I’m very excited about my Meet the Author guest today. This amazing writer is so good at what she does it hurts my head trying to figure out how she does it. I feel like a total hack after gliding through her poetic prose and absorbing the soul-deep emotion she pours into her work. Her latest masterpiece, Remember me (which I was extremely fortunate to have beta-read for Ms. Ison) is no different, packed with her heart and talent.
Welcome to the great white north, Amaleen! What scared you most as a child? Has it changed as an adult?
I’ve always been terrified of the dark, which probably stems from an overactive imagination (and watching horror films with my mum as a child). I’m still afraid to this day—not of the dark itself, just what lurks in the shadows.
We have that in common. I’m not fond of the dark, either. *shivers* How much of you is in your heroine?
My heroine’s naivety is a mirror of my own when I was her age. I believed everyone was honest and adults always spoke the truth. I’ve since learnt that’s not the case, more’s the pity, but that doesn’t stop me looking for the best in people—just like Sera.
It’s one of the things I love about you, that you’re always positive and uplifting. I want to be you when I grow up. 🙂 What kind of high school personality were you? Band dork? Jock? Loner? Brainiac?
I was an artiac. Yep, I just made up that word, but it perfectly describes my high school personality (though we call them secondary schools in the UK). I hung out in the art department every break and lunchtime, drawing and painting with my friends.
We call them both here. Weird. It would be neat if you could design and create your own book cover in the future. If you could be a superhero, what would your power be?
I’d love to be able to levitate slowly off the ground, then set off like a bullet into the sky. Forget super human strength, telekinesis, or any other kind of power, flying is something I’ve dreamed of doing since I was a wee child.
I’d totally be with you if I wasn’t a total Nancy when it came to heights. 🙂 Do you have any phobias, like run-screaming-at-the-mere-mention-of-it, fears?
Spiders scare the bejesus out of me. Even a small one has me dancing around like a mad woman, much to the amusement of my six-year-old daughter.
Okay, now I totally have the squirms. Ick! We have that one in common, too. If you could live your life as an animal, what would it be?
I’d love to be one of my own cats. Seriously, they have a wonderful life. They get the very best of everything, come and go as they please, have no responsibility, and get to sleep all day. Perfect!
Oh yeah, that sounds nice. Best. Movie. Ever. As in, went to the theatre ten times to see it.
The Lost Boys was a coming of age film for me. I was about twelve when I watched it for the first time. (I’ve probably watched it a hundred times since). Not only did it begin my love affair with vampires and all things paranormal, it also introduced me to my first teen crush: Corey Haim. When I wasn’t re-playing the movie over and over on the family VCR, I was listening to the soundtrack on my Walkman.
Jeez, I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen that, but now I’m going to have to watch it. Like…now. If I opened up your purse/handbag right now, what would I find in there?
A disorganised mess. It takes lots of routing around through all the junk in my handbag to find my mobile when it rings.
Hehe…I think a lot of us have that problem. Everything but the kitchen sink, and you usually pull everything else out before you find what you’re looking for. Or maybe that’s just me.
Now that we’ve gotten to know Amaleen a little, let’s check out her pretty. Isn’t it a gorgeous cover?
Blurb:
Sera isn’t living. She’s existing—barely. Bedbound by illness, she has no memory of life before the freezing barn she now calls home. A mournful song haunts her dreams and hints at a past not completely buried—one she’s desperate to uncover. Yet Father’s whirlwind visits to draw blood and administer medication don’t provide answers. He only confirms the one thing she already knows; she’s dying.
A lonely death without ever knowing her past seems inevitable until a sudden, mystifying return to health coincides with the arrival of a boy in the opposite out-building. The inextricable pull to the stranger, and the broken memories that storm her mind when he’s near, warn of a history quite different to any she could have imagined. If she’s to uncover the truth she craves, she’ll have to decide whether knowledge of the past is worth forfeiting her second chance at life.
Title: Remember Me
Author: Amaleen Ison
Release Date: 11th June 2013
ISBN: 978-1-61333-545-1
Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Cover Artist: Scott Carpenter
Genre: Young Adult
Format: E-book
Length: Novella
Pick up a copy:
Excerpt:
Father snatches the cover away and yanks my bare arm straight. Angry-looking bruises and red track marks riddle my paper-thin skin from wrist to elbow crease. He flicks a spidery-looking vein. “Dammit. Next.” My sluggish movements prove too slow for his liking, and he grabs my other arm. “We’ll give this one a try.”
I turn to Noah. Although younger than Father and not yet graying, his straggly black beard and tired-looking eyes make him appear older. He wears a worried expression and avoids my gaze. Perhaps he pities me, or my condition embarrasses him. Probably both.
The fog of medication descends in my mind and sends its glacial water surging through my veins. The barn wobbles, and my head lolls back on the pillow, giving me a view of the rafters. When it comes, the prick of the needle doesn’t hurt. Only the beautiful, melancholy song that plays constantly in my mind accompanies the odd sense of draining life.
Minutes, hours, days later—I can’t tell—Father holds up a full vial of blood to a shaft of sunlight streaming through the hole in the roof. “Thank you, my angel.” He kisses my forehead and squeezes my hand at the same time. I smile at the show of relief in his eyes, before my heavy lids close.
“She’s sleeping,” he says.
Footsteps draw near.
“She looks worse.” The disembodied comment comes from somewhere near the foot of the bed.
Father grunts.
“Her blood isn’t working anymore.” Noah’s voice sounds tight.
Silence.
“We ought to let her die peacefully.”
Yes, they ought to let me die peacefully.
“No!” Father’s breath comes in heavy gusts. “I won’t give up on her. We’ll capture the other one.”
“We’ll be damned.”
“Too late.” A loud clunk and something metallic skitters across the floor. “We’re already damned.”
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About the Author
Amaleen Ison is a married mother of one. She lives with her family in Hertfordshire, England, along with her cats (Oscar and Winston), guinea pig ( LouLou), and gerbils (Blackberry and Pumpkinseed). She writes Young Adult fantasy stories that meander into a variety of sub-genres.
As a child, Amaleen lived most of her life in her head. She imagined herself in mystical lands populated by the weird and wonderful. She still spends way too much time daydreaming, but now she writes about her imaginings and weaves them into stories. The fantasy element is always important, but more so the hodgepodge of emotions that arise from her characters first time experiences.
Connect with Amaleen here
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Jocelyn Adams 