Talitha Kalago is a 28 year old Australian writer. Her first young adult novel, Lifesphere Inc: Acquisition was released on the 20th of May.

Lifesphere Inc: Acquisition tells the story of Eli, a thirteen year old orphan living in an immense garbage tip that rings the city. He sells trash to survive, while on the Topside, citizens live in hedonistic luxury. Eli dreams of obtaining citizenship by becoming a handler; bonded with a bio-organic life form called a meka.

On the Topside, handlers are celebrities, pitting their skills in televised meka battles. But new legislation will only allow those with citizenship to become handlers and Eli can’t raise the money to buy a meka before the law is passed.

A grifter named Kalex offers Eli a trade: meka of his own, if he competes in an illegal fight to the death.

So Talitha, is it true all your skin once rotted off?

Well, not all my skin, but a lot of it. At the end of 2008 I contracted Steven Johnson Syndrome, which is a very rare allergy like reaction where the body begins to eat itself. It’s a lot like having second or third degree burns, all over the body.

In my case, it went into my organs too. My stomach, intestines, liver and lungs were all badly damaged, and then it went into my brain and left me chronically ill with liver tumours and daily crippling migraines.

Actually I was living in Victoria at the time, and I was still very ill when the black Saturday bush fires happened. I was slathered in a thick layer of white paraffin all the time and packed in ice. I slept with my feet over the side of the bed in a bucket of ice water and with ice packs all over my arms and chest. Often, we were afraid to leave the house and take me to the hospital in case the fires got close and we wouldn’t be allowed home.

I wrote a novel over those few months of rotting skin and bushfires, and the white paraffin all over my hands ruined the keyboard completely. I actually finished Lifesphere Inc right before I got sick. The story I wrote with no skin was a horror novel.

In your new young adult novel Lifesphere Inc, one of the two main characters is in a wheelchair. Are her experiences a reflection of your experiences?

Squall is by far the most vivacious and optimistic of the characters. She’s capable, funny, kind and well educated. She’s also in a wheelchair, which gives her a lot of obstacles to overcome–usually literally–however it’s not her defining feature. If anything, she uses it to her advantage, cheekily getting sympathy for her condition to keep herself and Eli out of trouble.

The second book in the Lifesphere Inc series, Duplicity, is from Squall’s perspective instead of Eli’s. We get to see a lot more of what makes her tick and what she’s willing to sacrifice to save someone else’s life.

I love all my characters, but she is my favourite. The experiences I write for her are very different to my experiences, but we share the same outlook and both try and make the best of everything.

How do you manage to fit writing into your schedule?

Between the occasional flesh eating disease and trying to stop my horrible dingo-dog hybird from destroying the house, you mean? Being chronically ill I have to fight for every coherent second. Sometimes being sick wins and I spend the day watching back to back horror films and hoping someone will show up and feed me, because I can’t stand up long enough to cook.

However most excuses people have for not writing (including mine) are bollocks. My hands were one of the worst affected places when my Steven Johnson’s was in its acute stage. I wrote a novel with no skin on my fingers. I was pounding away on a keyboard slick with paraffin with raw flesh and you’re telling me you can’t write 500 words in your lunch break? You can’t give up a few TV shows and write in the evening? You can’t get up a half hour earlier? No? Catch public transport to work and write on the train then.

Writing is my schedule. I treat it like a full time job or a home business. At the very least you have to take it seriously, because if you don’t, no one will.

What triggers your creativity?

I assume it was passing through the birth canal. To say I was precocious is somewhat of an understatement. By 12 months I was putting on my own cloth and safety pin diapers. I wasn’t toilet trained, but goddamnit, I was going to dress myself.

Shortly after that I started telling stories. That’s a nice way of putting it. Really, I was just a spectacularly accomplished liar. I would approach strangers and make up outlandish stories which people would inevitably believe because then they’d come up to my mother and ask if they could help her with the injured kangaroo she had in the back seat of the car.

