Restoring Harmony! Now Available and who doesn’t need some Harmony?

I am BEYOND excited to announce the release of Restoring Harmony by my friend Joelle Anthony. Joelle and I met on-line and she’s become a dear friend. I had a chance to read an early draft of this book and I can promise you that you’ll love it. You don’t have to trust me, this is what Kirkus had to say: “Anthony easily builds suspense and creates both an attractive personality for Molly and interesting characters to support her. Highly readable; very well done indeed.”

About the Book:
The year is 2041, and sixteen-year-old Molly McClure has lived a relatively quiet life on an isolated farming island in Canada, but when her family fears the worst may have happened to her grandparents in the US, Molly must brave the dangerous, chaotic world left after global economic collapse—one of massive oil shortages, rampant crime, and abandoned cities.
Molly is relieved to find her grandparents alive in their Portland suburb, but they’re financially ruined and practically starving. What should’ve been a quick trip turns into a full-fledged rescue mission. And when Molly witnesses something the local crime bosses wishes she hadn’t, Molly’s only way home may be to beat them at their own game. Luckily, there’s a handsome stranger who’s willing to help.

Restoring Harmony is a riveting, fast-paced dystopian tale complete with adventure and romance that readers will devour.

Joelle came by to answer some questions:
1) I love a behind the scenes story, can you tell us the inspiration for your book Restoring Harmony?

There were so many things that inspired different aspects of the book. James Kuntsler’s book The Long Emergency gave me the idea of creating a world in flux, the fiddle music around our house made me want to have music in it, and the islands we visited on our honeymoon gave me a place for Molly to call home.

2) What do you like best about writing? What do you like least?

I like revising. It’s my favourite part! It’s just so much fun to add and tweak and come up with new little tidbits. Getting the first draft down is pretty much like brushing your teeth after you’ve bit your tongue and it’s sore – something that has to be done, but quite painful too.

3) What do you like to do with your time when you aren’t writing?

One of my favourite things to do is sleep. I’m really good at it too. I don’t usually nap, but when I go to bed at night, it’s for 8-10 hours. I used to feel kind of guilty about it because my husband was an early riser and I would feel like I’d missed most of the morning, but I’ve actually got him sleeping 8-10 hours now too. Oh, and when I’m awake but not writing, I like to read, walk, cook, and knit.

4) Since we both write for teens, can you tell us how you would have described yourself as a teen? Would others have described you the same way?

Most writers seem to always say they were dorks and loners and didn’t have any friends, but I was in drama so I was a dork with lots and lots of friends! I was in high school during the fabulously fashionable eighties (we must’ve been cool because everyone’s dressing like we did now). My hair is stick-straight though and I had no hope of being one of the cool Big Hair Girls, so I went for the New Wave look. I had stair-step layers in the back, my hair was really long on one side and really short on the other, and I used to wear long underwear with my skirts and old-man sweaters. I know this look was quite big in the city, but I lived in the suburbs and there were about six of us in a school of 1200 who dressed like this. None of the others did drama, so I was a bit of a stand-out. My nickname was Trendatha because at the back of my neck, I grew out my hair so I had a tail and my friend Jason thought that was so trendy it was sad. I let him cut it off in the Minneapolis airport on our way to NYC for a drama trip. He didn’t want to walk around NYC with someone so trendy and I adored him, so I gave in.

I think it’s safe to say everyone would’ve described me as happy, goofy, weird and easy to get along with (pretty much like now) and that’s how I saw myself, so yeah, we were all in agreement.

May 18th, 2010 | 5 Comments