BLOG TOUR [Interview] Rewrite Redemption by J.H. Walker

Rewrite Redemption 

by J.H. Walker 

Publication date: January 25th 2013 

Genres: Science Fiction, Time-Travel, Young Adult

Synopsis:

She’s sixteen. He’s seventeen. They don’t know each other…at least not yet.

She has a secret and her whole life revolves around keeping it. Every few months and with little warning, she simply disappears, pulled into the past for hours or even days. She’s terrified it will happen in front of someone, changing her life forever. So far, the only witnesses have been her parents, and that didn’t end well. She has no control over it and no idea why it happens to her.

She wants answers.

He has answers—at least he understands what’s going on. He has a secret, too. He’s part of an organization that goes back in time to rewrite reality. But he also has a problem. He broke the organization’s number-one rule by altering his own timeline. As punishment, he’s been blocked from time travel, which is most unfortunate. Because the changes he made to his timeline, accidentally resulted in disaster for his family. A disaster he’s now prevented from repairing. No one can travel beneath the organization’s radar except a Shadow. But they’re rare, so rare he’s never even met one.

Then he moves to her town.

J.H. grew up in Central America. She now lives in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies with her photographer husband and many, many books. In addition to her never-ending study of human behavior, she’s a political junkie and a certified tree hugger. Rewrite Redemption is her debut novel.

Top 5 songs on your playlist?

I did a playlist for the book. These 5 songs are on it.

“Redemption” by the Strange Familiar

“You” by the Pretty Reckless

“Something Real” by Renee Stahl

“Say Goodbye” by Black Lab.

“Starlight” by Muse

How much time do you spend reading each week?

I read during breakfast and lunch and always have a book or reader with me in case I’m stuck somewhere in line or something. I read for about an hour to an hour and a half before bed. A few times a week, I’ll spend the whole evening reading. Sometimes on the weekends, I’ll spend the afternoon reading, but that’s a luxury. I do a lot of reading during the day, but that’s not novel reading. I still read to be informed. There’s never enough time to read.

What is the last thing you Googled?

I’m an insatiably curious person and have always loved science fiction. Back in the late eighties/early nineties, I was an avid fan of Star Trek, Second Generation. The android, Data, was my favorite character. I told my husband that if I could have one wish (other than world peace) it would be to have a Data to follow me around and answer my endless questions. Data had the complete store of human knowledge in his computer matrix. Have a question? At the drop of a hat, Data had your answer.

For those of you too young to remember, it was a very different world before computers became front and center in our lives. I had a computer, but I basically used it for word processing and accounting. So here’s a case where wishes kinda/sorta come true. I don’t have a Data, but I have Google and Wikipedia. Pretty much anything I want to know, I can find out almost instantly. So, as of this writing, the last thing I Googled was Wikipedia. I wanted to see when it launched—January 15, 2001. Oh, how the world has changed.

Favorite places to travel?

I’ve done my share of traveling. My childhood was spent in Central America, and I’ve seen all her beautiful countries. I’ve been to all but five states. When I was a kid, every other year we’d return to the states for three months—a bonus for government workers living overseas at the time. In a van and a trailer, we’d traverse the country, visiting relatives, my parent’s missionary friends, and national monuments. (Gas was way cheaper then and we traveled very frugally.)

I’ve seen almost every amazing national treasure from the Grand Canyon and the Painted Desert to Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, and Carlsbad Caverns. We’d start in Florida and drive all the way up to northern Idaho by the Canadian border where my grandparents lived. And then we’d turn around and return by a different route. As an adult, I’ve been to Europe a few times and especially love Italy. But my favorite place on the planet is Lake Powel, right here in the states. Check out some images. http://goo.gl/BWVnxx It’s a reservoir on the Colorado River on the border between Arizona and Utah and one of the most beautiful places anywhere. (Imagine the Grand Canyon, filled with pure, clean water.) Other than my home, it’s my favorite place on the planet.

