Q & A with Derrolyn Anderson

I am happy to welcome author Derrolyn Anderson to our blog today! 

 

Derrolyn's book, The Athena Effect, is up for review in Shut Up & Read this week!

Title: The Athena Effect

Author: Derrolyn Anderson

Series: The Athena Effect #1

Genre: YA

Goodreads rating:

Publication: August 2012

Available from: Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Smashwords

Country girl Cali has been kept a secret her entire life, raised in isolation by two very troubled people. Despite her parent’s disturbing fits, Cal is perfectly content, living at one with the nature that surrounds her, and finding adventure inside the pages of her beloved books. When an awful tragedy tears her away from her remote cabin in the woods, nothing she’s ever read has prepared her for a world that she knows very little about.

Girls and motorcycles are what bad-boy Cal’s life is all about. Brought up in a raucous party house by his biker brother, he’s free to do as he pleases, going through the motions on his final days of high school. Aimless, Cal stopped thinking about his future a long time ago.

Attacked by a gang of thugs while running an errand for his brother, Cal is in serious trouble until a fierce girl appears out of nowhere to intervene. She chases off three grown men, sparing Cal a brutal beating before disappearing into the night like a spirit. He can’t stop thinking about his mysterious rescuer, and when she turns out to be the weird new girl at school who goes out of her way to avoid him, he can’t contain his curiosity.

He’s never met anyone like her before, and the more he learns about the unusual girl who shares his nickname, the more he wants to know. Cal can’t help falling for Cal, but can he keep her from falling victim to a dangerous enemy from her parent’s tragic past?

Add The Athena Effect to your Goodreads shelf!


Q & A with Derrolyn Anderson

Q.  Tell us a little bit about your main characters, Cali and Cal.
A.  I wrote Cali as a completely innocent but extremely bright girl, loaded with book smarts, but naive about people. She’s been raised totally off the grid, and is completely unprepared to be thrust into modern life. I love a fish-out-of-water story!

Bad boy Cal has been brought up by his biker brother. He’s going through the motions on his final days of high school, hopping from girl to girl and party to party, acting like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Cali literally sees right through him, and he’s completely unprepared to deal with his feelings when love finally comes to town. :)

Q.  Do you see any of yourself in your characters, or are they based on people in your life?
A. I wouldn’t say I based any characters entirely on people I’ve known, but I do take inspiration from my life experience. I’ve gone from a bookwormy kid to a rebellious high school dropout, from a model-slash-waitress to hipster art major. I’ve been a homeschooling mom of three, a painter and an entrepreneur. I’ve survived some pretty sketchy relationships, but was lucky enough to wind up married to my best friend. So yeah... I’ve crossed paths with lots of different types of people in my day, and they keep bubbling up from the subconscious whether I like it or not!

Q.  What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
A. My husband and I have had a home based business for over twenty years now. I slave away in my garage almost every day, manning a die cutter, bagging up catnip, and shipping orders to pet stores. It’s fairly mindless work, so I listen to music and daydream, jotting down ideas on little yellow pads. After UPS picks up the boxes, I come in for a coffee and write while my husband cooks dinner for the family (did I mention how awesome he was?). Our twin daughters just went away to college this past fall, so we’re down to only one high school sophomore and the house is way quieter! Maybe I’ll get more writing done now...

Q.  What do you do to unwind and relax?
A. Soak in the hot tub with said hubby drinking copious amounts of fine Sonoma county wine.

Q.  Do you have any hidden talents?
A. I’m very good at dealing with drunken businessmen. I bartended my way through college at an airport Radisson. Talk about characters! ;)


About the Author

Derrolyn Anderson is a visual artist and writer of fiction. The creator of the four part "Marina's Tales" series and the YA romance, "The Athena Effect", she's currently hard at work on her next book, "The Mackenzie Legacy".

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Website:http://www.derrolyn.com/Home.html
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