Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Five fast facts about Vicarious + a giveaway!

Happy National Book Lover's Day!! My seventh novel, Vicarious, releases one week from today and I still have a couple of ARCs I've been keeping in case of emergency. You know what that means...last minute giveaway :D

This is my first ever print review, in Justine Magazine. I was so honored
that they chose Vicarious as one of the August/September Buzz Books!


Check out these facts about the story and the writing process, and enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win a signed ARC. This contest is international.

Fact #1: I wrote Vicarious as a light sci-fi mystery taking place in an alternate present.
I've seen the book shelved as futuristic, fantasy, dystopian, etc., and if that's the reading experience you have, that's totally fine. We all come to books with a different set of experiences and ideas. Who we are affects how we interpret stories.

Fact #2: This story was inspired by a lot of different things.

First and foremost, the story was inspired by my time teaching English in Seoul. I'll be writing extensively for my blog tour about why I chose to make my main characters Korean, so if you're interested in that, check back here on Monday Aug 15th for the whole schedule. This book was also inspired by a lot of dark or high-tech movies that I love, including The Crow, Strange Days, The Matrix, and Inception. Nineties music like NIN and System of a Down played a big part in creating the book's setting and ambiance.



Bright lights, big city! This pic is from my trip to Seoul in
January 2016, when I went back to do research  for the sequel.

Fact #3: I wrote Vicarious years before I wrote Girl Against the Universe.
I wrote Vicarious from mid 2012 to early 2013, at the same time as I was writing Starling (now called Dangerous Heart.) I was struggling to complete the work-for-hire trilogy (trilogies are hard!) and juggling writing for two publishers, part-time nursing, and full-time grad school back then. Vicarious was the project I worked on for ME. It was a total love project--I didn't even tell my agent about it until I had finished and revised the first draft.


Fact #4: What I originally planned as one book turned into a duology.
My high-tech mystery idea became something a lot more complex while I was outlining. That led to splitting the story into two parts, where the first part involves Winter finding her sister's killer and the second part is about what she does with that information. That means that even though this book was partially inspired by my time in Seoul, none of the characters travel there until the second book.




Fact #5: I did a great deal of in-depth and varied research for this duology.
From reading the memoirs of trafficking victims to researching Korean culture to furiously Googling to find out how exactly Winter and Jesse could jump off a bridge and survive unscathed, I easily spent more time doing research for this book than I did writing it. Luckily, Vicarious contains a lot of topics that I love and/or find fascinating, so the research hardly ever felt like work.

Click here to read the beginning of Vicarious on my blog. Click here to read the first 100 pages on Net Galley. (Free access to everyone with an account.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want a second chance to win a copy of Vicarious? So far I have only a couple of entries in my Vicarious graphics contest, and one person is going to score a finished hardcover :)

Got questions about the contest or the book? Put 'em in the comments :) And tell me a recent sci-fi book that you enjoyed and what you liked best about it for 4 points in the Rafflecopter.

29 comments:

  1. wow i loved your facts about this book! can't wait to get my hands on it next week!
    i haven't really read a lot of sci-fi books, but recently i did read Gemina and i absolutely LOVED that. also the diabolic, which is probably one of my favourite books. i just loved nemesis, the MC, to pieces!

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    1. Oooh. I am looking forward to checking out The Diabolic. Great picks!

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  2. Best sci-fi read that's recent is the one I'm currently reading: Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott. I love it because very quickly you become immersed in the story and the characters. I'm usually a very slow reader but I got through the first 15 chapters in about 2 hours!

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    1. I LOOOOOOVE Victoria Scott. She is my queen and I adored Fire & Flood :D *still waiting for my Pandora*

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  3. I have to go with 1984 by George Orwell, because it made me THINK and because he was so far ahead of his time (and a little too accurate). I still think about the opening line... and the closing one. Thanks!

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    1. Good choice. There is a lot that has happened lately that has made me think about this book 0_0

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  4. I have not read much sci-fi. I should read more.

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    1. Yesssss. I agree. Recommend starting with Vicarious ;D

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  5. I, Robot is a favorite. It's the book that got me into sci-fi more.

