Interview (+Giveaway!) with Sherry and Tyler authors of Extracted

Hi everyone! Earlier this month for Waiting on Wednesday, I featured the upcoming book Extracted by Sherry Ficlin and Tyler Jolley. It's got time traveling teens up to no good, ancient marvels, and steampunky goodness. I am SO excited to read it! I was lucky enough to get contacted by Sherry and was able to have a little interview with her and Tyler about their upcoming work of greatness!

Because this is my favorite random question to ask my friends, boyfriends, randoms off the street, I figured I'd break the interview ice and ask you: What are your three most recent thoughts?

I’m not sure which office I work at today.
What’s for breakfast?
Worried that Lego (my cat) got eaten by coyote or was he at his girlfriend’s house all night. Update: he came home

I’ve recently read the Beautiful Creature series (well, I’m working on book 4 now) so I’ve been thinking a lot about that (aka, mentally living in Gatlin), I’m in the midst of writing the second book in the Lost Imperials series, and there is a great scene that I’m working on that’s been consuming me lately, so there’s that, and I’m always thinking about Supernatural a little. Gotta love those Winchester boys.

Um...what? Sorry...I was off having a vivid daydream about Sam Winchester working in my garden...lol anyways, back to the questions....What are your thoughts on the whole book-turned-movie thing? I mean you get your greats like LOTR and Harry Potter...but then there's Twilight...

Oh, I abide by that saying, ‘Never judge a book by its movie.’ Generally, I think if you are a real fan of the book, the movies can only disappoint you. There is so much that has to be smushed/cut/altered to squeeze a 400+ page book into a 2 hour movie. I think most of the Harry Potters were really well done, but at the end of the day, they still don’t hold a candle to the books. On the flip side of that, if you aren’t a huge fan of the book, a movie can make you want to read it. I read the first Beautiful Creatures book, and it didn’t work for me. I don’t know exactly why, but I was just sort of, meh. But I really enjoyed the movie. It was very different from the book, but since I wasn’t obsessively in love with the book, that was ok with me. It actually made me want to continue reading the series. Otherwise, I may not have.
Some books adapted into movie I don’t enjoy it as much as the book because the director took too much creative directions, i.e. Percy Jackson& the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Then there are adaptations like The Hunger Games, which was great. I’m fine with it, but is Hollywood doing it just to make money? I miss a really good screen written movie; the last one I remember that was really awesome was Inception. I wonder if Hollywood has lost is creativity and relying on books for their screenplays. On the flip side, there are some really great authors who write some amazing stories and those have been great movies. If anyone ever wanted to make Extracted into a movie I would say yes, 100%.
Yeah, I suppose no matter how the movie turns out it's kind of a dream to have it up on the big screen...or small screen for that matter. How long have you been writing, and do you have any authors who inspired your writing?

I’ve been writing since 2000, Nicholas Sparks was the author that inspired me to write. I was watching Oprah and he was explaining that the fastest way to pay off student loans from Pharmacy school was to write books. That’s what inspired me to write Neto Lexan and the Impox Secret when I was in dental school. Now I look up to a lot of authors, the list is too long to list.
I feel like I’ve been writing forever, but I’ve been writing ‘professionally’ (and I use the term loosely) for about six years now. That is, writing with the goal of publishing. I wrote fan-fiction for years before that. It’s a great arena to learn the craft and test the waters. As for authors who inspire me, there are too many to name.

Oh wow...A dude who likes Nicholas Sparks...Snap him up now ladies!!! Do you guys have any authors that you would read ANYTHING they wrote, be it an epic Novel, free-verse-poetry, or Saturday morning comic?

Not really. Man, I’m such a genre snob. I’ve had authors do whole series that I loved, and then I picked up something else they wrote and lost interest immediately. It’s always the story that calls to me more than author loyalty. Though I’m much more likely to try something new from an author whose other work I’ve enjoyed.

Jennifer L. Armentrout, in my opinion she changed the YA world. I never get bored with her books. James Dashner, I feel invested in him and the characters he’s created.

Haven't read any James, but I definitely agree with you about Jennifer! When writing do you have any quirks? (i.e. must listen to music, has to have fuzzy bunny slippers on, needs to drink chamomile tea with ¾ of a lemon twist, must be watching the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire slayer on repeat, etc)

I do, and they change for each book. The scents, the stuff on my desk, even the clothes I write in are specific to each story. What works for one, won’t usually work for another. I just try to surround myself with things that inspire me at the time. For Extracted, I had pictures of my characters pinned all over my walls, got some vintage light bulbs that create a really unique light for my office, and cluttered my desk with random keys, metal scraps, and steampunk trinkets.

I write the best when I’m laying in bed. I find it easier to write if I’m laying down, and my four kids aren’t crawling all over me.
When creating a book, do you create the characters or the plot first, and which do you think is more important for the reader to enjoy?

The plot. But I think the characters are more important.

