Titles: Afterimage & Encender
Author: J Kowallis
Series: Enertia Trials #1 & 2
Genre: New Adult, Dystopian
Release Dates: Afterimage: May 7, 2015
Encender: February 29, 2016
Summary:
Reggie’s dreams . . .
aren’t dreams.
Visions of the future flood her mind like shards of broken puzzles. Caged in her cell, every morning begins the same. She’s drugged, tortured, and images are torn from her memory by Public One.
Until the morning everything changes. The vision is different. The future’s never been about her, and now she knows they’re coming for her:
Nomads.
How will she convince them to keep her alive when Nate, their leader, doesn’t like or even trust her? To him, she’s a science experiment. A machine.
When Public One will do anything to keep her, Reggie must make a decision: remain a slave to her past, or risk her future to venture into a world more terrifying than she’s ever known.
Summary:
They say you feel cold when you die.
The people I’ve killed would beg to differ.
For twenty-something Ransley, the adopted daughter of famed street fighter Estevan Benitez, fighting is all she knows. One hidden detail separates her from the endless string of her pathetic opponents: she can craft and influence heat and fire.
When she’s pitted against the strongest fighters at the infamous Argolla, Ransley faces something she never expected:
A man like her.
Roydon can duplicate himself. When the two collide in the ring, a chain of deals turns Roydon over to Public Four and he’s taken away to undergo the disturbing process of the Nexis. What it is, or what it does, no one outside of The Public knows.
Driven by guilt and a desire to release the only person she’s ever met who’s like her, Ransley isn’t about to leave him for dead—not when he might hold the answers to her missing past. Now she must trust a pair of strangers: a former military man out to collapse the system, and a woman whose premonitions could tear them all apart.
My interests in literary genre is wide spread. I've dabbled in crime writing, chick lit, paranormal, and finally settled on dystopian for a fairly simple reason: it was the only story I could find that fully formed in my mind. I kept trying to write other stories and I'd get maybe ten chapters in and realize I had no idea how to end it, or where it was going. At that point, I also found that one of the main reasons behind that is because I, as the writer, had no emotional connection to what was going on. I think one of the things I find intriguing about dystopian settings is the fact that, when done right, dystopian has a terrifying edge to it. It's a warning and commentary on our current state. I've always been interested in real people, real life, and if I can take that "reality" and spin it in just the right angle, it becomes escapism without being completely unbelievable. So, in short, my biggest influence was me.
2. When writing a book, what is your favorite part of the creative process?
I LOVE picking character names. From my standpoint, the names I pick absolutely define who that character is. All of a sudden, they're not just this unidentifiable blob of an idea, they're a person. In fact, it was Dale Carnegie that said, "Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language." Though names may not define a character, they are a part of them, and with one word, you've created a soul.
3. When reading a book, what genre do you find most interesting/intriguing?
I find that I don't really have one genre that tops my favorites. If you'd asked me that in 6th grade, I would have said historical fiction. If you'd asked me that in High School, I would have said perhaps classics or fantasy. Through college I leaned toward chick lit and anti "threadbare dresses and heaving bosom" romances in the YA category. And of course, I love my dystopian. I guess I'd have to say that I just love anything that's emotionally driven.
4. If you could co-author with any author, past or present, who would you choose?
Charlotte Bronte. Like, for real. I consider her the queen of dark romances. While her sister, Emily's Wuthering Heights may have been darker and more draining, Charlotte hit that sweet spot--dark enough to create intrigue and suspense, but not so depressing that you lose empathy for the characters.
5. Have you always wanted to write or did it come to you later in life?
I consider 3rd Grade to be my kick off. After that, I went into hibernation until I was about 22. In between those years, I wrote a lot of fantasy fiction. I say "fantasy fiction" because all it really was, was short blurbs where I'd write this sweeping romance scenario between myself and my celebrity crush (these usually centered around Elijah Wood through my high school years . . . don't judge me . . . I think think he has gorgeous eyes). But, when I found myself writing again in college to relieve stress, I realized I wanted to become serious about it.
J. Kowallis, the only girl of four children, grew up in northern Utah with a head full of wild stories (most often unreal). At the age of 9, she wrote her first poem, a dedication to E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web. It was so intriguing, her third grade teacher requested to keep the original. Between living in various fictional worlds, and spending time on her studies, she managed to graduate from Weber State University’s creative writing program. She now lives in Utah with her Mini Schnauzer, Etta, and spends most of her time still bouncing between this world and the fantastical while enjoying delectable über-dark chocolate and lavender baths. She enjoys dreaming about, flying to, and writing about distant lands (real or unreal).
Afterimage #1
Encender #2
