Welcome to today's stop for the Swipe Blog Tour, Books With Marshmallows! Enjoy the interview with Evan Angler. Don't forget to join in the giveaway!
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Evan Angler is the author of Swipe, the first in the Swipe series. The book was published on May 8, 2012. This is Evan's first book.
Evan lives without the Mark, evading DOME and writing in the shadows of Beacon. Swipe is his first book. But if anyone asks, you know nothing about it, and you didn't hear anything from him. Don't make eye contact if you see him. Don't call his name out loud. He's in enough trouble already.
And so are you , if you've read his book.
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I truly enjoyed reading this book. I posted my review earlier and you can read it
here. I am so excited to be able to interview Evan Angler and I really enjoyed his answers. There'll be a giveaway at the end of the post. Giveaway are open to US and Canada only. Sorry for that but it was requested by the publishers.
Now without further ado, let's proceed to the exciting interview with Evan Angler!
First
of all, I would like to welcome Evan
Angler to Books With Marshmallows. Great
having you here!
Thank you!
With DOME always watching, I’m afraid I’ve put us both in danger by agreeing to
this interview . . . but it’s nice to be here all the same.
1)
Can you tell us a little something about yourself? When did you start writing?
Before
writing SWIPE, I was just your garden variety fugitive, living without the
Mark, trying to stay one step ahead of DOME and its officers. My childhood,
like everyone’s my age, was heavily impacted by the States War, but even as a
kid, I found solace in storytelling. It was just something I was always
compelled to do, and I suppose my decision to write about Logan and Erin and
the Dust just naturally came out of that interest and that joy.
2)
What led you to write this book?
A few
years ago, I was living as part of the undergound Markless community in Beacon
City, capital of the American Union. I spent a lot of my time helping Markless
refugees get in and out of the city, and I met a lot of people over the years.
It was through these interactions that I began hearing whispers of Logan Langly
and what he was getting involved with out west in Spokie.
It wasn’t long before these
whispers became shouts—the Department of Marked Emergencies (DOME) got angry
pretty quick, and the effects of that were felt all the way out in Beacon. They
were rounding us Markless up, taking my friends away, never to be seen again,
and I realized that this was a story I simply couldn’t leave untold.
Swipe tells a story of what
happens when a country ignores its biggest problems for too long. Environmental
destruction, political inaction and polarization, severe cultural divisions,
constant fear—these are the things that have led to the state of the American
Union, and as a writer, I felt I needed to respond to that.
I wasn’t there personally
for those first events in Swipe, but I’ve recounted them as accurately as I
could, based on what I’ve learned and from what I’ve heard through first-hand
accounts. There has been some dramatization, but the character portrayals and
basic facts, tragically, are accurate.
3)
Which of the characters in Swipe is your most favourite?
Tyler and Eddie together are my favorite
characters in Swipe. I get a big kick out of the “games” they play and out of
their back-and-forth bickering, and it’s fun to write about the trouble they
get into.
I’m also really fond of Logan’s grandmother—she’s
a firecracker.
4)
Swipe takes place in the future world. Does the story come from your idea of
how the world would be in the future? What do you think the future would be
like?
I do think
there’s a lot about the American Union that is predictable, given pre-Unity
events and lifestyles. The technology that Logan uses, for instance, has
advanced from pre-Unity tech in ways that are to be expected. The environmental
devastation portrayed in Swipe is also to be expected, given the extent to
which pre-Unity countries disregarded the effects their actions were having on
the planet. The high level of pre-Unity political polarization, and the
unwillingness to cooperate, also led to the state of the American Union as we
see it through Logan’s eyes.
But
perhaps these things aren’t inevitable. If people could look for ways to
cooperate without resorting to something like the Mark system, if they could
treat these pre-Unity challenges as opportunities for growth and innovation,
instead of as wedges that divide us, then perhaps the future will start to look
much brighter.
5)
What is your favourite part of the writing
process?
