New interview with young adult author L. S. O'Dea

YA author L. S. O’Dea joins me today to chat about her new dark fantasy, Lake of Sins: Hangman’s Army.

During her virtual book tour, L. S. will be awarding a Kindle Paperwhite to a lucky 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:

L. S. O’Dea grew up the youngest of seven in a family that uses teasing and tricks as an indication of love (or at least that’s what she tells herself). Being five years younger than her closest sibling often made her the unwilling entertainment for her brothers and sisters.

Before she started kindergarten, her brothers taught her how to spell her first and middle name—Linda Sue. She was so proud she ran into the kitchen to tell her mother. She stood tall and recited the letters of her name: L-E-M-O-N H-E-A-D.

Perhaps, she has her siblings to thank for the demons that whisper in her mind and help to create these dark and demented stories

Welcome back to Reviews and Interviews, L. S. Please tell us about your newest release.

Lake of Sins: Hangman’s Army is the third book in the series that people are calling too disturbing to put down.

Hangman starts about five years from where Secrets in Blood ended. The world has changed drastically in that time. The lower classes are no longer willing to accept their subjugation and have started rebelling, but they have no leader and no cohesion between the groups. There’s no way they’ll win a war against the better trained and better funded Protective Services. They need a leader. Someone everyone will follow. They need Hugh.

That shouldn’t be a problem, except that Hugh is in prison sentenced to execution. Trinity and her friends must free him and convince him that the best revenge is leading their army.

This book is as action packed as the others, but not quite as gory (the next one is though). This is where the beginning of the love triangle takes shape. So, unlike the other books there is a bit of romance coming Trinity’s way.

If you like actions packed fantasy that’s different – no werewolves or shifters here – then you’ll love this series. Many have compared it to the Hunger Games, Divergent and Maze Runner.

The first two books are free (book one is free on Amazon and other e-book retailers). Book two is free if you join my newsletter. So, check it out.

What inspired you to write this book?

This book is a continuation of the series, so it was more a necessity than an inspiration. The series itself wasn’t so much inspired as something that’d been kicking around in my head for years. I can’t say exactly what prompted these thoughts that became this series because that’d be giving away the “secret” in book one. So, instead let me just say that I observe a lot. I watch how we, as humans, treat this world. How we treat each other, the less fortunate, the sick, the elderly, the children, those of other cultures, the environment as well as the other non-human animals we share our world with. Sometimes, I’m pleasantly surprised by humanity but often I’m disappointed in us as a group. We could do so much better with our world. In there somewhere is my inspiration for this series.

Excerpt from Lake of Sins: Hangman’s Army:

Hugh

“What do you suggest we do?” From this position, the next tree was quite a distance away. The River-Men waited in the water below. He didn’t want to go back but he didn’t think they had a choice.

She went farther out on the branch toward the other tree. “Do you think you can jump?” She turned toward him, her golden eyes searching his face. “Don’t lie. If you miss, you die.”

“I’ll never make that jump.” There was no room for manly bravado in this situation.

She stared at him for another moment and then leapt. The River-Men dipped below the surface and then back up as she landed safely on the other tree. His heart thudded in his chest. She wasn’t leaving him. She wouldn’t do that. He had faith in her. He trusted her, but his stomach knotted. He’d trusted before and had been betrayed.

She tied the end of the rope around the trunk of the tree. “Do you think you can cross on the rope? If you don’t, I’ll come back, but then we’ll have to backtrack and that means sleeping in the swamp tonight.”

His arms and back ached and his hands were a bloody mess, but he could do this. He had to do this. “Throw me the rope.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” He wasn’t sure at all but they didn’t have time to go back. He caught the rope and tied it to the trunk of the tree, making sure it was tight-really, really tight. Then he grabbed the taut rope and wrapped his ankles over the top of it. Hand over hand, he moved away from the safety of the tree. He glanced down. The River-Men were swimming faster, excited and anticipating a meal.

