Interview: Kasie West + Pivot Point

 

I'm hugely excited today to welcome young adult author Kasie West to the blog to answer a few questions about her recent release, Pivot Point. I'll be honest. Pivot Point was originally not high on my "must have" list for this year, but my good friend and fellow blogger Danny from Bewitched Bookworms told me I had to read it, and as usual, she did not lead me astray. This book sucked me in immediately and I die a little inside at the thought that I almost missed out on such a gem (you can read my full review here). If you haven't had a chance to read it yet, I honestly can't recommend you buy it fast enough!

If you could have the ability of anyone in the Compound aside from Addie and Laila, which one would you most want and what's the first thing you would do with it?

The answer to this question changes on a daily basis depending on the week and my needs. Today I would’ve wanted the Lie Detector ability because my 14 year old daughter was trying to get out of going to school by claiming sick and I couldn’t tell if she was faking or not. And speaking of sick, a few weeks ago, my whole family got sick, so I would’ve loved the ability to Heal that week. 

Let's say you are temporarily gifted Addie's ability as a Searcher in order to help you make a choice between living with the knowledge that people with supernatural gifts exist and continuing on blissfully ignorant. When conducting your Search, what might you find to be the benefits of each option?

Hmm, interesting question. I think the benefit of living in ignorance to supernatural abilities would be that I wouldn’t feel sub-par. I mean if all these people had abilities and I didn’t, that would not be cool. I’d be jealous. Plus, I wouldn’t have to worry that people were manipulating me in some way. It would probably make me a lot less trusting.

On the other side, maybe it would actually make me feel better about myself because I’d know that I accomplished things without the added help of a mental ability. And knowing people with mental abilities exist might make me safer from those with bad intentions.

In Pivot Point, we explore Addie's life both living with her mother in the Compound and her father in the real world through alternating chapters. Did you actually write Addie's two separate lives in alternating order, or did you write one of her stories in its entirety before going back to the second one?

I wrote about half of each story without alternating. But once I realized the stories were going to need to overlap, I put them back together and started writing them exactly like you read them. It let me know exactly what the reader knew and exactly what Addie knew at any given point. The hard part came though in working with my editor. Because there were certain chapters she wanted me to combine and certain things she wanted me to cut. So then what would happen was a whole chapter would be eliminated (making the alternating chapters not so alternating anymore) and I had to figure out how to make it still work by rearranging or cutting a bit from the other side. It was like a huge puzzle at times.

What one fictional character do you think might wish they had Addie's ability as a Searcher given the way their story turned out?

I do use a few quotes in the book from A Tale of Two Cities. I’m a huge Charles Dickens fan. So I would think, that given the outcome, Sydney Carton, from A Tale of Two Cities might have liked to see the future. Although, he is very much at peace when he is executed at the end. He made the choice willingly. So even if he had seen the future, I’m sure for the sake of friendship and what he felt was redemption, he would’ve made the same choice. 

Though Addie has two very swoon-worthy romantic options in Duke and Trevor in this tale, let's just pretend for a moment that she doesn't want to limit herself to the boys of Pivot Point. What other YA character might she have a romantic interest in?

My list of swoon-worthy YA boys that Addie might like (and by Addie, in this case, I mean me)?? Is that what you’re asking me to compile?? Oh, this is a very extensive list. For the sake of time though, I’ll limit it to three. Perry from Under the Never Sky. Yes, please. Jace from the Mortal Instrument series. And, gah, how can I limit it to three?! Okay, okay, last (for today) how about a “Norm” boy with no extra powers—Wes from The Truth About Forever. (That was really hard to limit)

Is there any other character in Pivot Point whose point of view you're itching to write from, or are you content to stay in Addie's head?

Funny you should ask. Book two actually does have another POV character. So the chapters alternate between Addie and this other person (it may or may not be a certain outspoken best friend). So yes! I was definitely itching to write from another character’s point of view. And I’m also contemplating writing a book 3 that would be from totally different POVs but still in the Pivot Point world……we’ll see. 

If you had a friend like Laila with the ability to Erase, do you think you would ever be tempted to have her use it on you?

All the time. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m so glad I don’t have abilities because I’d totally abuse them. I’d be using them every other second. I’d be like, Laila, ew, I just saw a dead dog on the side of the road. That was very disturbing, can you please Erase that from my mind. Ha. This is why Laila wouldn’t be my friend. I’d annoy her too much. :-)

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions Kasie! 

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KASIE WEST

photo by Stephanie Ryan Photography

I write YA. I eat Junior Mints. Sometimes I go crazy and do both at the same time. My debut novel, Pivot Point, will be published by HarperTeen on February 12, 2013, followed by its sequel in 2014. I also have a contemporary, The Distance Between Us, coming out in the Fall of 2013 with HarperTeen. My agent is the talented and funny Michelle Wolfson.

More information on Kasie and her books can be found here:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

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PIVOT POINT

Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if?” As a Searcher, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she can look into the future and see both outcomes. It’s the ultimate insurance plan against disaster. Or so she thought. When Addie’s parents ambush her with the news of their divorce, she has to pick who she wants to live with—her father, who is leaving the paranormal compound to live among the “Norms,” or her mother, who is staying in the life Addie has always known. Addie loves her life just as it is, so her answer should be easy. One Search six weeks into the future proves it’s not.

In one potential future, Addie is adjusting to life outside the Compound as the new girl in a Norm high school where she meets Trevor, a cute, sensitive artist who understands her. In the other path, Addie is being pursued by the hottest guy in school—but she never wanted to be a quarterback’s girlfriend. When Addie’s father is asked to consult on a murder in the Compound, she’s unwittingly drawn into a dangerous game that threatens everything she holds dear. With love and loss in both lives, it all comes down to which reality she’s willing to live through . . . and who she can’t live without.