After the Fear Author Interview
I have never been so excited to share an Author Interview with you!!! Rosanne Rivers is one of my favorite authors, and I love her book After the Fear. Of course, you heard about it a long time ago, but to see my review of it again, click here. If you would like to read After the Fear, it is only $2.99 on Kindle, and that is the best three dollars I ever spent! Please, please read it! And without further blabbing, I give you the After the Fear Interview!!!
After the Fear
You have not attended a Demonstration this month.
In Sola’s city, everyone obeys the rules. Stay away from the trigger cameras and regularly update your Debtbook, and you just might survive. But having to watch the way criminals are dealt with—murdered by Demonstrators in the Stadium—is a law Sola tries to avoid. When a charming Demonstrator kisses her at a party, however, she’s thrust into the Stadium and forced into the very role she despises.
Armed with only natural resourcefulness and a caring nature, Sola narrowly survives her first bout. Her small success means she’s whisked off to a training camp, where she discovers a world beyond the trigger cameras and monitoring—a world where falling in love with a killer doesn’t seem so terrible.
Yet life as a Demonstrator has no peace. Sola must train her way through twenty-five more Demonstrations before she can return home to her father. At the end of each battle, only one survivor remains.
Sola could face anyone in the Stadium . . . even a loved one.
Interview
- What were some of the alternative names for your characters, Dylan and Sola?
What a great question! I decided on their names very early, and didn’t change them once, but some of the contenders in the decision were Lawler for Sola, and Darry for Dylan. 2. Can you tell those who have not read your book a little bit of what it is about?
After the Fear is set in future England, which is swimming in Debt. In order to pay this debt off, the government charge for tickets to attend the most popular public spectacle – criminal executions, called ‘Demonstrations’.
After a misguided kiss, resourceful and caring Sola Herrington is chosen to train to become an executioner in these battles to the death. She must learn how to kill with precision, deal with the Demonstrators, win over the crowd, and fight in twenty six Demonstrations before she can return home.
3. How did you get the idea for After the Fear? Also, your book is frequently compared to the Hunger Games, although I think it is different. What is your opinion?
I got the idea for the society from what was happening around me. For example, from seeing where Facebook was heading (tagging you into locations, recognising your face in pictures, tagging other people in your statuses etc), I knew I wanted to explore a society in which social networking was mandatory, and everyone, everywhere knew where you were ALL the time. This social networking site became ‘Debtbook’ in After the Fear. The ‘trigger cameras’ are a version of CCTV cameras here in the UK which activate upon hearing certain words. Even the Demonstrations could be seen as an extreme form of the way certain criminals are sensationalised in the media.
Also, I really wanted to write about The UK living under a tyranny. I had read dystopian books set in America, but I found myself wondering how differently England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland might react to being put in such a position. The UK is effectively islands, isolated by the sea. There’s no need for ‘borders’ as such because we have them in-built by the coast. Would The UK become united once more? How might this affect the dynamic between the UK and other countries? Would the citizens be easier to control with less outside influences? These are all questions I thought about when writing After the Fear.
I find comparisons to The Hunger Games a huge compliment because I LOVE the series. However, in my opinion, the two books are fundamentally about completely different things. They are both dystopian and involve fighting, yes, but After the Fear is about a society who haven’t quite realised they are in a tyranny. Amongst other things, The Hunger Games is about standing up for what is right, rallying a society bit by bit to rebel against the evil Snow. In After the Fear, they aren’t standing up for what is right or starting a rebellion because they believe in the government. Public executions have been around since the dawn of time and as long as the atrocities aren’t happening to the masses, the masses will get on with everyday life. Who hasn’t watched the news and heard about all the evils that go on in the world, then turned the TV off and got on with their day?
After the Fear is about an individual making the most of her situation, and the guilt that comes with not saving the world along the way.
4. What were some alternative ideas for After the Fear? Are there any scenes that you had to take out?
So many! I was always planning on having a completely different ending, but as I got further into the book it just didn’t seem right, so I went with what seemed natural. I won’t give too much away with it, but it involved a marriage proposal... I also took out a scene where Sola and Dylan get a bit *ahem* ‘too involved’ with each other. 5. What is your favorite quote in the book?
I like this one:
My eyes narrow at the pastry, sending it a message of we have unfinished business, before I catch myself. This place is doing weird things to my head.
But a more serious one is:
She blows me a lacquered-fingered kiss, just like the one in the refectory a week ago, and strides into the pod shaft. All I see is the ragged rope that runs from her to me, understanding but not understanding at all.
6. Which character do you see yourself the most, and if possible, why? Probably Alixis. We have a similar sense of humour, but she’s cooler than me!
7. What would happen if you were chosen as a Demonstrator? How would you stay alive and what would you do if someone you cared about entered the arena? If I was chosen, I think I’d try to escape a few times. I don’t think that would work though, so once I’d accepted that I was going to have to fight I’d try to train as much as possible and block it all out from my mind. I don’t think I could kill someone I loved, so I like to think I’d be novel and let them finish me!!
8. Are you writing a sequel?
The book was always meant as a stand-alone, and I’m not currently writing a sequel. However I haven’t ruled it out for the future.
The book was always meant as a stand-alone, and I’m not currently writing a sequel. However I haven’t ruled it out for the future.
Fun Questions
Divergent: If you were suddenly placed into the Divergent Chicago world, what faction do you think you would choose and why?
Who wouldn’t be in Dauntless?! I like tattoos so I would go there.
Twilight: How would you react if your boyfriend or husband told you that he was a vampire? A werewolf?
I’d be so excited about what else was going on in the world that I didn’t know about! I’d probably also be a bit peeved off that he’d hid it from me for so long too, and I definately wouldn’t want to become one myself!
Hunger Games: If you lived in Panem, and could choose your district, what district do you think you would want to be in and which character would be your friend?
I’d want to be in the Capitol and be bessies with Effie.
The Selection: If you were Selected, would you be fighting for the prince, the crown, or something else?
Haven’t read The Selection, but I’d fight for myself more than a Prince or a crown I think.
Author Bio
Rosanne lives in Birmingham, UK and considers it one of her favourite cities, second only to Rome. She delights in writing for children and young adults and hopes to bring readers to an unfamiliar yet alluring setting. Rosanne was inspired to write when she read the Harry Potter books, and at age fourteen, she wrote romance fanfiction on just about every pairing you could dream up from the HP series. She currently lives with her partner and two bunny rabbits and is working on a post-apocalyptic adventure book for middle grade readers.
Contact:
Buy the Book
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Thanks
I owe a huge thanks to Rosanne for so many things. First of all, thank you so much for doing this amazing interview with me, and second of all, I can never thank you enough for writing your book and sharing with me the world of Sola and Dylan. I will forever be in your debt. You are an amazing writer and I can't wait to see what you will do next! Expand your horizons and never stop writing, because writing is dreaming of things while you are awake. If that even makes any sense. Thanks for the time and effort you put in to answering my questions. I enjoyed reading them and hope that everyone else did too.
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