Clicks by Amy Evans
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: June 18, 2013
Buy Links:
Amazon
Book Description:
Clicks – When you just know.
Born and bred to win, Cami’s family expects her to join a secret society called The Guard, marry one of the two identical twin boys next door, and stay on Pinhold Island for the rest of her life. But she has other plans: work beach patrol, win the Surf Carnival and get a sponsor so that she can leave Pinhold to compete in international surf rescue competitions and see the world.
Home to epic waves, black sand beaches, and the world-famous Surf Carnival, Pinhold Island is regularly voted the top surf spot in the country. People come from all over the world to ride the waves or just relax in the natural beauty and rejuvenating water. While visitors are jealous of the few hundred people who get to live there, sixteen year old Cami feels stifled and trapped by her small community and her family's expectations. Thanks to the intense link she shares with her twin brother Mica, she can't even be alone with her thoughts. As decedents of the ten families who originally settled on Pinhold, Cami and Mica are part of a new generation of extreme surf lifeguards who are expected to earn invitations into The Guard.
But a seemingly small injury knocks her out of the first event and turns her summer upside down. It's suddenly impossible for Cami to resist the magnetic attraction to Blake, one of the twins next door; the one she's never been interested in. Just as the Surf Carnival competition starts to heat up, the best swimmers start to drown. Pulled to the ocean floor, they're found barely alive , stuck in unexplainable comas. When Mica goes down too, Cami can no longer wait for those in charge to figure out how to help him. To save the lives of her brother and their friends, Cami must ignore what she sees and what she's told, and instead must learn to trust the clicks, her instincts, that help her find the truth in heart even when it goes against everything her brain thinks it knows.
Do you recall how your interest in writing originated or did you always just know you wanted to be a writer?
I always knew but I definitely forgot for a while. When I was little I wrote all the time for fun, and it was always a special skill, but I'd convinced myself that I wanted to be on the business side of the entertainment industry so I moved to LA and worked at a talent agency. It was a very big aha moment when I realized I wanted to be talent not management, but since then I haven't looked back.
What inspired Clicks?
Like so many people, I loved Katniss Everdeen's character - she was so strong and taught to rely on her instincts. But I didn't like that she had to do all that because she lived in this horrible world. I wanted to create a heroine who had very little reason to develop that kind of strength and the ability to trust her gut because I think we all need to do it.
It's a skill that's ignored in our society, and it's ignored on Pinhold as well because everyone is so comfortable there. It's is the most perfect example on earth of the balance of nature and time, but it's beauty hides danger, and it's fragile balance can be disrupted easily if those who are supposed to take care of it can't pay attention to the signs.
Which came first for you, the characters or the plot?
The plot with this one, because it's a complicated one. All I knew at first about my characters was that there were going to be five sets of twins, and each set would have names that were anagrams.
Is there anything you found particularly challenging when you were writing Clicks?
I had two different, totally unrelated books I wanted to write. One was about an evil fertility doctor who was genetically modifying sets of twins without their parents permission, and the other was about a very old-fashioned beach town where a secret society of lifeguards ran everything. Each of these alone was a completed outline but I really wanted to write them both and the only way I could do it at the same time was to link them together. Once i figured out how to do it, the plots merged perfectly.
If you could be any one of your characters from Clicks, who would you chose? Why?
Any of them, because I want to live on Pinhold and swim with dolphins and surf all day. I love Cami because she's smart and strong and really steps up and becomes self reliant, but I think I would want to be Alysha. She's a girly-girl and a quiet rebel and I admire her for that. She also has made nail art skills. And I think that would be really fun.
When writing Clicks, was there anyone or anything specific that inspired the character Cami?
My daughter was four when I started writing Clicks, and she consistently amazed me with the things that she just knew. She once described in detail the way that blood moved through the body; another time she was able to understand and explain death with more informed detail than all the grown ups in the room. It felt a little like these were things we all were supposed to know but only she trusted that she actually did. I wondered what it would be like to grow up in a place that honored that, instead of our world where we are constantly tell people what they don't know.
In your opinion what three words best describe Cami?
Disciplined, loyal, romantic.
Quickies:
Coffee or Tea?
green tea
Milk chocolate or Dark?
milk; with sea salt and caramel
Favorite novel and why?
Walk Through Cold Fire by Cyn Forshay Lunsford. It's in the vein of The Outsiders but told from a girl's point of view and it's all about how love and friendship and the beach can transform you. And once they have, even when things go bad, you're so much better off for it. It's just a lovely story.
Hard copy books or e-books? Why?
e-books so I can read little bits wherever I am. Unless it's research. Then I like to have it in my heads because I retain more info.
What kind of weather do you write best in?
All; though I do love a good thunderstorm. It always brings out drama for my characters.
Favorite author and why?
Judy Blume. There's a book called Everything I Know About Being a Girl I learned from Judy Blume. It's essays written by other writers, and I could have written each story in it. Her books are still as relevant today, and I love seeing my daughter and nieces tear through them.
If you could turn one book or series into films, what would you pick and who would you cast as the main characters?
Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Boys - Gansey - Chase Crawford; Adam - Rupert Grinch; Ronan - Tyler Posey; Adam- Austin Butler; Blue - Willa Holland
Thank you so much! These were fun questions! I look forward to checking out your post and I thank you for including Clicks on your blog.
Author Bio:
Amy Evans is a wife, mother, ocean lover and storyteller. She's created multi-platform mobile apps, social media games, and interactive story worlds for HIPnTASTY, a company she co-founded in 2001. She loves dolphins, aliens and pugs, and sometimes writes for so long they all look like the same thing. Clicks is her debut novel about instincts, a Surf Carnival, an endless summer and the hottest beach patrol on the California coast. Clicks are truths you can feel, the sounds that the universe makes when it warns you that your world is about to change forever. If you listen to them, you get on the wave before it crests; control your path, surf into your destiny. If you ignore them, the wave crashes around you, and you try desperately not to drown.
Giveaway: (5) signed copies of Clicks and (5) pieces of jewelry
No comments:
Post a Comment
We always love to hear from readers so share your thoughts with us!