What’s the next writing project?

First, I’m going to finish the Lake of Sins series. There’ll be at least six books. I have it all written in rough draft but the last book is very summarized so it may become book six and seven.

When I’m done with the next two books in the series, I’m going to spend some time writing the spin-off series Conguise Chronicles. Currently, there’s one book in this series, but I have a lot more rattling around in my head. I want to tell the story of the creatures who are mutated into monsters. Tell their stories of who they were before they were experimented on and how they became the River-Man, Cold Creeper, Brush-Man, etc.

What is your biggest challenge when writing a new book? (or the biggest challenge with this book)

I have a love/hate relationship with every aspect of writing. Getting it all down – the first draft – is exhausting. I used to only be able to create, let the story spill from me, for about a half hour. I’m now up to about an hour and a half, but it is mentally exhausting. It’s also exciting and my mind hums and sparks when I’m in this process. It’s like a drug that I can’t get enough of although it beats me up.

Next, comes the revision. This is when I fill in the gaps, the summaries that I left when writing the first draft. This can be harder than creating because these summarized sections are the parts that didn’t want to come. Perhaps, they don’t belong in the story or perhaps I’m not listening to my characters well enough and these parts aren’t right. Either way, I have to work through them and it’s like working through a knot. I get my joy in this part when I open my mind and the characters take me down a path I didn’t expect. It’s great to be surprised in where the story leads.

Then I edit. Over and over and over again. I edit unit I have nothing to change. Every sentence is how I want it. This part is tedious. No matter how much I love my stories (and I love them a lot), by the end, I’m sick of my own work. Twenty or more edits (front to back) is not uncommon. As much as I get tired of reading the story, I still love the way it flows and pulls me in. Sometimes, I can’t believe I actually wrote the words. It doesn’t seem like me because it no longer is. It’s now, something better than me.

If your novels require research – please talk about the process. Do you do the research first and then write, while you’re writing, after the novel is complete and you need to fill in the gaps?

My novels don’t require a lot of research, but there has been some. I research as I work through the second phase of my writing process.

What’s your writing space like? Do you have a particular spot to write where the muse is more active? Please tell us about it.

Just like I can sleep anywhere, I can write anywhere. I usually write at my desk at home and it’s a mess. I’m very organized on my computer, but in the real world – not so much. There are little pieces of paper with notes jotted down about the story all around my house. When a phrase or idea comes to me, I write it down. Usually, I remember to add it to the story, but sometimes those papers get lost.

What authors do you enjoy reading within or outside of your genre?

I used to be a voracious reader, but lately I’m too busy editing my own work to read much. Currently, I still have a “day” job, so that doesn’t leave much time for writing and almost none for reading.

Stephen King, Amanda Quinn, Mario Puzo, Carl Hiaassen, Walter Farley are a few of the authors that I used to read a lot. Now, I’m more prone to pick up a book – not caring about the author.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers today?

Like I said earlier, you can get the first two books in the Lake of Sins series for free.

Lake of Sins: Escape is free on Amazon and Draft2Digital (ibook, B&N, kobo, etc.).

Lake of Sins: Secrets in Blood is free if you join my readers’ group (newsletter).

http://lsodea.com/yourfreebooks-2/

So, download your free copy today and dive into the world of the Lake of Sins.

Links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Thank you for coming back to Reviews and Interviews!

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Interview with author L.S. O'Dea about Lake of Sins

Today is a special interview with L. S. O’Dea about her new novel Lake of Sins.

During her virtual book tour with Goddess Fish Promotions, L.S. will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card to a lucky 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, too!

A little bit about Lake of Sins:

In a world where class distinction means the difference between imprisonment and freedom and even life and death, being chosen to stay in the encampment and breed is the only way to guarantee survival for a teenage Producer.

