Tuesday 2 June 2015

The Summer of Chasing Mermaids Blog Tour! Interview + Giveaway



The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: June 2nd 2015
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Retellings, Chick Lit
The youngest of six talented sisters, Elyse d’Abreau was destined for stardom—until a boating accident took everything from her. Now, the most beautiful singer in Tobago can’t sing. She can’t even speak.

Seeking quiet solitude, Elyse accepts a friend’s invitation to Atargatis Cove. Named for the mythical first mermaid, the Oregon seaside town is everything Elyse’s home in the Caribbean isn’t: An ocean too cold for swimming, parties too tame for singing, and people too polite to pry—except for one.

Christian Kane is a notorious playboy—insolent, arrogant, and completely charming. He’s also the only person in Atargatis Cove who doesn’t treat Elyse like a glass statue. He challenges her to express herself, and he admires the way she treats his younger brother Sebastian, who believes Elyse is the legendary mermaid come to life.

When Christian needs a first mate for the Cove’s high-stakes Pirate Regatta, Elyse reluctantly stows her fear of the sea and climbs aboard. The ocean isn’t the only thing making waves, though—swept up in Christian’s seductive tide and entranced by the Cove’s charms, Elyse begins to wonder if a life of solitude isn’t what she needs. But changing course again means facing her past. It means finding her inner voice. And scariest of all, it means opening her heart to a boy who’s best known for breaking them . . .
1. What gave you the idea for The Summer of Chasing Mermaids?

Like all of my book ideas, inspiration for The Summer of Chasing Mermaids came from many different sources, all crossing my path at the same time and ending up in a big daydreamy soup pot that eventually boiled down into a story! It went something like this:

The beach. I love books that take place in the summer on the beach, and the last time I’d written a story like that was in 2009 (Twenty Boy Summer).  Five books and five years later, it was time for me to go back to the sea!

Mermaids. Daydreaming about the ocean got me thinking about mermaids, and soon I found myself wondering how I might incorporate a bit of mermaid lore while still keeping the book grounded in a contemporary realistic setting. I also took inspiration from The Little Mermaid—both the original fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen and the Disney adaptation, which was quite different!

Voice. This was a huge one for me. Denial of voice is a major theme explored in the book, and something I see so many young people—particularly girls and women—struggling with. From a young age girls are often taught—explicitly or implicitly—to be nice, accommodating, and selfless. Often we’re also told to “be ourselves,” and that we can do anything we put our minds to, but we’re not given a lot of direction on what that really means, or how to deal with the challenges that inevitably arise when we truly, authentically put ourselves out there. Not everyone will accept that—even (and sometimes especially) the people who claim to love us most. And so often I see—in my own life as well as the lives of girls and women around me—denial of voice in action, where we’re shut down and shut up simply because we don’t fit into whatever box society has built for us. We’re confronted by things like sexism, gender roles, expectations, double standards, lack of opportunity, aggression, poverty, racism, fear, power dynamics, institutionalized misogyny, just to name a few.

That’s a super simplified reduction of a complex issue, but one that’s very important to me. So I really wanted to explore that theme in a YA novel, symbolized by a character who literally has no voice—she’s permanently mute after an accident—and has to learn new ways of expressing herself, embracing her new life, and standing up for herself when others either speak for her or shut her out.

Trini Accent Tag. Around the same time I started thinking about the beach, mermaids, and denial of voice issues, I was randomly clicking through YouTube and came across a meme about accents. I’ve always been fascinated by regional accents, slang, and language development, so I got totally sucked in to watching them—a kind of fun game to see just how differently people say the same words and phrases in English. I ended up in the Trini accent tag collection, and one of the videos featured two sisters from Trinidad and Tobago who’d also posted other videos of singing performances. When I saw these girls singing, it just hit me all at once, like a big anvil of inspiration falling on my head! I thought, that’s my character, and she has a twin sister. But what is her family like? Where does she live? How did she grow up? What does she do for fun? I immediately dove into research mode, learning as much as I could about Trinidad and Tobago, the culture, the food, the music, the history, the people—it was such a rewarding process; I didn’t know much about the country at all when I started. So thanks in large part to random strangers on YouTube, Elyse was born, one of six sisters (like in The Little Mermaid), a girl who grew up singing with her twin, both of them en route to stardom. But then she loses her voice, and everything changes. She can’t sing. She can’t speak. Who does she become? What happens to her sister? Where does she belong? Who is she, if not the girl with the beautiful voice? I wrote the book to answer those questions.

Supernatural. Oh yeah. Christian Kane is basically Dean Winchester on a boat, so there’s that. ;-)

2. Are any of the characters inspired by real people?

Not wholly, but certain aspects and traits of the characters were inspired by real people. For example, the Trini accent video sparked the idea for Elyse and her sister, and Sebastian Kane was inspired by a little boy I met in Rocky Mountain National Park who was totally obsessed with hummingbirds. I basically take little bits and pieces from everyone I come across, mix them into a pot, and see what comes out!  

3. Who was your favourite character to write about?

Elyse. If I’m writing a story and I become more fascinated by someone who isn’t the main character, that’s a sign that I need to take a step back and really think about whose story I want to tell. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVED writing about Christian and Sebastian and their oppressive family dynamic, and Kirby and Vanessa and their strong friendship, and quirky Aunt Lemon. But Elyse was definitely my favourite—she’s the one whose story I needed to tell for this book. That’s not to say I won’t revisit other characters in the future, though!

4. Were you aware of how TSoCM would end when you started writing it? Or did you just see where the story went?

Generally I try to map out my novels right from the start. With Mermaids, my outline was not as extensive as some of my previous outlines, but I did know roughly where I wanted Elyse to end up emotionally. For me it’s all about the character journey, and I didn’t feel like I could write her story without knowing her emotional endpoint. I just wasn’t sure exactly HOW she’d show us her transformation. It wasn’t until later in the writing process that I figured out the plot specifics for the final scenes.

5. What are your current projects?

I’m working on a couple of things right now, including another contemporary YA romance and a dark paranormalish thriller, but I’m not ready to share any details yet! I’m still kind of in that daydreamy story soup phase. But as soon as I have more to share, I’ll post about it on my blog!




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Follow the The Summer of Chasing Mermaids Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.




Sarah Ockler is the bestselling author of young adult novels, including #scandal, The Book of Broken Hearts, Bittersweet, Fixing Delilah, and the critically acclaimed Twenty Boy Summer, a YALSA Teens' Top Ten nominee and IndieNext List pick. Her latest, The Summer of Chasing Mermaids, hits the shelves in June 2015.

Sarah is a champion cupcake eater, coffee drinker, night person, and bookworm. When she's not writing or reading at home in Washington, she enjoys taking pictures, hugging trees, and road-tripping through the country with her husband, Alex.

Visit her website at sarahockler.com or find her on Twitter, Tumblr, or Facebook.

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