Today, I am lucky enough to host a stop on the blog tour for Lisa Amowitz's debut novel, BREAKING GLASS! Without further ado, let's move on to the interview:
You’ve managed to
craft a story that’s equal parts thriller and mystery, with a healthy dose of
coming-of-age drama. What gave you the original idea for Breaking Glass?
I’ve been asked this in almost all the interviews I’ve given
and each time I answer it a little differently—but for you my dear, Jennifer, I
shall list them all.
1)
the tumultuous relationship between the uptight
landlady of the summer property we rented four years ago and her bitchy spoiled
daughter. (don’t ask me why).
2)
The tree on that same property with twisted roots.
3)
My son’s friend’s stubborn obsession with a very
flighty and unreliable girl all through high school.
4)
The way boys, in general totally hate to talk about
their real feelings.
5)
The creepy twisty roads in the town of Croton-on-Hudson
6)
The reservoir in Croton-on-Hudson
7)
The little spark of an idea I had about a boy who
raises a girl from the dead and messes around with her ghost.
What made you
position Jeremy as a track star?
Because it’s the perfect occupation for a kid who is trying
to run from his past.
Susannah, the girl at
the center of Jeremy Glass’s world, is quite a talented artist, as is the
author. Anything autobiographical there? Yes—just a bit, in that I was once
a moody, wacky little art girl back in the day and had my share of boys that
seemed to romanticize me without really trying understand who I really was. But
that’s really the only similarity.
Not only is Jeremy an
amateur Civil War historian, you also delve into Kabbalah. Did these diverse
subjects involve a lot of research? You might say that while writing
Breaking Glass, Wikipedia was my best friend. My real nerdish obsessions kicked
in for a book about Nathan Hale I has since set aside, but still plan to write
one of these days. I really do love American History, particularly
Revolutionary War history. If you scroll through the pages of Breaking Glass,
you will find the Nathan Hale reference.
What an exciting
debut novel! What’s next for you? Why thank you, Jennifer! I have the first
book in the Finder Series, VISION, releasing next year in May from Spencer Hill
Press. It’s the story of Bobby Pendell, a boy stricken with debilitating visions
that set him on the trail of a serial killer in his small country town. I am
also working on a young adult murder mystery with much more blatant
autobiographical elements.
Thanks so much for having me! These were really great and
thoughtful questions.
BREAKING GLASS from Spencer Hill Press, July 2013
by Lisa Amowitz
On the night
seventeen-year-old Jeremy Glass winds up in the hospital with a broken leg and
a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit, his secret crush, Susannah,
disappears. When he begins receiving messages from her from beyond the grave,
he’s not sure whether they’re real or if he’s losing his grip on reality. Clue
by clue, he gets closer to unraveling the mystery, and soon realizes he must
discover the truth or become the next victim himself.
ISBN: 978-1937053383
Author bio:
Lisa
Amowitz was born in Queens and raised in the wilds of Long Island, New York
where she climbed trees, thought small creatures lived under rocks and studied
ant hills. And drew. A lot.
When
she hit her teens, she realized that Long Island was too small for her and she
needed to escape. So she went to college in Pittsburgh. Go figure.
On
leaving college, Lisa became a graphic designer living in New York City. She
eventually married her husband of a zillion years, had two lovely children, and
was swept away to a fairy tale life in the Bronx, where, unbelievably there are
more trees and wilderness than her hometown. She can see the Hudson River from
her kitchen window.
Lisa
has been a professor of Graphic Design at her beloved Bronx Community College
where she has been tormenting and cajoling students for nearly seventeen years.
She started writing eight years ago because she wanted something to illustrate,
but somehow, instead ended up writing YA. Probably because her mind is too dark
and twisted for small children.
BREAKING
GLASS which will be released in July, 2013 from Spencer Hill Press, is her
first published work. VISION, the first of the Finder series will be released
in 2014, along with an unnamed sequel in the following year. LIFE AND BETH will
also be released in the near future, along with graphic novel style art.
Rafflecopter link:
Giveaway items:
(1) custom pendant like the one pictured on
the book cover
(2) signed ARCS
(1) original
work of Breaking Glass related art created and signed by the author.
We are also
going to be making a free download of SHARDS, which is an illustrated preview
of BREAKING GLASS.
Page URL: http://www.site.spencerhillpress.com/Shards.php
Direct upload: http://www.site.spencerhillpress.com/uploads/Shards_Amowitz.pdf
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