Today in the spotlight I have Susan Bishchoff author of The Talent Chronicles.
Welcome to the blog Susan, What Inspired you to write HUSH MONEY?
More than anything else, it was superheroes on TV that got me started telling stories to myself. I've always been in love with love, and even as kid it bugged me that things never worked out for Batman or Wonder Woman in the romance department, and that the Super Friends really didn't try to put characters together that way. So I started to do it myself in my head. Other series came and went, I continued to use those characters to amuse myself when I should have been bored. At some point, when I started to become interested in actually writing stories down and became exposed to romance as a genre, I thought that some day I'd like to create a superhero realm where there was actual dating and relationships could work out once in a while (or, okay, as a general rule).
As an adult, nothing has inspired me more than Buffy. The Talent Chronicles had actually started to take shape in my head, with a large cast of adult characters. But seeing Buffy grow from a girl who was often resentful of her abilities and destiny, into a strong woman who accepted her responsibility and often put the fate of world before her own needs--well, too much awesome of Buffy to talk about here. Suffice it to say that it was during yet another Buffy DVD marathon that the character of Joss was born and I discovered how easily I slip into back into that age.
Indie publishing- Why do you think its becoming so popular?
Why not? I mean, for so many of us, haven't we always wondered if we've got it or not? And here's an opportunity to try--and often to find some level of success--without huge personal risk. (If you put aside the whole fear of exposure, failure, ridicule...maybe I should have said financial risk.)
I got excited about indie publishing in the same way I got excited about Etsy. Technology was affording me a way to present my work to the few people scattered here and everywhere who like what I like and would be interested in it. I didn't have to try to get stores to stock my work or run around the country meeting all these people face to face to offer it to them. It's beyond awesome.
HUSH MONEY has become a movie, who is playing your main character and why?
My Dylan lately has been Chad Michael Murray who played Lucas on One Tree Hill. Joss is harder for me to cast. For some reason, she's always been half anime in my head (and resembles Princess from the old Battle of the Planets cartoon). My current pick for Joss is probably Lyndsey Fonseca, who is playing Alex on Nikita. But I think I just haven't found the perfect Joss yet.
What top three Indie books would you recommend to readers and why?
The three indie books I have excerpts from at the back of HUSH MONEY are Kait Nolan's RED, Stacey Wallace Benefiel's GLIMPSE, and Imogen Rose's PORTAL.
Kait has been my critique partner for several years and we're often very involved in each other's work. I believe RED is the best work she's ever done. It's a beautifully written spin-off on the Red Riding Hood mythology that tells the story of a girl struggling with becoming the wolf.
I was completely charmed by GLIMPSE when I first read it. It's the first story in Stacey's Zellie Well's trilogy, about a girl who glimpses the future--specifically, how a person will die. The romance between the main characters manages to be both innocent and sensual, and I love Stacey's teen voice.
PORTAL is the first story in Imogen's Portal Chronicles and tells the story of a girl named Arizona who finds herself yanked out of her own reality and plunked down in the life of an Arizona she doesn't recognize. This because of her mother's experiments with time travel and attempts to create a perfect life for her family. I enjoyed Arizona's attempts to maintain her sanity and make her way in this alternate reality as much as I enjoyed Imogen's fresh ideas and command of the story.
Whats on the horizon for SUSAN BISCHOFF?
I'm currently working on book 3 of the series, Heroes Under Siege, and have a lot of plans in the world of the Talent Chronicles.
Sounds exciting.....I myself cant wait to check out book two! Thanks for joining me today and being a part of this event! And thanks for the Indie recs...all going on my TBR today!
GIVEAWAY
Today You can win an Ebook copy of Hush Money {Kindle or Nook} by leaving a comment and telling me who your favorite Superhero is. Winner will be announced at the end of this event.
That’s how it is for Joss, a high school girl who does everything in her power to go unnoticed. She's incredibly bright, but strives to maintain grades that are good yet not too good. She doesn't participate in school activities, keeps quiet in class, eats by herself. Despite her longtime crush on Dylan, she wouldn't even think about trying to talk to him. Joss doesn't make friends of any kind, because friends can draw attention, friends can make you slip up, friends can make things complicated.
When new girl, Kat, steps in to rescue Joss from an uncomfortable situation with Marco, the class jerk, she doesn’t realize what she’s getting into, and it blows up in her face. Joss finds herself torn between a desire to do the right thing, to find some way to help a girl who was kind to her; and her need to mind her own business and fade into. For the first time, Joss begins to question the way she operates, and starts to long for connections with other people--especially a connection with Dylan, who's finally starting to talk to her.
But what's up with Dylan's sudden interest? As Marco’s best friend, can he be trusted at all?
It's bad enough when a girl's got to worry about friends, boys, over-protective dads, and shoes that pinch, but when you throw in blackmail, government agents with guns, and really annoying little sisters...that's just about too much to handle, even for a girl with an ass-kicking superpower.
Books Mentioned:
**Chad M. Murray Photo Cred: Creative Common- Free Use**
"I've always been in love with love"
ReplyDeleteME TOO!!! I'm such a sucker for all things romance:) And anyone that loves Buffy is a new favorite person of mine. I lived for that show and most definitely pined for Angel:)
Great interview. I like Batman.
ReplyDeletebn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
Me Three!!! I love LOVE! And it pains me to see silly circumstances stand in the way of two people who belong together! Good to know there are authors out there fighting the good fight to bring lovers together.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the Glimpse recommendation. The romance sounds so sweet.
my favourite superhero? maybe batman? I watched that film loads when I was younger. Hush money has been on my wishlist for ages and I really need to get round to reading it!
ReplyDeletetwitter @bookworm_sarah
Thanks!
Thank you for the mention, Susan! I love Hush Money and am glad I have CMM to picture as Dylan now. lol
ReplyDelete