Author interview: Mary Lindsey

Shattered Souls: A thrilling debut story of death, love, destiny and danger

Lenzi hears voices and has visions - gravestones, floods, a boy with steel gray eyes. Her boyfriend, Zak, can't help, and everything keeps getting louder and more intense. Then Lenzi meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, who reveals that she's a reincarnated Speaker - someone who can talk to and help lost souls - and that he has been her Protector for centuries.

Now Lenzi must choose between her life with Zak and the life she is destined to lead with Alden. But time is running out: a malevolent spirit is out to destroy Lenzi, and he will kill her if she doesn't make a decision soon.

Advance Praise for Shattered Souls

"Drawing readers into a world where the past holds secrets that can offer salvation or destruction, with spirits haunting every nook and cranny, Mary Lindsey crafts a tale that is frightening, beautiful, and wonderfully memorable."

                          --Andrea Cremer, New York Times bestselling author of Nightshade

Welcome to Shattered Souls author Mary Lindsey!

AL: Describe where you like to write. How does it inspire you?

ML: I am claustrophobic. I have it well under control now, but when I was younger, it was a real problem for me. (It probably stems from an incident in which I was accidentally closed in a locker at school for 5 hours in first grade. We were playing hide and seek after school, and I hid in the locker and couldn’t get out. The kids never found me and assumed I’d gone home. The police discovered me that night.)

Whatever the cause of my claustrophobia, I prefer to I write in open or airy places. I have friends who like to write in cozy locations like coffee shops, but I literally cannot concentrate enough to write in that kind of atmosphere. Your question addresses inspiration. I can’t really say that open, light places inspire me, but they make me happy! We recently moved, and I picked a house particularly for the light. There are two perfect places to write in the house. The first is my breakfast nook. It feels like a jungle when you are in it (the curtains can be pulled closed and it is totally private from the rest of the house) and it is a spectacular place to be when it rains! 

My other happy writing place at home is my office. It can’t be closed off when my family is home, like the breakfast nook, but I do almost all of my writing while my kids are at school and my husband is at work, so it’s perfect. The best thing about my office, other than the natural lighting, is the view from my desk to the rest of the house: 

AL: If you could have dinner with an author, dead or alive, whom would it be and why? 

ML: I love this question and wish I could make it come true. I have two authors I’d really like to meet. The first is Mark Twain. What a guy! By all accounts, he was as fascinating in person as he was through his works. I imagine there would be a great deal of laughing at that meal.

My other dream dinner companion would be Edgar Allan Poe. I’ve just sold a Poe-based novel to Penguin—a contemporary Gothic YA based on his poem “Annabel Lee.” In the course of my research, I came across many inconsistencies regarding his life and death. I’d love to get the real story.

AL: Who was the hardest Shattered Souls character to write? 

ML: Without a doubt, the hardest character for me to write was Zak. He started out a different guy than he ended up. His first incarnation was much bleaker—a hopeless stoner with no prospects and not much left to like about him. Over the course of developing the novel, he evolved into a much more likeable character—but it still hurt to write him. Zak wears a lifelong blanket of rejection and fear, and every time I “worked” with him, I ached.

AL: If Shattered Souls was a movie, who would you pick as the lead characters? 

ML: I’ve been asked this question a few times by folks. To be honest with you, I have no idea. I don’t watch TV or movies. Well, occasionally I’ll go see a move if it is something that really resonates, but I don’t think I can name a single actor or actress young enough to portray one of my characters. Lame, I know.

Thank you so much, Alisia, for having me on your blog today and for being part of the Teen Book Scene Shattered Souls Blog Tour!

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Mary Lindsey's debut young adult novel, Shattered Souls, is scheduled for release December 8, 2011 from Philomel/Penguin.

Having received a B.A. in English literature with a minor in drama from the University of Houston, she currently teaches acting to children and teens at a private studio in Houston, Texas.

Mary lives with her husband, three kids, two dogs, her daughter's pet rats, an Australian Bearded Dragon, and dozens of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches.

She is represented by Ammi-Joan Paquette from the Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

Links: 

Website: http://www.marylindsey.com 

Shattered Souls at Penguin: http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780399256226,00.html?Shattered_Souls_Mary_LindseyGoodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9366996-shattered-souls 
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Shattered-Souls-Mary-Lindsey/dp/0399256229/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312213813&sr=8-1 

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shattered-souls-mary-lindsey/1101075440