Blog Tour: Interview with Melissa West, Author of Gravity
Gravity (The Taking #1)by Melissa West
Published November 20, 2012
by Entangled Teen
Find it: Goodreads │ Amazon │ Barnes & Noble
In the future, only one rule will matter:
Don’t. Ever. Peek.
Seventeen-year-old Ari Alexander just broke that rule and saw the last person she expected hovering above her bed — arrogant Jackson Locke, the most popular boy in her school. She expects instant execution or some kind of freak alien punishment, but instead, Jackson issues a challenge: help him, or everyone on Earth will die.
Ari knows she should report him, but everything about Jackson makes her question what she’s been taught about his kind. And against her instincts, she’s falling for him. But Ari isn’t just any girl, and Jackson wants more than her attention. She’s a military legacy who’s been trained by her father and exposed to war strategies and societal information no one can know — especially an alien spy, like Jackson. Giving Jackson the information he needs will betray her father and her country, but keeping silent will start a war.
The Overstuffed Bookcase (TOB): Top 5 words to describe your book?
TOB: Top 5 words to describe your main character, Ari?
MW: Intelligent, driven, tough, caring, moral.
TOB: Top 5 books you’ve read this year?
MW: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, MY LIFE NEXT DOOR, SWEET EVIL, INBETWEEN, and THE DIVINERS.
TOB: Top 5 items you have to have nearby while writing?
MW: Pen, paper, highlighter, my cell phone, and a bottle of water.
TOB: Top 5 places to write/read?
MW: I actually don’t have 5 favorite places for either. I typically write in my room with the door closed in my glider. :) I read anywhere I can.
TOB: Top 5 books you’d want to save from your house in an emergency?
MW: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, THE HUNGER GAMES, HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE, WHERE SHE WENT, and A WRINKLE IN TIME.
TOB: Top 5 tips for aspiring writers?
MW: Read constantly. Pay attention to what works in books you enjoy. Have people critique your work and listen openly to their suggestions. Revise as often as needed. Put your work away and come back to it with fresh eyes.
TOB: Top 5 literary characters?
MW: Elizabeth Bennet, Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen, Meg Murry, Frodo Baggins.
TOB: Top 5 book boyfriends?
MW: Dimitri Belikov, Jace Wayland, Kaidan Rowe, Peeta Mellark, Tobias “Four” Eaton.
TOB: Top 5 authors you’d want to have dinner with?
MW: Suzanne Collins, Madeleine L’Engle, Libba Bray, Melissa Marr, Lois Lowry.
TOB: Top 5 messages you want readers to take from Gravity?
MW: –GRAVITY takes a look at war and whether there is a right or wrong, a good or bad, when so many people are impacted.
-GRAVITY at root is about how we handle what is different.
-I hope readers see that Ari is both tough and sensitive.
MW: 666 Park Avenue, Top Chef, Project Runway, Hart of Dixie, Friends.
TOB: Top 5 favorite movies?
MW: The Wizard of Oz, Tombstone, Pretty Woman, Pride & Prejudice, Matrix.
About Melissa
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Amy
November 20, 2012 at 10:18 pmGreat post!! See I never really wondered why Ari trusts Jackson so much, I just thought she fell for him rather quickly. I know why he fell for her so quick, he has been falling for her forever. Dude!! 666 Park Avenue is awesome. I love that show.
fakesteph
November 21, 2012 at 3:33 amI love this interview idea and Melissa West seems totally charming. I love the advice for aspiring authors, so I'll forgive her for picking Dmitri over Adrian. ;)
Kimberly @ On the Wings of Books
November 21, 2012 at 11:09 amGreat interview Andrea! I love how diverse her tastes are.
Kate Midnight Book Girl
November 24, 2012 at 5:59 pmI love your question style, Andrea, it definitely made for an interesting author interview! I love knowing what books, movies, shows, characters authors love because it really tells me if they have good taste… which in turn usually leads to them being good writers! I also find it interesting that she'd take Goblet of Fire out of all the HP books… I'd really have to think about that one!