Feature Friday - Interview with Stina Lindenblatt

Feature Friday is a feature on Bookish Treasures that spotlights an author and their latest release. Every Friday I will be featuring an author through either an interview or a guest post. If you are interested in taking part please send me an email.

This week I am featuring Stina Lindenblatt whose amazing Debut Novel released this week! You can check out my review of it here - http://bookishtreasures.blogspot.com/2014/01/tell-me-when-release-day-review-and.html

Tell Me When by Stina Lindenblatt

Synopsis

Amber Scott should be enjoying life as a college freshman. She should be pursuing her dream of becoming a veterinarian. She should be working hard to make sense of her precalculus math class.

She shouldn’t be waking up her college roommate with screaming nightmares. She shouldn’t be flashing back, reliving the three weeks of hell she barely survived last year. And she definitely shouldn’t be spending time with sexy player Marcus Reid.

But engineering student Marcus is the only one keeping Amber from failing her math course, so she grudgingly lets him into her life. She never expects the king of hookups will share his painful past. Or that she’ll tell him her secrets in return, opening up and trusting him in a way she thought she’d never be able to again.

When their fragile future together is threatened by a stalker Amber thought was locked away for good, Marcus is determined to protect her. And Amber is determined to protect Marcus…even if that means pushing him away.

Try it for yourself! Goodreads | Amazon | Amazon UK

Interview with Stina Lindenblatt

Why did you decide to become an author?

When I was about eight years old, I was a reluctant reader. Then one day I picked up the first book from the Famous Five series by Enid Blyton. I fell in love with the book and gobbled up the rest of the series. It was then that I decided I wanted to be an author.

How do you balance writing with other things in your life?

LMAO!!!! I don’t, especially when I’m on deadline. Fortunately I have a supportive family and they help out. I do make an effort, though, to be physically active.  

What is your favourite thing about being an author?

I love doing research, though in the case of stalking, what I learned was enough to give most people nightmares. Watching Criminal Minds and calling it “research” was great too. lol

What are your favourite books?

There are so many, but anything by Katie McGarry , Christina Lee, Simone Elkeles, Cora Carmack, Tammara Webber is a must read for me.  

Are there any books/authors that inspired you to write?

Katie McGarry writes raw and emotion-packed stories. I read Pushing the Limits four times to analyze it. I cried every time when I got to one scene. That’s the kind of story I love to write.

Describe your book in one sentence.

When PTSD proves to be too much, the only person who can help the college freshman pass her math class is a sexy engineering student who wants to add her to his list of conquests.

Where did you get the idea for Tell Me When? Did anything inspire you to write it?

Stats show that high school and college students are the most frequent victims of stalking. I was stalked while in university, and I know from talking to other writers that they too had been stalked while in high school or college. Fortunately most don’t go through what Amber had to deal with, but there are many victims who were killed by their stalker. And even if you survive it, the experience changes you.

What made you decide to write a New Adult contemporary romance novel?

At the recommendation of the friend, I read Easy by Tammara Webber and was hooked on both the story and the voice. Before this I was writing edgy YA with characters who were seventeen or eighteen years old. It wasn’t much of a stretch to transition over to NA.

What would you say makes your book unique and worth reading?

While I might use the same common tropes/topics we frequently see in NA, I do have a unique take on them. My approach surprised many reviewers, in a good way.

Tell Me When has some dark subject matter such as the aftermath of being a victim of stalking and kidnapping.  What made you decide to feature such difficult topics?

I wanted to go beyond writing a thriller about a stalker hunting down the main character (or her family). In real life, it’s not a happily-ever-after ending once the stalker is caught (if he’s caught). The emotional trauma is going to have an impact on the individual’s life. I wanted to explore that, but I also wanted to write about hope.

Where any aspects of the book hard for you to write?

Most definitely. The big scene where we learn what happened to Marcus in his past left me sobbing every time I edited it, mostly because it’s revealed in a flashback. Another aspect that was tricky to write dealt specifically with the romance side of things (i.e. anything to do with intimacy). It wasn’t enough to have a hot guy, who is an amazing kisser, kiss Amber and everything will be all right. It wasn’t. I had to take care that every scene that involved kissing was authentic to what Amber had gone through in the past and how she would have reacted.

Is there any specific message you wanted to convey in the book?

The big message would be that if you suspect you’re being stalked, take it seriously. Because if you don’t, your life and that of your friends and family might never be the same again.

What are your plans for future books?

My editor has the next book in the series, but I don’t have a release date (or title) yet. I’m hoping to write Chase’s story (Marcus’s best friend). Everyone has been asking for it. I’m also working on another NA contemporary romance, which was partly inspired from when I was an exchange student in Finland.

Do you have any hobbies and Interests unrelated to books?

I love photography, especially close-up photography. My kids cringe whenever I decide to take just “one” picture of something. One usually turns into fifty. lol

Would you ever consider putting these (answer to above) into any of your books?

I have and it’s in the book inspired by my trip to Finland. I swear it isn’t an autobiography, though some of the scenes were inspired by real life events. Like the one with the NHL hockey player. (Yes, I’m a total tease.)

FUN STUFF

If you could meet any one author (dead or alive) who would it be and why?

Katie McGarry. I’m a huge fan of her books, and she’s a super sweet and incredibly supportive person. You can tell she cares about her readers.

Tell us one interesting fact about yourself.

My high school guidance counsellor told me not to bother with university. I would never succeed. I ignored him and have a Master’s of Science degree in exercise physiology with an interest in energy metabolism. Sure glad I didn’t listen to him.

What is your favourite food?

Mango ice cream. I could live on it.

What is the most adventurous thing you have ever done?

I was an exchange student in Finland one summer while in university, and lived with my grandparents. Who didn’t speak English. At. All. And my Finnish sucks. During that time, I went to many place, including Saint Petersburg, Russia.

If you could be any supernatural creature which would you choose?

A fairy. But not the Tinkerbell variety. I swear I’m already part fairy. I have difficulty lying.

About the Author

Born in England, Stina loves to travel, and has lived in England, the US, Canada, and Finland. She spent a semester in graduate school living in central Finland, and a summer during her undergrad degree working in Helsinki. She has a Master’s of Science degree in exercise physiology and has worked with elite athletes. In her free time, Stina is a photographer, mother of three adorable kids, and devoted wife. She currently lives in Calgary, Canada.

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