Interview with Heidi R. Kling

I was lucky enough to get an interview with Heidi R. Kling. Her book Sea, comes out on June 10th. I have read Sea and it is a stunning book that is one of a kind. Here is a summary of Sea:

Haunted by recurring nightmares since her mother’s disappearance over the Indian ocean three years before, fifteen-year old California girl Sienna Jones reluctantly travels with her psychiatrist father’s volunteer team to six-months post-tsunami Indonesia where she meets the scarred and soulful orphaned boy, Deni, who is more like Sea than anyone she has ever met.
She knows they can’t be together, so why can’t she stay away from him? And what about her old best friend-turned-suddenly-hot Spider who may or may not be waiting for her back home? And why won’t her dad tell her the truth about her mother’s plane crash? The farther she gets from home, the closer she comes to finding answers. And Sea’s real adventure begins.

Also here is a bit about Heidi:

Heidi R. Kling earned her MFA in Writing for Children from The New School and her BA in Creative Writing from UC Santa Cruz. In addition to authoring novels, she writes and directs theatre for kids and teens and spends way too much time online as creator/co-moderator for the 2010 YA debut group: “The 10′ers.” She runs on coconut cupcakes, half-caf. coffee drinks, and aha! moments. A native California girl, Heidi lives with her husband and two children in Palo Alto, California just over the coastal mountains from the sea.

Anyways, I hope that you enjoy the rest of the interview and pick up Sea in June.

1. Where did you get the idea for Sea?

SEA was inspired by my husband's volunteer efforts at an Indonesian orphanage after the tsunami. The detailed story of his amazing trip and the journey toward what is now the novel SEA is on my website here:http://heidirkling.com/books/

2. Sienna is haunted by what happen to her mother. Did anything in your life inspire you to write about that?

Fortunately, no. But I have had tragedy in my life that I've had to work through--just nothing like Sienna's.

3. Other then writing and reading, what do you like to do?

Spending time with my family--especially my kids. We love going to the beach and telling stories and playing and laughing. We have a lot of fun. I like Twitter and traveling and watching my favorite shows on TV. Writing retreats, movies, yoga, hanging out with friends, going out to dinner with my husband on that rare opportunity. Just enjoying life, really.

4. What are your five favorite things about being a part of The Tenners?
Debut groups are important because you are going through an experience that not many people can relate too. Publishing a novel is for one, this huge dream come true for most people and it's also a ton-of-lot of work.And it moves at a snail's pace. So to have a community that understands that is truly important. I love cheering my friend's on. Promoting their books. Right now my Mystery Book Contest highlights a bunch of The Tenners and other 2010 debut novels and people on Twitter are changing their avatar to their favorite one. So far I've seen Dead-Tossed Waves, Hex Hall, and several more. It's a neat opportunity to spread the word. YA is a tight knit, very cool and kind community and I love to give back whenever I can.

5. What are some of your favorite young adult books?

Contemporary faves are FLASH BURNOUT by L.K. Madigan, 20 BOY SUMMER by Sarah Ockler, THE SECRET YEAR by Jennifer Hubbard, Laurie Halse Anderson's SPEAK, John Green's LOOKING FOR ALASKA, Recently I read and loved Jandy Nelson's THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE. Generally,I like thoughtful, well-written books with a hopeful message. As far as fantasy goes, I just read HEX HALL (which was so fun!), and SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater is a fave.

6. Is there anything that you would like to add?

For more info check out my website at: http://heidirkling.com and look for my Mystery Book Contest on my blog SEA HEIDI WRITE, where I'm giving away a book a week (some signed!) until my June 10 release of SEA:http://seaheidi.livejournal.com/175715.html