by Rachel Pattinson
Release Date: 04/01/15
Summary from Goodreads:
This city is falling.
Seventeen-year-old Anais Finch lives in a world where everyone is born beautiful, where every dream is a possibility - and where their every move and every piece of personal information is recorded by an ID picochip inserted behind their right ear. When technology giant, Civitas, finally announces the launch of their highly anticipated Scholarly Learning Programs, which allow people to download and learn any subject instantly, Anais can hardly wait. But not everyone is pleased with society's progress, and not everyone wants to fit in. When Anais witnesses a brutal murder on an innocent citizen and is implicated in the crime, she becomes determined to uncover the truth, especially when others like it begin to occur all over the city. But it may already be too late for Anais to stop the man who calls himself 'the Hacker' before he commits his most appalling crime yet...
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(Prologue):
The green light flashed. Finally, the program was online.
He paused, staring at the computer screen, hardly daring to believe it. The computer was an antique from the 21st Century, but using such old technology had its advantages. For one, it meant that its software didn't register on modern computer models, making it laughably easy to hack into any new system. These people truly were arrogant if they believed themselves to be untouchable.
Well, he was just about to prove to them just how wrong they were.
He skimmed the text with an expert eye, registering certain details as they leapt out at him. ID number, name, age, job title, where they lived, even what they ate last week. His laugh was muffled by the black mask strapped across the lower half of his face. This was almost too easy. It was almost as if they wanted to die.
His fingers flew over the keyboard as he typed in commands, the computer whining as he pushed it to its maximum capacity. He pressed the 'Enter' key without pausing.
Whilst he waited for confirmation that his command had been sent, his grey eyes wandered over to the small box of picochips on the desk; their silver and bronze whorls twinkling in the half light. If this test worked...these tiny wonders he created were about to change the world.
Ten years. Ten years he'd been waiting for this moment. Waiting for them to mess up. Waiting for them to create something he could manipulate to his own ends. And finally, it was here. All of his waiting and planning would finally pay off.
The computer beeped, telling him that his command had been accepted by the host. Behind his mask he smiled a cold, cruel smile.
Time to see what Mr Smithson was capable of. He wondered, just for the briefest of seconds, if Mr Smithson had any objection to becoming a murderer. Not that it mattered if he did – he'd be dead in a few hours anyway.
So what qualifies me to be a writer? Well, ever since an early age I've been more interested in the worlds in my head, than the real one - so I thought it was finally time to do something about it. I went to uni, got a degree in publishing, worked in an office for a while, decided I hated it, went to China, came back...and now I'm a teaching assistant by day and a YA writer by night. Phew! It's been quite a journey, but I wouldn't change it for the world.
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Guest post: Interview
Tell us a little about yourself...
Hi there! Thanks for having me today! I'm Rachel and I'm a Young Adult sci-fi author. I'm 24 years old and I'm an English girl, born and raised. I love tea, cake, Lord of the Rings, bread and butter, and rain. You have to learn to love the rain if you grow up in the north of England.
When did you start writing?
I don't remember a time when I wasn't writing. Even in primary school, I remember folding up coloured pieces of A4 paper to make a book, scribbling a story in the first few pages and then abandoning it (that habit hasn't actually changed that much – only, I now use a computer rather than random bits of paper). Making up stories has been the only thing that's been constant throughout my life – I've never doubted I'd become a writer one day, but it's only in the past few years that I've decided to take that ambition seriously. I first started writing novels three years ago, when I was about to graduate from university. It was while I was waiting to hear back from the hundreds of job applications I'd sent out that I decided to write my first novel and see what became of it. I've stopped and started a lost of books over the last few years, but I finally feel like I'm ready to take my writing career seriously.
What made you decide to write Young Adult science fiction?
I've got to be honest with you – it's a genre I kind of accidentally fell into. All my previous attempts at writing have been YA dystopian/apocalyptic novels. I never set out thinking that I'd end up writing science fiction. Don't get me wrong, I love science fiction films and I love reading other YA sci-fi books – learning about new technology/civilisations and the way in which these things impact on society have always fascinated me. But it wasn't until I was a good halfway through writing Synthetica that I even realised I was writing sci-fi. I just thought I was writing a 'futuristic' YA novel...it wasn't until I had to define it in a category for my query letters that I realised it was, in fact, sci-fi. And now, I can't seem to stop thinking of other science fiction stories to write...
Tell us a little bit about your book, Synthetica...
Seventeen-year-old Anais Finch lives in a world where everyone is born beautiful, where every dream is a possibility - and where their every move and every piece of personal information is recorded by an ID picochip inserted behind their right ear. When technology giant, Civitas, finally announces the launch of their highly anticipated Scholarly Learning Programs, which allow people to download and learn any subject instantly, Anais can hardly wait.
But not everyone is pleased with society's progress, and not everyone wants to fit in. When Anais witnesses a brutal murder on an innocent citizen and is implicated in the crime, she becomes determined to uncover the truth, especially when others like it begin to occur all over the city. But it may already be too late for Anais to stop the man who calls himself 'the Hacker' before he commits his most appalling crime yet.
What inspired Synthetica?
The idea for Synthetica came about while I was watching The Matrix with my better half. It was the scene where Neo downloads the ability to learn martial arts and for some reason, this sparked a thought in my mind – what if programs like this were available for everyone to download? What if you could download knowledge about any subject you liked directly to your brain? And then, what if someone hacked into these programs and used for their own means? It took a couple of months for me to get all the details of this plot worked out, but once I had, I knew this was a book I simply had to write.
