Achilles
By Greg Boose
Interview with Greg Boose:
Crystal: Today I have the pleasure of hosting Greg Boose. Welcome Greg! I'm so thrilled you could join us today. Would you share a little bit about yourself with us today?
Greg: Absolutely, Crystal. I grew up on a large produce farm near Cleveland, Ohio, and am one of six kids. I worked on the farm up until graduating from college, becoming a sad banker man who wore a suit every day and opened your checking and savings accounts while watching the clock hands slowly tick by. I went to graduate school for creative writing in Fargo, North Dakota, and then landed in Chicago where I wrote for different magazines before becoming a sad IT guy who set up servers for huge corporations. In my free time, I transitioned from writing short humor pieces to working on books, eventually ghostwriting two New York Times bestselling Young Adult novels before moving to Santa Monica, California. I had another Young Adult book published under my own name in 2014, called The Red Bishop.
I am now a single dad of two little girls, spending my free time surfing, hiking, and skateboarding.
Crystal:What are you currently working on?
Greg: I'm almost done with the sequel to Achilles, which has been a fun and difficult journey, and as soon as that's over, I'll be outlining the third book of the trilogy. And then I'll be writing that novel and editing, editing, editing.
I'm in Los Angeles, so I've also been writing a lot of scripts. We filmed a pilot to a web series I wrote last year, and I'm in preproduction on a short film I wrote about a depressed gardener looking for a reason to live. It's a comedy, believe it or not.
Crystal:Where did you come up with the idea for either your current release or your current WIP?
Greg: Achilles was born from my love of the television show, Lost, and William Golding's infamous Lord of the Flies. I'm a big fan of stories surrounding isolation and trust and so I wanted to write something where people are trapped and you just don't know who is on whose side.
Also, I like the idea of humans traveling through space to colonize a planet in the future. And then I thought, "What would happen if they got all that way but crashed on the planet's moon instead?" I'd get to write about characters who were so close to reaching their goal only to have it taken away at the last second. And hey, here are a bunch of alien landscapes and creatures to play around with.
Crystal: Do you have a favorite snack that you like to munch on while writing? If so would you mind sharing what it is with us?
Greg: Red Vines and trail mix, but definitely not at the same time. And now I'm sitting here wondering what it would be like to suck up some trail mix through a Red Vine. Hold on. Be right back.
(Nope. Not recommended.)
Crystal: Do you have a favorite scene you would like to share with us?
Greg: Achilles is jam packed full of action and there are a lot of scenes that really excite me. I don't want to spoil anything, but the initial crash scene was fun to write, and I am proud of a scene where the main character is forced to eat a hallucinogen and fight his way out of a sticky situation while also battling the visions popping up in his head, but I think my favorite scene is when the kids hear about all the adults going missing for the first time. There are a lot of voices in the room and they're getting some pretty awful news, and it was fun to introduce a handful of characters through their reaction to finding out they're all alone.
Crystal: When you are not busy writing wonderful stories to keep us lucky readers entertained, what do you like to do? Do you have a hobby?
Greg: I spend a lot of time with my daughters, ages five and eight. We hit the museums, hike, bike, draw and play with a lot My Little Pony and dolls. Like, a lot of dolls.
When I'm not with them, I'm exploring Los Angeles and trying to get out on my surfboard and skateboard a few times a week. I play the guitar and tennis, too. I'm not very good at any of these things I just listed.
Crystal: Do you have a favorite background noise you like to having going while you write (TV, Music, kids playing)?
Greg: For the last five books I've written, I've exclusively listened to the dark instrumental soundtracks by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross: The Social Network, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl and more. They're just so spooky and energizing. I have a difficult time writing while listening to songs with words. Find it distracting.
Crystal: Thanks for visiting. It has been a pleasure having you visit today. Can you think of anything else you would like to share with us today?
Greg: Thank you so much for having me! I just hope that people have fun with my books and that they feel free to find me online to discuss them.
About the Book:
Lost meets The 100 in this action-packed YA science fiction series-starter.
"WE'RE ON OUR OWN NOW..."
The year is 2221, and humans have colonized a planet called Thetis in the Silver Foot Galaxy. After a tragic accident kills dozens of teenage colonists, Thetis’s leaders are desperate to repopulate. So Earth sends the Mayflower 2—a state-of-the-art spaceship—across the universe to bring 177 new homesteaders to the colony.
For Jonah Lincoln, an orphaned teen who has bounced between foster homes and spent time on the streets of Cleveland, the move to Thetis is a chance to reinvent himself, to be strong and independent and brave, the way he could never be on Earth. But his dreams go up in smoke when their ship crash-lands, killing half the passengers and leaving the rest stranded—not on Thetis, but on its cruel and unpopulated moon, Achilles.
Between its bloodthirsty alien life forms and its distance from their intended location, Achilles is a harrowing landing place. When all of the adult survivors suddenly disappear, leaving the teenage passengers to fend for themselves, Jonah doubts they’ll survive at all, much less reach Thetis—especially when it appears Achilles isn’t as uninhabited as they were led to believe.
Buy Links:
Amazon| B&N |Indiebound | GooglePlay | iTunes | kobo
About the Author:
Greg Boose is the former Los Angeles and Chicago Editor for BlackBook Magazine , and his work has appeared online and in print publications. Greg holds an undergraduate degree from Miami University and an MFA from Minnesota State University Moorhead. He lives in Santa Monica with his two young daughters. He has previously published The Red Bishop with Full Fathom Five Digital, as well as ghostwriting two Young Adult novels that hit T he New York Times ' bestseller list. Visit him online at www.gregboose.com.
Social Media Links:
Twitter
Instagram
I love your choice of music while writing. Have you ever listened to Type O Negative. Its a great band that unfortunately lost the singer, but the music is haunting and amazing. Congrats on your book!!---Rae
ReplyDeleteCool, I'll check out some Type O Negative this week. Thanks for the congratulations and hope you get a chance to check out the book!
ReplyDelete- Greg