Please welcome my guest, romance author Maree Anderson, as she chats about her young adult novel, Freaks of Greenfield High (see below on how to win your very own copy!). She mainly writes paranormal, but this little lady is talented enough to have navigated several genres in her career. Not only that, but she’s a voracious reader with impressive tastes. (I LOVE the book she’s reading in her pic, btw.) You’ll also notice she has a serious social networking addiction that puts most to shame. Myself included! (I didn’t think that was possible. I stand corrected. LOL)
Join me in welcoming Maree! And please, don’t be shy…you have to comment to win! (And don’t forget to include your email address.)
The floor’s all yours, Maree…
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A bit about me:
I always knew I had a reeeeally warped imagination. The trouble was finding a socially acceptable outlet… which is why I became an author. Nowadays I’m glued to my desk writing romance of the paranormal, fantasy and Sci-Fi persuasion. I’m currently published in erotic romance with Red Sage Publishing, and I’ve just indie-published my third book—the second of the Crystal Warriors series.
On the personal front, I’m a Kiwi, a New Zealander, and I’m addicted to chocolate—the darker the better. Not to mention coffee and excellent Kiwi wine. I’m not quite so addicted to my local gym but I’m working on it. ;-)
I have a neurotic, perpetually hungry ocicat named Minna, who likes to nibble the crunchy tops off cheese rolls, and will lick your bowl or drink from your glass if you turn your back. Minna’s full name is Minnaloushe—after the cat in a poem by William Butler Yeats. (You can check out the poem here.) Before I became her owner, Minna even had a book written about her—she graced the cover, no less! So one day, I hope to be as famous as my cat. ;-)
I love reading YA—especially anything paranormal. I’m also a huge fan of paranormal romance, SciFi, fantasy & Regency historicals. Some of my favorite authors are: Rachel Caine, Melissa Marr, Cassandra Clare, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Lilith Saintcrow, Nalini Singh, Angela Knight, Meljean Brook—too many to list! (And sooo not enough room in my bookcase for all of my books. The piles on my desk are growing unmanageable yet again…)
Oops, almost forgot. I’m also addicted to the evil EFT trio (email, Facebook & Twitter) —yes, I love an excuse to procrastinate!
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A bit about Freaks of Greenfield High:
Freaks is the first YA book I’ve written. I first got the idea for a cyborg heroine from a futuristic book by Marge Piercy, called Body of Glass. (Warning: Spoiler alert ahoy!) In Body of Glass, the cyborg is self-aware and eventually chooses to sacrifice himself for the good of others. And after watching Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, I thought it’d be way cool to explore a story about a teenage cyborg, struggling to cope with human feelings and emotions.
For the setting, I borrowed from my daughter’s high school experiences (and my own!). I don’t know about you, but high school pretty much sucked for me. So I figured, as if high school doesn’t suck enough already, what if you were trying blend in and not call attention to yourself, but everything you did—how you look and talk, the things you do and the way you react—drew attention to you?
Originally I wrote the cyborg character of Jay as male. When I’d finished, I figured Freaks was a pretty good story—it placed in a couple of prestigious romance writing awards, and an excerpt from it won the Maryland Romance Writers Reveal Your Inner Vixen contest for “sensual scene”. (Which I found totally ironic given that Jay is a cyborg and just learning to deal with human feelings and emotions. *VBG*) Anyhoo, I’m a sucker for a challenge, so just for the heck of it I decided to swap my teenage cyborg’s gender, and make Jay female. Cue one big-ass rewrite, but for me, that was when the characters really started to jump from the page. One reviewer even called Jay her “new favorite heroine” —yay!
Tyler, Jay’s crush, is an ex-jock, trying to live down the crappy rumor that got him kicked off the school basketball team, and knocked him off his jock-god-who-rules-the-school perch. He’s a decent guy, which is why he’s putting up with all the crap, and won’t reveal the truth because it would destroy the reputation of his ex-girlfriend. He’s also a talented musician, songwriter and artist, plus he coaches the girls’ baseball team. And the moment Tyler lays eyes on Jay, he’s a goner. Which majorly sucks, because a girl who looks like her, wouldn’t be interested in a guy like him… right? *g*
In one of my favorite scenes, Jay tries her hand at baseball, and is provoked into showing off for Tyler—sooo not what a cyborg who’s trying to keep a low profile should be doing. I also love the scene where Jay deals to a douche who won’t take no for an answer, and introduces him to the inside of a Dumpster—go, Jay!
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Freaks of Greenfield High:
When a teenage cyborg is forced to hide out at a small-town high school, the unthinkable happens: she falls in love.
Jay’s a cyborg who looks just like normal teenage girl. She’s super-strong, super-smart, and she can even appear to grow and age like a human. When a covert organization intent on using Jay as a weapon comes after her, she needs to find a place where she can blend in. Greenfield High seems perfect… except that the boys all think she’s totally hot and keep hitting on her, and she has no clue how to handle the attention. Who knew high school could be so perilous?
To add to her confusion she’s evolving – experiencing human emotions for the first time. And when she encounters ex-jock-turned-outcast Tyler, he sends her logical brain into a spin. She’s just starting to get the hang of this girlfriend/boyfriend thing when her pursuers track her down. Now’s sooo not the time for a cyborg to fall in love and get all emotional!
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Freaks of Greenfield High is available at:
To read an excerpt and reviews, and for international buy links in a variety of currencies, please visit the website landing page my clever hubby designed for me.
He also designed the cover for Freaks—I think he might be a keeper 
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GIVEAWAY!
