Author Interview & Giveaway: Amy Giles
We're exited to welcome author, Amy Giles, to Reading Lark today. She's here to answer a few questions about her new novel, That Night.
Andrea @ Reading Lark: Where did the idea for this novel come from?
Amy: Sadly, the idea came from an issue that is too prevalent in our society: gun violence. In 2014, I wrote the first draft of That Night. We’ve seen it too many times already. The faces of victims killed in a mass shooting plastered across the news. I wanted to tell the story about the faces we don’t see, the faces of the survivors who walked away from the massacre but who will never be the same. There’s another story that no one is telling: how do the survivors pick up the pieces and heal after a senseless tragedy shatters a community?
Andrea @ Reading Lark: If you could have lunch with three authors (living or dead), who would you choose?
Amy: Judy Blume, Meg Wolitzer, and Roxane Gay. I’d probably be too in awe of their combined talent and wisdom to add much to the conversation, but I’d consider it an honor to just sit and listen to them.
Andrea @ Reading Lark: Describe That Night in five words or less.
Amy: Learning to heal after tragedy.
Andrea @ Reading Lark: If That Night was made into a movie, who would you cast as Lucas and Jessica?
Amy: I think Sophia Lillis would be a perfect Jess. My daughter and I were watching “It” and both of us pointed to the screen and said, “She’d be a perfect Jess!”
For Lucas, it’s a bit harder, because he’s been in my head for years but I haven’t seen “him” on screen yet. If we could stop Alex Wolff from getting any older until we were ready for him, I’d love to see him play Lucas.
Andrea @ Reading Lark: If you could write from anywhere in the world, where would you choose?
Amy: My family is from Greece, and every summer when I was growing up we would visit. I have not been back in decades, but I would love to park myself and my laptop somewhere overlooking the Mediterranean. I find that overlooking any body of water relaxes and inspires me.
Andrea @ Reading Lark: It's our tradition to end with this question. What is your favorite bird?
Amy: Short answer: the cardinal. Longer explanation: many years ago, one of my closest friends passed away from cancer. I went over to a mutual friend’s house right after he passed, and the two of us were sitting in her yard crying. A flash of red from the corner of my eye caught my attention. It was a cardinal, sitting on the fence in between us, like he was listening in. I started cracking up, because it really was just like him to do something like that. I know it sounds a little out there, but every time I see a cardinal, I’m almost certain it’s someone I love visiting.
One night in March, a terrible tragedy shakes the Queens neighborhood where Jessica Nolan and Lucas Rossi live.
The year since the shooting has played out differently for Jess and Lucas, both of whom were affected by that night in eerily similar, and deeply personal, ways. Lucas has taken up boxing and lives under the ever-watchful eye of his overprotective parents, while trying to put good into the world through random acts of kindness — to pay back a debt he feels he owes the universe for taking the wrong brother.
Jess struggles to take care of her depressed mother, with the help of her elderly next-door neighbor, and tries to make ends meet. Without her best friend, who’s across the country at a special post-trauma boarding school, and her brother, who died that night, Jess feels totally alone in the world.
When Jess and Lucas's paths cross at their shared after-school job, they start to become friends… and then more.
Their community — and their families — were irrevocably changed by a senseless act of violence. But as Jess and Lucas fall in love, they'll learn to help each other heal and move forward — together.
We have ONE copy of That Night up for grabs. This giveaway is open to US residents. You must be 13+ years of age to win. If you're under 18, you must have parental permission to enter. Reading Lark is not responsible for lost or damaged prizes. The publicist will be responsible for prize delivery.
The giveaway runs from October 24-31. Winner will be notified via email on November 1.
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