Writers are always keeping an
eye out for ideas—for everyday moments that strike us as interesting or
noteworthy. We jot them down, we make a mental note of them, and we look for
ways to use them in our storytelling.
Then, sometimes much later,
there’s a moment during the writing process when these very different ideas come
together in unexpected ways, and usually this is accompanied by a ton of
excitement and self-high-fives. That moment—that “click”—that’s my favorite
part of the writing process.
6) In Swipe, Erin and especially Logan became reluctant spies when they
went out to find Peck. I know there’re many people out there who sometimes imagine themselves as a spy (like me!), no
doubt because of James Bond and all that! Do you ever imagine, or want to be a
spy, perhaps when you were a kid maybe?
Of course! I spent most of my
days as a kid strolling through the far away, vast plains of childhood
imagination, and for much of this time I was a spy of one kind or another.
Playing with friends on playgrounds, or off on my own in the woods behind my
house . . . I was always looking for clues and using them to save the world,
one way or another. But I hardly think that’s unique. On some level, doesn’t
everyone love a good mystery? Regardless of
your age or your interests, what’s more enticing than a secret?
7) Have you ever read or seen yourself as a character in a
book or a movie?
There’s a pre-Unity hero I’ve read about named Batman. He was just a
normal person until he decided he could be something more. And then he worked
super-hard for years in order to realize that dream. And once he did, his
reward wasn’t glory, or fame, or money, or anything like that. Instead, it was
just a lot more work, and a lifetime’s supply of long nights and difficult
days. But he kept pushing onward anyway, striving toward goals that he could
never fully articulate, even to himself, simply because he was compelled to do
so. I’ve always admired that.
8) What kind of research did you do
for this book?
I’ve always been interested in technology, but that’s something I read up
on while writing Swipe so that I could be sure to explain it all correctly. I
also brushed up on history here and there, to make sure I had my facts straight
when it came to things like the formation of the American Union and the Mark
program. I’ve spent a lot of time over the years learning about environmental
changes too, and I did go back and read through some of that literature again
so that my description of the American Union’s environment could be as accurate
as possible. Finally, I just naturally spend a lot of time reading about
politics, because it interests me, and I’d say that this reading factored into
writing Swipe as well.
9) When you first wrote this book, did you have a clear idea
of how it was going to go or did you just string the ideas together as you went?
I did have a clear idea of where everything was headed and of how I wanted
to describe it, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t plenty of room for me to
explore and to be flexible along the way.
Writing a book is a little bit like (a very difficult version of) taking
a vacation—you know where you’re going to go,
you know what you’re going to do when you get there, you have itineraries and
goals and expectations all charted out . . . but try as you might to picture
and plan all of it beforehand, you’re going to be surprised and delighted along
the way. If that weren’t the case, then why would you bother? The fun is in the
details.
10) Can
we expect to see any more in the series soon? Can you tell us anything about
the next book?
Yes,
absolutely! The next book in the Swipe series is called SNEAK, and it will be
released in September, just a few months from now. SNEAK picks up soon after
the events of Swipe, and our heroes are in a bit of a tight spot, to put it
mildly. All of them are in worse trouble than they’ve ever been, and there’s no
easy way to undo the choices they’ve made in Swipe. But Logan has a purpose
now. He’s on a mission that’ll take him all the way across the American Union,
and he’s determined to see it through, no matter the consequences. It’s a
really fun adventure with a lot of twists and turns, and I can’t wait for you
to read where it goes . . . but if DOME asks—you know nothing about it. Deny
everything.
And I was
never here.
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GIVEAWAY~
Now for the exciting giveaway! One lucky winner will receive a paperback copy of Swipe. Again, it's only for US and Canada. Sorry for the international readers! Following Books With Marshmallows is not mandatory but I will appreciate it if you follow me through email or other means. You will have to do the mandatory though! I will be checking! ;D
a Rafflecopter giveaway
