Clementine has spent her whole life preparing for her sixteenth birthday, when she’ll be tested for Extraction in the hopes of being sent from the planet Kiel’s toxic Surface to the much safer Core, where people live without fear or starvation. When she proves promising enough to be “Extracted,” she must leave without Logan, the boy she loves. Torn apart from her only sense of family, Clem promises to come back and save him from brutal Surface life.
What she finds initially in the Core is a utopia compared to the Surface—it’s free of hard labor, gun-wielding officials, and the moon's lethal acid. But life is anything but safe, and Clementine learns that the planet's leaders are planning to exterminate Surface dwellers—and that means Logan, too.
Trapped by the steel walls of the underground and the lies that keep her safe, Clementine must find a way to escape and rescue Logan and the rest of the planet. But the planet leaders don't want her running—they want her subdued.
It's been seven days since Clementine and Logan, along with their allies, retreated into hiding on the Surface. The rebels may have won one battle against Commander Charlie, but the fight is far from finished. He has vowed to find a way to win—no matter the cost. Do the rebels have what it takes to defeat him...and put an end to this war?
As Clementine and Logan enter a desperate race against time to defeat Commander Charlie—and attempt to weaken his power within his own ranks—they find themselves in a terrifying endgame that pits them against a brutal enemy, and each other. With every step, Clementine draws closer to losing Logan...and losing control of herself.
Clementine and Logan’s world is on the brink of destruction. An army of aliens from the distant planet Marden has arrived with a massive fleet of battleships, intent on finally putting an end to an age-old war. With the Alliance headquarters reduced to rubble and one of the rebel leaders close to death, Clementine and her friends have no choice but to retreat to the Core to escape the alien ships attacking the Surface.
But safety in the Core means forming a temporary alliance with their sworn enemy. Though he's a ruthless man they cannot trust, striking a bargain with him—his pardon in exchange for their help defeating the Mardenites—seems the only way the rebels might survive. The only way that Clementine and Logan might finally live in peace. But their hope for peace is short lived as they soon find out that Marden's force is more powerful than anyone anticipated, with weapons and technologies never before seen on Kiel. Unless old feuds can be set aside long enough for a diplomatic solution to be found, all of Kiel's people will be destroyed, and all of Clementine’s sacrifices will mean nothing.
According to your website bio, you landed your first three-book deal at the age of nineteen. What did you learn from your experience, and what are you most thankful for?
I did land a book deal young, but it took years of hard work--8 years, in fact, as I started querying at age eleven. (Can you tell I was an overachiever?) I wrote and queried two books before the Extraction series, trying again and again to get them right. For a long time my goal was to land an agent before I finished high school, but that didn’t happen. When it finally happened before I finished college, and I landed a book deal a few months later, I was incredibly relieved and grateful. It meant I would actually have employment after graduating, AND it was what I’d always wanted to do! I think the biggest thing I learned throughout the whole process was that patience is so important in this industry, and so is taking your time to learn and grow as a writer, to make sure any books you put out into the world are truly the best ones you can write.
Wonderful advice, especially the part about making books the best ones you can write. A recent post from agent website reflects this too. You created such a beautifully complex world in the Extraction series, including some pretty tough choices for Clementine. What do you hope readers will gain from her journey?
I hope Clementine’s journey inspires strength and fearlessness in readers, and the encouragement to find hope in the midst of hardship and horrors, because it’s always possible. Any mistakes you make along the way do not define you. There is always a better future waiting.
Delightfully reassuring! Or as my cousin says, "Worry is just fear projected in the future." In addition to being an author, you are also a freelance editor. What advice, if any, do you have for people interested in pursing freelance work?
The most important thing is to build your resume and portfolio first—gain experience beta-reading and offering critiques for writers, even land a remote internship with a literary agent if you can. Editing is a very different skill than writing, so make sure you have a solid grasp on how to give insightful criticism. Then start getting the word out there!
Giving insightful criticism is definitely key. What are some of your current projects?
I have been working on several, including a Pirates of the Caribbean-inspired high fantasy, and another high fantasy that’s a Mulan retelling. Hoping I’ll be able to share more about them soon!
I hope so too! Thanks, Stephanie!
Buy: BookPassage ~ Amazon.com ~ Barnes & Noble ~ IndieBound
Buy: BookPassage ~ Amazon.com ~ Barnes & Noble ~ IndieBound
Buy: BookPassage ~ Amazon.com ~ Barnes & Noble ~ IndieBound
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