Interview & Playlist with Heather Anastasiu

Hello, and welcome to Beauty and the Bookshelf!

I'm ecstatic to be a part of the Glitch blog tour, hosted by Itching for Books. Here you'll find some cool facts about Glitch's author Heather Anastasiu, as well as see her playlist for the book! If the text is yellow, it's probably a link, so click it; it may take you somewhere interesting! 

And now, without further ado, it is my pleasure to present Heather Anastasiu. 

Using the letters of your name, please describe yourself.

Heather writes books, and

Earns lots of strange looks,

Applies blue to her hair, gets

Tattoos on her arms, but then

Happily charms, with her

Ear or her arm, and oh yeah, she

Rhymes badly.

How would you describe Glitch in the form of a haiku?

Zoe is a girl

In a dystopian world.

Moves things with her mind.

Where did you get the idea for Glitch?

My husband mentioned a Popular Science article about research being done to implant the equivalent of memory chips into Alzheimer’s patient’s brains. This both made my skin crawl and intrigued me. What other devices might we start implanting in our bodies in the future? Maybe it would all start out for good medical reasons, but what if it all went horribly awry and was used instead as a means of control! And thus the seed for Glitch was born.

As the synopsis says, "Zoe lives in a world free of pain and war." If Zoe were to be here, in the present, what would she be like?

Hopefully at her core, she’d be the same person she develops into in her dystopian world: strong, confident, and compassionate.

You're a Tribute in the Reader Games! Three fictional characters are your allies, and three are your enemies. Who are they?
Allies                                                   
Rose from Vampire Academy                
Katsa from Graceling                              
Harry Potter                                          

Enemies
The White Witch
Professor Moriarty
King Leck

I hear you have some tattoos. Care to tell us about them?
I have two smaller ones on my wrist and ankle, then half-sleeves on both arms. I always loved the idea of tattoos that were more like art (instead of, you know, the traditional skull and crossbones kind of thing). So one of the half-sleeves is inspired by art nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha, and the other arms is just an explosion of purple, blue and pink flowers.

If you were going to ask random people the same question for one day, what would you ask them?

What do you like to read? 

Now that Glitch has been published, what do you see in your future?

Hopefully continuing able to be a writer full time. I’m in edits for the last two books of the Glitch trilogy, and am daydreaming about what my next project will be.

Somebody asks you why they should read Glitch. What do you tell them?

Superpowers! Dystopia! Romance!

Who would you want to play your characters if Glitch became a movie?

Zoe: Vanessa Marano (from Switched at Birth)

Adrien: a younger Gael García Bernal
Max: Alexander Ludwig (most recently seen as Cato in The Hunger Games)

If you could collaborate with any writer to ever exist, who would it be?

Margaret Atwood.

What's your writing process? (How do you start, what do you do when you get stuck, etc.)

I get up in the morning, check email and Twitter, then try to start writing as quickly as I can so I don’t get stuck wasting time. It feels good to get several pages written and meet my daily word count early, then anything else I write throughout the day feels like gravy, and there’s no stress. I got into this habit partially because I know how easy it is to get stuck, so I try to head it off before I get to that point of feeling a lot of resistance. When I really feel stuck after sitting there and trying for awhile, then I’ll sometimes skip ahead to a scene I’m more excited about. Other times I might pause to try to get inspired by reading a good book about writing, or by listening to music, or by looking out the window and just letting myself daydream for awhile. But I try not to get up before I’ve hit that word count, one way or another.

Anything else?

Nope, just hope you all grab up a copy of Glitch and enjoy the ride!

But wait--there's more! Heather is also sharing her playlist for Glitch! There is some very good music, and you should totally check it out! (If you like what you hear, please purchase the song legally. Like authors who get supported by their books, artists get supported by their music.)

Glitch Playlist:
"The Drumming Song" (Florence + the Machine)
"Breathe" (Sia)
"24" (Jem)
"Awake My Soul" (Mumford & Sons)
"Come What May" (The lover’s secret song in Moulin Rouge)
"Hazards of Love" (The Decemberists)
"Set Fire to the Rain" (Adele)
"I Follow Rivers" (Lykke Li)
"Heavy In Your Arms" ( Florence + the Machine)

There you have it, the beautiful "malfunction" that is Glitch. Before you go, be sure to leave a comment telling something you think about Glitch. For more information about Heather Anastasiu, click her name! And don't forget to check out Glitch (see below)! Thanks for stopping by!

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: August 7, 2012
Pages: 371

In the Community, there is no more pain or war. Implanted computer chips have wiped humanity clean of destructive emotions, and thoughts are replaced by a feed from the Link network.
When Zoe starts to malfunction (or “glitch”), she suddenly begins having her own thoughts, feelings, and identity. Any anomalies must be immediately reported and repaired, but Zoe has a secret so dark it will mean certain deactivation if she is caught: her glitches have given her uncontrollable telekinetic powers.
As Zoe struggles to control her abilities and stay hidden, she meets other glitchers including Max, who can disguise his appearance, and Adrien, who has visions of the future. Both boys introduce Zoe to feelings that are entirely new. Together, this growing band of glitchers must find a way to free themselves from the controlling hands of the Community before they’re caught and deactivated, or worse.
In this action-packed debut, Glitch begins an exciting new young adult trilogy.