Monday, September 16, 2013

YALLFest 2013: An Interview with C.J. Lyons



I'm honored to participate in the blog tour for this year's YALLfest Authors. For those who don't know what YALLfest is, you can find out more about the awesomeness and the all-star list of authors participating by clicking here. And if you live in the Carolinas or within driving distance of Charleston, SC, mark your calendar for November 9th! I want to hug all of you!!

Today's interview is with C.J. Lyons, a multi-bestselling author whose debut YA novel BROKEN is due out the week before YALLfest (November 5, 2013). Since she's new to YA and probably new to many of you, here's a little about CJ, her writing, and her soon-to-be-born book baby!


Author's:   Website    Twitter     GoodReads


About C.J. Lyons (from her GoodReads profile):






New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of seventeen novels, former pediatric ER doctor CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge Thrillers with Heart. CJ has been called a "master within the genre" (Pittsburgh Magazine) and her work has been praised as "breathtakingly fast-paced" and "riveting" (Publishers Weekly) with "characters with beating hearts and three dimensions" (Newsday). Learn more about CJ's Thrillers with Heart at www.CJLyons.net.



Describe your book in 5 words:
CJ: Girl dying of broken heart (literally)

What is the hardest line to write- the first or the last?
CJ: The first. I’ll often return to it over and over again until I’ve sliced and diced and fine-honed it to that perfect combination of intrigue, visceral reaction, and emotional connection with the reader.

What one young adult novel do you wish you had when you were a teen? Why?
CJ: Code Name Verity because it is so emotionally honest and inspiring, empowering, not to mention gut-wrenching. Really brings the era to life as well as the sacrifices made in the name of freedom.

Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.
CJ: When I was a kid I worked summer stock theatre and was actually a theatre major undergrad before switching to pre-med. I’ve had two hard landings in helicopters while working as a flight doc. I survived rampaging Cape Horn Buffalo and a pack of wild baboons, not to mention a leopard (he’s already eaten) while hiking in Hells Gate Park in Kenya. I’m a Capricorn. I diagnosed my niece with the heart condition that’s at the center of my YA thriller, BROKEN.

What are you working on now?
CJ: DAMAGED, my next YA thriller, due out in 2014. It deals with the really tough topic of abuse and coercion and is the most difficult book I’ve ever tackled—there have been times while writing when I was literally in tears as I typed.

What is your favorite genre to write in? To Read?

CJ: I created my own genre of Thrillers with Heart—I love writing fast paced stories with raising stakes but centered on the emotional heart of an evolving relationship. As for reading, I read almost every genre but especially love YA, magical realism, and thrillers. As long as a story grabs me by the throat and won’t let me go because I’m too worried about what the characters are going through, I’ll read it and love it.



About BROKEN (11.5.13)




Join CJ as she returns to her medical thriller roots with the debut of her first YA novel!
“Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak meets Kathy Reichs’ Virals.” ~bookseller Jill Moore, Square Books Jr.
“An intense page-turner” ~April Henry, New York Times bestselling author
WOULD YOU PUT YOUR LIFE ON THE LINE TO BE NORMAL?
Diagnosed with a rare and untreatable heart condition, Scarlet has come to terms with the fact that she’s going to die. Literally of a broken heart. It could be tomorrow, or it could be next year. But the clock is ticking…
All Scarlet asks is for a chance to attend high school—even if just for a week-a chance to be just like everyone else. But Scarlet can feel her heart beating out of control with each slammed locker and vicious taunt. Is this normal? Really? Yet there’s more going on than she knows. And finding out the truth might just kill Scarlet before her heart does…

Preorder BROKEN and check out C.J.'s other titles via the links below. 




1 comment:

  1. Wow! This book sounds amazing! I look forward to reading.

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