A year ago, my friend Stacee from Adventures of a Book Junkie, sent a book from a new author that she absolutely loved.  That book was Ten by Gretchen McNeil.  I stayed up all night reading it because it was complex, thrilling and I couldn’t wait to see how it ended.  Once I knew Gretchen was coming out with a new book, I jumped at the chance to interview her.  Thankfully, she said yes to answer some of my questions here on Books-n-Kisses today.

1. Tell me about your new release 3:59.

3:59 sci-fi doppelganger horror (that’s a genre, right?) about two girls who are the same girl in parallel universes, who discover that their worlds connect every twelve hours for exactly one minute at 3:59. When they decide to switch places, all hell breaks loose. Literally.

2. Where did you come up with the idea for this book?

This sounds so cliche’, but I was driving home from work one day, and there was a traffic light turning red.  I had a split second to decide: gun it or slam on the brakes. I braked, because I’m ever so responsible like that, then spend the rest of the time at the stop light wondering what would have happened if I hadn’t stopped.  The idea grew in my head as I drove home, the idea that there would be two girls who are the same girl but in parallel universes, living out similar but different lives.  While I was waking the dog, I started asking myself questions: What happens if these two girls meet? What happens if they switch places? The moment I got home, I emailed my agent.

3. I loved your book, Ten, and I was wondering what got you into writing suspense/horror YA?

I wanted to write the kind of books I loved to read as a teen.  I wasn’t exactly a Sweet Valley High kind of girl.  I read Victorian ghost stories, gothic novels, mysteries and of course,  Christopher Pike.  Kind of jumble all that together, and I think that is my writing style!

4. When you write your characters, do you envision a particular actor for each character?

No. In fact, personality comes first for me, and the physical characterization grows from that.  Once the book is done, it’s very rare that I picture an actual actor playing one of my roles.  For example, the only actor I pictured for TEN was Elle Fanning as Minnie.

5. As a writer, who has had the biggest influence on you?

Agatha Christie

6. What are you working on now?

Next up is GET EVEN, the first book in the Don’t Get Mad series, due out in Fall 2014. I pitched this book as “John Hughes with a body count” which meant I got to write a lot of funny dialogue, but still murder people.

GET EVEN is about four girls at a private school who come from totally different social strata: the student leader, the A student, the drama queen, the loner punk.  Publicly, they aren’t friends. Privately, they’ve formed a secret society (Don’t Get Mad, or DGM for short) where they execute revenge missions against bullies, mean girls, and teachers who have wronged their classmates.  It goes well until one of their targets turns up dead and DGM is implicated in the murder.  The girls don’t know if one of them is the killer, or if someone else knows their secret, and they have to find out what which before someone else turns up dead.

7. What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Finish the damn book.

I know that sounds trite, but too often, I hear about authors who just jump from project to project, never finishing a novel.  You have to finish it.  HAVE TO.  That’s the only way you can improve, and the only way you can move forward in publishing!

About the Author:

Author of YA horror novels POSSESS, TEN and 3:59 (Fall 2013) as well as the upcoming YA mystery/suspense series Don’t Get Mad, beginning in 2014 with GET EVEN and continuing in 2015 with GET DIRTY. Gretchen also contributed an essay to the Dear Teen Me anthology from Zest Books.

Gretchen is a former coloratura soprano, the voice of Mary on G4’s Code Monkeys and she sings with the LA-based circus troupe Cirque Berzerk. Gretchen blogs with The Enchanted Inkpot and is a founding member of the vlog group the YARebels where she can be seen as “Monday.” She is repped by Ginger Clark of Curtis Brown, Ltd.

Website/ Twitter/ Facebook

Jennifer’s Review of 3:59

TITLE: 3:59

CHARACTERS: Josie Byrne, Nick and Madison

AUTHOR:  Gretchen McNeil

PUBLICATION DATE:  9/17/13

ORDER LINKS:  Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS: Josie Byrne’s life is spiraling out of control.  Her parents are divorcing, her boyfriend, Nick, has grown distant, and her physics teacher has it in for her. Just when Josie thinks things can’t get worse, she starts having dreams about a girl named Jo. Every night at the same time–3:59 a.m.

Jo’s life is everything Josie wants, but Josie knows it’s just a dream…until she wakes to an image of herself in the bedroom mirror. It’s Jo.

The two girls are doppelgangers whose universes overlap every twelve hours at 3:59. Fascinated by Jo’s perfect world, Josie jumps at the chance to pass through the portal and switch places for a day.  But Jo’s world is far from perfect…In fact, it’s more dangerous than Josie could ever imagine.

REVIEW PROVIDED BY: Jennifer             NUMBER OF STARS: Five Stars

REVIEW: I am always amazed at how Gretchen McNeil comes up with these brilliant ideas for books that leave me spellbound for hours.  Her new novel, 3:59, tells the story of Josie Byrne, whose life is falling apart after discovering that her boyfriend, Nick, cheated on her with her own best friend.  In the middle of all this, strange occurrences seem to be happening to her at home, where she is experiencing dreams of a girl that is exactly like her.  Same name, same life except to Josie everything seems perfect for her other self.  These glimpses into this alternate world happen every 12 hours at 3:59 and Josie makes plans to trade lives for just one day to experience how things would be if they were perfect.  Once Josie gets her wish, she is faced with a deadly reality and her hopes for returning home are smashed with the ultimate act of betrayal.

I liked Josie because I felt for her when she discovered that Nick was cheating on her and she seemed to be the last person in her school to know. That heartbreak and embarrassment is horrible as a teenager and I could see her wanting a break even if it was just for 24 hours. Once, she changes worlds, she learns that everything that looked so wonderful on the outside was in fact, a living nightmare.  Nick wasn’t her boyfriend and never was here, her alternate self was a manipulating bully and there was something dangerous hunting people at night.  Then she finds that she can’t return home and may be trapped there forever with no one that she is able to trust.

3:59 is an amazing sci-fi fantasy with a complex storyline that provides such an array of twists and turns that will keep you guessing. Gretchen McNeil has provided an exciting well-written story that I know will have Hollywood knocking.  To me, everything that she writes is magnificent and 3:59 has risen to the top of the list.