Welcome to my stop on the Fight Blog Tour. J.A. Huss was nice enough to do an interview with me over all three books in this series. So check it out and make sure to enter the giveaway below!
Author Bio:
J. A. Huss never took a creative writing class in her life. Some would say it shows. Others might cut her some slack. She did however, get educated and graduated from Colorado State University with a B.S. in Equine Science. She had grand dreams of getting a Ph.D. but while she loves science, she hated academia and settled for a M.S. in Forensic Toxicology from the University of Florida.
She went on to write science curriculum for homeschoolers and now runs a successful home business that creates and offers online science unit studies. When she’s not writing science curriculum or fiction, she works as a farm inspector, traveling the Eastern Plains of Colorado in variety of environmentally friendly vehicles that never have four-wheel drive, so when she gets stuck in the mud in said vehicles, she has to beg for assistance from anyone who will help her. She is not bitter about that at all.
She’s always packing heat and she is owned by two donkeys, five dogs, more chickens and ducks than she can count, and of course, the real filthy animals, her kids. The I Am Just Junco series was born after falling in love with the ugliest part of Colorado and the Rural Republic is based on the area of the state she currently resides in, minus the mutants, of course.
Weblinks
Website: http://www.iamjustjunco.com/
Blog: http://jahuss.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Junco-Coot/258034560979553
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6446815.J_A_Huss
The Blurb:
J. A. Huss never took a creative writing class in her life. Some would say it shows. Others might cut her some slack. She did however, get educated and graduated from Colorado State University with a B.S. in Equine Science. She had grand dreams of getting a Ph.D. but while she loves science, she hated academia and settled for a M.S. in Forensic Toxicology from the University of Florida.
She went on to write science curriculum for homeschoolers and now runs a successful home business that creates and offers online science unit studies. When she’s not writing science curriculum or fiction, she works as a farm inspector, traveling the Eastern Plains of Colorado in variety of environmentally friendly vehicles that never have four-wheel drive, so when she gets stuck in the mud in said vehicles, she has to beg for assistance from anyone who will help her. She is not bitter about that at all.
She’s always packing heat and she is owned by two donkeys, five dogs, more chickens and ducks than she can count, and of course, the real filthy animals, her kids. The I Am Just Junco series was born after falling in love with the ugliest part of Colorado and the Rural Republic is based on the area of the state she currently resides in, minus the mutants, of course.
Weblinks
Website: http://www.iamjustjunco.com/
Blog: http://jahuss.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Junco-Coot/258034560979553
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6446815.J_A_Huss
The Blurb:
Lies and Luck, they’ll both get you in the end.
There’s a new twist on an old prophecy and this one brings the End of Days. Junco must make a choice – human or avian? Only one race will survive.
Lucan has secrets and the lies are flowing like a mountain river during spring thaw. But he needs Junco to cooperate just a little bit longer or it all falls apart.
The Siblings on Earth are waiting for the Seventh to return and pull their clutch together. But Earth has secrets too – secrets that change everything.
Junco has survived against impossible odds, but the cost of survival is higher than she ever imagined. Luck is about to catch up with Junco Coot and her debt must be paid.
Book One: Clutch
How long can you lie to yourself before it all comes apart?
In 2152 the avian race is on Earth looking for something stolen from them decades ago – their genetics. At the center of the search lies the Rural Republic; a small backwards farming country with high hopes of military domination and a penchant for illegal bioengineering.
19 year old Junco Coot is the daughter of the Rural Republic’s ranking commander. She’s the most foul-mouthed, wildly unpredictable and ruthless sniper the Rural Republic has ever trained. But when her father’s death sparks a trip into forbidden places, she triggers events that will change everything she knows to be true.
As an elite avian military officer, Tier’s mission is to destroy the bioengineering projects, kill Commander Coot’s daughter, and return home immediately. There’s just one problem. Junco isn’t who she claims to be.
