We are delighted to welcome author Gin Price to Omnimystery News today.
Gin's new young adult mystery is On Edge (The Poisoned Pencil; February 2016 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we recently had the chance to catch up with her to talk more about it.
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Omnimystery News: Introduce us to the lead character of On Edge.
Photo provided courtesy of
Gin Price
Gin Price: Emanuella "LL" Harvey is a tough girl. She lost her mother to suicide, and grew up in a male dominant home with her father and two older brothers. Though she loves her family, her ultimate goal is to earn independence through a gymnastics scholarship. It's this dream that I hope will be a common thread throughout the books I wish to write with LL. It's her drive, and life getting in the way of her dream that I believe so many of us can relate to. For me, becoming a published author was a dream, and it took so long to get here, not because of talent or struggles, but simple life choices that temporarily diverted me and/or unfortunate circumstances that side-lined me. LL's struggle is real for me.
OMN: On Edge is the first in a series. How do you see LL changing over the next few books?
GP: I think in YA, if your character isn't changing, you're not understanding what it means to be a young adult. In our teens, we are all in transition. Hell, let's be honest, as open-minded humans, we should always be changing. Circumstances add flavor to the soul. Sometimes salty, sometimes sweet. For me, there is nothing more disturbing than someone who is the exact same person I knew from years earlier.
OMN: We categorized your book as "young adult mystery". Would you agree with that?
GP: If I had my choice, I would label my book like they label video games. E for Everyone. But sticking with the guidelines provided by the business, I would say Young Adult Action Thriller Suspense Mystery Romance. Ha! I do tend to shorten it to YA Mystery.
The advantages for labeling are obvious, you want anyone using an Amazon, Google, or other book search engine looking for a new read to find your book. The disadvantages though, are just how many people can get the wrong assumption about your book. I like to think that On Edge is going to appeal to more readers than I'll actually reach. I think if I just pitch it straight mystery with parkour and graffiti elements, perhaps some females might think it will be too much of a guy read. If I mention the romantic elements and the rebooted Romeo and Juliet aspect, some guys might think the book is going to be too mushy. If I say it's a young adult, as it is classified on the shelf, some adults will think they are too old to read it. That one is the worst response for me. Recently I pitched my book to a woman who said she loves to read and when I said the words young adult, she told me she'd see if her daughter was interested. I know that anyone who loves a fun read will enjoy On Edge, regardless of age or gender, but labels can sometimes flip a shut off switch before you can slap the hand away.
OMN: You mentioned that your character's struggle was real for you. How much of your own personal experience have you included in your books?
GP: I'd say 30% of my books are laced with personal experiences or experiences of friends. Those experiences are then tied either into the setting, a character quirk, or a situation, but after that, I stand back and see what the character/s doe with what I've given them. Some books might have more experiences than others. This is a question I'd revisit if any of those books see the light of someone else's day.
OMN: What is the best advice — and harshest criticism — you've received as an author?
GP: A fellow author once told me: The best promotion you can do for yourself is write another book. The harshest criticism I ever received was someone telling me Taco Bell was hiring. Over the years, I kept both voices in my head, along with all the others, and used them to propel me forward on days where my attitude threatened to hold me back.
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Gin Price is a young adult author who specializes in action mystery thrillers. She loves keeping readers flipping out while flipping pages and uses the street knowledge gleaned from being born and raised in Metro Detroit in her stories. A proud mother of two children, she balances being a mom, an author, and a companion to her biologist beau as they travel all over the States in search of amphibians and reptiles. Gin loves to visit young writers groups, so feel free to contact her about a visit in person or on Skype!
For more information about the author, please visit her website at AuthorGinPrice.com and her author page on Goodreads, or find her on Facebook and Twitter.
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On Edge by Gin Price
A Freerunner Mystery
Publisher: The Poisoned Pencil
When a serial-killing graffiti artist starts painting your picture all over town … it puts a girl On Edge …
Emanuella "LL" Harvey puts her gymnastic skills to good use as a member of her brother's Parkour group. Freerunning, jumping, and climbing over their corner of the city like it's an obstacle course gives them something to take pride in and keeps them out of trouble — sort of.
But trouble finds LL when she runs into Haze, a talented graffiti artist whose sister Heather was murdered two years before. Freerunner and Writer promptly fall in love, but they decide to hide their relationship till they're sure it's the real thing — and until they can find a way to placate LL's hotheaded brother, who has it in for Haze and his gang. But when portraits of LL — done in Haze's distinctive style — start popping up on city walls, all hell breaks loose. LL's brother threatens a gang war, which LL tries to avert by identifying the Writer who is really responsible for the paintings.
But when another teen is murdered, it looks bad for Haze, especially when LL discovers that Heather's killer and her portrait-painter are one and the same.
— On Edge by Gin Price. Click here to take a Look Inside the book.