Almost always one or two of the characters come to me first, but I don’t really get to know them until I begin creating the plot. Once I see how they fit into the plot playground, I can really whittle them out from there. That said, the plot is always just the backdrop for me. What’s really cool is dumping my characters into the fire and seeing how they react. That’s what makes you love or hate them, and by extension the story.

What drew you towards writing Steampunk?

The introduction to that genre was solely due to Sherry. I kind of knew what it was but Sherry steered me with the gear. Lol

I take full credit for that, though I really sort of stumbled onto it. Once I realized the characters were time travelers, I began poking around at the edges of melding the classic and the modern. The genre of steampunk just sort of fell into that scope perfectly. Once we started writing it, we both knew it was perfect for the world we saw inside our heads.

You guys work as a pair...can that get confusing sometimes as you write? How do you manage that without re-writing the same scenes, or contradicting each other?

It’s a good thing that we live in the same city and write by scenes versus chapters. We read each other’s work all the time and bouncing ideas off of each other. When we’re writing we contact each other constantly, thank goodness for iphones.

Our editing process can be difficult. The lengths we have to go to making everything mesh and be cohesive is a struggle. But at the end of the day, we think in very similar terms and ways, so we are able to complement each other well. We are also very good at taking an idea and bringing it to the other person in a way that we can both see and understand it, which makes translating it to a reader much easier.
Sounds...complicated...lol, Can you us a little more about Extracted?

Whoa that was a loaded question. It’s a really phenomenal blend of time-travel and steampunk, laced with a little bit of sci-fi. The majority of steampunk novels are written with certain dialects (ie Old English), where Extracted breaks the mold in that aspect.

Extracted is the story of Lex and Ember. They were stolen from their places in history and recruited to opposing sides in this ongoing battle for control of the time stream. The factions each have their own agendas and methods and they have been trained to hate, and when possible, kill each other. It’s really about their lives and what happens when the people they have been taught to hate end up being people they love. At its core, it’s very much about these two kids who have to decide who they want to be once they remember who they were, about letting the past dictate the future. They make a lot of mistakes along the way (who doesn’t at 17?) but they are also willing to do whatever they have to in order to make things right.

Which character from the book is your favorite, AND which one do you identify with the most?

I probably identify with Ember most. She’s my reluctant heroine. A lot of the time, she lets her emotions override her better judgment. I think I’m like that in a lot of ways. But she’s also very focused and once she’s made up her mind, that is that. Stubborn. But my favorite character is Stein. She’s so…Buffy, you know? Save the world now, deal with emotional crisis later. She’s so strong, but there’s something under the surface that we don’t really get to explore until book 2. How’s that for a teaser?

Claymore is my favorite character, he is the leader of The Hollows. I identify with Nobel and Ethan the most

Ohhh! A Buffy character! I adore Buffy! (Still watch the seasons when I'm working out and cleaning....Musical episode is the best!) How many books do you see for the Lost Imperials Series?

Right now, I think it’s really endless. There are so many characters we want to explore and stories we want to tell, who knows? I know we are planning three to complete this part of the story arc. We may branch out more from there. Three for sure.

Yeah, three.
Sweet, sounds awesome! Are there any other projects you'd like to mention? (Shameless plug time!)

I’m working on the second book of Neto Lexan and The Lost Imperials. I’m also working a book that kills urban fantasy.

I have another YA series, The Gods of Fate. Foresight, Second Sight, and Hindsight. They are all available now. I also have an adult paranormal series, Palmetto Moon. Book one, Born of Blood is available now, and book two, Grave Secrets, will be releasing in March. And of course there’s always more in the pipeline. Right now, TLI is my main focus.
I'll have to check those out while I'm waiting for Extracted! Random question time: Chocolate, Strawberry or Vanilla ice cream?

Vanilla, wait a little bit of each.

You are going to hate this, but I don’t really eat ice cream. I’m not a big fan of cold food. Now, warm brownies…

French Bulldogs or Hairless Kitties?

Bulldogs.

I’ve always wanted a naked mole rat. Someday I’ll have one and I will name him Rufus. If you know why, we can be friends. If you don’t, we can still maybe be friends. Maybe.

High Five on the Naked mole rat Sherry! I may be biased because I have my own hairless kitty-kat...but how can you not love something that runs around starkers all the time?! Okay, last but not least, what is ONE thing you want to tell my followers and your readers before you have to go?

Thank you to all the fans who have gotten excited for Extracted. I also really appreciate the bloggers. They have been a HUGE part of this ride for us and we appreciate all they’ve done for us without even knowing the entire book yet. We just appreciate everyone’s support.

Just, thank you. Without readers, writing books would be rather pointless, don’t you think? And of course, thank YOU for having us!

No thank YOU guys for being here! Dude, if you followers aren't as excited for Extracted as I am, I don't know what to tell you...you're probably some dead zombie with no clue what's up...Sherry and Tyler are offering up this fabulous replica dive helmet (Perhaps heralding from a classic Steampunk Tale like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea?) for one lucky participant in Let's Get Steamy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway