Giveaway: Backward Compatible by Sarah Daltry and Pete Clark

Backward Compatible
by Sarah Daltry and Pete Clark

Genre: Geek Romance

Not too long ago,
in a town that,
depending on your current location,
is either not super far
or actually quite close…

It is a time of chaotic hormones.
Two nerdy gents
home for winter break
have discovered a female gamer
at a midnight release.

During the break,
the gamer trio manages
to reveal the game’s secret boss,
a hidden enemy
with enough power to destroy
anything in its path.

Pursued by other gamers
who want to be the first
to beat this boss,
George and Katie race to level up,
and, in so doing, restore decency
and sexual activity to their personal galaxy…

Available at Amazon Amazon UK Apple BN Kobo Smashwords ARe

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About the Authors:

Sarah Daltry writes about the regular people who populate our lives. She's written works in various genres - romance, erotica, fantasy, horror. Genre isn't as important as telling a story about people and how their lives unfold. Sarah tends to focus on YA/NA characters but she's been known to shake it up. Most of her stories are about relationships - romantic, familial, friendly - because love and empathy are the foundation of life. It doesn't matter if the story is set in contemporary NY, historical Britain, or a fantasy world in the future - human beings are most interesting in the ways they interact with others. This is the principle behind all of Sarah's stories.

Sarah has spent most of her life in school, from her BA and MA in English and writing to teaching both at the high school and college level. She also loves studying art history and really anything because learning is fun.

When Sarah isn't writing, she tends to waste a lot of time checking Facebook for pictures of cats, shooting virtual zombies, and simply staring out the window.

She has written several books, most notably Bitter Fruits, an urban fantasy in the Eden’s Fall series, and the six-part New Adult contemporary Flowering series. Her most recent release is Primordial Dust, a YA fantasy.

Website: http://sarahdaltry.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorSarahDaltry
Twitter: http://twitter.com/SarahDaltry

Sarah’s Favorite Video Games:
Borderlands 1 and 2 ~ Fallout 3 ~ Persona series ~ Eternal Darkness ~ Silent Hill series ~ Final Fantasy series ~ Skyrim ~ Dragon Age series ~ Mass Effect series ~ Fable series ~ Bioshock series ~ Magic: The Gathering ~ Perfect Dark ~ Heavy Rain ~ LA Noire ~ Parasite Eve ~ Catherine ~ Zuma

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Pete Clark likes writing, animals, potato chips, and cheese. Midnight Riders was his first published novel, although he can also proudly say he finally finished Helix Crashing, the fantasy novel he has been working on for over a decade. In addition, he has written Across the Barren Landscape, a collection of linked Western short stories, and Tales from Midnight’s Graveyard, a collection of non-linked horror, science fiction, and fantasy stories. He also writes plays, both dramatic and comedic.

When he is not writing, Pete tends to ignore everyone around him and obsess over sports.

Pete’s Website: http://punchmyselfintheface.wordpress.com
Pete’s Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PeteClarkAuthor
Pete’s Twitter: http://twitter.com/PeteClarkBooks

Pete’s Favorite Video Games:
Bioshock ~ Resident Evil 4 ~ Uncharted 2 ~ Eternal Darkness ~ Goldeneye ~ Ms. Pac Man ~ Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood ~ God of War III ~ Dead Space ~ Silent Hill 2 ~ Infamous 2 ~ Portal ~ Defender ~ Super Metroid ~ Mass Effect ~ Castlevania ~ Call of Duty 4 ~ Dragon Warrior ~ Perfect Dark ~ Arkham Asylum ~ Limbo ~ Rogue Squadron 2 ~ Medieval ~ Parasite Eve ~ The Walking Dead ~ Metal Gear Solid ~ Team Fortress 2 ~ Kagero: Deception 2

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Q & A with Sarah and Pete

Tell us a little bit about your main characters.
Sarah: Katie is a girl. She's a geeky girl, but she's not meant to be some sort of stereotype of a geeky girl. She's mostly the kind of girl I am and the kind of girl I know. She isn't interested in all the sort of Channing Tatum/Thor, hot alpha male things that other girls gush about. She's had little dating experience, mostly because she would rather hang out on Xbox or study art history. She's been picked on a lot, but she's not depressed about it anymore. She just wonders if it's her who's abnormal or if other people are just odd. In George, she finds someone who thinks she's great for all of her lame hobbies and characteristics and they end up hitting it off, although the beginning is a bit rough.

