Last year, PJ Sharon stopped by the blog for the Writer’s Spaces Inspiration Series, when her book Savage Cinderella was released. She’s a prolific, self-published author, and she’s an active voice in the Young Adult blogging world. Her new trilogy, The Chronicles of Lily Carmichael, is a bit different from her first three novels. If you love reading PJ Sharon’s books, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this new one. She has the talent for putting tension on every page. Please welcome again, PJ Sharon!
Thank you for having me back, Suzanne. I know it’s been a while, so I’ll refresh your readers on who I am and what I write. In my writer’s life, I’m known as PJ Sharon. I independently published my first contemporary Young Adult novel, Heaven is for Heroes last September, followed by On Thin Ice in December, and Savage Cinderella in March. It’s been a very busy year for me, but so far, Indie publishing is working out well. It’s a lot of hard work, but the rewards are many.
Although I love writing contemporary teen fiction, filled with tough life issues and sweet romance, once Lily Carmichael popped into my head, I knew her story had to be told. I think if I had been traditionally published, I might not have had the opportunity to explore Lily’s world. Her story may seem very different than my contemporary books, but in reality, Lily is just a girl struggling to find her identity and deal with the many challenges of life. My latest release, Waning Moon, Book One in The Chronicles of Lily Carmichael trilogy, is a YA Dystopian about a post-apocalyptic world where three quarters of the population has been wiped out by a global pandemic, and a polar shift threatens the remainder of earth’s inhabitants. But our heroine, sixteen-year-old genetically altered teen, Lily Carmichael, faces bigger challenges—escape capture by a rogue government agency, save her family, and avoid falling in love.
Other than the story taking place in the year 2057 in a world that does not yet exist, I’m still writing about older teens who are trying to figure out who they are, what their purpose in life is, and how they fit into their world. Yes, there is still a sweet romance. Lily is torn between her feelings for Will Callahan, a seventeen-year-old drifter in search of his father, and her quest to find a cure for her uncle’s cancer and keep her brother safe from the Industry, an organization who would like nothing better than to exploit her and her brother’s abilities. And oh…there are wolves. Did I mention the wolves? I had so much fun adding animal characters to my story, an experience I first had in Savage Cinderella, where Brinn befriends a bear. As animals do, the wolves, Bo and Pappy, add a whole new dimension to the trilogy.
As a writer, branching out into writing Dystopian was a welcomed challenge. The story idea came from having many discussions with my neighbors about what direction the world is taking and what we think the future might look like given certain probable scenarios. I’m not an official doomsday prepper, but I think it’s foolish for any of us to ignore the signs that the world as we know it is changing rapidly. With books like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Giver by Lois Lowry, and James Patterson’s Maximum Ride series, I’m not alone in my musings. We’re all curious about what the future holds and us creative types love to imagine it onto the page. It almost feels like there is a collective global consciousness that has us all aware that there is an imminent shift happening and we all want to talk about it. I was astounded by how many similarities there were in my book to the new TV show, Revolution. It doesn’t take a lot of research or imagination to come up with possible scenerios of how we would all deal with different disasters. It’s trying to figure out the cascading details that go into building a dystopian landscape that makes it unique to each story teller. My trilogy is kind of like Revolution meets X-Men.
The Chronicles of Lily Carmichael came to me last year. I saw it clearly in three parts, the beginning and end of each book popping into my head as if I’d already watched the movies. I wanted to write stories with more adventure and try my hand at a little sci-fi since the ideas for the story were coming at me in a flood. I assure you, my idea came to be long before Revolution was in production, and the success of The Hunger Games was not a contributing factor in my decision to write Lily’s story. I did find that the idea of a trilogy was an appealing challenge. I felt sad after each of my first three books, not quite ready to let go of my characters when they had just reached such pivotal places in their lives. That seems inevitable when writing YA, since endings are more likely to be hopeful beginnings, not necessarily happily ever after’s. By writing a trilogy, I feel like I’ll get to spend some quality time getting to know my characters and developing them more thoroughly.
