Howdy!

Today I’m very excited to host J. Grace Pennington and her new YA dystopian Implant. I first heard about Implant over on her blog and was instantly hooked. Now I’m not really “into” dystopian books, much YA these days, but this one is a time-travelling dystopian. Sold.

Let’s take a look at the book before getting down to the interview.

Welcome to the world of a universal cure.

Gordon Harding didn’t ask for the life he has. He didn’t ask to be orphaned. He didn’t ask to go through life with cancer. And he certainly didn’t ask to be pulled into a future world without warning-–a world where every human being is controlled by means of a medical implant.

And when he learns that he’s the only one who can destroy the base of operations, he’s faced with an impossibly painful choice: either hide and let the world decay under this mysterious futuristic force, or rescue humanity from oppression, knowing that there’s someone out there who is willing to use any means necessary to stop him.

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Welcome, Grace! So glad to have you today! To start off can you tell us what was the strangest thing that you researched in order to help bring Implant to life?

Probably cigarette smoking.  I have a character who smokes nonstop, so I wanted to make sure I portrayed that well, including the effect it would have on his voice and such.  Either that or how corpses look on a battlefield.

Interesting! Very diverse topics. Are you planning more books within the Implant “universe”?

Not planning, exactly.  I have ideas for two more books, but they’re still nebulous, and it would depend on how much people liked this one.  But they are pretty awesome ideas, if I do say so myself.  So we’ll see!

Well I know I really want to read this book and I’m sure that I’ll be looking for more! If you knew you were going to leave an unfinished manuscript behind, what would you do?

I’d be sure to make it very vague and mysterious, and leave off at the most cliff-hangery place possible, to give people plenty to talk about!

Haha! That’s really the only way to go isn’t it? As a writer I know that a little bit of myself ends up in almost every character I write. What personal attributes do you share with one or all of your characters?

Gordon is a lot like I’d be if I were a boy, I think.  He has zero confidence, but at the same time he’s stubborn and thinks pretty highly of his own ideas and opinions.  Much like myself.  He’s also a worrier, fearful, and isolates himself.  But he has a lot of compassion and really wants to help people.

Sounds like a great character! Now for some fun/random questions!

Who are you in a parallel world?

Probably a rather rebellious fantasy princess who’d rather ride horses and read books than attend social functions.  Which sounds a bit like Brave, now that I think about it…

Hey there’s nothing wrong with Brave! Actually that sounds like who I’d be…Is there a language you wish you spoke?

French.  I’ve always wanted to.  It sounds so pretty!

Nice! French (and all languages) kind of intimidate me. OK! Last question. You are stuck in a magic elevator with only three buttons. Floor 1 takes you to the age of the dinosaurs, Floor 2 opens into a book printing shop where you might get chased by an angry cyborg, and Floor 3 opens to a spaceport preparing to launch a shuttle to a new planet. Which do you choose?

Floor three, hands down!  I’ve always wanted to go to space.  I’d probably get cold and freaked out and miserable, but the idea appeals to me!

Space is scary, but I guess it might be better than the alternative of dinosaurs after watching Jurassic World. 😛 Thanks for stopping by, Grace! I very much enjoyed having you over! 

Thank you for having me, Claire!

About the Author: 

J. Grace Pennington has been reading stories as long as she can remember, and writing them almost as long. She is also a prolific medical transcriptionist, amateur musician, chocolate eater, daughter, sister, friend, and laundry folder. She lives in Texas, and if she was part of the Implant society, her role in the rebellion would probably be monitoring current events and correspondence in the computer center.

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