J. Sciancalepore is the author of the new adventure novel, The War On Destiny. He took some time out yaReads for a Q&A.

Tell us a bit about yourself

I am a proud Dad of two fantastic kids, married to a strong and supportive wife, and owner/friend of an earnest dog and a blind but amazingly perceptive cat. I live in upstate New York in the U.S., not far from Lake George, NY where The War On Destiny begins. I am a lifelong reader of fantasy novels (though at 8 months old, I failed to appreciate the lyrical beauty of Tolkien). When not penning novels, I am a creative director at an ad agency – which is fun, challenging and always new.
Where did the idea for The War on Destiny come from?

The inspiration came from a few places, really. First, in my job as creative director, I spent several years helping colleges and universities market to high school students – and I was constantly struck by the immense pressures faced by today’s over-managed, over-scheduled teens. The pressure to choose the right school, the right career, the right life path…all while getting generic (or even bad) advice at every turn. Second, I wanted to build a story around a strong, smart, sarcastic female character…as too many fantasy tales relegate women to supporting roles. Though constantly imperiled, Jenny Martinson is no damsel in distress! Third…I wanted to capture the sense of adventure and mystery that I love about my favorite fantasy stories. It kind of all came together in The War On Destiny.
There are a lot of pop culture references in this book – is that something you’re really into?

Authenticity was key for me in building the characters of Jenny, and her two friends Steven and Kevin. These are modern-day teens, who’ve grown up with Harry Potter, Frodo, the Pevensie siblings, and so many other fantasy lit staples. Steven, in particular, has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the genre. If they were plunged into a fantasy adventure of their own, that’s how they would relate to it – by comparing it to what they know. That, and I think it’s fun for readers to recognize these references…even if they only get some of them. I got a note from a female reader who said that she burst out laughing in study hall when Steven shouted “Expecto Patronum” (Potter’s Patronus charm) to ward off the Ra soldiers. I love hearing stories like that!

So is the book serious or funny?

Yes. As a huge fan of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe, True Blood, and other genre-blending works, I think it’s possible for funny and fantasy to play along nicely. There are certainly moments of drama, danger and even sadness in the book, but I think there is an undercurrent of humor to balance it all out. Again, it felt authentic to the characters – especially Jenny.

Do you share the same views on destiny as your characters?

I’m not as cynical as Jenny, who is pretty sure the universe is running on autopilot. There is a moment in the book when she has a pivotal dialog with a “supreme being,” who tells her that one’s destiny is basically inescapable. We all have choices, about what to do or not to do, but that we all ultimately end up on the path we were meant to take. I think there’s something to that.
What’s next for the series?

That question of destiny is going to loom larger, as the notion of “The War” comes into greater focus – essentially involving a group of freedom fighters who want to liberate mankind from the tyranny of a predetermined destiny. Jenny will, of course, find herself awkwardly in the middle of it all. And I think she needs a real love interest, or two.
What’s on your To Be Read pile?

I’ve been loathe to finish it because I’m enjoying the Hunger Games series so much, but I’m about to dive into Mockingjay. Speaking of strong female characters, I absolutely adore Katniss and the whole chilling universe that Suzanne Collins has created. I don’t want it to end, but I have to know what happens! I’m also ready to take on The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo…the hype has finally gotten to me.

Crunchy or smooth peanut butter?

Though I generally choose smooth peanut butter in my day to day sandwiches, I think there are times when crunchy is not only acceptable…but advisable. So let me walk this political tightrope with the answer of “Smoonchy.”

Night or Day?

Night.

White, milk or dark chocolate?

Dark.

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Thanks J! The War on Destiny is available now via Amazon.

Beth Revis is the author of the fantastic new novel, Across the Universe, which is our January Book of the Month! She was nice enough to take time out for a quick Q&A.

Amy and Elder’s life on the Godspeed is incredibly fascinating – where did the idea for the story come from?

The entire story revolves around the ending. I had an idea for that twisty end, and everything else—the setting, the characters, the plot—all of it came about as a way to make that ending happen.

During the early planning stages of the story who came first – Amy or Elder?

Elder. Originally, the first chapter was told in his point of view, and his voice was the easiest for me to write at first. I had to go through rather a lot of revision and rewriting with Amy—it took me awhile to figure her out, but once I had her voice down, she actually became the easier character to write.

There’s a lot of technical info about the way the ship works as well as biology, genes, space travel seen in the book, you must’ve done a lot of research before writing the book?

I had to research mostly in terms of what we don’t have and why we don’t have it. For example, I had to research why cryogenic freezing doesn’t work now (the cell walls burst when frozen) and then invent something that would make it work (the infamous “blue goo” Amy encounters in Chapter 1). In some ways, this made things easier for me—since it’s fiction, I got to do a lot of creative inventing to make the science work, and could use my imagination rather than facts.

During the Plague the ship was cut off from communications with Earth – was that someone’s doing or a computer malfunction?

Oh dear….I’m afraid I’m not going to tell you. That is something that will be addressed in the future books, though!

Most of the reviews on other blogs and on Goodreads are 4 or 5 star ratings, are you surprised by the warm reception?

Happily so! It’s so terrifying to send creative work out into the world. Even though I’m fully aware that writing and reading is an entirely subjective thing, there’s so much of me in my work that to see someone not like it feels like a personal insult when I know logically it isn’t. The wonderful reception AtU has received so far has made me thrilled beyond belief and just confirmed my idea that I have the very best readers in the whole world.

I’m sure it’s still top secret at this stage but is there anything you can share about what we can expect from the next book?

I can only say that at least 2 things you think are true from the first book….are actually lies.

