Friday, August 03, 2012

Interview + Giveaway: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry!


Hi everyone! It seems that Harlequin Teen is on a roll with their amazing books. This time around, I’m featuring Pushing the Limits, a YA contemporary. Hope you like it!

A Q&A With Katie McGarry

Q: What was your inspiration for writing Pushing the Limits?
A: I had two main inspirations: One, I knew from the beginning that I wanted to write a story in which my characters felt strong enough to leave their pasts behind and create new futures for themselves. The first scene I ever saw in my mind was Echo and Noah leaving town after graduation. Two, I wanted to write two characters who were facing over- whelming issues and who, through battling these issues, found hope at the end of their journey.

Q: How did you come up with Echo’s name?
A: Echo went through several name changes as I wrote the man- uscript. For a while, she had a very normal name, but it alwaysfelt off. It wasn’t until I looked at Echo from her mother’s point of view that I found her name. Echo’s mother loved Greek my- thology so it made perfect sense that she would name her chil- dren after the myths. I read several Greek myths and the mo- ment I found Echo’s, I fell in love. Echo, to me, was the girl who lost her voice. Thankfully, she finds it by the end.

Q: Which character is the most “like” you?
A: All of them. I gave each character a piece of me (though some have larger slices of me than others). Overall, I’d say I’m a strange combination of Echo, Lila and Beth. Echo has my need to please, Lila has my unfailing loyalty to my friends and Beth encompasses my insecurities.

Q: Did you experience friendships with Grace types when you were in high school?
A: Yes. And the more people have read this story, the more this question comes up. Grace has struck a stronger nerve in people than I ever would have imagined. It seems most of us have un- fortunately experienced a relationship where a person wants to “like” you and wants “be your friend,” but only if it serves their needs. In case anyone is wondering, that isn’t friendship.

Q: Are there any parts of the story you feel particularly close to?
A: Yes. The relationship between Noah, Isaiah and Beth. Beyond my parents and sister, my nearest family members were over fourteen hours away. My friends became my family. The peopleI grew up with were more than people I watched movies with or talked to occasionally on the phone. These were people with whom I shared life’s most devastating moments, but also my hardest laughs. These were people who I would have willing- ly died for and I know they would have done the same for me. They shared my triumphs with smiles on their faces and con- gratulatory hugs. They held me when I cried and offered to beat up whoever hurt my feelings. These were also the same people who were more than happy to get in my face if they thought I was making a wrong decision.

Q: Did anything that happens to Echo happen to you?
A: Sort of. I was bitten by a dog when I was in second grade and repressed the memory. It felt very strange to have no memory of an incident that other people knew about. It was even strang- er to have injuries and not have an inkling where they came from. In college, I finally remembered the incident when a dog lunged at me. I relived the horrible event and sort of “woke up” a few minutes later to find myself surrounded by people I loved. Even though I “remember” the incident, I still don’t remember the whole thing. I only see still frames in my mind and there is no blood in any of the memories.

Giveaway: Finished copy of Pushing the Limits

"My father is a control freak, I hate my stepmother, my brother is dead and my mother has...welll...issues.  How do you think I am doing?"  - opening line of Pushing the Limits

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined.

Echo and Noah couldn’t be more different, but they find themselves united by a common goal: to sneak into their court-ordered social worker’s case files in order to learn the truth about themselves and their families. What they didn’t count on is falling in love -- and now Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

Rules:

Follow Fragments of Life
Must be at least 13 years old
Open to US and Canada


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12 comments:

  1. I think Echo and Noah can make it together. They have a very important thing in common and I think they're strong enough to stick out all the negative nellies!

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  2. Fab interview! Loved this book!

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  3. I think its important to see two different people come together for a single purpose and watch them fall in love. It's more realistic that way. I can't wait to read this!

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  4. They seem to have a connection. And really, that's all that matters.

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  5. I think Echo and Noah balance each other out very well. I know we all read a lot of YA fic that has the 'opposites attract' theme (Elkeles comes to mind) but I think this theme works for a reason - this actually happens in real life, so we are able to relate more to this theme than reading about couples that are the exact same.

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  6. I think they relate to each other a lot especially from their losses. They know what to say to each other and are able to balance each other out.

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  7. Great interview! I loved this book.

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  8. I think it`s easy to assume there is love when you are at your lowest point. If someone is there to support you, you would instantly fall for him or her.

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  9. Great Q and A. I'm reading this right now and loving it! :D

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  10. Heck, they love each other. That's all that really matters.

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  11. perfect example of how opposites attract, to find out that they aren't that opposite after all.

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