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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Interview: Kristina McBride (Author of The Tension of Opposites!)

Kristina McBride, after only one novel, is one of my favorite authors. Her debut, THE TENSION OF OPPOSITES, is fantastic and, even with months left to go in 2010, has landed on my Best of 2010 shortlist! After months of waiting, TENSION hits bookstore shelves today! Check out my interview with Kristina and then run out to your local bookstore and pick up your own copy of TENSION... you don't want to miss this one!


A Brief Bio
Kristina McBride has dreamed of being a published author since she was a child and lived across the street from a library. After graduating with a bachelor’s in English Education, Kristina taught high school English for eight years. After having her first child and completing her Master’s in Education, Kristina decided to quit teaching and take a crack at her dream. Kristina lives in Ohio with her husband and two young children, stealing as many moments as she can to write, write, write.
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Give a short statement describing THE TENSION OF OPPOSITES.
THE TENSION OF OPPOSITES is the story of Tessa McMullen, whose best friend, Noelle, was kidnapped two years ago. At the beginning of the book, Tessa learns that Noelle has been found alive, and is coming home. The book centers around Tessa’s struggle to reconnect with Noelle, who has returned a very distant and self-destructive version of her old self, and to reconnect with her life, as Tessa spent the two years her friend was missing avoiding everything (friends, boys, fun) due to the guilt over Noelle’s abduction.


I think that many readers are familiar with novels in which the narrator is the subject of kidnapping or rape, but your novel offers an interesting twist. Why did you decide to write the novel from the point-of-view of the victim’s best friend?
 This might make me sound like an inexperienced or out of control writer, but I have to be honest, right? I tried to write this from the perspective of the kidnapped girl. I brainstormed chapters and spent some time trying to get to know her through journaling, because I felt that this should be Noelle’s story. But she was silent. Like, totally. I didn’t even get one chapter in. The character who kept speaking up was Tessa, the best friend. She had SO much to say, so I finally gave her a chance. In the end I learned I don’t have as much control over things as I’d like to think, and if I just go with the flow, it’ll be easier for me.


From the description of the novel, I assumed that it would be an extremely dark and emotional read and was surprised to find that you found a way to balance the dark with lighter, fun elements. Did you find it difficult to do this… to find the light in such a dark tale?
It was really difficult! I revised several drafts of this story, and six months into revisions with my agent, scrapped all but five chapters and started over (which is painful to even think about!). I wanted to balance the scenes with the kidnapped girl and the love interest, because the struggle for Tessa to reconnect (with her life and her friend) was two-fold. The hardest part was finding the right balance between these two very different relationships in Tessa’s life. I’m so glad to hear you think it works!


The romantic plot line between Tessa and Max is one of my all-time favorites! How did Max form as a character? His relationship with Tessa?
Thank you! Max was easy. He just kind of popped into my head fully formed and started speaking to me. I loved him right away, and knew that he would be the perfect person to help pull Tessa out of the hiding spot she had created for herself in her friend’s absence.


Is there a particular reason why you chose photography as Tessa’s passion?
 I am a former high school English teacher and yearbook advisor. I love photography myself, and thought it would be a good way to show how Tessa has isolated herself, watching the world from behind the lens of her camera. I also figured the visual images would be really cool to write into the story, as the setting of the novel is such a beautiful place. (Little secret: Originally, the photography thread centered around a yearbook plotline. Long story, but it had to go.)


Can you tell us anything about your next YA novel?
I signed a two book deal with Egmont USA, so I’m working on the next book right now. The fun thing is that I’m really excited to write these chapters, which are basically outlined on notecards that I shuffle through and carry around on a daily basis, writing lines of dialogue when I’m hit with inspiration. That’s about all I can say for now.


My blog is dedicated to my personal hiding spot, books. Who, what, or where can be credited as your personal escape from reality?
I have an answer for all three, if that’s okay. Who: My husband. He is wonderful – my home. What: Books and TV – I love to be transported through my imagination. Where: The Three Sisters (three 550-year-old oak trees) at Sugarcreek Nature Reserve is my all time favorite hiding spot. It’s a major setting in my novel, and actually exsists near my home. Hiking through the woods is one of my favorite things to do. We filmed the trailer on location at the Three Sisters, and if you’ve seen the footage, you might wonder where the third sister is. Unfortunately, the middle sister fell a few months after I completed the first draft of this novel. She was damaged by a fire years ago, and came down after a very long life.

For more information about Kristina and her novel, check out her website!

49 comments:

  1. MUST go pick this one up today...wonderful interview.

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  2. Great interview and great review too! I haven't picked this one up yet, but now I have too!! I also wanted to let you know that I have an award for you at my blog. You can view it here!

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  3. Gah, this book sounds so amazing. I'll admit I didn't know much about it, but after this, I'm so psyched! Very interested to see how she managed to squeeze light between such a dark sounding story! Awesome interview. :)

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  4. Very interesting! I had been curious about the choice of perspective, too. I think it worked out well having the story told from the best friend's POV.

