Wahey! If you have been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know that I read and loved the teen thriller, HOLD YOUR BREATH by Caroline Green. It was an awesome read, and you can see my review HERE! I went to the blogger’s lunch run by Hot Key, Piccadilly Press, and Templar Books a couple of weeks ago. There, I met Caroline- and she’s such a lovely person! We chatted for quite a while, and I took home another copy of her book by accident. I asked Caroline, and she was happy for me to do a special giveaway for it! I was also lucky enough to interview Caroline, online, after the event. So, here’s an interview, all themed around HOLD YOUR BREATH, one of her latest teen thrillers!

You can follow Caroline by her Facebook page, or her website: https://www.facebook.com/CarolineGreenAuthor

http://www.carolinegreen.net/

•Firstly, can you tell us a little bit about HOLD YOUR BREATH, your teen thriller?

Hold Your Breath is about a 15-year-old girl called Tara who has the ability to locate lost items. This used to be a bit of a party trick within her family but things took a dark turn when she tried to help the police find a missing person,  a toddler, for the first time. Her ‘gift’ appeared to be flawed on this occasion and her involvement actually led to tragedy. So as the story begins, Tara is in a new town with her family. She pretends she doesn’t get these images of lost things or people anymore, because it caused so much trouble and heartache before. But when a nasty girl in her class called Melodie Stone leaves school suddenly, Tara keeps getting disturbing pictures in her mind that suggest Melodie has been abducted and is in serious trouble. She has to make the decision whether she should become involved to help someone she doesn’t even like and who no one else thinks is in danger. Then there’s the fact that she doesn’t even trust her gift anymore…

•What was your main inspiration that triggered the idea for the book?

Unlike my other books, Dark Ride and Cracks, this one didn’t begin with a clear mental picture. This time I played around with a number of ideas until this one started to get me excited. I knew I wanted to write a psychological thriller because I love reading that kind of book!

•Your protagonist, Tara, has a special talent: why did you decide to give her that quality?

I was really interested in exploring what it would be like to have a skill that some would perceive to be a gift, but my character sees as a curse. Because her ability is potentially a useful one for other people, it means she would sometimes be under pressure to use it, when really, she would rather not have this special ability at all. She just wants to be normal.

•If you were to meet one character from this book, that wasn’t Tara, for a day, who would you pick and why?

Well if I was about 25 years younger it would have to  be Leo! I did enjoy writing him and hope he is as a

ppealing on the page as he was in my imagination. But maybe it would be Leo’s dad, who cooks fantastic Italian food!

•Where do you write your novels?

My number one favourite writing place is the British Library. I love it there and find I can get lots done when I get the chance to spend the day there.

•Finally, do you have any advice for aspiring writers, in general or in the genre you write in?

I always say that writers must be readers first. So read, read, read, and not just in the genre you like best (although that is crucial too). All those words go in and whirl about in your brain and help you to make new stories. I really believe that. And you must want it really badly too and not let the inevitable knock-backs stop you from following your dream. It took me seven hard years of rejections to get published and I thought I would DIE from how horrible it was! But some stubbornness kept me going and I’m so glad I did.

Thank you so much, Caroline, for some brilliant interview questions! Now for a giveaway! ;D

UPDATE: Raflecopter is being stupid, and the code doesn’t let the widget show, and the link that was up previously doesn’t work. I’ve sent an email to them, but they can’t work it… so, in order to enter to win a copy of the book, please, instead, leave a comment telling me why you’d like to win HOLD YOUR BREATH!

TERMS: I will pick a winner at random fairly. The book will be sent via post, so if it gets lost or delayed I’m not responsible for it. Sorry! The giveaway is running from 12AM 7TH NOVEMBER until 12AM 21ST NOVEMBER. UK only, please, because otherwise postage is a lot of money 😦

Good luck!