It was fun!
Author Interview with Michael Kinch (Plus Giveaway!)
Michael Kinch is the author of the YA Dystopian, The Blending Time. He has stopped by today to answer a few of my questions. Let's get to know him!
Hi, Michael. Thanks for stopping by!
First I would like to ask some fun questions. :)
Chocolate or Vanilla? Spumoni (Green and nutty).
Dog person or cat person? Dogs (and lizards too!)
Favorite food? Pizza--or anything Italian (or Mexican, or ...)
Favorite season? Summer so I can read/write outside.
Favorite movie? "Blade Runner"-- An early Harrison Ford movie with an incredible imaginative future.
Favorite book? Impossible question! But "Martian Chronicles" and "Ender's Game" are right up there.
Favorite author? Tough one! For YA, I choose Gary Paulsen
Tell us little about your novel, The Blending Time.
I'm going to crib from a synopsis: In the year 2069, turning seventeen means mandatory Global Alliance work assignments that range from backbreaking drudgery to deadly canal labor. Trying to survive in a world that's been ravaged by plagues and environmental disasters, three "s'teeners" from the harshest backgrounds think they've gotten lucky. Jaym, Reya, and D'Shay are chosen to be among thousands of blenders, whose task is to help repopulate and rebuild Africa after a devastating solar flare.
But the continent itself--roiling with civil war and mercenaries intent on crushing the blending program at any cost--poses the gravest danger. Separated, the three friends struggle to escape the violence and chaos, and somehow reunite. But will following rumors of a mountain hideout lead them to sanctuary, or cost them their lives?
Where and when did you first get the idea for The Blending Time?
After a trip to Africa several years ago. I wondered how three very different North American teens would handle getting assigned to Africa sixty years in the future when climate change is forcing mass shifts of peoples. I was also interested in seeing how Reya (a Latina), D'Shay (African-American), and Jaym (white guy like me) would bond (or not) in such a situation.
Did you set out to write a young adult story, or did it just happen to be YA?
I like YA and still have some teen stuck inside me. I think being a YA is an incredible time of life. You're an adult in many ways, but haven't yet learned all life's lessons. I like to see YAs face challenges and change for the better. My goal was to see if I could do that with in a YA novel.
Dystopian stories have recently been growing in popularity. What do you think it is about these dystopic societies that attract readers?
I think teens have discovered a genre that's been around for a long time. There's "1984" of course, then Margaret Atwood's "Handmaid's Tale," both well-know dystopian novels. It's funny, when I started "The Blending Time" the publisher was interested because it was new to YA. He was tired of seeing vampire and zombie manuscripts. I never would have guessed dystopias would take off as they have. I think "Hunger Games" started the interest.
Who was the most difficult character for you to write? The easiest?
Actually Jaym was the hardest because I used my own teen self as a model. But he was such a wimp in the first draft! My editor made me give him some backbone. Reya was the easiest. Go figure. Maybe it's because we raised two strong-willed girls.
What have you learned about yourself through your characters?
That you need friends to get you through crappy situations. I'm always reluctant to ask for help, but Reya and the others showed me you gotta have friends to lean on, and visa versa.
Did you have to do any research while writing The Blending Time?
You bet. I dug into climate change and spent a lot of time on Google and in the library to get a better feeling of African customs and life.
Can you share with us your favorite scene in The Blending Time?
Geez, that's like trying to say which is your favorite child! My immediate thought is of the scene where Reya, Mai-Lin and the other women drug their 'gade captors and escape--and blow the 'gade camp all to hell in the process.
The Blending Time is first in a trilogy. When can we expect the next installment?
The publisher needs a year to put out a book, so book-2 should be out in late Fall of 2011.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
The book has gotten moderate to very good reviews. Moderate mostly because reviewers shudder at the brutality inflicted by the 'gades. I can only say that our heroes live in future world is very similar to what much of world endures today. The poor in Africa, India, Latin America go through much worse than I portray in "The Blending Time." We Americans live comfortable, sheltered lives. I kinda wanted to show what would happen if we were thrust into the nasty world that billions already experience.
