If you’ve been living under a rock, you might not know that Ally Condie has a new book coming out this month. Atlantia hits shelves on October 28. To celebrate the release, Penguin has put together a fabulous blog tour and campaign. There are two teams, #TeamBelow (I’m on this team!), and #TeamAbove.
Throughout the month you can follow along the blog tour (I’ll post the schedule below) as well as check out the hashtags #TeamBelow and #TeamAbove on Instagram and Twitter. There will be interviews, reviews, giveaways, and lots of fun stuff going on. PenguinTeen will also be helping us promote all the special content we’ll be featuring throughout the month. This is going to be one awesome (friendly!) competition between #TeamBelow and #TeamAbove.
Can you hear Atlantia breathing?
For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamt of the sand and sky Above—of life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all her plans for the future are thwarted when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected decision, stranding Rio Below. Alone, ripped away from the last person who knew Rio’s true self—and the powerful siren voice she has long hidden—she has nothing left to lose.
Guided by a dangerous and unlikely mentor, Rio formulates a plan that leads to increasingly treacherous questions about her mother’s death, her own destiny, and the complex system constructed to govern the divide between land and sea. Her life and her city depend on Rio to listen to the voices of the past and to speak long-hidden truths.
Q & A
Thanks so much for stopping by the blog!
Thank you for having me, and for being part of the Atlantia blog tour! It’s so much fun to get to visit your blog.
Your new book, Atlantia, features an Above world and Below world. Would you want to live Above or Below?
I would definitely want to live Above. I do love the ocean, but I wouldn’t want to live UNDER it. I’m also kind of claustrophobic. I’ve taken the Chunnel (the underwater train from England to France) before and I think is about the longest I can stand being underwater. I also like being able to walk for miles and miles and not reach the end of my world.
Who is the character most like you in Atlantia?
I think the character most like me in the story is probably Bay. I would do just about anything to protect those I love. But I don’t think I’m as unselfish as she is. I’m also a bit like Rio, because I know the feeling of being trapped and also the wonderful feeling of breaking free.
What’s the one thing you have to have when you’re writing?
Water. I guess that’s a little ironic, since this is a book with water in it! But I drink a lot of water while I am writing. I’m not sure what’s up with that. I know that’s a pretty lame answer. I guess the other thing I need most (can I have two?) is quiet. Which is kind of impossible in a house with four kids, but I bought some noise-canceling headphones and that REALLY helps.
Do you read YA when you’re not writing it? If so, what is your top recommendation?
*I read a lot of YA and I also read a lot of adult fiction. As far as recent reads go, my top YA recommendation is KISS OF DECEPTION by Mary Pearson. I thought this was a fantastic read and she does some extremely interesting/well-executed things with point-of-view. For adult fiction, I just finished Kate Atkinson’s BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE MUSEUM and I adored it. She’s a brilliant writer.
What’s next for you? Any more YA novels in the works?
*Yes! I am working on a YA novel right now. It’s in a completely different setting than anything I’ve done before, and it’s a book that I’ve wanted to write for years but haven’t attempted until now. I probably can’t say much more since it’s still very early stages. As far as what else is next for me—I’m looking forward to the Atlantia tour (I love meeting readers and doing school visits!) and I’ll also continue to try to keep up with my kids (they are 11, 8, 6, and 3, and they are very busy and fun).
About the author:
Ally Condie is the author of the MATCHED Trilogy, a #1 New York Times and international bestseller. MATCHED was chosen as one of YALSA’s 2011 Teens’ Top Ten and named as one of Publisher’s Weekly’s Best Children’s Books of 2010. The sequels, CROSSED and REACHED, were also critically acclaimed and received starred reviews, and all three books are available in 30+ languages. Disney has optioned the film rights for the series.
You can find Ally via her Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Want to follow along the #TeamBelow blog tour? Check out the schedule!
Want to win my ARC of Atlantia? (Is that even a question?) Fill out the Rafflecopter! (US/CA only)
I’m not really sure where I’d rather live not knowing much information about either, but Below sounds kind of cool! (But I may change my mind once i get down there!)
