Welcome to my stop on the BURN OUT tour being presented by EgmontUSA! Today I have a guest post by the author to share with you and don't forget to enter to win a SIGNED copy of the book at the bottom of the post! When you're done at my stop, make sure to head over to the next stops on the tour at Book Chic Club and Curling Up With a Good Book!
Burn Out (Burn Out #1)
Author: Kristi Helvig
Genre: YA Science Fiction/Dystopia
Release Date: April 8, 2014
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Description:
"A scorching series opener not to be missed." - Kirkus A futuristic blend of Beth Revis's Across the Universe and Lenore Appelhans's Level 2, Burn Out will satisfy the growing desire for science fiction with a thrilling story of survival, intrigue, and adventure.
Most people want to save the world; seventeen-year-old Tora Reynolds just wants to get the hell off of it. One of the last survivors in Earth's final years, Tora yearns to escape the wasteland her planet has become after the sun turns "red giant," but discovers her fellow survivors are even deadlier than the hostile environment.
Holed up in an underground shelter, Tora is alone--her brilliant scientist father murdered, her mother and sister burned to death. She dreams of living on a planet with oceans, plants, and animals. Unfortunately, the oceans dried out ages ago, the only plants are giant cacti with deadly spines, and her pet, Trigger, is a gun--one of the bio-energetic weapons her father created for the government before his conscience kicked in.
When family friend, Markus, arrives with mercenaries to take the weapons by force, Tora's fury turns to fear when government ships descend in an attempt to kill them all. She forges an unlikely alliance with Markus and his rag-tag group of raiders, including a smart but quiet soldier named James. Tora must quickly figure out who she can trust, as she must choose between saving herself by giving up the guns or honoring her father's request to save humanity from the most lethal weapons in existence.
The Inspiration for BURN OUT
Though I’ve often been asked the inspiration for BURN OUT, it’s usually been one of many interview questions and so I’ve given the ‘short version’ response. Today, I’ll give the longer version and you’ll get to see how multiple random events in a one week period culminated in the idea for BURN OUT.
First, my hubby and I love all things space and often watch documentaries on the Science channel, NatGeo, etc. One night, we watched a documentary that addressed what would happen when our sun burns out and I found it fascinating (and a little scary). The same night I heard a haunting song on Pandora and then had a vivid dream which involved the characters in BURN OUT, along with some powerful weapons I’d never seen before.
It doesn’t end there. A few days later, I was talking to my hubby on my way home from work on a scorching hot day. The thermometer in my car rose from 99 degrees to 106 on the fifteen-minute drive, and I remember feeling a flicker of fear when it just kept ticking upward. I had the thought “What if it just kept going?” I knew I had to sit down and write about the sun burning out, and everything sort of fell together—I cranked out the first draft really quickly. (Revising was much longer!) Of course, documentaries can only take one so far regarding research, so I contacted a well-respected astrophysics department at a large university for help. They were instrumental in key aspects of the book, including providing a plausible (though luckily not probable) way for our sun to burn out early. I haven’t looked at a glass of water the same way again after writing this book!
Thanks so much for having me on the blog today! :)
Thanks for stopping by today and sharing the inspiration behind BURN OUT!
Excited to read this! Thanks!
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