Six weeks after her arrival on the Surface, Evelyn Winters is no closer to unlocking the memories lost in her subconscious than she was when she first came. Isolated in a strange new society, Evie has only Gavin Hunter to remind her of who she once was.
But even with a clean slate, it’s easy to see that Evie doesn’t fit in on the Surface. And as her differences make her feel more and more alone, she can’t help but yearn for that place she doesn’t remember: the isolated city hidden in the depths of the ocean. Elysium. Home.
But she can’t exactly tell Gavin what she’s feeling. Not when he’s the one who helped her escape Elysium in the first place, and has the scars to prove it. Though the doctors say otherwise, Gavin believes that Evie just needs time. And if her memories don’t come back, well, maybe she’s better off not remembering her past.
But the decision may be out of their hands when Evie’s ever-elusive memories begin to collide with reality. People and images from her past appear in the most unlikely places, haunting her, provoking her…and making her seem not only strange but dangerous.
Evie and Gavin can’t wait around for her memories to return. They’ll have to journey across the Outlands of the Surface to find help, and in the end, their search may just lead them back to the place it all started…
First of all, thank you so much for having me on your blog today! I can’t believe it’s time for the 2nd book to hit the shelves! Whee!
Describe The Elysium Chronicles in 140 characters or less!
I hate this question. LOL. How can I possibly explain my story without going on and on and on?! 😉 I guess the simplest answer is just to say that the heart of the Elysium series is a story about finding one’s true self and realizing that perfection is overrated and what’s makes you different is what makes you awesome (by way of the Bourne Identity meets BioShock).
How was writing a sequel different from writing the first book in the series? Was it easier or more difficult?
Writing the sequel was extremely different from writing book 1 and it was definitely harder. I ended up rewriting the story 3 times before I got it where I wanted it and that was mostly because of the way I ended RENEGADE. In any series you always end up trying to find a way to make each book better and more exciting than the last and you don’t want to repeat the same things you did in the previous books. Because of this and the completely different setting, I didn’t just want the thriller-esque feel to it that RENEGADE had. I wanted it to be more of an adventure since in RENEGADE she knew Elysium really well and (*SPOILER ALERT FOR ANYONE WHO HASN’T READ RENEGADE*) now on the Surface she has to essentially start over; figuring out who she is and how she belongs and dealing with new people and a new way of life. I really wanted to show off this new world. There’s more outside dangers than there were in RENEGADE. Right from the start we can see that the Surface is a dangerous place to live just as Elysium was, just in a different way. And that while Gavin feels the lack of rules and regulations that they have as opposed to Elysium is better, I also wanted to show it’s “bad” side, too and that nothing is ever “perfect”, no matter how much we see it that way.
Which of your characters would be the hardest for you to kill off? Which would be the easiest?
Well, I definitely subscribe to the theory of no character is sacred and I wouldn’t and haven’t hesitated to kill important characters off, I would say the hardest would have to be Evelyn. She has a grip on my heart like no other character has or probably will. She’s just so broken that I can’t help but want to give her a big giant hug. The easiest to kill off for me would be a toss up between Dr. Friar—the therapist in RENEGADE—and a new character introduced in REVELATIONS, Mayor St. James. They’re both really evil men that right now I can’t see they have any good reason for it at all. Even Mother for all her horrible ways, makes me feel a bit sorry for her, but not either of those two characters.
What is your favorite part of being a writer?
My favorite part is I feel I get to be an archeologist or anthropologist. While I do plot out certain parts of my story, I feel that my characters are the ones telling me their story. And I’m sort of like their biographer. I just have to dig a little sometimes and brush off the dirt to get to it. Also, I love how readers will write to me saying how much they loved my story(ies) and how it’s causing them to think about some of the things that are happening in their life and see it from a different POV then they had. It makes me feel that I’m making a small difference in the world, no matter how tiny the effects are.
I love the covers for Renegade and Revelations. Are they what you pictured? What was your reaction when you first saw them?
Thank you! I love them too! Aren’t they fantastic?! They weren’t exactly what I had pictured, but they are absolutely everything I’d hoped for. They’re so symbolic and emotional that I knew they told the story maybe even better than I had.
I cried when I saw them, then immediately bragged about how awesome they were. Who could blame me? 😉
Will Revelations be the conclusion of Gavin and Evelyn’s story? If so, can you tell us anything about what you are working on now?
Nope! Revelations is only the middle. Right now the Elysium Chronicles is a trilogy. There is at least one more journey for them to go through before we get to the end and that means I’m currently working on the next chapter of their story, which I think will blow all the other books in the series out of the water, but that’s just me. 😉
Although I am also working on a new contemporary YA story about a teen girl who secretly “moonlights” as a stunt girl (think NITROCIRCUS) and a hot cowboy named Sloane, and a New Adult post-apocalyptic story about a woman who’s a thief who, after a job gone bad, gets tossed into the “roach motel”—a prison that uses it’s inmates as test experiments.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Thank you so much for having me!
About the author:
J.A. SOUDERS is the author of the Elysium Chronicles and lives in the land of sunshine and palm trees with her husband and two children where she spends her time writing about the monsters under the bed, day dreaming about living in an underwater colony, and failing miserably at playing video games.
Where to find J.A. online:
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Giveaway (US Only!):
Grand Prize- 1 Signed set of Renegade and Revelations, 1 scrabble tile pendant with covers of both books, and a $25 gift card to Amazon or B&N!
Second Place- 1 Signed set of Renegade and Revelations and 1 set of scrabble tile pendants with covers of both books.
Third Place- 1 set revelations themed swag
And don’t forget to check out the rest of the tour stops!
Week One:
Week Two:
Sounds intriguing!
I am so excited about Revelations! Such a long wait and I am excited it is finally here <3
A series I need to start!
I have heard so many good things about this series. Why have I not started it yet? Bad on me 🙁
You’re right, those covers are pretty cool. The new book about the criminal tossed into roach motel prison sounds frightening. I’d like to get into that series too.
Beautiful artwork on the cover! I look forward to starting this series .
Love the book cover 😀
Sounds like a great series! The cover is absolutely gorgeous!
~Veronica Vasquez~
Love the cover
Looks great! Thanks J.A.!!!!! 🙂
Thanks for the giveaway! It sounds interesting and I love the cover!
awesome giveaway!
I like the sunset on the cover of this book. It’s very eye catching.
Thank you very much for this giveaway. Looking forward to reading this
I love the cover and the blurb is very interesting!!!!
Woo! I’m so excited for this one!
I have heard so many great things about this series! Super excited to read it soon!
Great Interview!!! I can’t wait to read this book.
Thanks for the giveaway.
I can’t wait to read this book.
This book looks interesting. I have not been reading as much as I used to. I will dive in on this one.
I love the covers on this series. They’re so bright and colorful. I shouldn’t, but I totally look at a book’s cover first before I read the synopsis and Renegade stood out to me right from the beginning.
I love how authors get so very attached to their characters they wouldn’t dream of killing them off or hurting them – but then they know they have to if the story requires it!
Love how she’s the biographer of the narrator and the others in the story!