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Nexis (Tricksters, #1) by A.L. Davroe
Release Date: Dec. 1, 2015
Genre: YA Sci-Fi / YA Science Fiction
Published by: Entangled Teen
Goodreads Book Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21480858-nexis
Amazon Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/Nexis-L-Davroe/dp/1633750175?tag=entangpublis-20&link_code=ur2&creative=9325&camp=211189
Barnes & Noble Buy Link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nexis-al-davroe/1120919370?cm_mmc=AFFILIATES-_-Linkshare-_-je6NUbpObpQ-_-10:1
Entangled Page: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/nexis/
In the domed city of Evanescence, appearance is everything. A Natural Born amongst genetically-altered Aristocrats, all Ella ever wanted was to be like everyone else. Augmented, sparkling, and perfect. Then…the crash. Devastated by her father’s death and struggling with her new physical limitations, Ella is terrified to learn she is not just alone, but little more than a prisoner.
Her only escape is to lose herself in Nexis, the hugely popular virtual reality game her father created. In Nexis she meets Guster, a senior player who guides Ella through the strange and compelling new world she now inhabits. He offers Ella guidance, friendship…and something more. Something that allows her to forget about the “real” world, and makes her feel whole again.
But Nexis isn’t quite the game everyone thinks it is.
Interview With the Author:
What initially got you interested in writing?
I first got interested in writing when a friend of mine in high school asked me to co-write a fan-fiction of a mash-up between our favorite anime shows – Digimon and Dragon Ball Z. That was the first time I’d tried writing a story and I enjoyed it so much. It got harder and harder to wait my turn to for the manuscript to get handed back to me. To pass the time I started reading a book by Tamora Pierce. One day I was outside the school waiting for my mom to come pick me up. I finished the book, closed it, then stared off into space for a minute – wishing I had the story to work on, wishing that I didn’t have to leave the world I had just been reading about. It occurred to me then that I could keep the story going, do what I had done with the fan-fic…I could even make my own characters in a world like Pierce’s. So, I took out one of my notebooks and started writing my first book. That was freshman year of high school and it was just for fun, but it was the birth of a monster, LOL.
How did you decide to make the move into being a published author?
I started working on a book in college that would be my “opus.” To this day, I think it’s the finest, most complex and intriguing piece I’ve ever written. I finished it about a year after I graduated college and knew that it needed to be published. It’s a unique concept, one that no one has yet to go near, but it’s also a bit different. Ultimately that’s why I think I couldn’t find an agent for it. However, I’m very stubborn and need to win, so I knew I needed to keep trying to find an agent until I got one, just like I knew I needed to continue to write until I’d gotten published. It just had to be done. I’d written another book while the opus was on submission and that’s the piece that got me my current agent. While I’ve gotten a contract for a book in a completely different genre and age bracket, my goal is to still get the opus published, even if I have to be a twenty-year established author to get someone to take it. XD
What do you want readers to take away from reading your works?
Ultimately, I just want readers to have had a moving experience reading my books. Not just smiles and hahas, but the sads and lows too. The thing that really gets me excited as an author is hearing that my book kept them awake or made them cry or made them forget the time or made them laugh out loud on the subway. I like when they threaten to hold my cats hostage because they need the sequel so bad that it hurts. Those are the kinds of books that I remember most as a reader, those are the books that are the movers and the shakers. Mostly, I just want to write those kinds of books for my readers.
What do you find most rewarding about writing?
As mentioned above, it’s the most moving thing when you see that you’ve made a real difference to someone. For a minute, for an hour, or a day…perhaps for the duration of a life. Having that small or great impact, seeing the face of a reader who starts crying when they meet you or constantly wants to interact with you on Twitter or Facebook because you’ve done something momentous for them? Those are the reasons I get out of bed in the morning.
What do you find most challenging about writing?
I have a lot of trouble sitting down and actually forcing myself to get into a piece. Usually I have to wait until the mood strikes me, but being on contract doesn’t allow for that sort of thing. In my case, everything else about being an author is a cake-walk compared to forcing a piece out when it’s not ready to come out.
What advice would you give to people want to enter the field?
