Please
share a little about yourself, your genres, any other pen names you use.
I
only use “J. Bridger” so far as a pen name and intend to use it for just young
adult paranormal and if I do any horror for any age group. I currently have
only published young adult paranormal, but I want to try my hand in different
genres!
I
don’t know how interesting I am. I mean, I speak fluent Spanish and English and
am working toward my certification as a medical Spanish interpreter. I also am
conversant in an Andean language called Aymara. Is that unusual enough?
Tell
us a little about your latest or upcoming release.
My
debut novel, actually, is called Shifted Perspective. It’s the story of a guy named Caleb who is
a senior in high school and seems to have most things going for him until he
realizes he can shape shift…
…into
a Cocker Spaniel.
Is
there a theme or message in your work that you would like readers to connect
to?
I
hope they connect to something that a lot of kids about to head off to college feel---it’s
okay not to know what you’re doing or have a life plan. Caleb thinks he has
everything pretty jotted out with the girl he’s always thought he’d marry and
the whole go to the right school and then be a doctor itinerary…etc. He has to
learn to deal with a whole set of complications and life options he never was
open to or even aware were out there before.
What
would your readers be surprised to learn about you?
See
above about speaking Aymara. Still, trying to think, I have every best picture
winner since about 1988 memorized and can recite it. I think that’s fairly
obsessive.
When
you’re not writing what do you do? Do you have any hobbies or guilty pleasures?
I
love to watch movies. I think that’s really obvious as I’m the type of writer
who makes a lot of allusions in her works. I also love field hockey. I played
goalie from middle school into college and it’s the best release for aggression
ever.
Which
romance book or series (or other genre, if you don’t write romance) do you wish
you had written?
Well,
currently, I just do young adult paranormal. I wish I’d written The
Animorphs Series by K.A. Applegate
because they are brilliant and I adore them. I think how she ended the series
really stayed with me in a deep way, especially with how it related to the cost
of war just as we were settling into a new, extremely long conflict in real
life in Iraq. I felt she had something deeper to say and that was very
inspiring.
Is
there a genre(s) that you’d like to write that you haven’t tackled yet?
I
would like to try not just horror or stories with older characters, but I’d
love to try romance novels someday. Several of my good friends are romance
writers and I’ve actually given thought to the pen name I’d use for that.
If
this book is part of a series…what is the next book? Any details you can share?
The
next book is tentatively titled Second Skin, and it will feature a selkie heavily. We’ll
also see certain cliffhangers carried over and arcs from book one growing
deeper in book two. Really, we’ll get to understand how many things that
happened in book one affected different characters, both financially and
socially. when we come back about a month later in Second Skin.
What
is next for you? Do you have any scheduled upcoming releases or works in
progress?
Well,
Second
Skin is something I hope to have out by
maybe March of 2013 so it’s still a winter/early spring release, looks like.
However, I also am going to have a collection of short stories set in the Tails
of Change universe. Most of them will be
flashbacks and nothing will be spoilery yet for book two. Right now, I know one will be about Caleb’s
parents’ first Christmas together, and I have a few more percolating. That
collection will be available in early December.
What
book are you reading now?
I’m
reading The Glimpse currently,
which is this dystopian young adult novel focusing heavily on the treatment of
the mentally ill. I’ll put up my thoughts on it on my GoodReads
page and blog as well.
What
is in your to read pile?
Tons
of things, but right now I want to finish also Purity by Jackson A. Pearce. Mostly, I read paranormal novels or
something fantasy in the vein of Harry Potter (not like high fantasy swords and sorcery). Once in a while, though,
it’s fun to try something contemporary too.
Shifted Perspective
Tails of Change Book One
By J. Bridger
Genre: paranormal young adult
Number of pages: 192 (as a word doc/.PDF)
Word Count: 69, 977
Cover Artist: Rebecca Weaver
Book Description:
Caleb Byrne is a bright high school senior who has enough to deal with between college choices, taking care of his single dad, and dealing with his headstrong girlfriend Joanna and an eccentric set of cousins in California. He was managing to get by until the day he woke up a Cocker Spaniel. Even if it only happens monthly and is more embarrassing than painful, the so-called ability is something that he's anxious to be rid of.
He didn't realize his transformations would drag him into a hidden society of canine and lupine shape shifters as well as a family legacy he hates. To make matters worse, after moving to Los Angeles to learn more about his heritage from his Aunt Moira and his cousin Kalista, Caleb now struggles through life-and-death matters. He keeps angering the werewolves in charge of the shifter world, especially Kalista's boyfriend Peter, the Southern California alpha's son, who also happens to be grade-A sociopath. Worse, Caleb's floundering to keep his secret from Joanna.
While his family offers him some support, they may not be enough as Caleb realizes that the rules in shifter society---number one being don't kill humans---are not so ironclad. Some werewolf out there is leaving a blood-soaked trail across the Midwest and it might just be with the alpha's blessing...
Author Bio:
J. Bridger has had an eclectic life. She’s worked in the psychiatric ward in a hospital in La Paz, Bolivia, been a veterinary intern giving all sorts of better-left-to-the-imagination exams to dogs and cats, and had her own spate in creating and running a television ad campaign. Currently, in her day job, she is getting her certification as a medical Spanish interpreter in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina.
By night, she’s a fledgling author, who has just penned her debut novel, Shifted Perspective; she is currently working on its sequel, the next installment of The Tails of Change Series. J.’s always loved things that go bump (or that howl) in the night and devoured Stephen King, Anne Rice, and Clive Barker starting in middle school. Her favorite shows are no less preternatural and include Big Wolf on Campus, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Teen Wolf. While she’s been writing fiction for eight years and been published in several academic journals for her psychological research, this is her first venture into published original fiction.
J. Bridger lives in Raleigh with two Yorkies, a beagle, and a Schnauzer-Yorkie mix (as well as far too many dust bunnies).
Twitter - https://twitter.com/JBridger1313
1 comment:
Thank you for posting this!
J
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