Whatever the time period, I think teens will always struggle with the same core issues. Things like family expectations, overwhelming responsibilities, peer pressure, fitting in, feeling alone, attraction, and falling in love for the first time—all part of the human experience that makes teen fiction so appealing both to teens and adults alike. We can all identify with the intensity of those feelings. I’m hoping that adding the element of an unknown, dangerous world will make my teen heroes and heroines that much more interesting to read about. But don’t worry; if Dystopian isn’t your thing, I’m still working on another contemporary called 21 Days. I don’t have a production schedule set for that one yet, but I’m even considering pitching it to traditional publishers. I’m not averse to being a hybrid—it could be the wave of the future.
More about The Chronicles of Lily Carmichael and Waning Moon
In the year 2057, in a post-apocalyptic world where a global shift threatens the remainder of the population with extinction, sixteen-year-old genetically enhanced Lily Carmichael has more immediate problems. Her uncle is dying of cancer and her healing abilities are ineffective against the blood ties that bind them. In order to find a cure, Lily must leave the protection of her quiet town and journey into the trading city of Albany, all while avoiding the Industry, an agency that would like nothing better than to study and exploit her abilities.
Seventeen-year-old Will Callahan has been searching for his father since severe storms blasted through the Midwest, killing his mother and sister. When he learns that his father may be in the city, he catches a ride with Lily, a girl who has come to his rescue more than once. As the two embark on a dangerous journey, the attraction between them grows. But the secrets Will’s keeping could put her in far more danger than traveling to the city with him, and if he was any kind of man, he would have told her to run the minute she found him.
Excerpt:
“Wait,” I said before he got far, “I bet I could find you something to eat.” I tried to appeal to what I knew would work for any hungry male. “Would you like some of this?” I asked. My bag of premium jarred honey lay across my back, and I figured it wasn’t really a meal, but I was willing to bet he’d eat whatever he could get his hands on. Or maybe he could trade Mrs. Higgins for some soup or a place to bathe. She would likely offer him something herself once she saw him. He was clearly in need of both.
The boy eyed the honey as I pulled a glass jar out of my pack, but he put his hands up and backed away. “No, I…thanks anyway…I’ll be fine…I gotta go…” He spun away and strode across the street toward an alleyway. It wasn’t like I could invite him back to the farm. Sam would kill me if I brought home a stranger. His warnings rang clear in my head even as I caught up to the boy and grabbed his arm.
“C’mon. Let me…”
The stranger whirled around, his grey eyes cold and hard. “I don’t need some girl to rescue me!”
Stunned, I took a step back. Not only did his words come as a complete surprise, but the color of his eyes rendered me speechless. I hadn’t noticed beneath his shaggy bangs before, but his eyes were a crystalline blue-grey that reminded me of an icy lake or a stormy sky. Brilliant, backlit with sunshine, and rimmed by dark, thick lashes. I sucked in a breath, confused by somehow feeling happy while being horribly offended at the same time. My brain kicked in and my heart felt the sting.
Author Bio and where to find PJ Sharon online:
I knew I would be a writer someday when I was a little girl sitting on my grandpa’s knee and telling him stories that he would help me put on paper. By the time I entered kindergarten I could already read and write, and I couldn’t wait to look up new words every morning in the ginormous Webster’s Dictionary that sat in the book case at the bottom of our stairs. I would get on the bus and ask my friends, “Do you know what pulchritudinous means?” Between that and challenging the boys to push-up contests at the bus stop, I mostly sat alone on those bus rides to school. But that just meant I had more time to make up stories.
I went on to many other endeavors in life, including the world of figure skating, and later, earning a black belt in martial arts. Though I was a mom at seventeen, I did manage to finish school and somehow made it through college, earning a degree as a Physical Therapy Assistant. After nineteen years, two sons, a divorce, and some fairly lean years, I found that it’s true what they say about life beginning at forty. It was about that time when I reunited with the love of my life and worked my way to owning my own business as a Massage Therapist, Personal Trainer, and Yoga Instructor—all of my favorite things. To make my bliss complete, I moved out to the Berkshires and found my muse waiting for me there amongst the lilacs and humming birds.
I now write Extraordinary Stories of an Average Teenage Life in order to share hope with others, especially teens, that no matter how tough life gets, there is always a bright spot waiting just around the corner. My published books include the award winning YA Novels, HEAVEN IS FOR HEROES, ON THIN ICE, and SAVAGE CINDERELLA, available through Amazon and B&N Booksellers.
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