A huge thank you to the lovely Jolyn for letting me guest blog here today—I had a blast!
And to thank everyone for putting up with me blathering on and on, I’d like to offer two commenters an electronic copy of Freaks of Greenfield High.
Hope you enjoy Jay and Tyler’s story!
Cheers,
Maree
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For blurbs, excerpts, and more about Maree’s published books, please check out the Books page of her website:
But wait, there’s more! Maree can also be found lurking over at the Dark Side Downunder.
And on Wattpad.
And, just quietly, she has a Facebook personal profile, a Google+ profile, and a LinkedIn profile, too… but we won’t go there, ‘cause it might seem just a little too excessive.
Loved this interview, Maree & Jolyn! And Maree, your book looks awesome! The cyborg in high school story line is irresistible.
I’m going over to Amazon to buy it right now (unless it’s already on my Kindle with the ginormous batch I bought last week!).
Norah, thanks heaps for stopping by! And I hear you ’bout the ginormous book-buying session *cough* BookLoversBuffet.com* cough* I bought 20 books in one go…. and then had to go buy myself a Kindle for Christmas *VBG*
Freaks sounds like my kind of book. I’ll definitely be adding it to my TBR pile. Do you plan to write any more YA books?
Hi Linda–thanks for visiting and leaving me a comment–I love comments! Which is why I’m answering them at 6.30am on a Saturday morning NZ time. I’m typing quietly though, so I don’t wake DH who’s still sensibly asleep in the next room *g*
To answer your question–heck yes! Although I’m small press published in paranormal erotic romance, I loved writing Freaks and was thrilled that I seemed to have the right “voice” for YA. I’ve wrote another YA earlier this year–Liminal–about a teen who not only feels invisible a lot of the time, turns out she really is! She can “phase” in and out of the real world. That one recently placed 2nd in FTHRW Golden Gateway published division and an editor requested the full, so I’m excited to know that I seem to be on the right track with that story. (And there’s another YA brewing in my head right now, too. I just need time to write it!)
Wow! This sounds really awesome! Can’t wait to check it out! (When I’m on a real internet connection and not my phone!)
Monica — I know exactly what you mean! My DH set up my emails so I could read them on my phone but it’s such a PITA to wade through 2-300 messages that way. Same with internet stuff. Takes 3 times as long to get it done. I far prefer my computer. And my reeeally big monitor *g*
Enjoyed the interview, Maree and Jolyn. The title really grabs me as we have a small town close to us called Greenfield.Sounds like an interesting book!
Thanks, Bev! After I published Freaks, I was Googling the title–as you do–and realized there are a couple of real towns called Greenfield. Plus, there’s at least one Greenfield High School in the US…. Yikes! And here I thought I was so clever making up the name. My only excuse is that I live in New Zealand, so it didn’t occur to me to Google the name first. Next time….
This sounds like a really good book, especially seeing as I love the terminator films
I’ll be sure to check it out. Do you plan on writing anymore books? because if the reviews on amazon are anything to go by, then I think you’re on to a winner (:
Hi LJ! Thanks for the lovely comments–way to start my day!!! And I absolutely plan on writing more YA (check out my comment to Linda, about Liminal, the YA I wrote earlier this year.) Plus I’d like to explore a story set in the “Freaks” world because I’d love to revisit Jay and Tyler, and see how they’re getting along. I’d quite like to bring them in as secondary characters, and base the story around another main “super-freak” character. Plus I’ve got another 3 YA story ideas percolating in my head — OMG, is it 3? *does a mental count* Yep. It really is 3. Yikes. I really need to get writing before my head explodes or something.
But before I tackle those, I have 2 older books to rewrite and publish — one *sweet* paranormal with a sci-fi twist that’ll be suitable for YA readers, too, and the third of my crystal warriors series, Jade’s Choice. (I need to rewrite that last one from 1st person POV to 3rd, to bring it in line with the other two crystal warrior books.) Basically, I need a clone of me. Or maybe two! LOL.
It definitely sounds like you need a clone! You’ve got so much going on and that’s just the story ideas
I shall have to look at Liminal, and keep my eyes posted for more of your work, as it seems to be right up my street bookwise 
Glad to know you like chocolate and wine – can you tell this Canadian what type of kiwi wine is good to try. Loved Freaks of Greenfield High so much.
Hi Renee! *waves from her desk, where she’s sitting in her pjs, trying to type quietly so as not to wake the hubs* Yep, I’m a romance author who likes chocolate and wine–pretty much a cliche *g* Can’t wait to read Off Leash, BTW! It’s next up, after I finish Christine’s book. Oh, and DH said to tell you he was totally taken with your YA covers–he thought they were amazing!
Wine. Well, it all depends on your taste. Chardonnay? Sauvignon Blanc? Cab Sav? Merlot? One constant for us is a Methode Champenoise called Lindauer. I’m partial to the Special Reserve Brut Cuvee, but the Fraise is another favorite–pink champagne *g*
Thanks for the giveaway! I would love to read Freaks of Greenfield High and so would 2 of my daughters!
Hi Holly! Thanks for stopping by to read my post. I’m so glad you like the sound of Freaks — for some reason Jay’s character seems to appeal quite a bit to adults. And if you and your daughters do end up reading Freaks, I’d love to know what my “target market” think of the story *g*
And the winner is… Bev Petersen! Congrats Bev! An email has been sent to you.
Thanks everyone for stopping by!
Oops! My bad! There was supposed to be TWO winners! Pulled out lucky #3 (3rd commentor) – I’ll be sending you an email Monica Millard! Congrats!!