Wasteland Blog Tour: Author Interview & Give@way!

Wasteland by Susan Kim & Laurence Klavan

Welcome to the Wasteland. Where all the adults are long gone, and now no one lives past the age of nineteen. Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan’s post-apocalyptic debut is the first of a trilogy in which everyone is forced to live under the looming threat of rampant disease and brutal attacks by the Variants —- hermaphroditic outcasts that live on the outskirts of Prin. Esther thinks there’s more to life than toiling at harvesting, gleaning, and excavating, day after day under the relentless sun, just hoping to make it to the next day. But then Caleb, a mysterious stranger, arrives in town, and Esther begins to question who she can trust. As shady pasts unravel into the present and new romances develop, Caleb and Esther realize that they must team together to fight for their lives and for the freedom of Prin.

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Book Trailer

I haven't yet read the book but I did my best trying to come up with a few questions for them! Let's welcome Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan!

1. So we can get to know you a little better can you tell us 5 interesting facts about yourself?

      LAURENCE:

1)      I have a twin brother.

2)      My father was a radio disc jockey.

3)      I have a sharp point at the front base of my neck that I’ve been told is a gill from when I used to be a fish, so apparently I haven’t completely evolved (I’m not kidding, that’s what they said)

4)      I threw all my guests out of my own bar mitzvah party

5)      During a fight when we were kids, my older brother landed on my knee so hard he dislocated it and we saw the bone sticking out. Then, terrified, as I screamed in pain, he knocked it back into place (I’m not kidding, this happened)

      

SUSAN:
1) I was once swept out to sea when I was about ten years old. I was wearing an inflatable life vest and found the sensation of pulling pulled out by the waves so pleasant, it didn’t occur to me that it was a bad idea. I was maybe half a mile out and I saw all these people running around onshore, pointing at me and screaming. They had to send a boat out to get me.
2) I love cats. Actually, I like most animals, including the ugly, creepy, and squishy ones… but I really, really love cats. They’re beautiful, have a remarkable sense of themselves, and are often really funny, too.
3) I hate bananas.
4) When I was six, I cut my wrist by accident and had to go to the hospital to have it stitched up. It was like a war zone in the emergency room: there were at least four or five other kids in there, and they were all screaming their heads off. I didn’t make a sound and afterward, the nurse said to me, “you’re braver than a boy.”
5) Other than that fleeting moment of bravery/stoicism, I cry really easily. In fact, I bet I could make myself cry right now if I wanted to.

2. Now, for those of us who haven't read the book yet, can you tell us 5 things about it that aren't in the description?

1)      At one point, Caleb hides out in a school, and he and Esther have no idea what the building is for.

2)      Since virtually no one reads, there’s rampant ignorance. No one knows how to boil water to purify it. And the only way people know how to eat is by breaking into homes and stores, “Gleaning” old packaged food that’s just barely edible like dried beans, honey, salt, etc.

3)     Other than the cats owned by one of the characters, there are no more domesticated 

     animals. Feral dogs, descendants of house pets, roam the streets in packs.

4)        Teenagers can get married and have kids, but it’s a lot different than it is in the     

present day.

5)    There’s a love scene in a cemetery.

3. If you could travel to any time and any place where would you choose to go, and why?

SUSAN: You mean “travel” as in a vacation and I’d definitely be coming back, right? Because no matter how cool the past is, I keep thinking about useful modern stuff… like, I don’t know, antibiotics! But that being said, I think I’d be most interested in traveling to either Paris in the 1920s or New York City in the late 1940s. Both were sophisticated, impassioned, and intellectual places where men and women were doing cool things in art, literature, fashion, music, and theatre… probably in reaction to the horrors of the two world wars. But they must have been amazing cities to visit!

LAURENCE: I think those two periods would be great, too. I also think the turn of the (last) century in America would have been interesting, with writers like Jack London, Edith Wharton, Henry James, Ambrose Bierce, and O.Henry around. As long as you could come back and get penicillin and your email, things like that.

4. What is your #1 most recommended book?

SUSAN: That is SO not fair a question… there are too many! I’m staring at my bookshelves in total panic, thinking “that one. No, that one. No, that one.” I guess I would have to say…umm, ohh, errr… I can’t! Okay, okay… how about Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, better known as Alice in Wonderland? It’s really delightful, unique and trippy in a highly influential way, and both funny and unsettling. At the same time, it manages to treat the central character with detail, respect, and affection. It’s a terrific example of writing for children, in that the book serves the young reader, not vice-versa.

LAURENCE: I agree, there are too many. As far as books about young people go, Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the greatest. And J. G. Ballard’s Empire of the Sun.

5. One thing I always like to ask authors is if there's something they have a passion for that they want to share with the world.  Like some donate time or money to certain organizations, some are passionate about improving the health care system, the list goes on.  What is something you feel strongly about?

LAURENCE: I mostly worry, stew, and dwell, which obviously isn’t enough. But the arts are important to me. When I have it, I donate money to groups that allow people to plan their families—or not have them at all. And to people who provide shelters for animals.

SUSAN: I mostly donate money to environmental, animal protection, and international aid groups. I mean obviously, I’m not Bill Gates, and I know what I contribute isn’t necessarily going to make a big difference in the world; but still, these are causes that break my heart and depress me and make me furious. And as someone who also writes a lot for television, I also volunteer for the Writers’ Guild of America East. That’s a trade union made up of TV, film, news, and digital writers. I not only like writers, I like helping them stick up for their rights. 

6. Last question, what can we expect to see from you in the future?

SUSAN: The next two books in our series will be coming out over the next two years: Wanderers and Guardians. Without giving too much away, I can tell you that the second book follows Esther and her friends after an earthquake drives them out of Prin and they head north for a better life. In the third book, they’re settled in their new home, but an unexpected series of events threatens their existence. We’re really excited about both of them; there’s a huge amount that happens to Esther, Caleb, Skar, and the others. They meet many people, some kind and helpful and the others decidedly not. And the central characters change, as well, in major ways.

I also hope to continue writing by myself and with Laurence; we’re always talking about possible ideas for new projects. And I’ll most likely be writing children’s TV, which I’ve been doing for years, now… the most recent is an episode I did for a new PBS show called “Peg + Cat.”

LAURENCE: I have a book of short stories for adults coming out in 2014 and a play in development in New York. And, of course, there are the next two “Wasteland” books with Susan and, hopefully, more graphic novels.

Okay, wasn't that great?!  Clearly these two are very funny people.  I'm definitely going to have to give this book a read! I too hate banana's.  I can't even stand the smell of them.  YUCK.

Author's Links:
Laurence Klavan Website: http://www.laurenceklavan.com/works.htm
Susan Kim - http://www.harperteen.com/authors/38626/Susan_Kim/index.aspx?authorID=38626

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Other tour stops:

 

Monday, March 25^th – SciFi Chick – guest post

Tuesday, March 26^th – The Irish Banana – author interview

Wednesday, March 27^th – IB BookBlogging - character profile/excerpt

Thursday, March 28^th – The Nocturnal Library – guest post

Friday March 29^th – Candace’s BookBlog – author interview

Monday, April 1^st – The Book Swarm – this or that list

Tuesday, April 2^nd – Supernatural Snark – character profile/excerpt

Wednesday, April 3^rd – Alison Can Read – author interview

Thursday, April 4^{th –} Bewitched Bookworms – guest post

Friday, April 5^th – Alice Marvels – guest post