TVS:  Aubrie Dionne is the author of a book with a very intriguing title…Tundra 37.  Today, as part of her blog tour, I’m going to ask her some questions and she’s going to tell us a bit about it.  So let’s get going.

AD: Tundra 37 is the name of the planet they crash land on. Every planet in the New Dawn series is named after its habitat. Sahara 354 is a dessert, Paradise 21 is a paradise, and Tundra 37 is a frozen wasteland! Since the first book was all about being too hot, I thought I’d go the opposite way for the second one.

TVS: How much freedom do you give your characters? Do they fall into line, or stray from the path you set out for them?

AD: I let them roam wherever the story takes them. I follow their hearts, not my own. In fact, in an earlier book, the heroine fell in love with the wrong man, and I had to go back and rewrite parts of the book to make their relationship work. Like- he died in the original version, and I can’t have that, now can I?

TVS: What was the most challenging part of writing Tundra 37?

AD: Balancing all of the viewpoints and the flashbacks. I wanted to give the reader insight into what had happened in the past, but I didn’t want to bog the story down. I constantly questioned every chapter to make sure it was integral to the plot.

TVS: Do you ever get writer’s block? And if so, how do you conquer it?

AD: I get writer’s block every day! Usually I take a walk, do laundry, practice my flute, read a good book, any of those things and it frees up the words.

TVS: Tell us what you love most about the heroine in Tundra 37?

AD: I love how she’s smart and shy: unlike so many snarky, aggressive heroines nowadays. She has to overcome her inhibitions if she’s ever to complete the mission and win the heart of the man she loves.

TVS:  Now for some of those silly, Fun Stuff questions that have absolutely nothing to do with writing.  (But are nice to know.)  What’s your:

Favorite band, Favorite hot drink, favorite color, favorite food, and…last but not least…favorite smell?

AD: Um…does an orchestra count? I like the BSO.  Favorite hot drink: Coffee, and lots of it! Favorite colour: Blue.  Favorite food: Pasta.  Favorite smell: Wow, I’ve never been asked this before. Ummmm…I like the smell of lilacs in the summer. The lilac is the state flower of NH- where I live.

TVS:  And now, an excerpt.

 

I’m losing her.

Bysme guides the vessel in silence, her blind eyes rolling as she senses our course, two hundred years away from Paradise 18. She’s scattered her thoughts among the stars, and her mind drifts farther from the sister I once knew. I fear the machine has engulfed her individuality. She’s forgotten the meaning of our goal, the oath we took three centuries ago. Most of all, she’s forgotten me, creating an emptiness inside me more profound than the desolation surrounding us.

If I had my arms, I’d reach out to comfort her and usher her back from the black abyss spread before us. As children, I kept her alive through the destruction, signing us up for the Expedition and winning two tickets off Old Earth before it succumbed to hell. But can I save her now?

I send impulses through my brainwaves and into the ship. Bysme, do you hear me?

Unlike her, I have one operating eye and can see the control chamber we hang from. Twisting my head, I search her features. Her skeletal face twitches. She writhes and the wires holding her in place stretch taut. I wonder what I’ve done to us, the shock of our disembodiment jolting me. Every input hole drilled into my skull snakes with activity. The ship surges through me, a vast intranet of information, names, status charts, and infinite trajectories. If I couldn’t feel the cold, regulated air on the remnants of my torso, I’d be lost in the machine too. I remind myself of our mission and the perseverance flows into my veins.

She doesn’t respond and the fear wells up from within me. Can I guide the ship alone? I realize I’ve left her at the helm for too long while I drifted into memories.

Status of Beta Prime? Bysme speaks in monotone computer speech as she turns to the corner of the main control deck where the orb glistens, tempting us with the mysteries hidden in the cosmic swirls within its core. Sometimes, I wish we’d blasted the ball off the hull after its tendrils attached to the outer frame instead of recovering it for study. We’ve guarded it for so long, Project Beta Prime has become part of us, yet we’re further than ever from unlocking its secrets. All I know is the insistence of my memories, like ghosts that refused to be ignored.

Unchanged. The weight of my voice in our mindspeak reflects my disappointment. Like everything else.

Bysme falls silent, and I scan the systems searching for answers that aren’t there.

TVS:  Following are the Buy Links for Tundra 37:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tundra-37-aubrie-dionne/1108616503?ean=2940014020817

http://www.amazon.com/Tundra-37-New-Dawn-ebook/dp/B0076P44JA

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COMMENTS

Interesting excerpt and concept.  Sounds like a winning series.  I let my characters tell me the story, and sometimes I end up in a place I never expected to be.

 

Linda Nightingale