Darkly Delicious Detail about BURN OUT by Kristi Helvig

I had to research some interesting things for BURN OUT. After googling (yes, that’s a verb) something along the lines of “most deadly weapons,” I half-expected a knock on the door from homeland security. The astrophysics part of the book required more intense research and involved help from a well-respected astrophysics department. 

One of the issues I had to resolve was how the sun could plausibly burn out early, which was the crux of the book (and the title). Nothing I’d found online could explain it and the detail I found most interesting while researching BURN OUT was that the sun would not be harmed even if all the nuclear weapons on Earth were detonated on it. That amazed me. A very wise astrophysicist was able to tell me how the sun could burn out early, but luckily, it’s a highly improbable scenario. Research is one of my favorite parts of writing, so I’m going to continue googling random thing, but I’m keeping a copy of my book close at hand—just in case homeland security drops by for a chat. :) 

Kristi Helvig is a Ph.D. clinical psychologist turned sci-fi/fantasy author. She muses about Star Trek, space monkeys, and other assorted topics on her blog and Twitter. Kristi resides in sunny Colorado with her hubby, two kiddos, and behaviorally-challenged dogs. Grab a copy of BURN OUT on Amazon, Indiebound, or Barnes & Noble.

FAVORITE FIRST LINES by Kristi Helvig

As an avid reader as well as a writer, there is nothing quite so powerful to me as the first line of a novel. I can often gauge how much I’ll like a book by that very first sentence. From when I was a young girl and got hooked by “Where’s Papa going with that axe?” I understood the magic of a great beginning. So, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite first lines from young adult novels and in each case, I knew I’d love the book from that first sentence (and I did).

“The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit.” Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

“It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened.” The Giver by Lois Lowry

“Everyone thinks that it was because of the snow.” If I Stay by Gayle Forman

“They say that just before you die, your whole life flashes before your eyes, but that’s not how it happened for me.” Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

“First the colors. Then the humans. That’s usually how I see things. Or at least, how I try.” The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

“Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time to thinking about death.” The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

And finally, from one of my all time fave YA books:

“My father took one hundred and thirty two minutes to die. I counted.” On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Feel free to share your fave first lines in the comments!

Kristi Helvig is a Ph.D. clinical psychologist turned sci-fi/fantasy author. She muses about Star Trek, space monkeys, and other assorted topics on her blog and Twitter. Kristi resides in sunny Colorado with her hubby, two kiddos, and behaviorally-challenged dogs. Grab a copy of BURN OUT on Amazon, Indiebound, or Barnes & Noble.

Tuesday Teaser: BURN OUT by Kristi Helvig

In my YA sci-fi debut BURN OUT, seventeen-year-old Tora Reynolds is one of Earth’s last survivors when the sun burns out way ahead of schedule. While battling devastating conditions including a lack of water and severe sun storms, a group of soldiers arrive at her door. Her elation turns to dread when she realizes that her fellow survivors are even deadlier than the hostile environment. Here is a teaser from BURN OUT that takes place during one of the lethal sun storms:

 

A strong urge yanked me off the ground and I held on with every ounce of strength I had left. I yelled in frustration, and soon realized I wasn’t the only one yelling. A body flew past me. Someone had lost their battle with the storm. I craned my neck and watched as the body was flung higher and higher into the air, like a rag doll. It must have been fifty feet in the air when it got caught in the wind shear. The wind slammed it straight into the cactus grove. Several of the sharp spines drove clear through the body, pinning it halfway up the cactus. It didn’t move and I guessed it wasn’t going to.

Still clinging to the rock, my only thought was a selfish one.

The odds just got a little better.

Kristi Helvig is a Ph.D. clinical psychologist turned sci-fi/fantasy author. She muses about Star Trek, space monkeys, and other assorted topics on her blog and Twitter. Kristi resides in sunny Colorado with her hubby, two kiddos, and behaviorally-challenged dogs. Grab a copy of BURN OUT on Amazon, Indiebound, or Barnes & Noble.

When a Side Character Isn’t Likeable by KRISTI HELVIG

 

Side characters might not be the main protagonist of the story but they still have their own motivations and desires, so you want to make them well-rounded. However, whether it’s the jerk friend or the annoying sidekick, well-rounded doesn’t have to equate to likeable. The balance is making them seem human versus a stereotype. One of the issues I had with my side character Britta in BURN OUT is that she was way too unlikeable in early drafts. My beta readers disliked her so much that it caused problems with how the end of the book played out.

The challenge I had was to make the readers feel a little more sympathetic toward her even though she wasn’t the nicest character (okay, she was a total bee-atch). This involved more explanation of her character and what made her the way she is, which translated into more scenes throughout the book. One of my best beta readers read the last draft and said she couldn’t believe I’d made her care about Britta, but the thing is, I cared about her too by that last rewrite. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to get the first draft down knowing you will still have some fleshing out to do. Basically, if every character in your book was nice, it would be a very boring book. So make your characters mean, revengeful, or annoying—just keep them real. 

 

Kristi Helvig is a Ph.D. clinical psychologist turned sci-fi/fantasy author. She muses about Star Trek, space monkeys, and other assorted topics on her blog and Twitter. Kristi resides in sunny Colorado with her hubby, two kiddos, and behaviorally-challenged dogs.

A Dark Secret of BURN OUT’s James by Kristi Helvig

In BURN OUT, as Earth’s sun is dying and most people end up dead, a group of soldiers is sent after a 17-year old girl named Tora who is protecting lethal bio-weapons created by her father. The orders are simple: incapacitate Tora and take the guns. James is a complicated character with many hidden motivations. He’s a great soldier and second in command. He’s also a perfect shot and never misses a target. Especially a target wearing a red sunsuit and helmet amidst a barren landscape. Tora appears in front of them and the job should be easy.

           

His secret? I’ll get to that in a minute. I don’t want to give too much away, but James was shown a picture of Tora just before the attack. He stares at her face in the photo because he sees something familiar there. The pain and grief in her eyes is similar to his own pain that he’s become an expert in hiding—ever since his little sister was murdered in front of him.

           

Though Tora now stands before them completely covered in a sunsuit and helmet, James can’t forget her eyes from the picture. The commander shouts the order to “Fire!” and James aims the gun and fires. What do you think his secret is?
 

3 Cover Secrets of BURN OUT by Kristi Helvig

1.  I actually had input into my cover. I’ve heard a lot of people report they didn’t get much say about their cover, but my editor asked me specifically what I wanted and didn’t want, then asked me for feedback after I saw it. NOTE: He even let me pick me the font of the interior from three different samples which was pretty cool.

2.  Despite giving input, I had no idea what the design team would come up with and had butterflies in my stomach when I opened the file. I loved it so much! It made me so happy that they embraced the sci-fi elements of my book, and the colors in the cover gave me chills. I’m not artistic at all, and the cover is exactly how I pictured Tora’s world.

3.  I wrote the tag line on the cover. This will change on the final version as there’s a wonderful blurb to take its place, but I’m holding on to one of my ARCs for posterity. NOTE: I’m giving away one of the last two available ARCs on Goodreads within the next week, so be sure to enter for a chance to win!