My name’s Hannah. I grew up in Cochrane, Alberta which is a small town just outside of Calgary. I’ve lived here all my life, except for when I was eight and we moved to New Zealand for two years. My family and I travel a lot and I think being exposed to all of those different cultures really impacted my writing and made me into the person I am today. I’m proud to say that I have some really amazing friends who are supportive and always let me bounce my ideas off of them. I don’t know what I would do without them. They make me laugh and so many of my character are inspired by their personalities because I truly think the world of them.
Please tell us about your book.
Quantum is written in the point of view of Clara, a nineteen-year-old who has no idea what to do with her life. Her and her boyfriend Ross decide to join the CIA and that’s really when the book starts. We jump right into Clara and Ross’ relationship and as the story unfolds we learn more and more about their back ground and what’s going on in their minds. From the start her trainers see something in Clara and they assign her as the leader of her team. Something happens on their first assignment that sends them into a downward spiral, with Clara being forced to lead her team through one of the biggest mission to hit the CIA.
What inspired you to write Quantum?
I had just turned fourteen and my family decided to hike the West Coast Trail. After we were done and everyone was tired and happy to be back into civilization, my cousin and I would go down to the beach in front of the house that we had rented and would work together on building this raft. After all was said and done it ended up only being able to hold my weight so he would pull me on the raft towards this rock in the water saying that we were navy seals and that we were in North Korea, where our mission was. Fast forward from that awkward time in my life to third period social studies 10-1 with my three best friends where we were asked a simple question: what if I was in the CIA?
I was assigned to be in control of the not-so-legal part of things (we called it black market Prestige) and from there I started bouncing ideas off of them. It may not seem like the best process or the most efficient but that’s the awkward, teenage version of how a story comes to life: through rafts, questions, businesses, and not paying attention in class.
How much time per week do you spend writing/editing your work?
I spend two to three hours a day writing, but that’s on school days where my alarm goes off at 5, I write for an hour, then I get on with my day, write at school if I can and then write before bed or after I’ve finished my homework. On the weekends I stay up until well past midnight, most nights around three, writing. It’s my passion, it’s what I love doing, and it’s what I hope I can continue to do for a long time.
What are you working on at the moment?
I am currently working on the third Quantum book which is so close to being done and I’m so excited about it. It is by far the best one yet. After that I think I’m going to take a bit of a break and work on some ideas I have for other books, and then pick up where I left off in Quantum. I would really like to expand into writing scripts so I’ve been working on one for a TV pilot and one day I would love to see Quantum be made into a movie. Other than that I’ve just been trying not to drown in my Bio, Chem and Physics homework.
Title: Quantum
Author: Hannah Godard
Genre: Young Adult
Nothing is more glamorous than the CIA … at least for Clara. All she wants is excitement and adventure, to help people … and to be a part of something bigger than life.
At nineteen, she leaves everything she’s ever had behind to join the CIA with her boyfriend Ross. But when the agency starts to fall away like shattered glass, Clara and her team get thrown into the biggest mission ever to hit the agency. How will they deal with the pressure?
Clara has all her cards out on the table and she’s trying to keep them all in place … except she can’t hold them all down on her own. She’s trained and she’s ready … but something isn’t right. Is the real way to win the game not to play it, or is the trick not to play it for too long?
Hannah Godard was born and raised in the small town of Cochrane, Alberta where she is currently a grade eleven student. She continues to chase a life of creativity and imagination, creating characters to take her on adventures and maybe learn something from them along the way. She writes to tell the greatest stories that have yet to be told and create a spark in which to lighten up the world. Hannah credits her dad for teaching her everything she knows about the world, from politics to drive and perseverance. Without him, she would be a very different person.
Quantum is her first novel and the first in the Quantum series. It came to life in the same way as many other novels do, in third period Social Studies class. This class was spent with three out of four of her best friends, laughing, creating businesses, and being creative. It was the one class where she could be a kid, where people didn’t tell her words could only mean one thing, and where they could all be creative. It started as a joke, as a simple question; what if I was in the CIA? From that point on Hannah developed the character of Clara, with the help of her friends, and soon the story came to life. Each person who she knows, no matter how small, is somehow put into the novel, worked into the story line, because what they say is true: we write what we know.
Links
http://citylightspress.com/authors/hannah-godard/
Buy on Amazon.