Do you personally know any authors in real life? I can say I do! It’s not everyday you get to read and review a friend’s book. Oh, and interview her too. I’m pretty excited to share it with you today!

“Hiding unbelievable physical abilities, seventeen-year-old Desiree Morgan buries herself inside the realities of high school. But when Blake Thomas infiltrates her life, all of Desiree’s secrets begin to unravel. With answers come more questions and soon she is entangled in a world of secret societies, human experimentation, perilous power-struggles, and ultimate sacrifice. To escape, Desiree can’t be simply extraordinary…she must redefine the impossible.

“THE CONVERGENCE is a story of one girl’s search to understand herself and the realization of what makes her truly great.” (from the back of the book)

As you can guess from the description The Convergence is a YA novel. Now, we haven’t read too many YA novels at our house because there’s usually some immorality or other questionable things involved. Not with The Convergence! It is CLEAN. Can I get a “Hallelujah!”?

I got to read The Convergence earlier this year. Let me just say, I can’t wait for the next book in the series to come out! The last half of the book is a page-turner. It is fast paced and just so good. But it took a while to get there. The first half of the book seemed to drag a bit. I realize the storyline and plot needed to be set up but there were also issues with word selection. At times it felt like a random word was picked out of the thesaurus and plopped down for something different. Almost as if the author is trying just a little bit too hard to impress us with her writing skills. It was a bit distracting. That issue goes away once the action starts. There are twists and unexpected turns, and definitely a surprise ending that I didn’t see coming. It left me wanting more. Thank goodness the next book comes out later this fall!

I purposefully didn’t tell you about the plot line or the characters. There are a lot of good reviews posted on Amazon that give all those. Instead, I asked Tenille some questions not only about the book but about being an author.

1. When I told my girls I had a new book for them to read Marie said, “Let me guess. A teen in high school discovers they have some special power. They meet someone with the same power, join a secret society, and try to find out more about themselves.” So, what sets your book apart from other books with similar story lines?

Believability. I’ll admit The Convergence has some cliché elements, but I tried to keep the ‘powers’ within the realm of possibility. I wanted to explore human potential not paranormal gifts or powers, so instead of asking, “what if we had superpowers?” I asked “what if we were able to access all the dormant power/abilities we already have buried within ourselves?”

2. Some authors will have a wild dream and make it into a book. Others will have ideas just pop into their heads. How did you come up with the story?

I was on my way home after a day spent working on the ranch. I don’t even remember what had happened that day, a crazy cow chasing me or some other near-death experience, but I started thinking about adrenaline rushes. It’s pretty amazing the things you can do when the adrenaline is pumping. Of course, that lead to the thought of what we could accomplish if we could access that ability anytime. So, essentially, my book idea was born through near-death.

3. Are any of the characters based off of people you know?

My mom says that Denny (Desiree’s brother) is my younger brother, but I see him as more of a combination of my two brothers and my husband. Maybe that’s why he’s my favorite! Blake is probably the character most like me, but ten times more awesome. The villains might be based off of people I know, but I’ll never admit it.

4. You self-published this book. What gave you the confidence to go that route after being turned down by some publishing companies?

My family and friends gave me more confidence and support than I deserve. They really believed in this book and sacrificed for it, so I wanted to get it published more for them than anything. When the traditional route didn’t pan out I started looking more and more into being an indie author. I realized some of my favorite author’s published their own books and a lot of amazing stuff was being overlooked because the market is so saturated (especially YA). I feel really blessed to have the option of publishing my own work, and have loved the freedom of self-publishing.

5. How do you find time to write as the mom of three active young kids?!

My husband. Without him this book would be scribbles on a page. I’m still working on finding writing/real world balance. Right now I do book writing trips where I hole up in a hotel room for about four days and write, write, write. Then I come home and edit, edit, edit. (It is easier to get pulled away from edits because I can find my place instead of losing a whole train of thought). Other than that, I fit in writing where I can…at soccer practice, while burning dinner, during naptime, etc.

6. Any advice for other would-be authors?

I would recommend attending a writing conference. I attended one in Las Vegas and it really helped me to look at my book subjectively and understand the industry better. Also, read! Analyze the books you read. What makes them great? What makes them terrible? I can’t believe how much I learn about my own writing by reading simple awful books…and simply amazing ones.

7. What is your favorite genre to read?

I’m an escapist reader, so I really enjoy clean historical romance. Of course, I also love YA (fantasy, sci-fi, and sometimes contemporary).

Thanks so much, Tenille! I can’t wait to see how the story progresses for Desiree. There’s bound to be more unpredictable parts of the story that will keep readers on their toes.

There is a super good deal on Amazon right now for the Kindle version of The Convergence. It’s .99 thru Monday (8/15), $1.99 on Tuesday (8/16), $2.99 on Wednesday (8/17), $3.99 on Thursday (8/18) and back to $4.99 on Friday (8/19) so grab it at a great price while you can!

Author Bio: After living throughout the western U.S., Tenille now claims rural Northern Nevada as her home. If she’s not being consumed by a book–whether her own or another author’s–she’d like to be found horseback riding, backpacking with her high-school sweetheart/husband, or photographing their three beautiful children.

Tenille loves to read any genre (as long as there’s great dialogue with a touch of snark). She believes in authentic characters, romantic sub-plots, and realistic, happy endings.

Find Tenille at her website and on Facebook. Find The Convergence at Amazon and on Goodreads.