'Replication' by Jill Williamson - GIVEAWAY

OK, guys! Here it is! I promised a few weeks ago a book giveaway and I finally got around to fulfilling that promise. :) Also, I was able to ask the author a few questions so there is a interview as well.

INTERVIEW

  

Jill Williamson

 

1. Why do you write for young adults?

Because they are awesome! And they read a lot. And they’re in a place in life where they and are asking lots of important questions and making decisions that will impact their lives. And there are a lot of stories out there that show characters making destructive choices, and few of those books bother to show the consequences of living in such a way. I want to write books that are real and don’t ignore reality for the sake of sensationalism.

2. When did you become a Christian?

I became a Christian my junior year in college. I had transferred to Northwest Nazarene University because a friend went there and I was trying to get closer to a fashion design major and back then NNU had a program that allowed students to take a year of school at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

My friend got married and left me all alone in a school of Christians! I was a bit freaked out that someone might discover the things I’d done in my life, where I’d come from, and what I’d lived through. One day I confessed to a fellow fashion major: “I’m not a Christian!” And she laughed at me and said, “So? A lot of students here aren’t.” Then she told me that Christians aren’t perfect. That I shouldn’t live my life worried about what people think of my life. And she said I needed to figure out what I believed about God for myself.

Well, I didn’t know what I believed. But for me, it all came down to this: truth is absolute. Fact is, either God is there or he isn’t. And if he was there and I lived my life ignoring that so I could keep living life my way, I was a fool. And when I honestly went looking for fact to prove or disprove the bible or Christ’s life, I always found proof that supported the bible and who Christ was. I never found anything to support an atheistic view. And I wasn’t only looking at Christian sources.

So I made the choice to follow God, and I have never regretted it. And when I look back at my life, I see myself standing at that fork in the road. And I could have ignored God and graduated and went to New York and became a success in the fashion industry. But I would have been a shell of a human being. I would have lived in a destructive way. I would have been terribly lonely, no matter what friends and loves came my way.

Because the only one who can fill us in this life is Jesus. Fame is never enough. Money is never enough. True love is never enough. It is what it is, whether you believe it or not. And I am so thankful that I was humble enough to make that decision sixteen years ago.

3. What is your favorite kind of food?

Pasta. I adore pasta. Alfredo is my favorite. Olive Garden is my favorite restaurant.

4. Do you (on purpose haha) put yourself into any of your characters?

 Sometimes I do. If one of my characters is experiencing something that I experienced in my life, I will add the feelings that I remember. There are certain things that I “get” because I’ve experienced it. For example: living without electricity, learning to drive a stick shift, sewing, playing on a basketball team, going out in -40 degree weather, being a non Christian, being a Christian. But I try not to have my characters ever be totally me.

5. How do you pick your character's names?

 Lots of ways. I use Google searches to find lists of names. I might want a biblical name, or a name that was popular for a certain year. So I’ll search “top boys names 1950.” I have a Los Angeles phone book that is useful. And sometimes I’ll click through lists of friend’s friends on Facebook, looking for the perfect name. If I’m writing fantasy, that’s different. I usually try to find a theme for that fantasy land. So I might choose a language like I did with Hebrew in my Blood of Kings trilogy, or a country. I used maps of Scandinavian countries to come up with names for a people once, using the names of cities and lakes for inspiration.

6. What is the best compliment you have ever received on one of your books?

My favorite compliment is when the reader says he stayed up all night reading my book and couldn’t put it down.

7. How can readers get in touch with you?

 You can email me or comment on my blog posts through my website: www.jillwilliamson.com.

Here is my REVIEW of the book:

 This book is AMAZING! I was already a huge Jill Williamson fan from her previous books (‘The Blood of Kings Trilogy’, which I also highly recommend) and I simply could NOT wait to get my hands on this book! It does not disappoint.

When Abby Goyer's father is hired as a scientist at a highly secretive lab, her curiosity kicks into high gear and she goes sleuthing. Abby discovers (with the help of Martyr, a bald, seventeen year old boy whom Abby found in her bedroom and seems to know nothing of the world) that the head scientist in this lab has successfully created functional clones for an evil purpose. She knows she needs to do something, but what? As more and more comes into the light, both Abby and Martyr know that it won't be long until it all explodes and the world changes forever.

This book is a clean fiction novel for teens, but anyone of any age could read this and truly enjoy it.  I HIGHLY recommend it!

GIVEAWAY

Alright, so Mrs. Jill has kindly offered to giveaway a copy of 'Replication' one of you all! All you have to do is comment on this post telling me you would like to be entered into the drawing and your e-mail address so I can get a hold of you if you win. The drawing will be held two weeks from today (the 8th of February).

Have an awesome day!

30 Day Challenge

Hey all! I just signed up to do the 30 Day Challenge with klove. Klove is my favorite Christian radio station. They have great contemprary music and they are always adding new music so you don't hear the same thing over and over and over! It's awesome haha. Anyway, the 30 Day Challenge is to listen to ONLY Christian music for 30 days. For me, this won't be to hard because that's reall all I listen to anyway. But I figured I might as well do this and completely cut of all secular music. Here is the link to the sign up page where you can also read more about it. Please do it if you feel led to! You would be suprised at the impact it will have in you life and walk with Christ!

http://www.klove.com/30day#.Tw59IwBonZ0.blogger

Winterjam

So, this past Saturday, my church's youth group went to Winterjam! It was amazing. :) My two favorite groups there were for King & Country and Sanctus Real. I love those two groups! Here is a song from each band (don't forget to turn of the sidebar music first!) :

'The Redeemer' by Sanctus Real

'Busted Heart' by for King & Country

All the other bands were pretty great too. I'm not much of a Skillet fan though :P They were the featured band this year. Now, I will admit, they did the song 'Hero' really cool! They had blazing fire and TONS of blinky lights on all the songs, but on this song, the guitar players came up and were raised up and down on pieces of the stage that went up and down. Also, the drummer (who just happens to be a girl, which I thought was pretty cool) was up on a podium looking thing that (only during this song) came forward and then raised her up even more that she already was. As if that wasn't enough, the thing then spun her around in circles! And she didn't even miss a beat. If it had been me, I would have fallen off! Let alone actually play drums... Shew.  

Happy New Year!

Hey all! I hope everyone had a wonderful NEW YEAR! Happy 2012! :) My youth group and I went to a local concert on New Years Eve. The Justin Warren Teseniar Band played and a local pastor spoke. Afterwards, we had a bonfire (where my dad ate 4 hotdogs...). It was really fun! The band was REALLY great! They currently have an EP out and I would really encourage you to get it! The songs on it are very well done and immensely encouraging! It is available on iTunes.

The front of the band's EP

Some other news is I will soon be having a giveaway here! It's Jill William's (one of my most favorite authors) newest novel, Replication. More info on that later.

So what did yall do for News Years? Have a wonderful day!