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  5. great interview! i was curious as to why it was written from the best friend's point of view, but now i have my answer. i cannot wait to read this book!

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  6. Great interview! This book sounds really good and I want to read it so badly!

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  7. Ahh, this book sounds amazing! Great interview!

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  8. She sounds like an awesome person =)! Can't wait to read TotO!!!!! =D

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  9. Holy crap! I can't imagine scraping almost an entire novel! I think I would die! I'm just glad that the book got finished and I will get to read it!

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  10. Oh my gosh, I can't believe that much of your book got scrapped. I could not imagine having to rewrite all of that.

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  11. I have to get this book! And great interview!

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  12. Great interview... Can't wait for my chance to experience Tension of Opposites.

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  13. I like how you shifted the perspective to the best friend once you realized she had more of a story to tell. I do that all the time when writing!

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  14. I just have to read this one! I'm glad to hear that isn't a completely dark, emotional novel. I like a little bit of light in my novels :)

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  15. Wow, Tensions of Opposites sounds great. It's really cool that Kristina was an English teacher also! I love photography too : )

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  16. This book sounds amazing and I love the cover! Can't wait to read it.

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  17. Great interview Kristina. I love that you would like to be transported to your favorite hiding spot (imagination) to The Three Sisters (three 550-year-old oak trees) at Sugarcreek Nature Reserve. It's neat that they actually exsist.

    Can't wait to read your book.

    misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com

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  18. I recently finished reading a book about a kidnapping victim, called Stolen by Lucy Christopher, which deals with the main character's feelings toward her kidnapper in a powerful way.

    I think it's really interesting that Kristina tried to write from that perspective, but found that another story was calling to her instead. It relates to a post that I wrote about whether author's write from the conscious or subconscious brain on my blog. :)

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  19. I forgot to leave my email:
    melissa [at] yabookshelf [dot] com

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  20. That's such a cool way to go about writing it, trying to journal from the character's perspective. Hehe for the bff speaking up more though - guess she really came alive! Great interview.

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  21. It's good to know that even published authors struggle with their writing. Thanks for including that!

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  22. Good that the story is not too dark and creepy.

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  23. The more I read about this book, the more I NEED to read it. I really admire Kristina's dedication with rewriting Tension of the Opposites - having her agent scrap all but five chapters. I'm glad she persevered! I love her 550 year old trees hiding spot!

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  24. There is nothing better than finding out the story behind the story. I love that the book started as Noelle's story but turned out to actually be Tess's story. Wow, I love that. I can't wait to read it! Thanks for the awesome interview!

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  25. For me, boys are the fun part of writing :P The girls are the hard part. And in my opinion, it's the smart writer who knows when a narrator isn't the right one, not an inexperienced one :)

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  26. Great interview! I love that she used photography to show how Tessa hid behind the camera.

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  27. I can't beleive how much of the story she scraped and started over! I would've cried!

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  28. I loved the interview. This is the second one I've read of hers. I was interested in the bit where the author tried to write the book from the kidnapped girl, then switched over to her best friend Tessa's POV. I guess sometimes you have to do what works best for the author. This gives it an interesting insight.
    caliblue7 at gmail dot com

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  29. Great interview. Fantastic cover, too

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  30. Glad to hear the author is already working on book number two!

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  31. I really liked the interview. I enjoyed learning interesting facts.

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  32. Thanks for having this author interviewed. I am a new fan now. Interesting choice of POV.

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  33. Glad to hear that The Tension of Opposites will have a follow-up novel!

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  34. Really liked this interview!

    Wow she had to basically start over from scratch writing the book - only 5 chapters she kept?! Ahhh I think that would kill me, throwing out so much hard work.

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  35. Great interview, makes me have hope that I actually can write that book I keep talking about!

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  36. Great interview, this book looks sooo good!!!!

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  37. Great interview, this book looks sooo good!!!!

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  38. Great interview, this book looks sooo good!!!!

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  39. I think it's interesting that she initially wanted the book to be from Noelle's point of view but ended up having to write it in Tessa's.

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  40. Gah! I need to read this! I had little idea of what this book was about before this interview, and now that I do know the need to read it is even greater!

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  41. Thanks for the interview! Ooh, I like the reason why she chose to use photography as Tessa's passion. :) And I LOVED the trailer.

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  42. So glad I read this interview. I'm glad to know that it isn't a completely dark read. I worried about that a lot. You had some great questions!

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  43. Wow--Thanks for such a great interview!!!!--Definitely going to keep an eye out for this book!

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  44. Wow--Thanks for such a great interview!!!!--Definitely going to keep an eye out for this book!

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  45. I've got to move this one up on my TBR list, I've heard such great things about this one, great interview!

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