THE FORGETTING CURVE Author Angie Smibert Tells All!

Today we're here with THE FORGETTING CURVE author, Angie Smibert! She's going to give us all the goods on writing her second book--and treats!

So THE FORGETTING CURVE is a companion to MEMENTO NORA. Tell us the thought process behind that. Why a companion? Was this always planned this way? 

The Forgetting Curve is a direct sequel to Memento Nora. The action picks up about a few weeks after the end of the first book. However, since—spoiler alert—the main characters of Memento Nora have forgotten what happened, I needed a few new points of view to tell this part of the story. So the POV characters are Aiden, Velvet, and Winter.

Is Aiden a new character, or did we see him a bit in MEMENTO NORA?

Aiden is new. Velvet, though, you met briefly in the first book. She’s Winter’s best friend (other than Micah). (I love getting to know new characters, or seeing minor characters from the first book in a new light.)

Tell us about Aiden, and why he’d fly across the world to come to his cousin's side. 

 Before Aiden was sent overseas to school, he and Winter were very close. He feels she’s the one person in the world who gets him. So if she’s in trouble, he’s going to risk the wrath of his father. (Oooh, intriguing.)

Do you have any favorite writing treats to keep the words flowing?

When I need a change of pace (or space), I go down to the coffee shop around the corner. One of their chocolate croissants or biscotti and a cup of good coffee certainly kick the words into action.

How did things progress for THE FORGETTING CURVE? Lots of late nights writing? Already had this drafted? 

Already drafted? Hah. In a lot of ways, the second book was tougher than the first. My publisher didn’t buy version 1.0 of Forgetting Curve—and rightly so. I rethought it and submitted a proposal for the current version. Marshall Cavendish bought it, but then I only had a couple months to write it. (Wow, that's a great story! I can't believe you wrote it in such a short time though! You must have cyborg clones...)

Tell us something about yourself we might not know! 

I live for Tuesday night pub quiz. ;) (I don't know what this is, but I want to find out!)

If you haven't preordered your copy of THE FORGETTING CURVE yet, be sure to do that! You can also enter to win a copy in this Goodreads giveaway.

And thanks to Angie for answering these questions. I really need a chocolate croissant about now... What about you? Favorite reading/writing treat? Do you like sequels with the same narrating characters, or do you prefer new characters?

Art for Rebellion

This week we're all celebrating Angie Smibert's new release, THE FORGETTING CURVE.

 One of my very favorite things about Angie's first book, MEMENTO NORA, was the way the kids used art to rebel. Not only did Nora and Micah create a comic that influenced the revolution, but their friend Winter is a sculptor. In the sequel, Angie brings the underground comic back for a cameo, but also introduces Aiden, a hacker who starts an underground radio show called MemeCast.

I love that Angie uses art as a form of protest. In controlling governments, art can sometimes be the only way for an individual to protest--and it can spark a much larger fire. I think an argument can be made linking the Hunger Games (as an artistic form of media) to the rebellion Katniss started--and there is also, of course, the art used in political protests today and in the past.

Perhaps the most famous political protest  work of art is Pablo Picasso's Guernica. In 1937, the fascist Spanish Nationalist group bombed a village in northern Spain known as Guernica. Picasso's painting, Guernica was a response--and protest--to this violent act. It depicts the slaughter of innocents, and Picasso's faces of anguish makes the viewer confront the face of violence.

More famous in our time is the British graffiti-artist, Banksy. Through clever twists on images and words, Banksy's art tends to be a commentary on our current socio-political world. He points out the futility of materialism, the importance of the environment and family, and the value of standing up against conformity. Banksy has led a revolution in the art world--and I defy anyone to try to say graffiti isn't art--and even further, I believe Banksy is the voice of the discontent of our society. It is no wonder that Banksy's fame grew just before the Occupation movement.


Protest artist Willie Bester of South Africa grew famous for his works of art protesting the apartheid. He said, "People have built up a resistance to anything that addresses the psyche of mankind or people or themselves. I believe that we must protest against that which is wrong."


Art is a way for us to do this. We often let ourselves accept the way things are--until we are faced with it. Confronted with. Forced to see that things are not always right. 


This is art.