I also use to sell things to people, like handfuls of sand, rocks or leaves and was always showing up with pockets of change I’d conned out of baffled passersby.

I recorded my first oral stories on a cassette player around four. I finished my first written story at age six. But in truth I probably started making up crazy nonsense somewhere around two and a half. I just keep doing it, every day, and hope people keep buying rocks off me.

In your opinion how important are writer’s groups to you, pros and cons etc?

A great writer’s group is one of the best supports a writer can have. A bad one will do more harm than good.

Every group needs someone who is good at organising. There is a lot of hassle involved, even in an online group and a common way groups fail is when that person gets burnt-out and there is no one to take their place.

Another huge problem groups can have is bullying. One bad egg can sour everyone else and petty infighting can quickly turn a group from a literary resource into a malicious gossip circle. Often it is people who succeed who are the targets. Jealousy is a cruel mistress.

I am in an amazing writers group and I will tell you why it works:

1. We have an amazing organiser and leader whom the core group supports implicitly.

2. Everyone understands that a rising tide floats all boats. We work toward our own achievements, but we also support and promote everyone else in the group. The more success my fellow writers have, the more they can help me and visa versa.

3. Honest, kind and thoughtful feedback. Give the feedback you want to receive. We all genuinely want everyone else’s books to be the best they can. All feedback is given with the aim of improving the work in question.

Lifesphere Inc: Acquisition has just been released, but when can we expect to see book 2?

When do you want it? Book 1 will always be available for free anywhere I can list at that price (and if things changed and I couldn’t list it free anywhere, it would be free on my website) and the following books will be released when book 1 has reached certain download thresholds.

Even if no one buys book 2, or subsequent books, I’ll keep releasing them as long as book 1 reaches the required downloads. So if you’re keen to read the rest of the series, just keep encouraging people to download the free book.

So where can we get book 1 for free?

Right now it’s free on smashwords. Hopefully when you are reading this, it will also be free on Apple’s ibookstore, kobo and all the other retailers smashwords distributes to.

It’s also on Amazon for 99c, however Amazon don’t want people listing books for free. Sometimes they will price match though, so I am hoping it will be free on Amazon soon too when it starts getting downloaded at Kobo and Apple.

Wherever you get it, feel free to email book 1 to anyone you think might like it. Or recommend they download it themselves, if you want their download to count toward the next book.

Smashwords (free):

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/318159

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Lifesphere-INC-Acquisition-ebook/dp/B00CXGD8PS

The Bluebeard fairy tale retold. . . .

When seventeen-year-old Sophia Petheram’s beloved father dies, she receives an unexpected letter. An invitation—on fine ivory paper, in bold black handwriting—from the mysterious Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, her godfather. With no money and fewer options, Sophie accepts, leaving her humble childhood home for the astonishingly lavish Wyndriven Abbey, in the heart of Mississippi.

Sophie has always longed for a comfortable life, and she finds herself both attracted to and shocked by the charm and easy manners of her overgenerous guardian. But as she begins to piece together the mystery of his past, it’s as if, thread by thread, a silken net is tightening around her. And as she gathers stories and catches whispers of his former wives—all with hair as red as her own—in the forgotten corners of the abbey, Sophie knows she’s trapped in the passion and danger of de Cressac’s intoxicating world.

Glowing strands of romance, mystery, and suspense are woven into this breathtaking debut—a thrilling retelling of the “Bluebeard” fairy tale.  Hardcover, 352 pages  Published March 12th 2013 by Random House Children’s Books

For those readers who have some knowledge of the fairy tale of Bluebeard, the events that happen in this story may not turn out to be a surprise. For those who are not familiar with the fairytale, I wouldn’t recommend that you read up on it before reading this book, as it will tend to be on the predictable side.