With no one to trust, not even herself, Junco must confront the secrets of her past and accept her place in the future, or risk losing herself completely.
Book two: Fledge
Well-trained soldier or genetically engineered monster?
Junco Coot can’t even remember her trip off Earth; she was too busy being morphed into her new avian body. But reality hits her hard when she wakes up to find her new life is not what she expected. Not even close.
Tier is on trial for treason, the avian president wants her dead, her new military team is hostile, her body is being taken over by an illicit AI, and her only friend is a ten-year old throwaway boy.
In most places the avian Fledge ritual would be nothing more than mass murder, but here in the capital city of Amelia, it’s called growing up. Junco has two choices: fight to the death to prove her worth, or get sent back to Earth in the hands of her enemies.
In a foreign culture and surrounded by people she can’t trust or count on, Junco must find a way to save herself and Tier without losing her immortal soul in the process.
The Review:
First off, bravo J.A. for continuing to make a strong, kick ass heroine. The world needs more of those! This book does not let you down if you've read the other two. Junco is still wham-bam-thank-you-mam kick ass, strong and courageous. The book allows you to get to know Junco a little closer this time. Seeing her character arc develop even further. It keeps you on the edge of your seat too- which is great for adventure/action lovers. I wish that the males in the book were less the typical female role. LOL. Does that even make sense? It's like J.A. switched the typical roles, where men are all badass and the girls are pouty females.
I'll be re-reading this series again, I enjoyed it that much. I highly recommend it for those that like action, adventure, strong female characters, great storylines... awesome character arcs.
Keep up the good work, J.A.!
First off, bravo J.A. for continuing to make a strong, kick ass heroine. The world needs more of those! This book does not let you down if you've read the other two. Junco is still wham-bam-thank-you-mam kick ass, strong and courageous. The book allows you to get to know Junco a little closer this time. Seeing her character arc develop even further. It keeps you on the edge of your seat too- which is great for adventure/action lovers. I wish that the males in the book were less the typical female role. LOL. Does that even make sense? It's like J.A. switched the typical roles, where men are all badass and the girls are pouty females.
I'll be re-reading this series again, I enjoyed it that much. I highly recommend it for those that like action, adventure, strong female characters, great storylines... awesome character arcs.
Keep up the good work, J.A.!
The Interview:
Did you always want to be a writer? If not, then what?
No, I always wanted to be a scientist and so that’s what I went to school for. It wasn’t until much later that I decided to begin writing, first non-fiction science educational materials, and finally this year, I started writing fiction.
Do your readers contact you? If so, what do they say?
Most of the time readers contact me to say they enjoyed the series, also to ask when the next book is coming out.
For aspiring writers, what three pieces of good advice would you give them?
Learn to plot and develop characters
Find an editor that understands your genre and your story
Start planning your marketing strategy early. Way before you publish.
Do you have a favorite of your own books?
I always think the one I’m writing is my favorite so right now I’m in love with the fourth book, Range. Junco is so messed up and the scenes in the beginning of the book are so emotional, I just fall in love with her all over again when I read them.
But truthfully, I think Fledge is my favorite. Junco is so ugly in that book, yet despite never catching a break, she soldiers on. She does two awful things in that story, one to someone else and the other to herself. And I could never in a million years have done either of them. But if she didn’t do those terrible things, she’d never live to complete her one true mission. So in the end I have to agree with her choices. She did was she had to do. That’s kind of the story of her life. She gets the job done.
How do you balance writing with your life?
It’s hard because I own my own business and I have an outside part-time job. But the best way for me to find writing time is to schedule it in on my calendar.
How old were you when you wrote your first book and what was it about?
I wrote my first book when I was 31. It was a middle-grade mystery about a couple of orphans who went to live with their aunt on a farm.
Where do your ideas come from?
I have no idea…they just come to me.
Do you have a writing quirk?
I plot all my scenes while walking on the treadmill. It’s very hard for me to plot any other way now.
