Straight Chatting from the library - Feedback by D.L. Richardson

This is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author would like to award one randomly drawn commenter via rafflecopter a $10 Amazon or B&N GC and a randomly drawn host a $10 Amazon or B&N GC.

What is the favorite book you remember as a child?

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitte. I read it when I was eight or nine, something like that. I remember sitting in the library reading it. Reading in the library was part of our class program and it was my favorite part of the week. I’d curl up on a beanbag and find a book to read. The other book I remember was the Trumpet &The Swan by E.B White. At the time, I never stopped to consider how the books ended up on the shelf. I just through the librarians had the job of tidying up after the kids. But they were the ones who selected the books for the kids to read. So thank you to the two librarians of Bidwill Primary School for these wonderful memories.

Keep books or give them away?

Keep books, mostly. I find it hard to give them away, I just build more bookshelves. But occasionally I end up with duplicates because my mother gives away her books save for a few favorites. These I will take down to the charity store. Or, if they are a Did Not Finish I will give them away.

Tel l us about your current book in 10 words.

Three teens become part-spy when they receive a spy’s organs.

One book at a time or multiples?

Multiples. Especially when I’m editing I’ll have multiple books on the desk. For reading, I sometimes start a book and get distracted or bored and pick up another. For example, today I purchase a sci-fi novel 2312, while I’m also reading a fantasy novel building for the next book I’m writing.

Dog-ear or bookmark? (don't worry—Librarian Judith won't hold it against you—much)

Book mark. I remember borrowing a library book once and it had dog-ears in it. I felt terribly sad for that book to be so mistreated. Considering that a slip of paper can suffice as a bookmark, I don’t get it. I just don’t get it. And you can get so many interesting book marks that they are just as pretty as books sometimes.

When do you do most of your reading?

At the end of the day. There are a few TV shows I love to watch – Supernatural, Doctor Who, Big Bang theory, but generally TV bores me so I’ll curl up on the lounge and read a book while my husband watches TV. I used to love taking a book to the beach to read, but I have such a great view from my house and loves plants in the yard that I now only have to go out itno the backyard to read. I create places to read around the house, but when I’m writing, I sadly do not get as much time to read as I’d like.

Re-reader or not?

There are a few books I have re-read. Years ago I would never have contemplated re-reading a book when there are so many books out there. But as I get older I get more nostalgic. Books I have I’ve re- read are - The Hobbit, Black Beauty, Tuck Everlasting, The Trumpet and The Swan, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest. Books I will put on the re-read pile are – the Hunger Games, Robocalypse, Lord of the Flies.

How do you keep your books organized?

I have a compulsive disorder when it comes to books on the shelf. They are all grouped in genres. The YAs, the literary fiction, the women’s fiction, crime thrillers, biographies, and Dean Koontz novels are all filed like you’d find in a bookshop. I can’t help myself.

Favorite book to recommend?

I really recommend The Hunger Games trilogy. I know many parents have questioned the suitability of the book. And I admit when I finished I said to myself, “Should teens be reading this?” But the underlying themes are what remains in a teenager’s mind long after they’d put the book down. Great YA fiction makes a person think. And we should never underestimate the teens. Just because many of them stare at their phones all day and build little walls around themselves, does not mean there is a brain ticking away.

Also, Robocalypse by Daniel H Wilson. I picked this up at Kmart and it was awesome. I took it straight into work and handed it to a friend who I knew like similar books to me. I said, “you have to read this” and she devoured it in two days. Then she bought Amped by Daniel H Wilson and shared that with me. I still have to by his ReboGenicide book which the follow up to Robcalypse. It’s a great read, a lot of fun.

READ THE BLURB

Ethan James, Florida Bowman, and Jake Inala are three teenagers who need organ transplants. When they receive the organs of deceased CIA agent, Dylan Black, they inadvertently take on the task of completing the mission Dylan died midway through, that of deactivating bacteria bombs threatening millions of lives. The teenagers are kidnapped by a man who believes in the theory of feedback, that information is retained in the memory of organs, in this case those of the dead CIA agent. And their captor will stop at nothing to get the information retained inside their bodies. With their lives under threat, the memories stored in the CIA agent’s mind begin to awaken within each of them, except the one piece of information they are abducted for - the location of the bombs.

READ AN EXCERPT

A spy’s job is to infiltrate an environment, gather intelligence, and report back to the government. The CIA was aware that Hank harbored secrets, but what those secrets were continued to elude them. Three weeks ago, I’d been given the job of uncovering them.

Yesterday, I’d had a breakthrough when I’d discovered the stockpile of chemical weapons that Hank’s company manufactured.

Without waiting to report back to the government, I’d set about removing the bombs from their original locations—The Coliseum, Disneyland, and Universal Studios—and I’d hidden them in unpopulated areas instead. In the unlikely event that my plan failed and the bombs went off, the damage would be minimal. The CIA wouldn’t hang me out to dry for minimal damage, so my unblemished career would remain intact—mostly.

Concealing the bombs offered only a short-term solution. Ahead lay the challenge of hacking into Hank’s secure computer system to uncover the deactivation codes.

Retrieving data from a secure computer system wasn’t as easy as TV made it look. Secret documents were usually given file names like Birthday Pics or Phone Bill. Only an idiot gave the documents their real file names such as Bomb Locations. Hank Miller was an evil madman, but he wasn’t a stupid evil madman.

I’d located the file containing the manual deactivation codes, but without first disabling the bombs with an overriding code, sort of like a booby trap, the manual codes were useless. I had fifteen days left to find the codes. After that, boom.

MEET THE AUTHOR

D L Richardson writes speculative fiction. She currently has three young adult teen novels published and one short story anthology. Her first two YA novels The Bird With The Broken Wing and Feedback were best sellers and highest ranked YA fiction at OmniLit. Her third YA novel Little Red Gem was runner up on Paranormal Books Best Standalone YA book of 2013 and the book trailer was featured on USA Today website. Upcoming works include Curious, a limited edition bundling of three YA novels, a serialized science fiction novel, Fear of Falling Further the second anthology of short stories, and Poison in the Pond, a novella adapted from of an unpublished novel written in 1996. She lives in Australia on the south coast with her husband and dog.

Author contacts
Email: dlrichardsonbooks@bigpond.com
Blog: dlrichardsonwrites.blogspot.com
Website: www.dlrichardson.com
Facebook: facebook.com/dlrichardsonbooks  
Twitter: twitter.com/#!/DLRichardson1
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