Perhaps the most unique part of this retelling is the setting.  The author chose to set this story in Mississippi during a time in American history in which slaves were still considered property and were beginning to travel north on the underground rail-road. There is quite a bit more history in the book than I would have expected, but it adds a flavour to the setting that makes the story interesting and compelling. There is a lot of down time in the scenes and relationship between Sophie and Bernard because of his business, but the side stories help push the narrative forward and add human interest.

Sophie is invited by her godfather to come and live with him in his mansion in Mississippi. It is very obvious from the beginning pages that he has more than just a passing interest in the girl. There is a sexual tension between the two from the moment they meet. Torn between family/guardian ideals and the fact that Sophie is physically attracted to him, leads to some very pensive moments throughout the story.

As Bernard is a very busy businessman, Sophie is left wandering the mansion, on several occasions and making discoveries about the past women and wives who have lived there. As barely an object is left behind in any of the rooms, she is eventually forced to believe that their disappearances are not coincidental.

The story is quite slow and the main character a bit “classic” in behaviour ie soft spoken overall and overly curious. It’s like the old saying, “curiosity killed the cat” and in this instance, Sophie’s nosing around the house does get her into trouble.

Strands of Bronze and Gold is a story that has a mystery at its core, but also includes a soft love story – as well as a villain who’s a bit handsy. The writing style emulates a classic fairytale but in a more modern day.

For those who don’t know, I have an hereditary eye condition with a name as long as your arm. The short version is I can’t see out of my left eye and the shape of my eyes sets me apart from ‘normality’. I am used to questions about my nationality that hurt my feelings, and until this year I had been passed over for paying jobs for almost half my life. All because I don’t look ‘normal’.

This book made me think about how would I feel if I looked completely normal and the issues were inside my mind instead? The stigmas surrounding mental illness and social anxieties.

Blurb from goodreads.com

“‘You’re just a freak. You’re just a stupid freak. Freaks don’t
speak. Freaks shouldn’t speak. Don’t talk out of your head or the swirly clouds will eat you because sometimes clouds have teeth.’

Jason’s best friend, Sunshine, has vanished. If only Jason could push through all the voices in his head, he’d know what happened; he’d tell everyone; he’d find her. But then people don’t always listen to kids like Jason…”

I will not pretend to know what it’s like to have schizophrenia, or ADD or ADHD or any of the other ‘alphabets’ mentioned in this tell-it-how-it-is novel. I can however relate to society not taking me seriously. Pushing me aside to get what they think they can’t get from me. Things like ethics, courage, and a sense of responsibility.

This is how Freak (Jason), and Drip (Derrick) spend most of the book – proving to the adults that they are capable of making decisions, and helping to find Sunshine. They do have functioning brains and ideas of their own. But nobody listens to an alphabet, right?

I believe strongly that this book should be compulsory reading for kids 13 and up. An age bracket where society believes empathy doesn’t exist. It does, though I think books like this would help trigger a generation of socially aware, de stigmatised adults who realise letters are just that, letters. Who you are should be taken more on how you contribute to the lives around you, rather than the label you’ve been given.

Susan Vaught, has an undeniable talent for in-your-face realism and an unflinching view of how society should step up and be accountable.

Thank you for the chance to read Freaks Like Us. The world will never look the same to me again.

http://susanvaught.com/

Paperback, UK, 240 pages

Published January 3rd 2013 by Bloomsbury UK (first published September 4th 2012)

ISBN: 1408836165 (ISBN13: 9781408836163)

Everyone’s had tough times in their life, and bumps in the road, some bigger than others. But still, we’ve all experienced the pain and hurt from a broken heart. Everyone’s gone through difficult break ups, while some jump right back up, others take a while to get themselves back together and moving forward.

We’ve all stayed in bed and done nothing the entire day other than stuff our faces with a quart of Tom and Jerry’s and watch sad movies. But that’s where main character Max comes in. She helps girls get through that hurt, and over those first couple of rough days, as well as completely over him.

