
drawn to sci-fi and fantasy stories from a woman’s perspective. Later, when the
YA genre really took off, I found new loves like Neal Shusterman and Lisa
McMann. I like my YA a little dark and gritty, and Neal Shusterman’s Unwind
series and Lisa McMann’s Wake, Fade, Gone series were huge inspirations to my
PSS Chronicles Series.
For an aspiring
writer what do you feel are certain do's and don’ts for getting their material
published?
Do write what you love and even if you're self-publishing
hire professionals to help you edit, proof,
and format it. Don't let anyone stop
you from telling your stories, including yourself. Don't give in to self-doubt.
What are you working
on now?
Well, Ghost Heart is at the formatters and I'm promoting its
October 14th release like crazy. Other than that, I'm on my fall break and
enjoying family and the outdoors before the Portland winter rains hit.
In one Tweet,
describe the book we’re promoting:
Ghost Heart: Captured, isolated,
and brutalized, Olivia Black's only way out is to trust the power of her ghost
hand once and for all.
Four For Fun:
What is your favorite
drink?
A root beer float.
What is your favorite
cartoon character?
Lisa Simpson.
What is your favorite
movie of all time?
Stranger than Fiction.
What TV shows do you
like to watch?
I love reality shows with an element of competition.
Survivor is my all time fave, but I love many of them and watch them
religiously. I think the reason I like them is that the producers obviously
take people and put them in very difficult, dramatic situations on purpose. And
hey, that's exactly what I do with my characters when I write. So, the way I
see it, it's just character research.
Earlier books in the series:
Ghost Hand (The PSS Chronicles #1)By Ripley Patton
Genre: Paranormal Thriller
Age category: Young Adult
Blurb:
Seventeen-year-old Olivia Black has a rare birth defect known as Psyche Sans Soma, or PSS. Instead of a right hand made of flesh and blood, she was born with a hand made of ethereal energy.
How does Olivia handle being the girl with the ghost hand? Well, she's a little bit morbid and a whole lot snarky.
Her mother thinks her obsession with death, black clothing, and the local cemetery is a bid for attention. But when Marcus, the new guy in Olivia's calculus class, stares at her like she's a freak, Olivia doesn't like it. And when her hand goes rogue, doing things she never imagined possible, Olivia finds herself running for her life with Marcus from a group of men bent on taking the power of her hand for their own nefarious purposes.
You can add Ghost hand to your to-read list on Goodreads.
You can download Ghost Hand for free here:
- Amazon
- Kobo
Ghost Hold (The PSS Chronicles #2)By Ripley Patton
Genre: Paranormal Thriller
Age category: Young Adult
Blurb:
Olivia Black is back.
Only this time she's not the one in need of rescue.
Samantha James, rich, popular, and an award-winning composer at age seventeen, is the next target on the CAMFers' list. In order to convince Samantha to come with them, Olivia and Passion must pose as cousins, blend into the most affluent high school in Indianapolis, and infiltrate a mysterious cult known as The Hold.
Olivia doesn't expect it to be easy, even with the PSS guys backing them up. But what she discovers over the course of the mission will call into question everything she ever believed about herself, her family, and especially about Marcus, the guy she is undoubtedly falling in love with.
You can add Ghost Hold to your to-read list on Goodreads.
You can buy Ghost Hold here:
- Amazon
- Barnes and Noble
- Kobo
About the Author:Ripley Patton lives in Portland, Oregon with one cat, two teenagers, and a man who wants to live on a boat. She is an award-winning short story writer and author of The PSS Chronicles, a young adult paranormal thriller series.
Ripley doesn't smoke, or drink, or cuss as much as her characters. Her only real vices are writing, eating M&Ms, and watching reality television.
You can find and contact Ripley here:
- Website
- Goodreads
- Google +
There is a tour wide giveaway for the book blitz of Ghost Heart. These are the prizes you can win:
- a set of signed cover posters (US only)
- a $10 Amazon gift card (international)
For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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