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    1. I have not read the book, but I really enjoyed the movie. I might have to check this out :)

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  6. 1984 by George Orwell. He was so far ahead of his time and eerily accurate. The first and last sentences of the book still really stick with me. Thanks.

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  7. I am so excited to read this. I am just sad I have been out of the blogging loop all summer. I have loved all your books to date, and I am sure this will be another winner. Congrats on your new release, Paula!

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    1. Thanks, Heidi. I hope you get your hands on a copy. It's definitely different from all my other books. I'd be curious to see what you think :)

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  8. So fun to read your extra facts. I've been doing a lot of book reviews and author interviews on my blog lately, and getting to know behind the scenes information is so much fun, and helps make me s better writer as well 😁

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    1. Awesome. Glad you found them interesting. Thanks for stopping by my blog :)

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  9. I was wondering why your characters are Korean, i'll find out soon enough! Looking forward to the book tour! I will join the graphic contest, just couldn't think of a concept and due to time. So i was so thrilled when the deadline got extended!!! :) for now I am doing this rafflecopter!

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  10. I was wondering why your characters are Korean, now, i'll find out soon enougj! Looking forward to the book tour! I will join the graphic contest! I just couldn't find time and also i needed a concept and stuff! But for now, I shall do this rafflecopter:)

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    1. I think the easy answer is that I write all kinds of characters because I live in a world populated by all kinds of people so my brain doesn't stick to one race or gender, etc.

      But I hope you enjoy the blog tour as I'll be sharing lots of thoughts on my personal process, which spanned several years.

      And I like to do a variety of contests, because some people like an quick RC even though it means a smaller chance to win, while other people put in the time to make graphics for a much greater chance to win :)

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    2. I just entered the graphic contest. the one with the Vicarious title on the side. I have to admit I had to watch some editing tutorials to get it right. As I said, I'm not as satisfied, mostly because the photo became grainy when I edited it. I still hope you liked it because I racked my brain in doing that. I really want to make something very original though! And happy book birthday!!! This is the third time I'm so excited for a release of a book!

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  11. I really loved The Martian! It was very suspenseful and I thought it was really funny. I read the book ánd went to the movie btw.

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    1. Again, I'm guilty of seeing the movie but not reading the book >_> But I did really enjoy it.

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    2. The movie is almost exactly the same as the book! I saw the movie first and remembered thinking how 'bookish' it felt. I don't know how to explain exactly. Bur that led me to read the book to see if it was as similar as I felt it was going to be.

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  12. I recently read Shadowhunter by Daniel Jose Older. I liked it because of its diverse characters and of cause the story which was well written.

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    1. I have heard really great things about that book!

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  13. I love sci-fi books!!!! I'll just mention the ones that I've read this year that I really liked:
    The Razia series by S. Usher Evans, Time Salvager by Wesly Chu, Gemina, The Lunar Chronicles series!!! by Marissa Meyers, A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray (Firebird Series - I've also read the second one, looking forward to the third book!), Starflight by Melissa Landers, The Rook by Daniel O'Malley (waiting for book 2 from the library!! ) Consider by Kristy Acevedo, the 100 series by Kass Morgan, Denton Little's Deathdate by Lance Rubin (quite humorous!), and I just finished the trilogy: The Passage by Justin Cronin, the books are long but dang they are good! Well, as I said, these are the ones I've read this year that I really liked! =)

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  14. My favorite sci-fi book is and will always be The Host by Stephenie Meyer. I got a super book hangover after reading that book. It's unique. It's fantastic. It's heartbreaking. It gave me so many feels. Cinder by Marissa Meyer is my second best sci-fi book I've read. :)


    Alyssa @ Diary of a Book Maniac

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  15. I haven't read many sci-fi books but the few that I read were great. The possibilities with futuristic science and new stuff was exciting.

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  16. I love Fear My Mortality by Everly Frost. It's one of my favorite books. The story is unique, it has so many action and amazing twists! Plus the cover is beautiful. I'm dying to read the second book :)

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  17. Thanks for this chance to win and I love your book!

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I love your comments like I love cupcakes! Thanks so much for stopping by :-)