Every year after harvest, the finest examples of teenage Producers are assigned mates; the rest are loaded onto carts and hauled away, never to be seen or heard from again. Trinity, a sixteen-year-old Producer, knows that she has no chance of being chosen to stay. She isn’t even full-blooded Producer. Her father is a House Servant and she’s spent her entire life hiding her differences, especially her claws and fangs.

She has one week to sneak into the forest and discover what happens to those who are taken. Her plan is simple, but she doesn’t count on being hunted and captured by predators long believed to be extinct. Can she elude her captors to uncover the fate of her kind and return to camp before her escape is discovered?

Have you ever had an imaginary friend?

Oh, definitely yes. I still have imaginary friends. They are the characters in yet untold stories. I was the youngest of seven. My closest sibling was almost five years older than me. That was a huge age gap for a child and I played by myself often. I don’t recall having any particular imaginary friend so much as having entire stories with numerous friends and characters to keep me company.

Do you have any phobias?

I am slightly afraid of heights (it is weird that I’d love to be able to fly), but I’d have to say that my biggest phobia is the fear of water. Not chlorinate water but the ocean and lakes. To be more precise, it isn’t a fear of water so much as a fear of those creatures lurking under its depths just waiting to eat me (sharks and alligators mostly).

When I first moved to Florida, I had a lot of nightmares about alligators. It’s subsided a bit since I moved to the country, but they still trickle out of my subconscious sometimes and into my dreams.

Do you listen to music when you're writing?

No. The voices in my head are enough noise for me.

Do you ever read your stories out loud?

I have just finished reading both books to my great niece and nephew. Their mother (my niece) is one of my beta readers, so they have been hearing us talk about the story for years. They really wanted to read it but they are only nine and ten and there are some things in the books that are not appropriate for kids their age. They stayed with me this past summer, so I read the books to them, skipping and glossing over the parts that I felt were too adult for them.

Tell us about your main character and who inspired him/her.

My main character is Trinity. At the start of the series she is sixteen. She is different than all the other kids in the encampment and does not truly fit in with them. She is lonely.

I’m not sure if anyone really inspired me for her creation. I don’t create characters with someone else in mind. Truthfully, I’m not even sure that I create them. I flesh them out on paper but they already exist in the fog of my brain. I just help them into a body.

Excerpt from Lake of Sins:

“Something’s following us,” he whispered as he unsheathed his knife. 

The quiet rustle of vegetation behind them signaled that night was not the only thing approaching.  He pointed to a large tree.  She scurried up it and stopped on a limb high off the ground.  He signaled for her to wait and then walked several yards farther before climbing another tree.  He crouched on a low branch, knife in hand.

The woods were gray, the shadows growing wider as time passed.  She waited, scanning the forest below, her heart pounding in her ears.  What was hunting them, besides Guards?  She pulled her knife out of the sheath and adjusted her position.  Gaar always said that predators had to have patience, so the smart prey would too.  She was still working on that.  She shifted around again for a different angle.  So far, she hadn’t seen anything dangerous in the forest, but she had traveled mostly with Mirra.  She tried to relax her breathing, but it was coming in short pants.  She had to calm down.  Fear could be smelled.  Fear attracted predators. 

There was a soft whisper in the vegetation and a pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the brush.  A few feet away were two more eyes and then another set.  There were at least ten pairs, shining in the darkness.

Bio:

L. S. O'Dea grew up the youngest of seven. She always wanted to do what her older siblings were doing, especially reading stories.

At a young age, she immersed herself in books. Her life changed when she read a short story written by her older brother and realized that normal (somewhat anyway, since her brother was a bit weird in her opinion) people created these amazing stories. From that day forward, she wanted to write.

However, as with all good stories, obstacles rose in her path (mostly self-created obstacles) and it took her many years to put finger to keyboard and type her first book.

Links:

Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Website | Blog | Amazon Author Central | Amazon Buy Link

The first book of the series is on sale for $0.99 until the end of the tour.

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