ABOUT
VESSEL:
Title:
Vessel
Publication
date: May 2015
Publisher:
Month9Books, LLC.
Author:
Lisa T. Cresswell
The
sun exploded on April 18, 2112. It exploded in a Class X solar storm the likes
of which humankind had never seen.
They
had nineteen minutes.
Nineteen
minutes until the geomagnetic wave washed over the Earth, frying every
electrical device created by humans, blacking out entire continents, every
satellite in their sky.
Nineteen
minutes to say goodbye to the world they knew, forever, and to prepare for a
new Earth, a new Sun.
Generations
after solar storms have destroyed nearly all human technology on Earth and
humans have reverted to a middle ages like existence, all knowledge of the
remaining technology is kept hidden by a privileged few called the Reticents
and books are burned as heresy.
Alana,
a disfigured slave girl, and Recks, a traveling minstrel and sometimes-thief,
join forces to bring knowledge and books back to the human race. But when Alana
is chosen against her will to be the Vessel, the living repository for all
human knowledge, she must find the strength to be what the world needs.
1.
Where/how
did you come up with the idea for your story? Did it suddenly pop into your
head or were you brainstorming?
My stories seem to
grow out of things I’ve seen, read, or heard about on NPR – usually a
combination of all three! I had read
about solar storms and the dangers they can pose to our satellites and our
power grid. E-books were really taking off about that time, and everyone was
wondering if we might stop printing books altogether some day. It got me wondering,
what if all our books became electronic in the future, and we suddenly lost
them? How catastrophic that would be! I
always wanted to take part in NaNoWriMo, so I wrote up the initial outline for
Vessel and started writing in November 2011. I didn’t win NaNo that year. I
write too slow! But I kept working on Vessel off and on for several months
until I finally finished. It sold to Month 9 Books in 2013.
2. Did you start
with the main character, the world or the overarching concept?
It’s been so long
ago, I’m not sure what came first. I think it was Recks. I had put the name in
my back pocket for a future story. When I finally wrote Vessel, he seemed to
fit. Most of my stories do start with characters.
3. Panster or
Plotter? Or in between?
I originally tried
to be a pantser years ago, but I failed miserably at it. I learned, after a lot
of grief, that I absolutely MUST have an outline figured out before I start to
write. I have to know beginning, middle, and end, or I will get bogged down and
lost every time.
4. Are you a fan of
writing contests?
They’re all right.
I entered one of my first books in a YA discovery contest and it won third,
which got me a phone call consultation with an agent. She requested to see the
full manuscript, but she didn’t end up representing me. Overall, I think it was
a good experience and it gave me the courage to keep trying.
5. How did you find
your agent? How many query letters did you send?
I’ve sent dozens of
queries over the years, but I’ve yet to find an agent. ;) I seem to have better
luck with editors.
6. What's the best
marketing tool you've found so far?
I think the best
marketing tool is a really great story. Tweets don’t sell books. Blogs don’t
sell books. I’m not even sure if paid advertisements sell books. If people like
a book, and they tell other people they liked it, that’s the best advertising
there is.
7. What do you like
best about your mc?
Alana is strong,
strong, strong. She doesn’t think much
of herself at the beginning, but she overcomes her self-doubt. She’s been so
beaten down, but she never loses hope for something better. I love her spirit.
8. What do you like
best about your main antagonist?
Hmm. Anders is not
very likeable. I find him rather terrifying to tell the truth. He’s cold,
calculated evil.
9. Anything else
you would like to share about your journey or your upcoming launch, including
links to giveaways or ways people can help spread the word?
I just want to say
thank you so much for hosting me. I’d be tickled to death if folks ordered the
book and added me as friend on Goodreads. I love to hear from readers, either through
reviews or directly on my blog or
Twitter.
I should also add
that I’m donating a portion of my book proceeds to the International Justice
Mission to help end slavery.
http://lisatcresswell.blogspot.com/2015/04/even-bookworms-can-help-endslavery.html Alana
suffers through slavery in the dystopian future of Vessel, just as many people
around the world suffer through slavery right now. It’s my sincere hope that one day slavery
will only exist in fiction. Please visit
www.ijm.org to learn how you can help too.
Link to Goodreads:
Purchase Links:
ABOUT LISA T.
CRESSWELL:
Lisa,
like most writers, began scribbling silly notes, stories, and poems at a very
young age. Born in North Carolina, the South proved fertile ground to her
imagination with its beautiful white sand beaches and red earth. In fifth
grade, she wrote, directed and starred in a play “The Queen of the Nile” at
school, despite the fact that she is decidedly un-Egyptian looking. Perhaps
that’s why she went on to become a real life archaeologist?
Unexpectedly
transplanted to Idaho as a teenager, Lisa learned to love the desert and the
wide open skies out West. This is where her interest in cultures, both ancient
and living, really took root, and she became a Great Basin archaeologist.
However, the itch to write never did leave for long. Her first books became the
middle grade fantasy trilogy, The Storyteller Series. Her first traditionally
published work, Hush Puppy, is now available from Featherweight Press.
Lisa
still lives in Idaho with her family and a menagerie of furry critters that
includes way too many llamas!
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