How did you come up with the title Synthetica?
The title simply came to me while I was outlining the book. I don't know what inspired it or why, but to me, it just felt right. This book is set in a world which only cares about physical and material possessions – your DNA can be changed so you can have the exact look you want, everyone keeps up to date with the latest fashions and looks (which change almost daily), everyday objects must be bought new and changed regularly – and to me, the title embodies the traits of this world perfectly.
Who was your favourite character to write about?
This is a hard one to answer! Although I love all the characters in Synthetica, there are two in particular that I couldn't wait to write: Clay Winterbourne and the Hacker. I loved writing Clay's chapters because he's such a misery guts and he's got such an intriguing background, that I could have a lot of fun exploring his reactions to certain situations. He's not used to being around people and suddenly he's thrown into this situation where he not only has to interact with people, but he also has to go back to the Imperial City and try to face his personal demons head on. He's turned his back on the city that framed him for murder, but he has to decide whether he's stubborn enough to refuse help to someone who genuinely needs him.
And the Hacker – well, who doesn't love writing about villains? I always knew I wanted the Hacker's POV dispersed throughout the novel, so we could get a sense of his motivations and why he was committing the crimes he did. It was a challenge to get across his personality in such short scenes, while also making him a bit of an enigma. The Hacker continued to surprise me throughout the book – I always knew he was going to be a sociopath, but I found myself constantly wondering exactly how far he'd go to achieve his goals. He's a man who genuinely has no regard for human life, which makes the stakes all the higher when Anais encounters him.
Is Synthetica part of a series?
Yes! It's part of a trilogy.
What can we expect from the rest of the series?
The second book in the series is mainly about dealing with the fallout of Synthetica. The Imperial City is in chaos, and the second book is not only exploring the consequences of both the Hacker's and Anais' actions; it'll also bring in other characters from the first book, so we can see firsthand what their reactions to the Hacker are. Anais now has to process everything that happened to her, but she doesn't end up doing such a good job of handling her emotions, unfortunately. The Hacker is still determined to claim the city as his own, and now that he knows who Anais is, he's going to make sure they meet face to face. It's a lot darker than Synthetica - there are parts of the book that have broken my heart already.
I'm still outlining the third book, but it's going to bring everything to a head. Anais and the Hacker are both determined to bring each other down and now, they're set to collide in a big way. But with the future of the entire Imperial City at stake, neither of them can afford to lose. I can't wait to write this book – it's going to bigger and darker than anything I've done before.
Would you ever consider writing in any other genres?
At the moment I'm happy writing YA sci-fi. I love writing for the YA market, but I wouldn't say no to writing in a different genre, perhaps a dystopian or a fantasy. I've got a couple of ideas for a fantasy series, but I don't know if it'll come to anything yet. I don't see myself moving away from writing for young adults any time soon, but never say never!
What are your current writing projects?
At the moment, I'm currently having a lot of fun writing the sequel to Synthetica, which I hope will be published before the end of the year. Just a word of warning - if you thought Synthetica was dark, it's nothing compared to what's in store for book two *evil cackle*.
I'm also currently outlining an idea for a standalone novel, which I'm working on during my breaks from the world of Synthetica. Nowadays, people seem to put a lot of emphasis on the amount of 'likes' or attention they get on social media (myself included), and this got me thinking – what if you took this concept and applied it to a situation where it actually mattered how many 'likes' you received? For example what if in this world, the amount of 'likes' you had decided whether you lived or died...? I'm super excited to explore this idea, although at the moment I'm having a hard time getting the characters of Synthetica out of my head!
What advice would offer an aspiring author?
Don't give up. I'm not going to lie - writing a book is hard. It takes a lot of perseverance. There are times when you're halfway through writing your first draft and you suddenly realise everything you've written is awful, or you've written in a character that doesn't work with your plot anymore, or you've just spotted a gaping plot hole. It can be disheartening, but remember, no first draft is perfect. Just keep going, and eventually it all comes together. First drafts (and second, and third , and fourth drafts...) can always be rewritten and restructured, so just remember to keep writing. You can change the words you've written, but you can't change anything on a blank page.
Finally, if you could invite any three book characters to dinner, who would they be and why?
Aragorn, without a doubt. He'd be top of my list. He was pretty much my first book crush (and remains one to this day) and I'd love to the chance to get to interrogate him about Middle Earth in person. Secondly, I'd have to say Jaime Lannister. I started off absolutely hating him in GOT, but he's now one of my favourite characters. I'd love to get inside his head and ask him whether or not he'd ever get together with Brienne (and if he's going to do everyone a favour and get rid of Cersei). I was going to choose a different book for my third character, but there's so much I want to know about GOT, that I'd have to invite Sandor Clegane as well – another one of my favourite characters. He's got such a messed up sense of loyalty, and I want to know why he stuck with Joffrey for so long, and yet. Why he wanted to save the Stark girls. Hm, I've just noticed that all these characters are flawed in some way...I guess that just goes to show how much I love my messed up characters!
Thanks for having me today! It's been great!
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It's interesting to contemplate the direction society is going to turn, especially depending how we handle new technologies, so I like watching themes of new books. Great mask for the book cover, and I love the name, Anais!
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