Spectral Sharing

I was lucky to get a chance to jump on Tribute Books bandwagon for SPECTRAL by Shannon Duffy.  Now I am pretty busy this week with my house/dog sitting and other chores that I did not get to read this one.  (dang it!)  But I did get to ask a question that has had me wondering to Shannon.  And she was kind enough to answer.  Shannon Duffy writes young adult and middle grade fiction. She grew up on the beautiful east coast of Canada and now lives in Ontario, Canada. She is the mom of one boy, Gabriel, her angel. She loves writing (has her own blog), reading, working out, soccer, and the sport of champions-shopping! She is the author of the young adult paranormal romance, SPECTRAL. Her upcoming middle grade fantasy novel, GABRIEL STONE AND THE DIVINITY OF VALTA is scheduled for a January 2013 release.

I asked Shannon Duffy to help me understand why so many of the YA books written lately have to do with non reality creatures.  I know that is not the case in her book, SPECTRAL....thank goodness.....but is so in many popular series.  I understand the desire to escape reality but how about in a setting that could be plausible.

Shannon said "It's true that a lot of YA books written have to do with creatures of some sort.  Whether it is witches, werewolves, vampires, or shape-shfiters etc., it's definitely a way for readers to feel like they're escaping reality, and to get a chance to dive into a world completely different than their own.
To then write those sorts of beings in a setting that can be plausible like I did in SPECTRAL, I think it can only add to that effect, making it even more tangible at times.
If you have a setting where an average girl living in small town USA has paranormal things happening to her--it seems to add to the realness of it.  The reader can relate to her life on Earth, hopefully be drawn into her story, and then be amazed when the extraordinary happens in ordinary setting."

Now here is more about SPECTRAL by Shannon Duffy:

Convinced she’s a part of the witness protection program, sixteen-year-old Jewel Rose is shuffled around the globe with her family like a pack of traveling gypsies. After arriving at lucky home twenty-seven, she stumbles upon a mysterious boy with magical powers claiming to be her guardian . . . and warning of imminent danger. Despite the obvious sparks between them, Jewel discovers a relationship is forbidden, and the more she learns about dark, brooding Roman, she begins to question who she can even believe — the family who raised her, or the supposed sworn protector who claims they’ve been lying to her all along.

As she struggles to uncover who her family has really been running from, she is forced to hide her birthmark that reveals who she is. With new realities surfacing, unexplained powers appearing, and two tempting boys vying for her heart, Jewel battles to learn who she can trust in an ever growing sea of lies, hoping she’ll make it through her seventeenth birthday alive.

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