I found out about Amanda Washington while searching through Goodreads. Her new series, Chronicles of the Broken, instantly looked interesting to me. The first book is about five 'wayward' teens that must go to a winter youth group camp run by a counselor that is used to ministering to adults. Hence, lots of tension ;-D I honestly look forward to reading this book when I get a chance. If anyone wants to check it out, I'd like to warn that you should probably be about 12/14 so that you can stomach some of the topics mentioned in the first few chapters. Hey, I don't want parents throwing eggs at me!
Too excited to wait until her book came up on my list, I asked Ms. Washington if she would like to do some Author Q's so we could get to know her a bit. Yes, generic questions, but her answers are really interesting!
[JV] Chronicles of the Broken is your first teen fiction book, and there will be a sequel coming out later this year. Can you tell us a little bit about these books?
{AW} Yes, actually. My publisher and I are currently working on edits for book 2. The idea for Chronicles of the Broken came from the Thousand Foot Krutch song, "This is a Call." The song talks about a few teenagers who are going through difficult situations, but find faith in their brokenness. The teens in my book witness a miracle at a church camp that impacts their lives in confusing, but realistic, ways.
[JV] What are your novel plans after that?
{AW} The Chronicles of the Broken crew has multiple stories to tell, so I’m not certain how many books will be in the series. I am planning book 3 now, though.
[JV] While constructing the first draft, would you consider yourself a word nerd or do you write simply to get a point across?
{AW} My stories tend to take over my brain, my dreams and my life until I pour them into my laptop, so when I’m being harassed by a story I just get it out as quickly as possible. I become a word nerd long about the third or forth draft.
[JV] I would love to have that kind of concentration in my own writing. Being a word nerd first can have it's downside!
[JV] Do you have a certain line or bit of dialog in one of your stories that you really love?
{AW} Amy – my video game addict – refers to herself as Wonder Woman with a golden keyboard. I fancy that description for myself… Really the relationships that the teens build is my favorite part, though.
[JV] Any pet peeves while reading fiction?
{AW} I read a lot of young adult fiction to keep up with my genre, and because I don’t want my books to be “preachy” or out-of-touch with reality, I don’t read many Christian novels. The trade off is having to read around the unnecessary sexual encounters that secular authors tend to shove into their novels. It can be very annoying.
Thank you a ton for this opportunity! Please let me know if you have any questions. I’ve also started a video blog to offer encourage and support to teens. It’s called “Tenacious Youth” and the first vlog can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr1Cb7TCa... (sic)
Thanks so much for taking the time to (and being so patient) do this Author Q session! We can't wait to read your books!
Amanda Washington's book Chronicles of the Broken is published by Leeway Artisans.
This sounds very interesting!
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