Lake Powel is actually a huge, winding canyon 186 miles long, that’s been flooded and turned into a water reserve. The canyon walls are massive red-rock formations and are spectacular. We rent a houseboat and take it way back in the canyons to remote locations. You can find places where you have your own little beach and lagoon and complete privacy. The water is crystal clear and the walls of rock are absolutely breathtaking. I think it hits a primal instinct deep inside me that’s strangely soothing. There’s no clutter there—no buildings, telephone wires, billboards, or streetlights. There’s nothing but water, rock, and sky, and at night you build a fire with driftwood. I love paring down to the basic elements for a bit. It’s incredibly relaxing. It’s so quiet and peaceful there, which makes it the perfect place to lay back and let your mind wander—just what a writer needs.

What is your favorite way to spend a rainy day?

Curled up in my favorite chair, next to a window, with a book in my hands. I’m usually a big fan of rain, except this last season where it did so much damage here in Colorado. But otherwise, when it rains, I’m happily loving it.

Favorite TV Shows?

I’m a sci-fi fan, but I have to admit, many of the current programs are just too violent for me. Maybe it’s my age, but I just don’t enjoy watching people slaughtered, which makes it hard because I LOVE sci-fi. So I’ve ditched some sci-fi shows, but watch a few, like Revolution, Alphas, Fringe, and Dollhouse, wishing they weren’t quite so graphic. I TIVO everything so I can skip commercials and watch when I have the time. So I have a few new ones recorded that I haven’t gotten to yet: The Tomorrow People, The Originals, and Under the Dome. I watch some teen shows: Pretty Little Liars, The Carrie Diaries, Jane by Design, The Lying Game, and Switched at Birth to keep up with the teen scene. Modern Family, The Daily Show, and The Big Bang for comedy. The Good Wife, Castle, Grey’s Anatomy, Elementary, House of Cards, and Scandal for adult entertainment. That sounds like a lot, but they’re not all in season at the same time. While I’m on the treadmill, I watch The Rachel Maddow Show and All In With Chris Hayes for factual and accurate reporting on what’s going on in Washington.

If you had a time machine, where would you go (past or future) and whom would you like to visit?

In a red-hot minute, I’d go to the past and give my younger self the knowledge I’ve accumulated over a long and very eventful life. There’s so much you don’t know when you’re young—things about life and how to live it well, things about relationships—things you only learn through time and experience. The kicker is that you don’t know what you don’t know. And there are things that are REALLY useful to know. I’ve spent my life finding them out.

Then, if I could, I’d go to the future and visit my older self, find out how everything turned out. Did we deal with climate change in time to keep the human story from turning into a dystopian novel? Did we succeed in getting a woman as President? I’d have endless questions. It might be fun to visit the past and talk to someone like Leonardo Da Vinci, but talking to my younger self would be the better choice.

What’s next on you TBR Pile?

The Sea of Tranquility: A Novel by Katja Millay. I hear it’s really good.

Where is your favorite spot to read?

In my study, where I write, I have a chair by a window that looks out over a beautiful meadow bordered by red rock cliffs. Because there are so few houses in the area, we have lots of wildlife. The deer migrate through my meadow on their way to where they bed down for the night. Hardly a day goes by that you don’t see them. Sometimes big herds of elk hang out there, huge beasts, some with incredible racks on their heads. I love watching them. It’s incredibly beautiful and peaceful and the perfect place to read.

If you were on Death Row, what would your last meal be?

If I were on Death Row, I’d probably not be thinking about eating, but I’ll play, ha. I’d probably forgo the meal and eat nothing but warm, fresh, chocolate chip cookies. Actually, maybe a little calamari with sweet chili sauce that they make at The Bone Fish Grill and a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy. Yeah, I could go for that. What’s it going to hurt?

M&M’s or Skittles?

M&M’s. The peanut kind, preferably.

Can we get a hint on what you are working on? What are your future plans?

I’m working on the sequel to Rewrite Redemption. I hope to have it out late 2014. It takes me a while. I don’t just whip out a new book every few months like some of these authors apparently do. I have a very busy life and other responsibilities. And I have to say, social media sucks up a heck of a lot of time. But I am writing away.