Q: Please tell us about yourself.
Short answer: I eat. I write. I drink coffee and move cats off of my papers and computer. I sleep. Repeat. ;-)
Long answer: Natalie is the author of H.A.L.F., a young adult science fiction series, and The Akasha Chronicles, a young adult fantasy trilogy. She lives in the high desert of Tucson, Arizona with her husband, tween daughter, and two young cats.
Natalie spends her time writing, reading, hanging out on social media, and meeting readers and fans at festivals and comic cons throughout the western United States. She likes to walk in the high desert, snorkel in warm waters, travel, and share excellent food and conversation with family and friends. She was raised an Ohio farm girl, lives in the desert Southwest, and dreams of living in a big city high rise.
Q: Tell us about your book.
I love “ he X-Files” and the 90’s T.V. show "Roswell". I’ve long been fascinated with alien stories and I’m intrigued by government conspiracy theories. And I love futuristic science - inventions, technology, bioscience. So because I can’t get enough of these things, I combined them all into my own story! I think that H.A.L.F.: The Deep Beneath will appeal to people who love those things too, as well as appeal to readers who don’t necessarily consider themselves Sci Fi fans (at least according to early reviews posted on Amazon). It’s Sci Fi because it deals with aliens, alien-human hybrids, genetic engineering and such. But at the heart of it, The Deep Beneath is character-driven, so I think it appeals to a wide range of readers. Anyone who enjoys a fast-paced story!
The Synopsis:
H.A.L.F. 9 has taken his first breath of desert air and his first steps in the human world. Created to be a weapon, he proved too powerful for his makers, hidden from humans and sedated. But H.A.L.F. 9 has escaped the underground lab he called home, and the sedation has worn off. He has never been more alive. More powerful. Or more deadly.
Erika Holt longs to ride her motorcycle east until pavement gives way to shore. She bides her time until graduation when she’ll escape the trailer she shares with her alcoholic mother and memories of her dead father. But a typical night in the desert with friends thrusts Erika into a situation more dangerous than she ever imagined.
Circumstances push the two together, and each must make a fateful choice. Will Erika help H.A.L.F. 9 despite her “don’t get involved” rule? And will H.A.L.F. 9 let Erika live even though he was trained to kill?
The two may need to forget their rules and training if either is to survive the dangers of the deep beneath them.
Q: What inspired you to write H.A.L.F: The Deep Beneath?
H.A.L.F.: The Deep Beneath was inspired by a song called “Cowboys & Aliens” by Gram Rabbit. I was in my car, running errands on a hot day, and the song was playing. There was something about the heat, the song, and the cactus (I live in the desert) that came together and a plot popped into my head. When I got home, I wrote out a brief outline of the plot and *only* four years later, H.A.L.F. was born!
Q: How much time per week do you spend writing/editing your work?
I’ve never added it up, but my guess is that I spend roughly 25-30 hours per week writing/revising/editing my own work. Having said that, when I have a new release (like right now), I spend far fewer hours creating new material becuase of the amount of work that goes into a book launch. I travel around the western U.S. to comic cons, book festivals and such, so that takes a lot of time in the spring. It’s loads of fun but quite tiring, so I write less new material in the early months of the year than I do later in the year.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
I’m currently starting on book 2 of the H.A.L.F. series: The Makers (which will release in early Spring, 2016). Book 1, The Deep Beneath, is like an appetizer for readers ;-) In some ways, it only hints at the much larger story that readers will be begin learning about in The Makers. I have so many surprises up my sleeve. Bwahaha!
When not working on The Makers, I’m doing research for an epic fantasy novel that’s been rattling around my head for a couple of years now. It’s based on Madame Wong, one of the characters in my Akasha Chronicles series. Madame Wong was a human before she became … well, before she became what she is now. She was born during the Chinese Qin dynasty so I think it will be fun to write a high fantasy story set in ancient China’s past with a nod to the Wuxia story form (think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). But I’m still in the research phase so that one is quite a ways off.
Title: H.A.L.F.: The Deep Beneath
Author: Natalie Wright
Genre: YA Science Fiction
H.A.L.F. 9 has taken his first breath of desert air and his first steps in the human world. Created to be a weapon, he proved too powerful for his makers, hidden from humans and sedated. But H.A.L.F. 9 has escaped the underground lab he called home, and the sedation has worn off. He has never been more alive. More powerful. Or more deadly.
Erika Holt longs to ride her motorcycle east until pavement gives way to shore. She bides her time until graduation when she’ll escape the trailer she shares with her alcoholic mother and memories of her dead father. But a typical night in the desert with friends thrusts Erika into a situation more dangerous than she ever imagined.
Circumstances push the two together, and each must make a fateful choice. Will Erika help H.A.L.F. 9 despite her “don’t get involved” rule? And will H.A.L.F. 9 let Erika live even though he was trained to kill?
The two may need to forget their rules and training if either is to survive the dangers of the deep beneath them.
Natalie is the author of H.A.L.F., a young adult science fiction series, and The Akasha Chronicles, a young adult fantasy trilogy. She lives in the high desert of Tucson, Arizona with her husband, tween daughter, and two young cats.
Natalie spends her time writing, reading, gaming, geeking out over nerd culture and cool science, hanging out on social media, and meeting readers and fans at festivals and comic cons throughout the western United States. She likes to walk in the desert, snorkel in warm waters, travel, and share excellent food and conversation with awesome people. Natalie supports the rights of both humans and non-humans to live a life free of suffering caused by people. She was raised an Ohio farm girl, lives in the desert Southwest, and dreams of living in a big city high rise.
Links
Website/blog: http://www.NatalieWrightAuthor.com
Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/NatalieWright_
Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/NatalieWright.Author
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/468945.Natalie_Wright
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/WritesKidsBooks
Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/user/NatalieWright_
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/natwrites/
Buy the book:
Amazon – Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R6U32CA
Amazon – Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/H-L-F-Deep-Beneath-1/dp/1505524725
CreateSpace: https://www.createspace.com/5169978
Giveaway
Win a boxed set of The Akasha Chronicles, a YA Fantasy series by author Natalie Wright.
Go here to participate in the giveaway.