The Interview
When I hosted Jenn last year for Insomnia's blog tour, I wanted to do something a bit different for the post. What that ended up being was a dream sequence that we made up, and it was really fun to do! This year, Jenn wanted to do something kind of similar, so this time we did a paranoia sequence. Or something like that. Really, this is something you just have to read for yourself (I'm not even kidding), so read away!
Rachel: You're on your way to the bookstore to see Paranoia on shelves for the first time (woohoo!). But oops, you step on a crack in the sidewalk. What happens?
Jenn: I realize that it isn't really a crack, but a long line of deadly spiders. And now I've squished some of them and they're angry and start swarming up my pant leg...now what?
Rachel: First of all, YOU FREAK OUT. Then you get your you-know-what out of there and run to the nearest building (and during your run all the spiders fall off, thank gosh). But oh dear--the nearest building is actually a convention of freakish clowns, so you...
Jenn: So I pick up a set of striped balls from a nearby table and remind myself to thank my mom later for signing me up for juggling lessons when I was twelve. Dodging left and right, I try not to look any clown directly in their creepy faces before I can escape out through a nearby doorway...but then I find myself stuck in one of those bizarre mirrored funhouses.
Rachel: In the mirrored not-so-fun house, your appearance changes. (And at one point you may look like Miley Cyrus, which is so totally weird.) But then you find a mirror with no reflection, and when you touch it (because you were investigating like Nancy Drew) you fall into...a room full of black cats. (Sheesh, I hope you're wearing sleeves.) What happens next?
Jenn: When I fell there was glass on the floor and my arms and legs are all scratched up and now the cats all licked me and it healed me. Somehow, now I'm one of them.
Jenn: When I fell there was glass on the floor and my arms and legs are all scratched up and now the cats all licked me and it healed me. Somehow, now I'm one of them.
I am Catwoman.
So, naturally, I change into a skin-tight black leather outfit I find hanging nearby (because it just seems like something I should be wearing). And I walk out the back door--my many, many black cats in tow--and head toward a black motorcycle I see back there. One problem, to get to it, I HAVE to walk under a ladder, and the motorcycle has a red number 13 on the license plate.
Rachel: Because you're Catwoman and you have to save the world, you go under the bad-luck ladder and head for the bad-numbered motorcycle, of course. Unfortunately for you and your kitty gang, it starts to rain, and cats do not like rain. This causes you to run to the store--all the while, the rain is making you melt into your normal self--to get an umbrella. Which you mistakenly open. INSIDE.
Jenn: I stare up into the umbrella, cursing my luck which is certain to only get worse from here. Instead of worrying more about the luck, I find myself studying the the metal inside the umbrella because I think I hear a faint humming sound. I pull the umbrella closer and then I'm certain I can hear it. Louder now, it's kind of like static. Someone must be listening to me. I decide there is only one solution, so while I'm still at the store, I head for the aluminum foil and buy a large roll. By the time I'm back outside, I've used the tin-foil to fully protect myself by...
Jenn: I stare up into the umbrella, cursing my luck which is certain to only get worse from here. Instead of worrying more about the luck, I find myself studying the the metal inside the umbrella because I think I hear a faint humming sound. I pull the umbrella closer and then I'm certain I can hear it. Louder now, it's kind of like static. Someone must be listening to me. I decide there is only one solution, so while I'm still at the store, I head for the aluminum foil and buy a large roll. By the time I'm back outside, I've used the tin-foil to fully protect myself by...
Rachel: ...Keeping yourself off the aliens' radar. (People are paranoid about that, you know.) It's a good thing you bought that foil when you did, because reports of aliens are EVERYWHERE! "Extra-Terrestrials Break Out of Area 51!" "ET Phoned His Friends to Take Us All!" But really, all that foil on your head is great for shining sun into people's faces (the rain stopped, FYI), so you get hit by a car and pass out. And when you wake up...My gosh! It's a zombie apocalypse!
Jenn: Oddly, my bad luck apparently is good luck with the zombies because the only things that appear to repel Zombies? Wet-cat smell and sunlight glinting off of tin foil. I start to run, only to discover that the zombies are tripping over themselves trying to get away from me--literally. The only downside to this whole scenario is that a large group of humans has discovered my zombie-proof state and is starting to gather behind me. They're using me as a sort of shield to keep the zombies away...and there are so many of them that it's making me feel kind of claustrophobic.
Jenn: Oddly, my bad luck apparently is good luck with the zombies because the only things that appear to repel Zombies? Wet-cat smell and sunlight glinting off of tin foil. I start to run, only to discover that the zombies are tripping over themselves trying to get away from me--literally. The only downside to this whole scenario is that a large group of humans has discovered my zombie-proof state and is starting to gather behind me. They're using me as a sort of shield to keep the zombies away...and there are so many of them that it's making me feel kind of claustrophobic.
