Hey guys! I’m super excited to be hosting the love Tara Sim, author of upcoming debut TIMEKEEPER, for an interview! Let me tell you a bit about the book first, and then we can get down to business.
Title: Timekeeper // Author: Tara Sim
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Expected publication date: November 1, 2016
Two o’clock was missing.
In an alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely.
It’s a truth that seventeen-year-old clock mechanic Danny Hart knows all too well; his father has been trapped in a Stopped town east of London for three years. Though Danny is a prodigy who can repair not only clockwork, but the very fabric of time, his fixation with staging a rescue is quickly becoming a concern to his superiors.
And so they assign him to Enfield, a town where the tower seems to be forever plagued with problems. Danny’s new apprentice both annoys and intrigues him, and though the boy is eager to work, he maintains a secretive distance. Danny soon discovers why: he is the tower’s clock spirit, a mythical being that oversees Enfield’s time. Though the boys are drawn together by their loneliness, Danny knows falling in love with a clock spirit is forbidden, and means risking everything he’s fought to achieve.
But when a series of bombings at nearby towers threaten to Stop more cities, Danny must race to prevent Enfield from becoming the next target or he’ll not only lose his father, but the boy he loves, forever.
The stunning first novel in a new trilogy by debut author Tara Sim, Timekeeper is perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare and Victoria Schwab.
INTERVIEW
Hi Tara! Thanks so much for agreeing to do this interview! I know a lot of people are looking forward to reading TIMEKEEPER, so let’s learn a little more about the book and you.
Describe yourself in 6 words.
Tall, biracial, grumpy, bangs, tea, Gryffindor.
Describe TIMEKEEPER in 6 words.
Clocks, magic, boys, time, explosions, myth.
Tell us something interesting that we won’t find out in the book about your MCs.
Danny’s birthday is March 23. I like figuring out character birthdays via Zodiac signs, so being an Aries but close to the cusp with Pisces felt right for Danny.
And I don’t explicitly say so on the page because they didn’t have the terminology back then, but Colton is pansexual.
Book one is set in London and I saw in another interview you did that book two is set in India. If you could travel anywhere in the world to draw on for inspiration, where would you go and why?
Well, I would love to go back to India! It’s such a huge country, and I’d love to see even more of it. I would also like to go to Prague, for secret book 3 reasons. Other countries I’m dying to visit: Japan, New Zealand, Greece, France (again; I only had two days there), Austria, Italy—everywhere, really.
What’s been the best part of your journey to becoming an author so far?
Befriending the awesome people of the YA book community. I’ve made so many close friends here that now I can’t imagine my life without them. Also, the book bloggers, booksellers, librarians, etc. I’ve met online and in person are so kind and thoughtful and full of life. I love working with them!
I ask this of everyone – what’s your favorite book? I know this is a tough one, so you can talk about what you’re reading right now if that’s easier!
Gah, this is hard. If I had to pick my favorite book based on what shaped me/my life the most, it’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I grew up with fantasy (my other favorites: Harry Potter and everything by Tamora Pierce), but when I read LotR in the seventh grade it possessed me. It was seductive—it told me that I could make up huge worlds too, that I could control a group of characters and put them in danger and get them out of danger again. It was the thing that propelled me to be a writer.
Other than your own, who is your favorite fictional character?
Oh jeez, so many. Frodo, Aragorn, and Pippin from The Lord of the Rings; Sirius Black from Harry Potter; Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender; pretty much everyone in the Raven Cycle books; Nikolai Lantsov from the Grisha Trilogy; every single person in Star Wars: The Force Awakens; Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean; etc. etc. etc.
Anything else you’d like to tell us about you or your book?
My first attempt at writing this book was so ridiculously far from where it’s come. There have been endless revisions, rewrites, and rearranging to get the book to what it is now. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it. To the aspiring authors out there: if you feel passionate about a project, keep working hard and don’t give up!
ABOUT TARA
Tara Sim is a YA author found in the wilds of the Bay Area, California. When she’s not writing about magic, clocks, and boys, she drinks tea, wrangles cats, and sings opera.
Tara grew up in California, but braved the elements of Virginia to study English/Creative Writing at Hollins University.
Half-Indian and full geek, she eats too many samosas and awkwardly dances to Bhangra music.
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Hardcover, 310 pages
Sarah Glenn Marsh is the author of the YA fantasy Fear the Drowning Deep from Sky Pony Press, the forthcoming Reign of the Fallen fantasy duology from Razorbill (Penguin), as well as several forthcoming children’s picture books. An avid fantasy reader from the day her dad handed her a copy of The Hobbit and promised it would change her life, she’s been making up words and worlds ever since. She lives in Virginia with her husband and her tiny zoo of four rescued greyhounds, a bird, and many fish.
THREATS OF SKY AND SEA by Jennifer Ellision
Jennifer Ellision was born and raised in South Florida and lives in perpetual fear of temperatures below 60F. She spent a great deal of her childhood staying up past her bedtime with a book and a flashlight. When she couldn’t find the stories she wanted to read, she started writing them. She has an OTP, loves character analysis, and is a master of the fangirl flail, with a particular soft spot for fanfiction. She frequently bursts into song (and they are often of a Disney persuasion). Sailor Moon is one of her favorite things on this planet. Threats of Sky and Sea is her first novel.
Publisher: Roundfire Books // Publication Date: January 29, 2016
GARY D. WILSON’s best-selling first novel, Sing, Ronnie Blue, appeared in 2007. He has taught fiction and short story writing at both Johns Hopkins University and the University of Chicago. His work has been recommended for a Pushcart Prize, and he was a finalist for the Iowa Short Fiction Award and the Drue Heinz Literary Prize. He currently lives with his wife in Chicago and is working on his next novel The Narrow Window.
Shannon Parker lives on the Atlantic coast with a house full of boys. She’s traveled to over three dozen countries and has a few dozen more to go. She works in education and can usually be found rescuing dogs, chickens, old houses and wooden boats. Shannon has a weakness for chocolate chip cookies and ridiculous laughter—ideally, at the same time. The Girl Who Fell is her first novel. Find her at 
Publisher: Philomel Books // March 15, 2016
Kerry Kletter has had a lifelong passion for story. She holds a degree in literature and has an extensive background in theater, having appeared in film, television, and onstage. When not writing, Kerry can be found surfing, running, working with animals, or singing loudly in her car while stuck in LA traffic. A native of Ridgewood, New Jersey, Kerry now lives in Santa Monica, California, with her partner, screenwriter David Zorn. The First Time She Drowned is her debut novel.
After Evie Brooks’ mother dies, her American uncle Scott, whom Evie barely remembers, arrives in Dublin. Much to Evie’s dismay, she’ll have to go and live with Scott in New York City.
Travel hasn’t always lived up to my expectations. Between college and law school, I spent a few months working in Grand Cayman. I had responded to an advert for a job in “the British West Indies.” I thought that sounded so exotic and glamorous and mysterious. To my disappointment, Grand Cayman was none of those things. But I did have fun and enjoyed making new friends.
Yes, it was a lot of fun to write a book that was set up a bit differently than my last few. With STAT, HAPPY, GEOGRAPHY, the characters are just meeting each other, and the book is really about the first steps of their relationships, the getting to know each other part. But this one is about a couple that’s been together for two years, and they’re getting ready to part ways. So it’s a deeper relationship right off the bat, which means more emotion, more baggage, more intensity. And no matter how the night ends, they’re both leaving for college in the morning, which means they’re going to have to say goodbye. The question is just whether it’s goodbye for now or goodbye forever.
Caught Read Handed 