Interview with K. A. Gandy, author of YA dystopian romance Marked
On the run from the men who murdered her parents, there’s only one way to save herself. Marriage to a genetically-matched stranger.
Demy has been on the run since she was thirteen years old. Mysterious men in black cloaks have been chasing her, and so far she’s evaded them. Something, though, has changed since she turned eighteen. Their attempts to capture her have gotten closer and closer, until she’s only got one option left: turning herself over to the NLC, for the compulsory marriage program.
She doesn’t want to get married, but with her would-be captors on her heels, she’s got no choice but to hope the NLC’s strict security protocols will be a safe haven. Marriage is a small price to pay for her life, after all. And maybe, just maybe, she’ll finally have the space to discover why she’s being hunted.
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Marked is a new entry point in the Populations Crumble world, but many familiar characters will be present from the original trilogy.
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Excerpt from Marked
The man in black found me yesterday. I was able to slip away for the night, but he’s getting closer. It’s awful timing, him cropping up right now—as I’m only two blocks from the bus stop—but I just caught a glimpse of his hood again. For the last five years, whenever one of them catches my trail, I lie low until they lose my tracks, and then hop the next bus or train out of town and hit the farthest tri-state I can afford the fare to.
Simple. Clean. Safe.
Unfortunately, that’s not an option right now. I have to be at the bus stop at three p.m. The shuttle only comes once a quarter, and I’m not going to make it another three months. I look down at my banged-up watch and see there are only fifteen minutes left. Making a split-second decision, I take a hard left into the alley in front of me, and duck into the side entrance of a smoke-filled bar. As soon as the door shuts behind me, I dash into the bathroom—a single stall, thankfully—and slide the bolt home.
I don’t know what’s changed since I turned eighteen, but I haven’t made it a full month since without one of them finding me, and it’s freaking frustrating. What’s changed? I honestly don’t know. But after five months, I’m out of cash and out of options. I can’t keep a job long enough to build up my cash cushion without getting busted again.
Which is why I finally pulled my last-resort card and contacted the NLC about getting matched.
Yes, I technically have six months left before the deadline to meet my genetic match and start popping out babies, but I don’t have six more months of running in me. And I refuse to be caught.
An Interview with K. A. Gandy
-What inspired you to become a writer?
I think I’ve always been on the path to being a writer, long before I realized it. I was the girl with the books. Vacation? Huge stack of books. School? Taking extra reading books from home, in case I got bored. Walking through an airport? You get the picture. It was a natural progression from loving reading and enjoying writing as an outlet into . . . maybe I could do that, too?
-If you could visit your book’s world for a day, what one thing would you do?
Oh geez. I write dystopian, so I wouldn’t necessarily want to go to my worlds for long. But, I think I’d go on a helicopter tour. Just to see how the world changed, with less people in it. What did nature look like? What grew back? That sort of thing. Also, I’d hug all my characters.
-It’s two in the morning. What does your protagonist reveal in confidence? (Don’t worry, we won’t tell.) She feels like she knows who the one is, but she doesn’t trust herself yet to decide. Men have always meant danger; now she’s supposed to pick a strange man to marry? It’s going to take some time to work through.
-Which of your characters would you go out for drinks with?
Nell.
-You’re in a tavern, and a dwarf challenges you to a duel. What do you do?
Hope to heck I’ve got a sword, and know how to use it!
-Is there a genre you could never write? Which and why?
Horror. It’s categorized pretty closely to dystopian, but the gore is too much for me. I’m squeamish.
About K. A. Gandy
K. A. Gandy was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, and is married with two kids. She has worked as a restaurant hostess, library book shelver, ranch hand, tour guide, Realtor, tech whiz, landlord, and small business consultant, all in addition to pursuing her passion of writing. She likes to write late in the evenings and thinks drinking hot tea and baking great cookies fuels hopes and dreams. If you would like to find more of her works, you can sign up for her newsletter at https://www.subscribepage.com/kagandy. You can also get updates on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KAGandyAuthor. I’ve also recently started a facebook group for readers, who enjoy YA Dystopian books, and am available by email at kagandyauthor@gmail.com as well, if you’d ever like to drop me a line directly!
Giveaway
K. A. Gandy will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Thanks for stopping by Kit ‘n Kabookle! I’d love to connect on Goodreads for more book things, and lately, I’ve read…
The cover is amazing! I love the colors and design.
Thanks for hosting!
Gorgeous cover. This sounds like a really good book.
Thank you for sharing your interview, bio and book details, Marked sounds like a must read for my teen-aged granddaughters and I. If your book was made into a movie, who would you like to see in the starring roles?
This looks like a great read.
I liked the excerpt. This story sounds really interesting.
You are a new author for me-after reading the book excerpt I would like to read this book-thanks