Losing Lila Blog Tour: Interview with Sarah Alderson

I'm thrilled to welcome Sarah Alderson to the blog today as part of the Losing Lila UK & Australian blog tour. To view the full tour schedule, click here.

Title: Losing Lila
Author: Sarah Alderson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: Aug 02, 2012

Alex and Lila are on the run, desperately trying to stay one step ahead of the Unit, which somehow is managing to track their every move. Whilst Alex is determined to keep Lila safe and her ability secret at any cost, Lila’s only thought is of finding a way back to California so that she can rescue her brother and mother from the military base where they’re being held.

Struggling to control both her growing power and her deepening feelings for Alex, Lila decides the time has finally come to stop running and start fighting. Together with Alex, Demos, and the people she’s come to think of as family, Lila plans not just to save her brother and mother, but to completely destroy the Unit and everything it stands for. 

But the plan requires Lila to return alone to California, make friends with the enemy, and to risk losing everything - Alex, her family, and even her life.

Losing Lila is your third book to be published. How did the writing process differ from Hunting Lila and Fated?

I wrote Losing Lila before I even had a book contract for Hunting Lila. About a month after I finished Hunting Lila and sent it off to agents I decided that I had to finish the story. Lila and Alex were still in my head and I was missing them so much. I felt that I had to write it, regardless of whether it ever got published, because I needed to know what happened to them. So I started writing it on the beach in Goa, India and I finished it about three months later when we were in Bali. The writing process didn’t differ much as it was my second novel (Fated was my third, though it was published second). The only difference was that this time around I knew the word length (with HL I didn’t have a clue and managed to write 117,000 words for my first draft – the final version was cut to about 84,000). Today I do much less planning with my books. I just sit and I write. I don’t over-think anything.

If you could swap places with one of the characters from the book (excluding Lila) who would it be and why?

Like Suki I have a thing for shoes and Vivienne Westwood, so I think I’d switch places with her and borrow her father’s credit card for a big shopping spree.

What would your special ability be if you found out you were a psy?

I would like to be able to teleport so I could avoid jetlag and air travel. Imagine being able to eat breakfast in Paris, shop in New York, swim in the Maldives and party in Rio all in the same day. Yes please.

Most people will agree you are quite the pro when it comes to crafting a good romance. What do you enjoy most about writing swoon-worthy scenes?

Ahhhh good question. I guess I’m nostalgic for that time in my own life. I have some rather amazing memories of first kisses with hot boys and of magical times spent in exotic places doing slightly crazy things, and I try to draw on those and on the feelings I remember experiencing, you know…like when it feels like you’re about to ignite and then he kisses you and you do…that kind of feeling? Those times when you are so into another person, and so in the moment, and everything just feels bigger and more intense and soul consuming. Yeah, I just love trying to make people feel that when they read my books.

If you could pick five songs that represent the story in Losing Lila, what would they be?

Music is a huge part of the writing process for me. It’s like a movie soundtrack – it helps me to listen to music as I write so that I can better create the pace and atmosphere in the story. The soundtracks for all my books are on my website and you can listen to them on spotify: www.sarahalderson.com/soundtracks

The five tracks that most represent Losing Lila would be:

They all make me want to cry actually. Especially the last two.

What are your favourite aspects of Lila’s character? How much of yourself is channelled into her personality?

I like the fact she’s determined and doesn’t just take no for an answer. In Losing Lila she gets a lot more sure of herself and grows a lot in terms of her character. She’s no longer the insecure girl – she’s much stronger and even more determined. She takes risks and is impulsive. My friends all say they hear me when Lila talks – and I guess she is a little like me. We share the same dry humour and love for Alex ;)

And finally, are you working on any future projects at the moment? What are the chances of another Lila book?

I’m always working on something – usually I have at least two books on the go. I’ve just finished a new book – another young adult thriller romance - which will be out next year. I’m really excited about it. And I’ve just started another thriller, this one set in New York, which will be out in 2014. The sequel to Fated – Severed – will also be out soon, and that racks up the tension with Evie and Lucas (seriously hot stuff in that one) and I have a few other projects which I’m not allowed to talk about quite yet but which I should have news on soon.

Will there be another Lila book? I’m not sure. I haven’t written one but that’s not to say there won’t be one. I’d love to get back into that world. I really miss them all.

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Thanks to the Simon & Schuster teams for organising the tour and a big thank you to Sarah for her time! Be sure to stop by the remaining blogs on the tour for more book news and fun. Losing Lila is now available for purchase and can be found at The Book Depository.