Guardians blog tour | Spotlight, Guest Post & Giveaway {Jean Book Nerd} ~ '

Publisher: HarperCollins

Format: Hardback | 432 pages

Publication date: 23 April 2015

Publication City/Country: New York

ISBN 10: 0062118579

ISBN 13: 9780062118578

The Emmy Award-nominated and Edgar Award-winning duo of Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan deliver a heart-pounding finale to the postapocalyptic teen world of the Wasteland, filled with dramatic twists and turns. Bestselling author ofCriminal, Karin Slaughter, called Wasteland "a Lord of the Flies for future generations. An irresistible page-turner."

No one dares to leave the District—the towering structure of glass and steel that is their protection against the unruly bands of Outsiders that roam Mundreel and the deadly rain that carries the disease that kills all over the age of nineteen.

This skyscraper stands amid the urban devastation, the city rumored to have once been called "Montreal." Esther and her allies have created a haven on the rooftop, a garden that flourishes, and a home for her new baby, hidden from all but the very few who know her secret. But as Gideon's power grows and factions form, the ultimate darkness is born from greed, and Esther must find a way to save the citizens from themselves.

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Guest post with Guardians co-Author Laurence Klavan

What are the pros and cons to be a co-Author?

LAURENCE: A collaboration—like a marriage—is more and less than a friendship. You’re connected in ways deeper than just pals are. But you also don’t have the “it’s-okay-if-we-don’t-speak-to-each-other-for-days-on-end” thing that pals have. Not speaking to each other for days on end isn’t good for a collaboration (or a marriage). So, to use a cliché, it’s complicated. And since we’re both collaborators and married, the complications have been doubled. The good parts have included:
1) setting something (i.e., a book) above your own selfish needs and
2) having the thrill of seeing your ideas and someone else’s blend into one.

The bad parts have included…well, why mention them? That’s why writing together and being married is complicated. You have to preserve the book and the relationship. So you have to
1) disagree in a civil way;
2) be sure you feel strongly about your side, if you’re going to argue for it; and
3) be willing to sometimes back down and trust the other’s judgment. The downside of all of that is…well, why go into it here?

But perhaps an example would be informative. In GUARDIANS, Laurence thought the character, Eli, was a nice guy and would be good partner material for our heroine, Esther. Susan thought he was too weak, cloying, not hot, etc. The compromise we came to was…Eli doesn’t end up with Esther. And the big problem with that was—anyway. We’re very happy with the books. And we’re still together. And still pals. Less than pals. And much, much more! Seriously, Susan and I have written many things by ourselves. But this trilogy would not have existed if either of us had tried to write it alone. It’s truly from the two of us, fifty-fifty. As we are in our marriage, in GUARDIANS, we’re inextricable. And that’s nice to know.

Book Nerd Spotlight

SUSAN KIM is a playwright, TV writer, and author. Her two graphic novels w/co-author Laurence Klavan, “City of Spies” (artwork by Pascal Dizin) and “Brain Camp” (artwork by Faith Erin Hicks), were published by First Second Books in 2010. “Flow: the Cultural Story of Menstruation” (co-written w/Elissa Stein) was published by St. Martin’s Griffin in 2009. Plays include the stage adaptation of Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club (Dramatists Play Service) and various one-acts that were produced in the EST Marathon, including Death and the Maiden, Rapid Eye Movement,Dreamtime for Alice (Dramatists Play Service and Farrar Strauss), and Memento Mori (Smith and Krauss). Her work has been produced internationally. Ms. Kim has been nominated five times for the Emmy and four times for the Writers Guild award for her work in both non-fiction and children’s TV; she won a WGA award in 1996 for Best Documentary. She lives in New York City, teaches dramatic writing in the MFA program at Goddard College and currently blogs for the Huffington Post.

LAURENCE KLAVAN wrote the novels, “The Cutting Room” and “The Shooting Script,” which were published by Ballantine Books. He won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for the novel, “Mrs. White,” co-written under a pseudonym. His graphic novels, "City of Spies" and "Brain Camp," were co-written with Susan Kim and published by First Second Books at Macmillan. His short work has been published in The Alaska Quarterly, Conjunctions, The Literary Review, Gargoyle, Louisville Review, Natural Bridge, Pank, Stickman Review, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, among many other journals, and a collection is forthcoming from Chizine Publications. He received two Drama Desk nominations for the book and lyrics of "Bed and Sofa," the musical produced by the Vineyard Theater in New York and the Finborough Theater in London in 2011. His one-act, "The Summer Sublet," is included Best American Short Plays 2000-2001.

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