Pete: George is a socially awkward but friendly college student who likes video games and books and movies and randomly hanging around, like most college students. He has no skills with the ladies, but he tries. Lanyon is his best friend, who is exceptionally confident despite no reason to be. He is loud, crass, and intrusive, yet oddly endearing, extremely loyal, and friendly. He loves Snickers and chaos.

In your opinion, what are the benefits of writing as a team rather than alone? How about the challenges?
Sarah: Well, it goes a lot faster, which is good. You have an obligation to someone else, so unlike my standard process of sitting around and thinking about excuses not to write rather than thinking about a story, I had to get the next section done. We wrote this in a truly collaborative way. I would write a section and then email it to Pete (I wrote Katie's chapters and he wrote George's). Then he would write one and send it back and so forth. It also helped when we got stuck. There were two points when I remember brainstorming the next step, but was able to leave it with him to come up with something and we did that to help each other. The only real challenge was that sometimes I was expecting the story to go somewhere and it went somewhere else, but really, I enjoyed it. I have to admit, though, that I'm not sure I could co-write with just anyone. Pete and I work well together and know how to act as a team.

Pete: I pretty much agree with what Sarah said. It's nice to move the story a little quicker and having someone to constantly bounce ideas off of, plus it was good motivation as I got immediate feedback after each scene I wrote. That's really fun to see and also it's great to be challenged. For example, there was a scene when I got a chapter leaving George about to show the Easter pageant video to Katie, which I had no idea was coming. So that was a lot of fun. It could be tough sometimes when I would set something up and Sarah would change it or go in another direction, but that was also part of the enjoyment. Adjusting and thinking fast to save a story is refreshing.

Besides gaming, what do you see as influences on your writing style?
Sarah: It's hard to really say because my favorite authors are not necessarily going to sound like my writing. I love Hemingway, but there's no way I consider myself in his circle. I guess, though, that the two influences would be the books I love, which are mainly in first person, because that's the POV I tend to prefer as well. The other would be a decade of teaching high school and working with teens to encourage them to read, including with the ALA and in library settings. That really gave me a sense of YA from a teen's perspective, and I think sometimes the readers of YA are a little isolated from what young people are really like.

Pete: A whole bunch of things, movies, literature, etc. I love history. Really, I tend to be influenced by the things I enjoy outside of books.

Describe your ideal writing spot.
Sarah: At this point, I would seriously kill for a comfortable chair. Otherwise, I don't have one. But man, my butt is sore.

Pete: On some kind of balcony on a medieval castle's tower in the dark heart of Romania.

What is the best advice you have been given?
Sarah: As a writer or as a person? I guess, for me, it kind of applies to both. My grandmother said to me, ages ago, that nothing in life is worth it if you get there by cheating. She said to me, "what good is it to achieve your goals if you get to them and know, in your heart, that you had to sacrifice what mattered to reach them?" I always think about that. I don't want to succeed in life for any reason but because I worked hard and earned it. That goes for anything I do.

Pete: Don't draft a kicker until the last round.

If you could have any superpower, what would you choose and why?
Sarah: Mind control. People desperately need to spend five minutes in the mind of someone else, because empathy is dead. I would make them see how it really is for people.

Pete: The powers of Molecule Man. This is a cheap way of saying all encompassing and total power, since he can alter or change anything that exists.

Which do you prefer: hard/paperbacks or ebooks?
Sarah: I prefer a tattered paperback with notes and dog-eared pages that's been read a hundred times.

Pete: Hardcover.

What book are you reading now?
Sarah: City of Heavenly Fire

Pete: Clash of Kings