Max is a strong, confident, and independent teenage girl who runs her own small business, along with her two assistants, where she helps teenage girls get through these difficult breakups. She steps in the very first day, with something to eat and drink, along with first day advice. Then Max is there for the entire process of getting that girl over the guy, which did her wrong, until the girl finally has the chance to prove him just how wrong he was to treat her that way.

With running this small business for almost a complete year, you would never think that Max, herself has gone through such a situation herself. You wouldn’t be able to tell by her attitude that she spent the entire day in bed trying to sleep of this pain, which her customers are going through right then. But yes, she did. It’s actually what caused her to start this business of hers. Max’s mission is to get these girls through this hard time, and be there for them.

After almost an entire year of not having seen or heard from the boy who dumped Max, she can’t believe when she sees him in New York locking lips with another girl. In Over You Max learns just how strong she really is when she needs to decide what she wants for herself.  Even if she had to go through her own treatment system, with her two best friends/assistants, to finally make her decision.

I completely loved Max, and her two best friends. She is an amazing role model for any girl really going through their first break up, or a tough one. Max carries this “swagger”, and confidence that you just wish you could have. She’s down to earth, and REAL. The entire story is REAL. Things don’t just magically work out for her and her customers; like love at first sight.

Also, the guys in the story were believable. What I mean about that is that they did things, and said things that real guys I know would say. They didn’t confess their forever lasting love when they first set eyes on a girl, and they didn’t jump right back when a girl was getting over them. I really liked that the guys were more like guys that I know in person, and not guys that every girls can only dream about having.

The ending was just as satisfying as the rest of the story. Max once again proves how amazingly independent she is, and even admits her wrongs. I do have to admit the ending was a bit predictable, but I didn’t care. I liked the way things ended for Max, and her customers!

Over You was a light fun read, which is always great for the summer time, where most of my time is spend outside, in my backyard or at the beach, reading. While I recommend this book for any girl, I also recommend this book for guys! (WHAAAT? Lisa what are you talking about?) Yes, you GUYS need to read this. Over You will let you in on all our secrets and our way of thinking. So instead of always having to guess what we mean by what were saying, Over You will enlighten you on our thought process!

Imagine your father is a monster. Would that mean there are monsters inside you, too?

Nineteen-year-old Ry Burke, his mother, and little sister scrape by for a living on their dying family farm. Ry wishes for anything to distract him from the grim memories of his father’s physical and emotional abuse. Then a meteorite falls from the sky, bringing with it not only a fragment from another world but also the arrival of a ruthless man intent on destroying the entire family. Soon Ry is forced to defend himself by resurrecting a trio of imaginary childhood protectors: kindly Mr. Furrington, wise Jesus, and the bloodthirsty Scowler.

Hardcover, 304 pages  Published March 12th 2013 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Ry’s father is currently in prison and Ry and his family are still trying to cope with the abuse he caused them all. They live in a secluded farmhouse on land that is the prize of their fathers heart. But after years of having to run the farm on her own, Ry’s mother has finally decided it’s time for them to move now that it’s been desolated and dried out. Meteorites begin to fall from the sky and one lands on their property, bringing with it not only memories of the past, but also some bad characters as well.

This story is told with several flashback scenes in which we learn more about our characters and the events that lead to the present day. This story does take place over a matter of a few days and chapters are sequenced by counting down to the time of the meteorite landing and immediately after.  The whole book is told from Ry’s perspective and his flashbacks take us through his youth to present day events.

With this writing style the reader is introduced to Ry’s mother and little sister, their growth throughout the years and the events that have lead them to the current situation with them fighting for their lives. Each character is fully rounded out to the point that you hate them, you love them, and your heart will break for them.

Scowler is one of the scariest young adult books I have ever read. Author Daniel Kraus makes no attempt to guard the readers from the events that unfold. It’s a bloody, terrifying and emotionally wrenching story that can and will cause loss of sleep. A deeply disturbing and well-crafted novel of suspense, and a thriller that any horror lover will enjoy.