Rachel: What do people do when they're feeling overwhelmed by a crowd? They imagine people in their underwear. GUESS HOW WELL THAT GOES, JENN. Yet, you are in luck: copies of Paranoia appear out of nowhere and cover the people--and shield you from them--so that you can make a quick escape (and yay, look at all the people with your book!). What on earth could possibly happen next, hmm?
Jenn: Now that all the humans have copies of my book, they start reading (naturally). And I being the pro-reading author that I am, use my tin foil hat and the power of the sun to drive all the zombies away. Thus making a nice reading sanctuary that is safe from all zombies from this time forth.
Jenn: Now that all the humans have copies of my book, they start reading (naturally). And I being the pro-reading author that I am, use my tin foil hat and the power of the sun to drive all the zombies away. Thus making a nice reading sanctuary that is safe from all zombies from this time forth.
Because even during the zombie apocalypse...a girl's gotta read. Right? :)
And then we wake up from the dream sequence, with an intense hunger for...PARANOIA.
Author: J.R. Johansson
Publisher: Flux
Publishing Date: June 8, 2013
Pages: 351
| Barnes & Noble
Her eyes saved his life.
Her dreams released his darkness.
After four years of sleeplessness, high school junior Parker Chipp can't take much more. Every night, instead of sleeping, he enters the dreams of the last person he's made eye contact with. If he doesn't sleep soon, Parker will die.
Then he meets Mia. Her dreams, calm and beautifully uncomplicated, allow him blissful rest that is utterly addictive. But what starts out as a chance meeting turns into an obsession; Parker's furious desire for what he needs pushes him to extremes he never thought he'd go. And when someone begins to terrorizing Mia with twisted death threats, Parker's memory blackouts leave him doubting his own innocence.
If you like eBooks, you may want to look this up on some retailers ('cause rumor has it it's only $1.99 for a limited time)!
Title: Paranoia
Her eyes saved his life.
Her dreams released his darkness.
After four years of sleeplessness, high school junior Parker Chipp can't take much more. Every night, instead of sleeping, he enters the dreams of the last person he's made eye contact with. If he doesn't sleep soon, Parker will die.
Then he meets Mia. Her dreams, calm and beautifully uncomplicated, allow him blissful rest that is utterly addictive. But what starts out as a chance meeting turns into an obsession; Parker's furious desire for what he needs pushes him to extremes he never thought he'd go. And when someone begins to terrorizing Mia with twisted death threats, Parker's memory blackouts leave him doubting his own innocence.
If you like eBooks, you may want to look this up on some retailers ('cause rumor has it it's only $1.99 for a limited time)!
Title: Paranoia
Author: J.R. Johansson
Publisher: Flux
Publishing Date: June 8, 2014
With Every Night of Blissful Sleep Darkness Grows Inside Him.
In the aftermath of the events that nearly killed him, Parker Chipp is trying to learn to cope better with life as a Watcher. And it seems to be working...until he wakes up in jail with a hangover and 12 hours of missing time. Darkness has somehow taken control and Parker doesn't have a clue how to stop him. He finds an unlikely ally in Jack, the mysterious guy in the motorcycle jacket who offers to help Parker master his abilities as a Watcher. But even as they practice, the darkness inside Parker is getting more and more powerful, taking over Parker’s body and doing everything he can to destroy Parker's life.
When Jack reveals that there is another kind of Night Walker, known as a Taker, Parker starts to wonder if the strange things happening in Oakville are more than just a coincidence. After all, people are more than just sleepwalking. They're emptying their savings accounts with no memory of doing so, wandering into strange parts of town and disappearing, they're even killing other people--all in their sleep. If Parker wants to find out what's happening or have any hope of seeing his father again, he’ll have to defy Jack and put his own life in danger...because the more he learns about these other Night Walkers, the more certain he becomes that his life isn't the only one that could be lost.
The Author
J.R. Johansson is a young adult thriller author. Her books Insomnia, Paranoia (June 2014), and a third untitled book (June 2015) are with Flux Books. Cut Me Free (Winter 2015) and another untitled book (Winter 2016) will be coming out with FSG/Macmillan. She has a B.S. degree in public relations and a background in marketing. She credits her abnormal psychology minor with inspiring many of her characters. When she's not writing, she loves reading, playing board games, and sitting in her hot tub. Her dream is that someday she can do all three at the same time. She has two young sons and a wonderful husband. In fact, other than her cat, Cleo, she's nearly drowning in testosterone.
The Giveaway
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This turned out so fun! Love the random turns like: I'm Catwoman and ET called all his friends! That was so great! Thanks so much for volunteering to host a blog stop again, Rachel! :)
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