We have author Shaunta Grimes here at Fire and Ice for an interview as well as a giveaway. Shaunta is kind to stop by and answer a few questions for our readers as part of the official Rebel Nation Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours.
Title: REBEL NATION
Author: Shaunta Grimes
Publisher: Berkeley Trade
Pub. Date: July 1, 2014
Pages: 320
Find it: Amazon* Barnes & Noble* Goodreads
Sixteen years ago, a plague wiped out nearly all of humanity. The Company’s vaccine stopped the virus’s spread, but society was irrevocably changed. Those remaining live behind impenetrable city walls, taking daily doses of virus suppressant and relying on The Company for continued protection. They don’t realize that everything they’ve been told is a lie…
Clover Donovan didn’t set out to start a revolution—quiet, autistic, and brilliant, she’s always followed the rules. But that was before they forced her into service for the Time Mariners. Before they condemned her brother to death, compelling him to flee the city to survive. Before she discovered terrifying secrets about The Company.
Clover and the Freaks, her ragtag resistance group, are doing their best to spread the rebellion and stay under The Company’s radar. But when their hideout is discovered, they are forced, once again, to run. Only this time, The Company has special plans for Clover, plans that could risk her life and stop the uprising in its tracks…
Author Q & A
What is the world of Rebel Nation like? Is it similar to what we live in today, do you see our society heading in that direction?
Rebel Nation‘s world is one where a lot of the technology that makes us a modern society is gone. Not all of it, but a lot of it. A big part of the book takes place in Virginia City. When I sat down and thought about what the area around Reno would be like if you stripped away things like cars and computers, I realized that Virginia City was a thriving city long before any of those things came about. I knew that the Freaks could build something there, because they were working with infrastructure that had worked before.
What movies or books, if any, helped inspire Rebel Nation?
The whole Viral Nation series was inspired by my love of dystopian books. Stephen King’s The Stand andDavid Birn’s The Postman were two influences. I wanted to write about what happens next though. Lots of dystopia tells the story of the fall and the immediate after affects of the fall, but I wanted to write about what happens after the rebuilding. I guess I think of my books as post-post apocalyptic.
Who are our writing mentors and heroes?
Oh, wow. I’m such a big reader, and I have been for as long as I can remember. I’m even influenced by Dr. Seuss, and his ability to have a message that he doesn’t beat you over the head with. (Horton Hears a Who is one of my favorite picture books, and I love the story it has to tell about being heard.) Louisa May Alcott, C.S. Lewis, Margaret Attwood, Stephen King, Nancy Farmer, James Dashner—I think every author I read and love becomes a hero to me.
If you could transport your characters to any one place or time period where would you take them and why?
I’m not sure I would transport them anywhere. They are really important to their own place and time!
Vaccinations are a pretty hot topic, tell is why you chose to include it?
Vaccinations are the way that human beings deal with virus. I think that if something like the virus in my book were to happen for real, there wouldn’t be people worried about whether or not to vaccinate. It would be a no-brainer.
On a personal level, I’m very much in support of vaccinating.
Is there anything you would go back and tell your teen self?
I’d tell my teen self that everything is going to be okay. That she’s making good choices, even though she isn’t sure of it yet. I’ve wondered if I’d warn myself about the boy who would grow up to break my heart, but I don’t think I would. Some things make you stronger when you go through them.
Do you have any songs that served as a backdrop to the setting?
I can’t listen to music while I’m writing. I wind up just listening and not actually writing!
Book blurb in one sentence?
How far are the Freaks willing to go for truth and justice?
Shaunta Grimes has worked as a substitute teacher, a newspaper reporter, a drug court counselor, and a vintage clothing seller. No matter which direction she strays, however, she always comes back to storytelling. She lives in Reno with her family, where she writes, teaches, and perpetually studies at the University of Nevada. Viral Nation is her debut traditionally-published novel.
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The Giveaway
5 finished copies of Rebel Nation
Open Internationally.
Patrícia Xará
This book seems really promising. I would definitely like to read it.
I like dystopias and as a biology student I like stories about virus infections and big pharmaceutical companies.
Oh! And the cover is pretty cool!
Natalie Carroll
This sounds like a very intriguing book! Thanks for sharing and thanks for the author interview! I agree that the cover is awesome!
Natalie Carroll recently posted…Honey Queen: Book Blitz