Q & A with Tash McAdam
by Tash McAdam
There have always been warps—tears between realities—and
they’ve always been a threat to humanity. Most people are blind to them. But
Hallie’s eyes are opening. Now that she’s going to school at the Protectorate,
she’s learning there’s more to life than fun and games.
The truth is, she’s just become part of Earth’s only shield against the monsters of the warps. Before, she didn’t think she was anything special. Now, yanked from her relatively normal life, she realizes that she doesn’t have a choice.
When the emergency alarm sounds, calling everyone in the school to arms, even the young and inexperienced are needed. As one of the warp weavers—capable of closing the warps and stopping the monsters—Hallie must now work to save lives. And she must do it in the most complicated situation she’s ever experienced. Because there are sea serpents in the Thames, and Hallie has to close the doors that are letting them in.
The problem is, they’re underwater, and they’re hungry.
Now everyone is relying on her, and Hallie must find a way to do her job—with a brand new partner—before it’s too late. Because if she fails she’ll die, along with everyone who’s depending on her.
Don't miss this prequel to Tash McAdam's new series, Warp Weavers, coming in 2016.
ebook, 40 pages
Published July 14th 2015 by Glass House Press (first
published July 7th 2015)
by Tash McAdam
Telepaths, torture, mindwipes ... the Institute has it all,
and they use each of their brainwashed children as weapons, the way they see
fit. To control society, repress its people. To make certain that they stay in
power, no matter the cost. Serena’s baby brother Damon is one of those
children, and these days he’s so altered that he doesn’t even recognize her.
When it comes to getting Damon away from those who kidnapped him, there's nothing Serena won't do. Even if she has to kill him to save him. First, though, she must prove to her father that she has what it takes to be a soldier against the insidious threat of the Institute. Her first mission has to be perfect.
But with inaccurate intelligence, unexpected storms, and Gav Belias, people’s hero of the Watch, on the prowl, will she even survive? If she doesn't succeed, they'll never let her go after her brother.
And that would be unthinkable, when it was her fault that he was taken in the first place.
Slam is Tash McAdam’s first work with Glass House Press, and serves as a prequel to the series The Psionics. The first novel, Maelstrom, is scheduled for release in February 2016.
ebook, 89 pages
Published October 14th 2014 by Glass House Press (first
published September 16th 2014)
Read It & Reap: April 2016
Tash McAdam’s first writing experience (a collaborative effort) came at the age of eight, and included passing floppy discs back and forth with a best friend at swimming lessons. Since then, Tash has spent time falling in streams, out of trees, learning to juggle, dreaming about zombies, dancing, painting, learning Karate, becoming a punk rock pianist, and of course, writing.
Tash is a teacher in real life, but dreams of being a full-time writer, and living a life of never-ending travel. Though born in the hilly sheepland of Wales, Tash has lived in South Korea and Chile and now calls Vancouver, Canada home.
SLAM, a novella in The Psionics, is Tash’s first published work. Maelstrom, the full length novel will be out in June. Visit the website or facebook for news, gossip, and random tidbits about Tash’s adventures.
Website: http://www.tashmcadam.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tashmcadam
Q & A with Tash McAdam
3. Describe your ideal writing spot.
5. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
6. Which do you prefer: hard/paperbacks or ebooks?
Can I have both? I like to collect hardcovers on my shelf for admiring and flicking through, and ebooks for the convenience.
7. If you could have any supernatural power, what would you choose and why?
8. What book are you reading now?
1. Tell us a little bit about your main characters.
Oh I have so many! I'll talk about my most imminent series. My main characters in the Psionics series are Epsilon 17 and Toby Reynolds. They are from very different backgrounds. Epsilon 17 is a telepathic Reader who was enslaved by a government organisation developed to keep telepaths under control. She was raised by this organisation, robbed of her memories repeatedly, but as the story unfolds she becomes able to hold on to parts of herself through the memory-wiping procedure. Traumatized and terrified, she starts making plans to escape. Toby, on the other hand, is a privileged boy raised in the inner city with the best of everything at his disposal... until a freak accident reveals his own telepathic powers and he's forced to go on the run from the very people who are supposed to protect him.
2. Who designs the covers for your books and what is that process like for you as an author?
I actually run a cover design company with my partner, and I did the covers for Blood in the Water and Panic (both short stories) myself. The rest of my covers have come from a few different sources, and the process has always involved a lot of chatting with my publisher, mutual idea generation, before handing it off to the designer. It's a strange process, because what you envision for your book may not be the best way to draw readers in, what you have in your minds eye might be accurate but not easily understood at a glance. So, you have to trust that the designer knows what they are doing, and let that personal attachment soften a little. Covers are vital to your sales, they are the first thing people see, the first impression. You have to interest but not overwhelm. And just because your particular tastes lean a certain way doesn't mean that's what's best for your book.
Oh I have so many! I'll talk about my most imminent series. My main characters in the Psionics series are Epsilon 17 and Toby Reynolds. They are from very different backgrounds. Epsilon 17 is a telepathic Reader who was enslaved by a government organisation developed to keep telepaths under control. She was raised by this organisation, robbed of her memories repeatedly, but as the story unfolds she becomes able to hold on to parts of herself through the memory-wiping procedure. Traumatized and terrified, she starts making plans to escape. Toby, on the other hand, is a privileged boy raised in the inner city with the best of everything at his disposal... until a freak accident reveals his own telepathic powers and he's forced to go on the run from the very people who are supposed to protect him.
2. Who designs the covers for your books and what is that process like for you as an author?
I actually run a cover design company with my partner, and I did the covers for Blood in the Water and Panic (both short stories) myself. The rest of my covers have come from a few different sources, and the process has always involved a lot of chatting with my publisher, mutual idea generation, before handing it off to the designer. It's a strange process, because what you envision for your book may not be the best way to draw readers in, what you have in your minds eye might be accurate but not easily understood at a glance. So, you have to trust that the designer knows what they are doing, and let that personal attachment soften a little. Covers are vital to your sales, they are the first thing people see, the first impression. You have to interest but not overwhelm. And just because your particular tastes lean a certain way doesn't mean that's what's best for your book.
3. Describe your ideal writing spot.
My idea writing spot is at my handmade copper and pine desk,
looking out over my gorgeous view of the mountains, with a hot cup of coffee on
my right and some delicious snacks close to hand. And silence. Utter
silence.
4. What is the best advice you have been given?
4. What is the best advice you have been given?
You can't please everybody, so do something you are proud
of, learn from criticism if it is constructive, and let it go with the adage
'maybe they just aren't your audience' if it's not. Oh, or 'can't fix what
doesn't exist', which is what I tell myself every time I'm struggling to get
the words on paper.
5. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I changed my mind pretty often, but most memorably, a
blacksmith.
6. Which do you prefer: hard/paperbacks or ebooks?
Can I have both? I like to collect hardcovers on my shelf for admiring and flicking through, and ebooks for the convenience.
7. If you could have any supernatural power, what would you choose and why?
I would love to be able to teleport. I'm a Brit living
in Canada, and my whole family is still in the UK along with a
bundle of awesome friends. I've also been lucky enough to
have traveled extensively and I have people all around the world I'd
love to be able to casually drop in on.
8. What book are you reading now?
I just started Morning Star, the third book in the Red
Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown. I am really excited, it's one of my favorite
series ever! But I'm only on page four so I can't say anything about it apart
from that my hopes are high.
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