Teri Hall is the fabulous author of The Line, which is released today! WHOO! The Line can be described in three words (awesome dystopian novel) but in case you need a full description, here is one straight from goodreads:
An invisible, uncrossable physical barrier encloses the Unified States. The Line is the part of the border that lopped off part of the country, dooming the inhabitants to an unknown fate when the enemy used a banned weapon. It’s said that bizarre creatures and superhumans live on the other side, in Away. Nobody except tough old Ms. Moore would ever live next to the Line.
Nobody but Rachel and her mother, who went to live there after Rachel’s dad died in the last war. It’s a safe, quiet life. Until Rachel finds a mysterious recorded message that can only have come from Away. The voice is asking for help.
Who sent the message? Why is her mother so protective? And to what lengths is Rachel willing to go in order to do what she thinks is right?
---1) Why do you think dystopian novels/movies/whatever else appeal to people so much?
Because they’re scary and they take you to a truly different place and they ask some really serious questions in a way that is entertaining.
2) If you lived in the world of THE LINE, would you want to be one of the sekrit rebels, one of the people who lived in the city, one of the people who live somewhere like the Property, or one of the government workers? Or a combination of some of them?
I wouldn’t want to be one of the collaborators (or as you call them, the sekrit rebels) but I would have to be, wouldn’t I? Wouldn’t you? I mean, we would all love to be able to just sit around and enjoy our lives, with little regard for injustice unless it directly affect us. But if we do that, pretty soon the world looks like, well, unfortunately what the world looks like now in a lot of places (including, for many, the U.S.).
3) Did the story go through many incarnations while you wrote it, or did most of the key elements stay the same (like, did Rachel always live on the Property, was there any elements of the world that got added or thrown out, etc)?
All of the key elements of the story remained the same. I got some really nice help from my editor, Kathy Dawson, in terms of tightening and enhancing certain things.
4) How do you stay motivated while writing? Besides the fact that Gail and I stare at you all the time so you will write the sequel that we are all desperate to read.
Sometimes, because I have a fulltime day job and have to write when I am already dead tired, it can be very hard to stay motivated. If I have enough time to get into the story, I forget how tired I am and things go well. The story just sort of takes me away. If not, I NEED you and Gail to stare at me.
5) What are five things that I do not know about you?
That I am very shy. That I have a tattoo. That I am a Pescetarian (which I think of as a hypocritical vegetarian). That I tend to like animals better than people. That I am keeping the fifth thing a secret.
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You realize that I'm totally going to be guessing about that fifth thing, right, Teri?
My review of The Line will be up tomorrow, but I definitely think you all should check it out, along with Teri's website and twitter.
And congrats on the release of the book, Teri! I am so happy for you that I can't even stare at you for long periods of time. WHOO!
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