Friday, September 13, 2013

YA Sci Fi ~ Trust by Thea Larson (ROYA #21)

Looking for your next YA read? Then look no further.



TRUST (ACCEPTANCE #1)


When the crew of a Terran spaceship discover a ship filled with illicit experiments in genetic engineering, they are not prepared for the catboy named June. Dr. Risa Magee becomes his mother figure and the two of them face prejudice from Risa's peers over June's inhuman nature. Risa struggles to prove June's humanity as June focuses on learning a world that is unknown to him.



THEA LARSON



The world didn't quite know what it was getting itself into when Thea was born. She came into the world in Germany, 1987, as the child of an American service member and the future author JT Larson. Writing has always been in Thea's blood, but she kind of had to work her way to it. Her heart was stolen early on by video games and anime. Eventually, a pen and notebook found its way into her hand and the rest is history. In the present day, Thea lives in Louisiana and works at Wal-Mart. When not doing that, she's traversing many fantasy

lands in search of fame, fortune, and adventure.



A LITTLE Q&A WITH THEA LARSON

Q: What was the inspiration behind this book?

June. Amnesia is a favorite plot point of mine, and so I wanted to craft a character with that as his central premise. The innocence and curiosity that total amnesia allows appeals to me in many ways. Once I realized June as a complete character, I began to search for a reason for him to be. I made him a catboy because of pure Author Appeal - I love catboys. The feline ears on top of the head allow for a wide range of emotions to show. They allow also for a deeper glimpse into a character's head. If June says he's fine, but his ears are back, then you know he's not really. The catboy aspect in the end became a greater part of his character than his amnesia. It is because he's a catboy that he's hated, but ultimately it's his innocence that endears him to people.

Q: Is there a particular theme or message you are trying to convey in your story? If so, what?

The novel has a central theme of trust. June first has to Trust Risa not to hurt him, and when she doesn't, that's when their relationship begins. Risa has to trust that he's not a monster like all non-humans must be, and when his innocence wins her over, she can't help her maternal instincts.

There are a few secondary themes as well. There is one scene that I'm sure many Americans can relate to with their health coverage. Overall, however, the theme that I feel people will take away from this is that family is family. They don't have to be your blood relation, they don't have to be human, but once you establish that bond, you're family.

Q: What's your next project?

I'm not entirely sure. The short I wrote about Ame and Faizah tickled the plotbunnies and I kind of want to flesh out their universe a bit more. I'm definitely plotting on Trust's sequel, though. The series itself is going to be called the Acceptance series, because the whole series is about getting over humanity's militant Xenophobia. I don't know when I'll have time for it though! Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has taken up a lot of my time. I made a Miqo'te and named him after June. The Miqo'te are catboys, naturally.



Q: Who is your favorite character to write?

June! Like I said, amnesia is one of my favorite plots. It's fun getting into his head and seeing the world from the perspective of someone who doesn't know it. One of my favorite scenes from Trust is the scene where Risa sits June down to start teaching him words. It's from June's point of view, and Risa's trying to teach him what an apple is. June has no concept of color at this point, no words for it, and so trying to describe the apple was challenging but fun. My next favorite was Gary. He has complex motivations and so writing his first scene without giving anything away was a challenge! I enjoyed the challenge though. I write what interests me the most, and this was definitely interesting.

Oh, and Trevor. Let's not forget him. I hate him because spoilers, but I can't deny that he was fun. He has a grand total of one scene, but that one scene sets him up as a major factor in June's life. I hope I get to write as him again in a future book!

Q: What do you like to do when you're not writing?

As mentioned above, gaming. I'm an MMO nomad - I wander between MMORPGs regularly. There are three that I play when I don't have something new (Eden Eternal, MapleStory, and Digimon Masters Online), but I'm always eager to try out a new game. I like games with interesting stories, so when not MMOing I like to play JRPGs. I just bought Kingdom Hearts HD1.5 Remix and it's been fun to play so far. Roxas's story made me cry again!

When I'm not gaming, I'll be writing little things that I can't sell or watching anime. I love yaoi, I'll say that right here, and so all of the fanservice in Free! Iwatobi Swim Club makes me giggle. I also love anime with a great plot, like Fullmetal Alchemist or Durarara. I've also been watching Digimon Adventure on Netflix, subbed. My childhood relived, in Japanese!

Q: Tell me 3 things about yourself that are not connected to writing.

That's a toughie! I love to write so much that I even think about it when I can't write. I'm constantly plotting something or other. Um, I guess I love Loki? By Loki I mean the character presented in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, not the mythological figure. I invited him into my head for a few days just to try and see how he is and it was wonderful. The tragedy! The snark!

Hm, two more things... I don't know! I'm boring, I guess that could be a thing. I come home and play video games or write. The only times I go out are to go see a movie, or go eat, or shop. Oh, and to work of course. I work in the Electronics Department at Wal-Mart. That could be a thing too? That's better than boring! We'll go with Wal-Mart.

Thing three... oh, I go to anime conventions! I love to hit up the gaming room there and see who all is playing what. My favorite game room was Louisianime, um, 2012? They had a grand setup with Just Dance and Dance Central, as well as a table fill with Ipads. There was this rhythm game that was totally fun. I also enjoy Mechacon because of the MechCorps simulators. They let you drive a virtual mecha in a real cockpit! Well, a simulated real cockpit.



Connect with Thea Larson
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