Book Blitz: Fractured Memories by Jo Schneider

Book & Author Details:

Fractured Memories by Jo Schneider
(Jagged Scars #1)
Publication date: May 20th 2015
Genres: Post-Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Synopsis:
Sixteen year old Wendy never knew the world before the Starvation. She’s learned to put her trust in her knives, and her confidence in her fighting ability. When the Skinnies attack her compound, she’s the lone survivor.

Injured and near death, Wendy is rescued and nursed back to health by mysterious strangers. Her saviors offer her a place among them, but trust has never been one of Wendy’s strengths, and suspicion soon leads to evidence that these people might be the group who killed her family.

The decision to get her revenge, and take the settlement down from the inside out is easy. Keeping her distance from those she must befriend in order to make it happen proves to be much more difficult.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25565361-fractured-memories?ac=1

Purchase:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Fractured-Memories-Jagged-Scars-Book-ebook/dp/B00XVIR51K/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1435852192&sr=1-1&keywords=Fractured+Memories+jo

AUTHOR BIO:
Author of Babes in Spyland, New Sight-YA fantasy out April 2014, wearer of a black belt in Kempo and always in search of the next cool place to visit!


Author links:
Blog:  http://joannschneider.blogspot.ca/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/JoannSchneiderAuthor
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/JoSchneider_1
Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7281691.Jo_Schneider

Interview Questions:

1. What does your writing process look like?

Imagine a desk, and at one end is a neat, little pile of papers. Next to that is another pile, this one not quite so tidy. Maybe one paper is slipping off the stack, which leads the eye to an array of notes that may have been, at one time, in a pleasing fan shape, but now looks like someone gave it a noogie. This is usually where you will discover the discarded wrappers of whatever snacks I could find. A glass with the glazed on remains of a Diet Coke will be sitting on a Dr. Who coaster, and the little cup for pens will be empty, because the pens are now hiding under the papers. When your eyes reach the keyboard, you'll see that everything has been pushed aside to make room for me playing of Facebook.

2. How important are names in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning? Do you have any other name choosing resources you recommend?

Names are very important, and I'm sometimes horrible at finding just the right one. Ages ago, I bought a baby name book--a book that my fiance packed up when we got married and moved in together and was a little concerned about--and I often use that to find names. Sometimes I look at meanings. Often I will end up with names that all sound the same (one syllable for instance) or all start with the same letter. When that starts to happen, I find a letter I haven't used and I flip open the book. Sometimes I use the web too. Especially if I need, say, legitimate last name from Africa .

In my first novel, New Sight, I couldn't think of a name for the bad guys, so I named them the New until I came up with something better. By the time I got finished writing the book, the New had stuck. It's a dumb name, but now it's theirs.  

3.  What writing advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Years ago, I was at a little, tiny writing/Sci-fi/Fantasy convention and I went to a class by a guy I'd never heard of. A guy named Brandon Sanderson. His first Librarians book was about to come out, and he was talking about magic systems. I don't really remember what he said about that. What I do remember is one simple statement he made, "Don't be afraid to suck."

I've lived by this creed ever since. Don't expect to be the best author in the room, don't expect to get everything right the first time, and don't expect to wow every reader you encounter. What all authors need to do is keep writing. Find some people who will help you get better and listen to them. It's okay to suck, as long as you're willing to try again.  

4. When did you first start writing, and when did you finish your first book?

I started writing when I was a young teenager. Maybe 13. If you read the dedication in Fractured Memories, it mentions my dad watching Aliens with me. Once I recovered from being too terrified to move off of my yellow bing bag, I started writing myself into the tale.

Don't judge, many a writer has started with fan fiction.

Those were awful, and after college my writing waned a little. Then a friend wanted to start a writing group and asked me if I would help her. A few months after that a member of the group mentioned something called NanoWriMo. I'd never heard of it, and I was sure anyone who tried to write 50,000 words in a month was completely insane.

Two days before the month started, I scratched a loose plot on a scrap of paper while I was waiting to see the doctor about my knee that I almost took out in my Kempo class. That was the  year I joined the insanity. I finished that novel and have done NanoWriMo for a good 10 years. It took me three years to finish the initial story that I started. After that, I just kept writing. Most of the early stuff is craptastic, but all the suckage has to go somewhere, right?  

5. Do you work with an outline, or just write?

I'm an outliner. The more I wade through the story before I start, the less times I have to rewrite it. I have a whole list of things I go over as I plan, including plot points, a theme, the characters needs and desires, the main conflicts and as many other little things that I can think about before I actually begin writing.

However, things always, always, always change. It's taken me a few years to realize that it's okay to rewrite a story. Six times. It just takes a while. My process is getting better, but I suspect that I will always have a throwaway rough draft that ends up only getting about 20% of it into the final manuscript.

I've tried the "just write" approach, and for me it always ends in a spectacular temper tantrum by me and a shopping spree.

6. Can you tell us about your upcoming book? Why should anyone read it?

Fractured Memories is a kick a**, YA Post-Apocalyptic novel that 's one part action, one part horror, and one part fun. 

I once heard an author say that when you tell people about your story, you should look and act as if you are telling them about the first time your baby said "ma ma.". I totally feel this way about Fractured Memories.  Wendy is a character that's been rolling around in my head for a lot of years. Her friends have been lurking as well. They all have hopes, they all have dreams, they all have faced sorrows and horrors that hopefully none of us have to face. They're scarred, but they're still people, and they still care about others.

The world in the book has changed, but the ever-present need for friendship and trust will never die. That's what this book is about. Wendy is alone, on a mission to avenge her family at any cost, when these pesky teenagers befriend her. Hard to plot revenge when someone is trying to make you laugh.