It’s seriously all about luck and timing. You could put hours and hours into writing and revising, going to workshops, and honing your craft until you have the best piece of literature ever written, but you may STILL not get an acceptance letter. Above everything, this industry is a business. If an editor doesn’t think they can pitch it, doesn’t have room for it, doesn’t have the budget for it, or doesn’t think there is a large enough market for it, they aren’t gonna take it, even if they loved it. That’s just how it is and it doesn’t mean you should give up on your dream.
What ways can readers connect with you?
Author Email: ALDavroe@gmail.com
Author Website: www.ALDavroe.com
Author Blog: www. ALDavroe.com
Author Twitter: @ALDavroe
Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ALDavroeFanPage
Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5212441.A_L_Davroe
Author Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/aldavroe/
Author Tumblr: http://aldavroe.tumblr.com/
Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aldavroe/
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/RBlXP
About the Author:
A.L. (Amanda) Davroe writes both YA and adult speculative fiction. She prefers revisionist tales in paranormal, romance, Steampunk, and fantasy. She is the author of Salvation Station (adult psych horror), The City Steam Collection (adult psych horror), For Your Heart (YA Paranormal Romance) and her YA Sci-Fi novel, Nexis, is coming out with Entangled Publishing December 1, 2015!
By day, Amanda lives in Connecticut with her two feline hench-creatures and makes cheese. She’s a terrible blusher, has a weak spot for cuddly animals, loves Laffy Taffy and Cadbury MiniEggs, and she’s a huge advocate of alternative healing methods. Amanda also wears purple shoes and corsets…Though not always in the same ensemble. She’s a Capricorn, a Hufflepuff, a bit gothic, and a few nuggets short of a Happy Meal.
Author Website: www.ALDavroe.com
Author Blog: www.ALDavroe.com
Author Twitter: @ALDavroe
Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ALDavroeFanPage
Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5212441.A_L_Davroe
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/RBlXP
Read below for an excerpt from Nexis:
Excerpt from Nexis, Chapter 5 (pgs 31-32)
Sighing, I stare down at the headband until a shadow falls over me. “That’s quite the contraption.”
I close my eyes. It’s Zane. Great, he saw the spectacle, too. Will my shame never cease? Well, there goes the courting. He’ll never want to be with a pariah like me now. “It was a stupid idea to wear it.”
He steps to the side and sits next to the headband. He picks it up, turns it over between his fingers. “Was it? I think it’s pretty revolutionary, actually.”
“That’s my point. If I could do that with a simple holo-mask, then anyone could.”
Zane purses his lips. He knows I’m right. If I was able to program a mask to make my face look just as Modified and Altered as any Aristocrat’s, then what’s to stop one of the Disfavored from doing it? A mask like that undermines the system. Eventually he smiles, apprehensive, and meets my eyes. “Well, they don’t have Programmers as talented and ingenious as you out there. So it’s a good thing you’re on the side of the Aristocracy, isn’t it?”
I snort and look away. “I’m a threat to them.”
He places a hand on my knee, and it makes my stomach go aflutter, despite my bad mood. “It’s good that you’re aware of it.”
My floating stomach sinks, and I shake my head with a bitter scoff. “Is that supposed to comfort me?”
His fingers tighten, drawing my leg open so that our knees touch and he leans closer to me. “Not at all,” he whispers in a spine-tingling purr, eyes alight with secret sparkle. “It should scare you. It should scare you and enliven you. It should make you want to start a fire. Because you can.”
Confused by his words and what he’s doing to my body, I stare at him for a long time. He sounds like Dad, spouting nonsense like this all the time. But, unlike Dad, Zane has a wild and dangerous charisma on his side. His touch and tone stir my insides, make me want to get up and run, make me want to do what he asks me to do.
The Giveaway:
- Fire HD 7, 7″ HD Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB + Nexis Swag Pack (US/Canada)
- $50 Amazon Gift Card (INT)
- $50 Amazon Gift Card (US/Canada)
- Nexis Swag Pack (US/Canada)
- Opportunity to Name / Build the Look of a Character in the next book in the Trickster series with any of the Mods and Alts you can imagine! (INT)
Thanks so much for joining the NEXIS blog tour!!!!!
-N
Thanks so much for hosting me!