Blog Tour for The Union by T.H. Hernandez!

The Union

by T.H. Hernandez!

Synopsis:

After global warming and a second civil war devastated the former United States, two different societies rose from the ashes – the Union, a towering high-tech utopia, hugging the perimeter of the continent, and the devastated, untamed midsection known as the Ruins.

Seventeen-year-old Evan Taylor has an easy, privileged life in the Union. What she doesn’t have is any idea what to do with the rest of her life. She only knows she wants to do something meaningful, to make a difference in the lives of others.

When she’s kidnapped and taken into the Ruins as a pawn in a dispute involving her boyfriend, Bryce, her ideal world is turned upside down. What she learns while in the Ruins shakes her faith in everything she’s ever known, from Bryce, to her family, and even the Union itself.

Now Evan must choose whether to stay with Cyrus, the sexy, resourceful survivor who believes she’s in the Ruins for a reason, or return to the only life she’s ever known. But when she stumbles upon a dangerous plot that threatens both worlds, her decision could tear her apart.

Buy Links:

Amazon | The Union Goodreads

T.H. Hernandez Bio:

When not visiting the imaginary worlds inside my head, I live in San Diego, California, with one husband, three children, two cats, and one dog. In addition to my day job as a technical writer and editor, I write young adult fiction. I love the intensity of teen emotions and the way they're still figuring out life.

When I'm not writing, you can find me with my nose in a book, hanging out with family and friends, hiking, or knitting. I'm obsessed with Facebook, young adult novels, bad lip reading videos, pumpkin spice lattes, microbrewed beers, and the San Diego Chargers.

Links:

Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | Author Amazon Page

 Building the Utopia of the Future

Setting, or milieu, is the foundation upon which a story is told. It sets the stage for everything else from characters to plot, so getting the setting right is the most important thing. Sometimes the setting is easy. It’s current day in the town in which you live. Other times, it’s set in a kingdom hundreds of years in the past, or in a galaxy far, far away.

The Union takes place nearly one hundred and fifty years from now. The setting definitely came to me before the story or the characters. With the constant talk of climate change and the political landscape in the United States, it wasn’t hard to imagine a world where severe climate change created a scarcity of safe drinking water, which led to government regulations, which resulted in unrest, which led to a second civil war.

Getting to the darkness was easy, but crawling back out into the light took more time. What kind of society would be rebuilt? Would everyone agree on how to live? What would happen if there was still a divide in beliefs after the war? What kind of technology would they have and how advanced would it be if they had to completely rebuild a society from scratch?

All of those questions required a lot of thought, a lot of diagrams, hours of research and pages and pages of notes about building construction, the social hierarchy, commerce, politics, and even philosophy. Only a fraction of that ever makes it into the book, but hopefully the details are evident as the story unfolds on the canvas of the Union.

NaNoWriMo

These days, everyone is talking about NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. During the month of November, tens of thousands of authors and aspiring authors commit to writing 50,000 words in thirty days. It sounds tough. It is. But it’s doable. It works out to about 1,633 words per day. The average double-spaced page is 250 words, that works out to writing about six pages a day. Every day.

I did NaNo in November or 2012 and loved it. I managed to write close to 60,000 words. I wrote The Ruins, the sequel to The Union, that month. It was utter crap, but it was a first draft which is the most important draft of all. Because it’s the draft where you get your ideas down. That’s what’s so great about NaNo – it’s about completing that all-important first draft.

I wasn’t going to do it this year. I’m launching my first novel. But when my friends encouraged me, friends who are also publishing books soon, I decided if they could do it, I could at least tryl. It was the perfect opportunity to start on a project I’ve been meaning to work on for awhile now – the story of The Union as told from Cyrus’s point of view.

Cyrus is such an important character, and understanding what makes him tick was critical when I wrote The Union. Because of that, I had many of the scenes already composed in my head from his POV. I needed to look at every interaction Evan had with him through his eyes to ask myself, would he really react that way? Or would he really say that? And because Book 3 in the series will be written in dual POV, it’s even more important that I dig around inside his head some more.

Tentatively titled Found, the story examines more of his backstory to help me better understand his motivations. It’s an exercise for me more than anything else.

Will I finish it this month? Hard to say. I’m already about 2,000 words behind, but one good day can get me caught up. Even if I don’t finish, I already know so much more about Cyrus than I did before I started, so it’s already been worth it.

Giveaway:

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Blog Tour Schedule:

November 18

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101 Ways to Make Love to a Spoon Excerpt
Her Book Thoughts Review
QueenMarkedBookOblivion Review

Gaga Over Books Review

November 19

KindleObsessed Review
Reading Addict Excerpt
Dirty Laundry Review Review
Siren's Secret Spot Excerpt
Sincerely, Annie Interview

November 20

mustreadbooksordie Excerpt
Coffee Books & Art Guest Post
The Readers Corner Review

November 21

bookshores Review
Typical Distractions Review
Word to Dreams Review

November 22

JeanzBookReadNReview Dreamcast
Bibliophile Mystery Excerpt
SnoopyDoo's Book Reviews Excerpt
People Like Books Review

November 23

One Last Page Book Blog Excerpt
Star-Crossed Book Blog Review
The Caffeinated Booknerd Excerpt

November 24

Book Reader Chronicles Review
Reading Away The Days Playlist

November 25

Addicted Souls Review
Random Redheaded Ramblings Review

November 26

WiLoveBooks Excerpt
Tara! Let's Be Happy Review

November 27

bookshelf dreaming Review
Contagious Reads Review

November 28

Ceres books world Review
Books Need TLC Playlist

November 29

Behind Closed Covers Review
Vera is Reading Excerpt

November 30

LuLo Fangirl Review
Book Lovin' Mamas Review

December 1

Lis les Livres Excerpt
Mixed Emotions Book Blog Interview
Sit Back And Get Cozy Review

December 2

StarAngels Reviews Review
InkBerry Books Review
Mixed Emotions Book Blog Excerpt