Pantser or Planner?
Planner all the way.
Do you pick out dream casts for your books? If so, what's your favorite so far?
No, I really haven’t done that, but it would be fun to do.
Coke vs Pepsi?
Pepsi
Chocolate vs Vanilla?
Chocolate
Cake vs Ice Cream?
Cake
Do you think we dream in color or that we wake up and remember it in color?
I have no idea! I’ve never thought abut that before. I think we probably dream in black and white, but I’m not sure.
What's your favorite food?
Everything on my Thanksgiving table!
What type of food could you never live without?
Milk Duds
If you were stuck on a desert island, what would you take with you (limit 4 items)?
A solar-powered phone charger
iPhone
Pocket knife
Lighter
Favorite show growing up?
The Simpsons
If you could have one super power, what would it be and why?
Invisibility – it has so much potential!
What do you think the future will hold?
Good things, I hope.
Did you always want to be a writer? If not, then what?
No, I always wanted to be a scientist and so that’s what I went to school for. It wasn’t until much later that I decided to begin writing, first non-fiction science educational materials, and finally this year, I started writing fiction.
Do your readers contact you? If so, what do they say?
Most of the time readers contact me to say they enjoyed the series, also to ask when the next book is coming out.
For aspiring writers, what three pieces of good advice would you give them?
Learn to plot and develop characters
Find an editor that understands your genre and your story
Start planning your marketing strategy early. Way before you publish.
Do you have a favorite of your own books?
I always think the one I’m writing is my favorite so right now I’m in love with the fourth book, Range. Junco is so messed up and the scenes in the beginning of the book are so emotional, I just fall in love with her all over again when I read them.
But truthfully, I think Fledge is my favorite. Junco is so ugly in that book, yet despite never catching a break, she soldiers on. She does two awful things in that story, one to someone else and the other to herself. And I could never in a million years have done either of them. But if she didn’t do those terrible things, she’d never live to complete her one true mission. So in the end I have to agree with her choices. She did was she had to do. That’s kind of the story of her life. She gets the job done.
How do you balance writing with your life?
It’s hard because I own my own business and I have an outside part-time job. But the best way for me to find writing time is to schedule it in on my calendar.
How old were you when you wrote your first book and what was it about?
I wrote my first book when I was 31. It was a middle-grade mystery about a couple of orphans who went to live with their aunt on a farm.
Where do your ideas come from?
I have no idea…they just come to me.
Do you have a writing quirk?
I plot all my scenes while walking on the treadmill. It’s very hard for me to plot any other way now.
Pantser or Planner?
Planner all the way.
Do you pick out dream casts for your books? If so, what's your favorite so far?
No, I really haven’t done that, but it would be fun to do.
Coke vs Pepsi?
Pepsi
Chocolate vs Vanilla?
Chocolate
Cake vs Ice Cream?
Cake
Do you think we dream in color or that we wake up and remember it in color?
I have no idea! I’ve never thought abut that before. I think we probably dream in black and white, but I’m not sure.
What's your favorite food?
Everything on my Thanksgiving table!
What type of food could you never live without?
Milk Duds
If you were stuck on a desert island, what would you take with you (limit 4 items)?
A solar-powered phone charger
iPhone
Pocket knife
Lighter
Favorite show growing up?
The Simpsons
If you could have one super power, what would it be and why?
Invisibility – it has so much potential!
What do you think the future will hold?
Good things, I hope.
Follow the Tour:
12/19 T B R
12/21 Krystal's Enchanting Reads
12/21 The Avid Reader
12/26 Simply Infatuated
12/26 Michelle's Paranormal Vault of Books
12/27 DanaSquare
12/19 T B R
12/21 Krystal's Enchanting Reads
12/21 The Avid Reader
12/26 Simply Infatuated
12/26 Michelle's Paranormal Vault of Books
12/27 DanaSquare
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