In MEMENTO NORA, Nora and Micah protest their government through an underground comic. In THE FORGETTING CURVE, Aiden starts a secret radio program. How would YOU use art to protest a corrupt government?

The Forgetting Curve Launch Week

This week is all about celebrating the release of Angie Smibert's follow-up to her amazing debut MEMENTO NORA called THE FORGETTING CURVE. 

 THE BOOK

It's best to read MEMENTO NORA before diving into THE FORGETTING CURVE, so if want to avoid spoilers, check out MEMENTO NORA first.  Still with me? Ok then here's the jacket blurb: 

Aiden Nomura likes to open doors—especially using his skills as a hacker—to see what’s hidden inside. He believes everything is part of a greater system: the universe. The universe shows him the doors, and he keeps pulling until one cracks open. Aiden exposes the flaw, and the universe—or someone else—will fix it. It’s like a game. 

Until it isn’t. 

When a TFC opens in Bern, Switzerland, where Aiden is attending boarding school, he knows things are changing. Shortly after, bombs go off within quiet, safe Bern. Then Aiden learns that his cousin Winter, back in the States, has had a mental breakdown. He returns to the US immediately. 

But when he arrives home in Hamilton, Winter’s mental state isn’t the only thing that’s different. The city is becoming even stricter, and an underground movement is growing.
Along with Winter’s friend, Velvet, Aiden slowly cracks open doors in this new world. 

But behind those doors are things Aiden doesn’t want to see—things about his society, his city, even his own family. And this time Aiden may be the only one who can fix things . . . before someone else gets hurt.

MY THOUGHTS


I had the pleasure of getting to read and review THE FORGETTING CURVE during Dystopian February on my blog.  Here's an excerpt of my review:

Like in the first book, the world building details really immerse you in a near-future world where companies take advantage of people's fears to make money. To me, Aiden was an utterly believable hacker, and his voice was markedly different to Winter's (and Velvet's).

Congrats to THE FORGETTING CURVE for earning the Zombie Chicken Merit Badge for world building. :)

BUY THE BOOK

THE FORGETTING CURVE

Marshall Cavendish, hardcover (May 1, 2012)
ISBN13: 978-0761462651
ISBN: 0761462651

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Indie Bound

GIVEAWAY

Comment on any post this week and be entered for a signed copy of THE FORGETTING CURVE plus swag!

Why Sci-fi?

Sometimes when I'm trying to muddle through A Brief History of Time, I ask myself why I chose sci-fi over fantasy.  It's moments when I'm reading multiverse and string theory that I question why I didn't go with magic.  In these dark times I imagine somewhere Stephen Hawking is having a good chuckle at my expense.

I love magic after all.  I can say with no shame that the Harry Potter series tops my list of favorite books ever, and I've read quite a few books.  Crewel even has some fantastical elements to it, but in the end, it's grounded in very theoretical, pseudo-science.  One day while I was decrying the whole choosing sci-fi thing to my husband and how hard it was and how I didn't understand anything I was reading but still felt compelled to grasp these theories, he said something insightful.  I know, dear readers, you are dying to know.  After all, my husband is amazingly profound.  No really, he is.  Also he understands said complex scientific theories and explains them to me with small words and pictures.

He said, "Sci-fi isn't about the science, it's about taking a possibility and exploring its implications."  He pointed out a favorite book of his Kiln People by David Brin (which I have not read, because he lost his copy!).  In it, people have the ability to make clones of themselves, called kiln people.  These clones can be used for various purposes and have varying life spans.  The main character is a private detective who uses his kiln people to do his dirty work, which sometimes gets them killed in the process.  It's mystery, complete with all the Sam Spade tropes and Chinatownesque settings, you'd expected of a P.I. novel, but really it's a novel that explores the possibility of duplicating oneself and the implications.  It isn't bogged down in the science.  It just makes use of the idea.  Since we're all familiar with genetic engineering, it's not terribly hard to buy into and it addresses a subject that's certainly fascinating and controversial in an exciting way.

And it's discussions like these with my husband and other writers which remind me that the Crewel World series is sci-fi because it had to be in order to play with the effects weaving the world would have.

But maybe also cause I'm a giant J.J. Abrams fan.  That could be it, too.

