An Interview with Echoes YA/Thriller Author, Alice Reeds **Giveaway**
Echoes
by Alice Reeds
Genre: YA Thriller
Release Date: August 7th 2018
Entangled Teen
They wake on a deserted island. Fiona and Miles, high school enemies now stranded together. No memory of how they got there. No plan to follow, no hope to hold on to.
Each step forward reveals the mystery behind the forces that brought them here. And soon, the most chilling discovery: something else is on the island with them.
Something that won't let them leave alive.
Echoes is a thrilling adventure about confronting the impossible, discovering love in the most unexpected places, and, above all, finding hope in the face of the unknown.
An Interview with Alice Reeds
Tell us a little bit about why you write in your chosen genre, and if you have books in other genres as well.
If you look at the part of my bookshelves that holds my German books, you’ll quickly notice one author sticking out: Sebastian Fitzek, the German master of psychological thrillers. He is one of my absolute favorites and I’ve always been fascinated by the way he crafts his stories and how he tells them. I also really like Black Swan, Shutter Island, and Ex Machina, to name a few movies from the genre. At sixteen or so I used to joke that ‘oh I could never write a thriller, seems much too hard’, yet here we are today.
I’ve also written several manuscripts in other genres, among them a couple of contemporaries, a dystopian, and a dark fantasy. I like trying new things, see what genre works best for which type of story, and to not limit myself to just one.
What was the title of your first book, and what was/is it about?
First book I ever wrote or the one that’s my debut? The former, I truly don’t remember, and the latter is ECHOES. After so much time I’m still awful at quickly summarizing it, but honestly it’s kind of a hard task…but basically ECHOES is about two teenagers who get on a plane in Miami to fly out to Berlin, Germany, for an internship yet somehow they crash on an island but also land in Berlin. It’s definitely the type of story where, the less you know the better.
Was it a series?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The first book seems to be the most difficult to get off the ground. What inspired you to write it?
Honestly many different things did. The original idea came to me randomly on a bus to a theater competition, and the rest followed over the years. I draw inspiration from anything and everything, songs/albums, pictures, particular scenes or scenery in a movie/show/documentary, you name it. I just knew that I wanted to see what story these two characters have to tell and the result was ECHOES.
New books are so exciting. Do you have more stories planned or that you’ve been working on for the future?
I have many more stories to tell, some are already finished and looking for a home, and others in various stages of completion, like my currently WIP (work in progress) that is almost something you could call a first draft. This WIP is very dear to me, since it’s own voice, but I guess we’ll see if it’ll one day become an actual book for everyone to buy and read.
Can you share a little bit about your main character’s, and what drives them?
The answers to what drives them are kind of easy: her father, his ego, and the will to survive.
Fiona is a fighter, both figuratively and literally. She didn’t have an easy life, coming from a poor background and even as the book begins she’s still the odd one out. Her family isn’t even a fraction as wealthy as the ‘poorest’ one in her school and she knows many people harshly judge her for it. But she usually doesn’t let any of it affect since she has things they could never have, like the title of Florida State kickboxing lightweight champion.
Miles on the other hand comes from the richest family at their school and has an ego the size of his bank account (or that of his father), but he is far more than meets the eye due to many things, most of which I can’t talk about because they are spoilers. But his main drive is his ego and the wish to be even just a fraction as good as someone else, whom I can’t name.
Some stories have strong themes. How important are themes in your writing? Is your theme based on the story, or are your stories birthed from a theme/or themes?
Usually I come up with a basic idea first, and then as I expand it, dive deeper into who my characters are and what journey they will go on, certain themes crystalize on their own. Of course it’s then up to me to decide if I want to place a certain focus on them or if they stay as something that’s more in the background. Depending on the story, themes might be more important, or even something that drives the story.
If the answer was yes, is the theme personal for you, or simply an important issue?
It depends. One of my stories dealt with a theme that was particularly important to me, and quite personal, but usually they are rather ones that simply fit with the story or focus on an issue that’s important in it. I rarely sit down and decide that this is the theme, or a list of themes and issues, and now I have to try and come up with a story that would work for them.
What other stories have you written?
I’ve written stories about vampires, summer camp and social anxiety, pure romances, depression, fame and the effects it has on you. I have written a lot of stories, and a lot more I’d like to tell one day when the time will be right.
So many Authors are artists by nature. Do you have any other artwork or hobbies you do on a consistent basis?
Does singing rather mediocrely count? If so, I’m doing a lot of that almost daily. But more seriously, while the season is on and the rinks are open, I go figure skating almost daily in the mornings, practice spins and (very easy) jumps. I’ve always loved dance, especially ballet, and skating, so figure skating was a wonderful middle ground between the two. I’m pretty sure my background in classic ballet, as well as more contemporary styles, did give me a bit of an advantage when it came to things like finding my balance, feeling the music, flexibility, and artistic expression. Not to brag or anything, but I had a few people at my rink praise me for it, which felt very rewarding.
What were your passions growing up?
To be honest I was one of those kids that, for a long time, didn’t really have any clear passions at all. I knew I liked watching TV or being with friends, but school related stuff and thinking about the future, hobbies and sports, none of it really interested me at all. Though at a young age I used to have a lot of potential when it came to equestrian sports, especially vaulting…but then I fell of my horse, it trampled my leg (thankfully nothing was broken), and I was so terrified and traumatized I could never go back to how it used to be.
What are your passions now?
There are the obvious things like reading and writing, followed by figure skating (I tend to annoy my non-figure skating obsessed twitter followers with my steady commentary during competition season, oops), watching movies or shows (great source of inspiration and expanding your storytelling skills), and space. I really love space related science, learning about planets or space travel, the ISS and current and past space programs and missions. I also soak up anything about or related to psychology like a sponge.
Thank you for joining us today. We’re looking forward to seeing the books you’ll be showcasing in the future.
About the Author
Alice Reeds was born in a small town in Germany but spent her first eight years in Florida, USA. Later on, she moved back to Europe, where her family moved around a lot. She was raised trilingual and has a basic understanding of Russian, read and spoken. After getting her International Baccalaureate Diploma, Alice is studying English Language and Literature at University. In her free time Alice mostly writes, reads, figure and/or roller skates, or watches countless let's plays and figure skating videos.
Author Links
Giveaway
Blog Tour Organized by
Comments
Post a Comment