I really liked reading the interview! 🙂
I read the sample of Atlantia on NetGalley and loved it to pieces. It was such a great beginning. Super excited to get it soon and continue 🙂
Also, I’d live Above. Definitely Above.
Above! I’m claustrophobic.
Above, definitely above.
Jeez I have no idea where I’d rather live… I think I’d have to read the book and see which sounds better! 😉
(do they have computers down there??)
Definitely above for me! I don’t think I can stand not being able to see the blue sky 🙁
I would definitely rather live Above!
I am going to choose below because it sounds more exciting! I can’t wait to read this one; the premise is really awesome.
Below!
I think I’d agree with Ally and say Above.
I am a terrible swimmer so underwater would not be for me. So Above for sure!
That’s a very good question. I would like to live Above.
Def Above! There are many scary things below.
I think above b/c I’m also a bit claustrophobic 🙂 thanks for sharing!
I love the ocean, but I’d prefer to live above because I don’t like being underwater. Plus, I don’t know how to swim.
I would like to live Below.
I would rather live above, below sounds scary to me. I would love to read this book. Thanks for havingthis giveaway.
I think I’d live below. I think it would be exciting and different!
It seems to be a really nice book. I’ve never read a book about people that live underwater and I’m looking forward to it. I’m a water girl!
Below
Above! I agree with Ally. I’m kind of claustrophobic and would start feeling suffocated by not being able to see the sky.
I’d like to visit Below but I like trees and breezes too much to want to live there permanently!
I would want to live Above.
I would much rather live above.
I think I would rather live below. It would be quite the experience.
Ooh, that’s such a hard question to answer, I can’t decide! Above might be less scary but below sounds awesome!
This book sounds amazing! Can’t wait to read it!
This book sounds really good! Interesting premise! I would like to live below because I’d like to explore the unknown
Awesome interview, Katie! Now I’m super curious to know about her next novel…sounds like it’s going to be fascinating!
I’d want to try living below! Not sure I’d want to stay
I think it would be really interesting to live BELOW! Thank you for this amazing giveaway! 🙂
I’d rather live below because my surroundings would be always be my home and known to me.
I think I would live above, I love the water but after a while I probably would want to go back up.
I really don’t want to choose but probably above. I don’t actually know why, I just think I would like it better above.
live above
After having experienced a few years of life above, checking out life below sounds like fun!
I would live above, below sounds a little suffocating to me. Thanks for the giveaway!
Living below sounds a bit scary, so I’d stick with living above.
Each has it’s advantages, but I think I’d like to live above – as long as the walk home (always uphill) wasn’t too difficult.
i’m very excited for this book! I would always want to live above! never below 😀
– Juhina @ Maji Bookshelf
As of now, I’d want to live below, but after a while I’d probably get restless and want to go above.
Definitely Below!!
I am so, so looking forward to this! I would live Above. I’ve always had a phobia regarding being under the sea…
Below (:
above! I have long believed water is the most powerful element and it kind of scares me :/
I would rather live above, but I love reading about living below 🙂
I don’t know much about this book, so I’m going on a whim and going to say under ground, because that’s where some people are at in hiding? Not sure, but it seems safer, I guess anyway.
Thanks for the giveaway! 🙂
Below sounds kind of exciting, but who knows.
This book sounds awesome!
I would rather live above but have awesome friends that live below XP
So excited to be part of team #AtlantiaBelow with you!
I would have to choose to live below. It’s new, exciting, and probably as terrifying as it sound. That’s really all the convincing I need.
I would definitely like to visit below, but I would miss the wind,sky,land to much to live below, but I might chance my mind after reading Atlantia 🙂
Below, just because that’s what’s different about this book. lol @ water while writing a water book. Thanks for the giveaway!
Living below would be interesting but then again I am a little bit claustrophobic.
Above! I need my fresh air!
Above!!
I think I would love to live below but I can’t swim so it would be a huge challenge.