So tell me, why do you read or write sci-fi?

Ready Player One

One of the best books I’ve read this year (so far) is READY PLAYER ONE by Ernest Cline. To give you a little taste, here’s a snippet from the book description:

It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune—and remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them.

Wade Watts is a teen, and his world is definitely dystopic. He lives in a trailer park where the single-wides are crammed and stacked on top of each other like cord wood. If you fall behind on your payments, you’ll end up in the “poor house” working tech support for the rest of your life. (And some people chose that as a better option.)

So, this should be young adult dystopian fiction, right? Not exactly. It did win the ALA Alex Award for adult fiction that appeals to young adults. But RPO isn’t YA.

And it isn’t because of “adult themes” or something for “mature audiences.” RPO is pretty PG-13.

Nope. RPO is adult fiction because it’s clearly written for those of us who remember the 1980’s. (And those of us who were and still are nerds.)

The creator of the OASIS, James Halliday, was a kid in the 1980’s, and throughout his highly successive life, he was obsessed with the era. Imagine Halliday as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Howard Hughes (for the recluse factor) all rolled into one. Wade and his fellow gunters (easter egg hunters) steep themselves in 80’s trivia—from gaming to tv to movies—in order to solve the puzzle—and win control of the Oasis, by the way. Some of stuff is made-up, but most of it is real. Dungeons and dragons. Early computers. War Games. John Hughes flicks. The book wallows (in a good way) in nostalgia, but the conceit works. Halliday and Wade both longed for the time that the 80’s represented—in the book at least. The 1980’s was the time where it all started and before it all went horribly wrong.

So, not only is RPO an 80’s “nerdgasm,” as John Scalzi called it, but the book is also about nostalgia for the past in general—and moving on from it. As the reader, we old folks can identify with Wade because, in some ways, he represents the teens we were (and maybe still are on the inside). But, today’s teens—who weren’t born until the *gasp* mid-to-late 90’s—can still appreciate the fantastic characters, settings, and plot. RPO is, bottom-line, a blast to read.

btw, the audiobook is fabulous--and read by Will Wheaton. 

What did you guys think of RPO? Can you think of any other recent books that, on the surface, seem like YA, but clearly aren't? Why?

Zombie Apocalypse

I think we all agree that a Zombie Apocalypse would be awesome.

No?

Well, suit yourself.

What’s not to like about rotting flesh, yellow teeth, falling off limbs and maggot infested bodies?

Even the CDC seems excited about the upcoming zombie apocalypse!

The Weepers in my book THE OTHER LIFE are often compared to zombies. But they aren’t dead or undead. Here’s how wikipedia defines a zombie: A zombie is an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means, such as witchcraft. The Weepers never died, so technically they aren’t zombies. And there definitely isn’t any kind of witchcraft involved! Anyway. I won’t lie: I love zombies.

That’s why I’m part of ZombieCraze2012 on The Bookish Brunette’s blog.

You’ve never heard of it? Here’s how Bookish Brunette describes it: An EPIC, month-long, annual Zombie event hosted by The Bookish Brunette! Featuring: Zombie Books – Guest-posts & interviews from authors of zombie books – Book REVIEWS of Zombie books – GIVEAWAYS of Zombie books.

So if you love zombies (and even if you don’t – what’s the matter with you???), you should take a look. Today it’s my turn. There’s a guestpost in which I make a list of all things zombies (like zombie walks and zombie board games!). If you want to have a chance at surviving the zombie apocalypse, you’ll have no choice but to read it! There's also a giveaway, btw.

And out of interest, how would you survive the zombie apocalypse? I'll just follow the instructions the CDC gives on their website! We'll see how that goes...

In outer space...

there is no noise. This article is so interesting! I'm sure I wouldn't last even five minutes (if that long) in a room like this.

http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/unplugged/quietest-place-earth-mutes-sounds-messes-head-212556719.html

Which reminds me of this article I posted not long ago about silencing people.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/weird-gun-future-attacks-words-not-people-193050045.html

We don't necessarily think about how important sound (or the lack of sound) is - but it seems to be tied to our sanity. Hmmm... do I sense some plot ideas forming? I think so!

How long do you think you would last in a room of total silence?