Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews: Interview with YA thriller author Tanille Edwards

Welcome to 2015, Readers!

We’re starting it off with an interview with YA thriller author Tanille Edwards. She’s talking about her new novel, Cameo, that she is touring with Goddess Fish Promotions.

During her tour, Tanille will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:

Tanille is the co-author and creator of the children's green book series "Jordan & Justine's Weekend Adventures." She is also the author of the new media young adult novels with music "Cameo by Tanille," and "Broken by Tanille."

The Undercover Starlet Journal is a title Tanille created to inspire young women and has extended Undercover Starlet into brand extensions that appear throughout her novels.

Tanille has been writing music and books since age 16. She earned an MBA at 21 and graduated magna cum laude.

Readers of her latest young adult romance novel "Broken by Tanille" get free music downloads of her new Pop R&B hits "All of Me," "Feel It," "Baby Comeback to Me," "It's Not Okay," and "What's a Girl to Do" all written, performed and co-produced by Tanille.

The Undercover Starlet Reading Project is a new project we've launched, tasked with inspiring young teens in urban communities to reads and express themselves. We are committed to going above and beyond to reach youth with inspiring messages.

Welcome, Tanille. Please tell us about your current release.

Cameo is an intense romantic thriller about a young high student being stalked. Nia is the girl who thinks she knows everything but she must learn she really knows very little about life and people.

What inspired you to write this book?

I wanted to create a great teen story that captures the drama and intense feelings of that age. I also love mysteries so I wanted to have an element of mystery in the story.

Excerpt:

Prelude

It was pitch black outside as the full moon glistened through the vinyl blinds that adorned Gary’s half window in his bedroom. His room was nestled in the far corner of his parents’ craftsman-style house in Hempstead, Long Island. The scrawny seventeen-year-old sat at his desk in an oversize, droopy wifebeater and Snoopy boxer shorts. His hair was jet black and gelled down into a curly fade. His bedroom was dull, full of computer science books and a series of coveted Stephen King thrillers—a lonely boy’s surrogate girlfriend.

“Uh! Got to keep these passwords straight,” Gary exclaimed out of frustration.

Gary slid open his desk drawer full of colorful Post-it notes with various codes and passwords written all over them. It seemed like nowadays you needed a password for everything. There was even a code to get into his front door. He took out a new pad and wrote down a username and password for his Tracebook account. A lamp slammed to the ground behind him near his bedroom door. The bedroom went dark. Gary turned around to see what had happened. He heard footsteps in the hallway. He slapped his hand over his open mouth as if a fly might make its way inside while he trotted to the door.

Senior quarterback Craig stood outside Gary’s bedroom with his back against the wall like an operative from Mission Impossible. Dressed in a tight, black mock-turtleneck muscle shirt, his muscles bulged like those of a beefy club bouncer. Michelle crept up the hallway to stand next to Craig, dangling a large roll of duct tape in her hand. Craig ducked his head into the room to see what was going on. Michelle pressed her nude lips together and batted her overdone smoky eyes. She ran across the bedroom door to the opposite side. With her back to the wall, she took a look inside the room. Gary had picked up the lamp and was reaching to turn it on. There will only be light when I say there will be light, she thought to herself.

Michelle tugged on her black Kangol hat to signal. Craig charged into the room, grabbed a hold of Gary, and forced a pair of socks into his mouth. He pulled Gary’s hands behind his back like a crooked cop from a gangster movie. Gary struggled like an insect caught in a spider web. He wiggled every which way to no avail. Michelle stood at the open bedroom door with a wicked half-smile playing across her photo-perfect, dark-chocolate face. She batted her false eyelashes for a dramatic finish.

Gary jammed his heel into Craig’s toes. Craig threw Gary down onto the floor, and Michelle slammed the roll of tape against Craig’s chest.

“Tape his hands up,” Michelle commanded.

Craig grabbed the tape. She walked in to examine the room. “Lucy! Get in here, now!” Michelle called out.

The petite, mousy-brown-haired Lucy walked into the room, looking as pale as a ghost. She had missed her last two tanning sessions to complete photo excursions for Michelle. It didn’t bother her, though. Lucy was just glad to have been the one asked to be in Michelle’s exclusive presence. Lucy had a digital camera hanging from her wrist. The camera hung down lower than the hemline on her denim miniskirt. Lucy snapped several pictures of Gary as he squirmed on the floor. Michelle worked her way over to Gary’s computer.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I am working on the second installment in my romance series Broken by Tanille. This is my first serial. I love the way the characters grow and you pick back up with them and see them into some interesting stages in life. Romance is a nice genre to explore the varying degrees of love and the lengths through which character go to cover up their true feelings.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Probably around the age of 15. I just started writing and I realized it was a great place to express my inner voice. Then I started thinking about stories. I started with a few short stories. In your head, early on the stories seem so great and vast. Then when I actually started writing my stories out I began to see the differences between a great idea, a great scene idea and a full story.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I spend half of my time writing. I spend the other half of my time on music amongst other things. I like to bring inspirations from my real life or the parts of life others have graciously shared with me, and incorporate some of this into my stories. I do weekend writing and plenty of idea and note taking at odd moments throughout the day.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I love post it’s. My first draft notebooks are filled with them. My writing desk is filled with them and my walls sometimes – as a last resort get filled with them.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be an actress, a singer and then a writer.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I love reader shout outs. Happy New Year!