And lastly, let’s finish on a fun one….crunchy or smooth peanut butter? (Would they have that on Godspeed?)

Crunchy for me! Peanuts are a crop that would be easy (and necessary) for the residents to grow, so I imagine there’s lots of peanut butter around Godspeed—and since peanut butter is so easy to make, I’d say that they can have it either way they want, crunchy or smooth!

Thank you Beth! Check out our review of Across the Universe here and Beth’s guest blog here.

There’s still time to enter our Across the Universe giveaway too, click here to enter.

Alyssa Grossbard is the author of Confessions of a Teenage Pond Hopper, and at 19, being a published author is quite an impressive feat.

The story follows Charlotte Williston who just days away from graduating from high school, takes off on an impulsive trip across the pond as a way of stepping out of her tightly laced life that she never really felt was her own. Charlotte is the kind of girl who has always taken the safe route – doing well in school, trying to please her parents, not getting involved in relationships, which has made her life turn out cold and bland. This trip is Charlotte’s rebellion against that life as well as chance to remove herself from it to find herself and what she really wants along the way.

Tell us a bit about yourself

I’m 19 years old and I’m a 2nd-year undergraduate at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, studying for a degree in history. I live in Connecticut in the United States and grew up here and in New York. I traveled quite a bit as a child and obviously do so for my education now as well. While at school I am coxswain for my college boat club and write the “American Tongue” blog for Cherwell, Oxford’s student newspaper. I also enjoy skiing in winter.

Confessions of a Teenage Pond Hopper is your first novel, what was the publishing process like for you, especially considering how young you are?

For me, the publishing process was, in one word, mysterious. Because this was my first novel, I had no idea how anything worked, or who I was supposed to contact once I finished writing. I sent out queries to more than a few literary agents, and while receiving rejections, I was not completely discouraged. When I finally found a way to publish the book, I was ecstatic, and every step of the process I remained very involved. While I am very young, I tried to use my age to my advantage; I’m not that far removed from my target audience and so feel I have a good perspective on what might appeal to a teenage audience.

To what extent is the book based on your own life and experiences?

The plot and characters are completely fictitious. No specific character or any aspect of the plot is based on my own life or those of my friends and family. Where my own experiences come in are in the locations I chose for Charlotte’s travels. In order to be able to write creatively about a place, it’s necessary to have firsthand experience of it; so the cities she visits are cities which I have spent a fair amount of time in and therefore could write about. And within some of the cities, specific destinations like Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, or Harvey Nichols in London – those were chosen because of my familiarity with them as well. I suppose to summarize, the setting is very much based on my own experiences, but the plot itself and the characters are not.

What book was the man in the used bookshop in Edinburgh reading?

He’s reading Reformation: Europe’s House Divided, 1490-1700 by Diarmid McCulloch. I’d thought of it as a history text he was reading, and when I came across this book later on during my first year at university, I realized it was the right book.

James is a completely sweet character (though even he had a lapse in judgement), do you think men like him exist?

To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure at this point in my life. I’ve had friends whose boyfriends have made some lovely gestures and who have been in long-term relationships where they seem just perfect for each other, but we’re all in our late teens (well, some have just turned 20 – eek!). So I wrote a character as I hoped he could be – although, I would hasten to add that he is also completely realistic. He’s not infallible, and he makes mistakes. There are too many books out there that have some sort of hyper-idealistic male character which can often make girls who are perhaps a bit younger than me blind to the realities of the opposite sex. I didn’t want James to give off that impression.

Do you have any travel tips?

When you’re going anywhere for the first time, do a bit of research before you head off, but don’t over-plan either. You’ll want to make sure you don’t kick yourself afterwards for missing anything, but equally, you want to leave room for spontaneity, for discovering a perfect little sidewalk café or peaceful park bench where you can sit and people-watch. And the latter is also essential – people-watching can be one of the best ways to really get the feel for a particular city. If you’re headed somewhere more rural, try to get to know the local centre and then ask residents what they think are places you can’t miss seeing.

What projects are you working on next?

As I’m currently an undergraduate student, right now I’m focused on coursework and eventually my thesis, coming up quickly! I do write the American Tongue blog for Cherwell, Oxford’s student newspaper. And I do scribble down ideas for short stories and novels that pop into my head and file them away. I’m considering writing either a sequel to Confessions of a Teenage Pond Hopper or another novel about being an American living in Britain, but those are both in the very early stages.

Any quirky writing rituals or habits? Where do you prefer to write? Cafe, at home…etc

I suppose everyone’s habits are different and so quirky in their own way. While writing Confessions of a Teenage Pond Hopper I worked at home and at the local library, not at Starbucks or anything like that. I prefer working at home simply because it allows me to get up and take breaks whenever I want, and my writing style requires that – if I suddenly come up with a wonderful idea, I’ll sit and type for four hours straight. But if I’m having a hard time contriving the next plot device, I’ll get up and do something else – sometimes I won’t return to writing that day. Once at university I started doing some work in cafes, and that does force you to work consistently, which is good – so it really depends on the day!

What’s currently in your to-read pile?

I’ve had a particular book sitting on my shelf for about three years now – To Serve Them All My Days, by R. F. Delderfield. It was recommended to me as I absolutely adore books like Goodbye, Mr. Chips, but I never got around to reading it due to schoolwork and writing my own novel, so hopefully I will do soon. On the nonfiction side, I’d like to get into Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America, which is also quite hefty, so I’m thinking a vacation may be the only time I could get through that! And I’ve got some fun chick-lit for over winter break.

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Thanks Alyssa! Confessions of a Teenage Pond Hopper is available online via Amazon