Book 24 - The RECESSIVE soul

Kat Zhang & I :)

On Friday, June 14th, I attended a Young Author's Give Back panel at Anderson's Bookshop and met four fabulous young authors, Kat Zhang being one of them. I was ecstatic to see so many young readers and writers in attendance, soaking up everything that the authors were saying. They had been traveling around the country together giving workshops and offering advice to interested young writers. 

When the Q & A session began, I asked the writers when they decided they were going to pursue writing professionally and then how they went about incorporating writing into their days. Kat said that she had been writing since she was very young - at home, during class, etc - and I was glad to find that my writing habits had been similar to hers. Her and the other authors told me that if I want to write, I simply decide to do so and just do it. They said make writing my full-time job and treat it as such. They really encouraged me to begin working on my life-long dream!!

 

Book 24: What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang

Description: I should not exist. But I do. Eva and Addie started out the same way as everyone else—two souls woven together in one body, taking turns controlling their movements as they learned how to walk, how to sing, how to dance. But as they grew, so did the worried whispers. Why aren’t they settling? Why isn’t one of them fading? The doctors ran tests, the neighbors shied away, and their parents begged for more time. Finally Addie was pronounced healthy and Eva was declared gone. Except, she wasn’t... For the past three years, Eva has clung to the remnants of her life. Only Addie knows she’s still there, trapped inside their body. Then one day, they discover there may be a way for Eva to move again. The risks are unimaginable-hybrids are considered a threat to society, so if they are caught, Addie and Eva will be locked away with the others. And yet . . . for a chance to smile, to twirl, to speak, Eva will do anything. [GoodReads]

 

 On Friday night, I wasn't planning on purchasing Kat's novel, but the more she began to talk about its premise, I decided that hers was on that I really needed to read. Boy, am I happy I did!

I just finished this first in the Hybrid Chronicles series only minutes ago, and I'm so glad to have added this story to my repoirtore of books. Like I said, I had never before been presented with the idea of one body being born with two souls. Can you imagine sharing your body with a completely different person? One body; two souls. My name is Vanessa. My friends know me to read a lot and eat bakery. What if, tomorrow, another person takes over my body to live out her already-existing life? This concept has blown my mind!

Is this enough for you to now go out and get a copy for yourself? :)

Kat signing my book!

Meet the Author: Kat Zhang spent most of her childhood tramping through a world weaved from her favorite stories and games. When she and her best friend weren't riding magic horses or talking to trees, they were writing adaptations of plays for their stuffed animals (what would The Wizard of Oz have been like if the Cowardly Lion were replaced by a Loquacious Lamb?). This may or may not explain many of Kat's quirks today.

By the age of twelve, Kat had started her first novel and begun plans for her life as a Real Live Author (she was rather more confident at twelve than she is even now). Said plans didn't come into fruition until seven years later, when her agent sold her trilogy, The Hybrid Chronicles, to HarperCollins. The first book, WHAT'S LEFT OF ME–about a girl with two souls–will released September 18, 2012. Book 2 in the series, ONCE WE WERE, will be released September 17, 2013.

Kat is represented by Emmanuelle Morgen of Stonesong. She also performs as a Spoken Word poet and contributes to Pub(lishing) Crawl, a site for aspiring writers to talk about books, storytelling craft, and the publishing process. Kat has also had the pleasure of remote interning for a literary agent, specializing in Young Adult fiction.

When she is not exploring the world of her characters, she is exploring her own. To date, she's had the pleasure of visiting five countries, including more than half of the United States. She hopes to always keep writing and traveling. [GoodReads]

To visit Kat, follow these links:
Kat Zhang SITE
Facebook

 

UPCOMING BOOK: This Journal Belongs to Ratchet by Nancy J. Cavanaugh
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