Last Day of Book Club Bash Last Chance to Enter and Q&A with author Jane George

Today is the last day of Book Club Bash sponsored by Novel Publicity. We're winding up the week with a short Q&A with author Jane George about her latest release X-It. Enjoy the chat and don't forget this is your last day to enter the raffelocopter giveaway at the bottom of the post! 

Why did you choose New York City as the setting for X-It?

‘Young people with a creative bent who make a pilgrimage to New York City’ is a common theme among many novels.  New York has a vibrancy, and a meanness, all its own that can provide a certain amount of validation to those who seek to make a name for themselves. And that dynamic has only grown over time to include a lot of cultural myth and illusion. With all that going on, how could I resist setting a novel in New York City?

The story takes place during 1980 and 1981. Why is that time period significant?

Events such as Reagan’s election, Lennon’s assassination, Princess Di’s wedding and the first space shuttle launch are mentioned in the book. That time illustrates the push-pull between the beginning of the “Greed is Good – get your slice of the pie or you’re a chump - Era,” and raw, punk rock authenticity. I lived in New York City in the early Eighties and it left a strong impression. Many landmarks mentioned in the book, such as the lighted Maxwell House sign, no longer exist. So consider X-It my love letter to a snapshot in time.

Is X-It autobiographical?

X-It is a work of fiction. Like all writers, I pull from my observations and experience of the world. There are parallels anyone can draw between the book and my life: I did work as a mannequin painter in Williamsburg, and my father did suffer a brain injury in an airplane accident when I was ten, for example. However, while fed from my experiences, the story itself is fabricated from my imagination. That’s pretty much my definition of art.

Why did you write X-It?

Because there’s a lot of illusion, manipulation, and bullshit that young adults must sift through once they’re on their own. And because people DO prevail over all that mess. Not always, but it happens.

About Jane George

Author and illustrator Jane George lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She holds a BFA in illustration from the California College of the Arts and has won awards for her art.

A dedicated writer for over a decade, she produces and publishes her YA fantasy and literary titles under her personal imprint, Paper Grove Publishing. Find out more at: www.Jane-George.com

About X-It

LOVE IS A DRUG.

In 1980 NYC, eighteen-year-old J.J. Buckingham is an uptight trendoid. Working as a mannequin painter and a counter girl, she moonlights as a creature of the nightclubs. J.J. falls for aloof, crazy-talented artist and bicycle messenger X-It. In order to win his love, she succumbs to the dark machinations of drug dealer Marko Voodoo. X-It will love her if she’s the queen of underground Manhattan, right? Her plan backfires with horrendous consequences. J.J. must scrap her way out of a maze of drugs, clubs, and danger before she realizes she’s worthy of a better life. And true love might just come in the form of a clean-cut geek in Buddy Holly glasses.

Purchase Links:

Kindle Edition: http://www.amazon.com/X-It-ebook/dp/B007PSY7X6/

Paperback Edition: http://www.amazon.com/X-It-Jane-George/dp/0985130717

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