Drought Winner

Congratulations goes to....

Jennelle from Reading is Dreamy

She won an ARC of Drought by Pam Bachorz. Thank you everyone for entering! 

Drought - Interview with Pam Bachorz (& Giveaway)

If you haven't read my full review of Drought, hop over HERE. Pam is such a gracious author and a lot of fun to meet in person. I encourage you to find her on tour! 

It sounds like you are a lifetime student (like me), how has your academia influenced your writing?

More than anything, my college experiences taught me to write quickly and thoroughly, without a lot of fluff. I also learned to write no matter what my mood was, or where I was sitting. Getting my MBA, especially, taught me that. I had to write several papers a week, in that program, and there wasn't time for agonizing or getting writer's block. This can be VERY useful when working on first drafts!  

I also wrote a little post on why Journalism majors make excellent YA writers: http://www.pambachorz.com/blog/2010/1/13/5-reasons-why-journalism-majors-are-excellent-ya-writers.html. 

DROUHT is your second book; which was easier to write?

They were both their own very special torture! CANDOR took a lot longer and I spent a lot more time waffling on plot and characters. But DROUGHT was this big intense project that I finished in about a year. I think DROUGHT was easier to write but harder to endure; I had a hard time stepping out of the book's (brooding) mood sometimes. 

Ruby and the Congregation are enslaved to a big meanie named Darwin West. Who did you have in mind when you were creating his character?

Darwin West stepped up, chains in hand, pretty full formed. With him, I wanted to show someone whose denied love had twisted him, and also I wanted to show what happens when someone with resources goes unchecked. Some people will do dark, dark things if nobody is watching.

In the beginning, I was mistaken about the time period of DROUGHT. The events sound like a scene from 1824, but we soon learn that this story takes place in the present. I was totally freaked! Could this really happen today?

I definitely think so. There are still mountains in upstate New York that don't have names--and you can drive past "Posted" woods for miles, and miles, without any sign of life except the occasional narrow dirt lane leading off into the trees. Who's to say who lives up there, and what they are up to?

Ruby has a very special gift that the Congregation relies on (even if they don't know it). Why water? Why blood?

My original inspiration for DROUGHT, as hokey as it sounds, was a vision. I was driving through the upstate NY country and passed by a barn, half fallen down. I suddenly had a picture, in my mind, of a glass of water, set on a table in that barn. Blood was dripping into it. I never did get the barn into the story... but the water and the blood remained. 

Ah, Ford. So many great things to say about Ford. He really is stuck between a rock and a hard place, and we want him to rescue Ruby so badly. Why not go a little easy on him?

Poor, poor Ford. It really is a tough job to be one of my characters. I picture a room full of characters somewhere, waiting for an author to pick them--and when I call them up, they say "Not her! Please! She's going to torture me!". Seriously, I wanted to make Ford a real guy--not someone idealized, but someone with decent instincts and morals who's caught in a very bad situation. And that means he will, inevitably, make at least a few very bad choices. Sometimes those are the only choices left to you.

You just had a birthday! What did you do to celebrate?

We went to lunch at Founding Farmers, one of my favorite DC restaurants (best cornbread ever).  Then we checked out a special exhibit of Norman Rockwell paintings at the Smithsonian--they were all from the private collections of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Finally we picked up some cupcakes at a bakery I hadn't tried before. No birthday is complete without cupcakes. 

What are you working on now?

I am working on a new world, new characters, that I am very excited about.  Once again I started with inspiration from a setting--but for now, that setting will have to stay Top Secret!

You came to Texas in 2010, how did it feel to meet me? Kidding! Any plans to come back to us?

Well, OBVIOUSLY the highlight of 2010! :) Texas has been so supportive of CANDOR and I have a special place in my heart for Austin. I mean, how can you not love the home of Amy's Ice Cream? I do hope to return in the next year or two. *LOVE Amy's Ice Cream! 

Thx Pam! I am offering my ARC of DROUGHT to one lucky winner. Pam has generously offered to mail a signed bookplate for the winner!

Contest Rules

US address only
Must be a follower
Contest ends at midnight CST, Wednesday, January 19th
Winner will be chosen using Random.org
Must fill out the form below to be officially entered

Good luck!

*Giveaway closed*

Review - Drought by Pam Bachorz

Drought by Pam Bachorz

January 25th 2011 by EgmontUSA

From the Publisher:
Ruby Prosser dreams of escaping the Congregation and the early-nineteenth century lifestyle that’s been practiced since the community was first enslaved.


She plots to escape the vicious Darwin West, his cruel Overseers, and the daily struggle to gather the life-prolonging Water that keeps the Congregants alive and gives Darwin his wealth and power. But if Ruby leaves, the Congregation will die without the secret ingredient that makes the Water special: her blood.


So she stays.


But when Ruby meets Ford, the new Overseer who seems barely older than herself, her desire for freedom is too strong. He’s sympathetic, irresistible, forbidden—and her only access to the modern world. Escape with Ford would be so simple, but can Ruby risk the terrible price, dooming the only world she’s ever known?

Review:

You would think that Ruby lives during the 1800s by the way she is treated, but DROUGHT is set in modern day America. Ruby and the rest of the Congregation are enslaved to man named Darwin West, and only live to do one thing, gather water. They scrape the water drops off every blade of grass and dewy leaf using only a spoon. Whether they have to fill a whole cup or two, this is the only life they know, day in and day out. Darwin makes their existence nearly intolerable. He is a tyrant, a brute, and abuses Ruby's mother, once the love of his life, to no end. Ruby and the rest of the Congregation believe whole-heartedly that one day their savior, Otto, will come and rescue them from their dismal existence. Like Otto, Ruby has a gift and a curse, her blood. Adding blood to the water, that they are tortured for, help her people heal and have a much longer lifespan. Her gift is kept secret, only the Elders know, and it is what binds her to the Congregation. Ruby wants to leave, walk into the forest and never look back, but her loyalty keeps her grounded. When Ruby meets an Overseer, Ford, she begins to think she can risk it all - her people - and leave her harsh world behind. Yet, this would go against everything she has ever known and she isn't sure she could leave her mother and the Congregation to Darwin and his brutality.

By no means is Drought an easy, breezy, walk in the park kind of book. It's dark, it's sad, but it's one hell of a story. I really can't compare it to anything else. I often have a hard time describing it. Although Ruby's blood is special and makes her look like a teenager even though she is 200 years old, there is no talk of magic. It's not science fiction, it's not really a Dystopia, but then again... I think around halfway I began to realize the religious undertones of the book. Ruby is under the influence of a cult. There is no God, there is only Otto. There is always, and only, Otto. There are ceremonies where the Congregation receives blood, and the Congregation constantly chant a prayer when someone is being beat. These events help fool my mind into thinking we are in the 1800s.

The relationship between Ruby and her mother was hard for me to wrap my brain around. Her mother relies on Ruby's gift to heal her from her daily beatings, and her mother relies on Ruby to be a good example for the Congregation. Ruby's mother has convinced her that they must not fight back against Darwin's authority. They are to accept what is happening and continue to pray for Otto to come. At times, this was very frustrating to read. You would think that after 200 years Ruby would have a mind of her own, but we quickly learn of the years of brainwashing. Although her mother loves Ruby very much, she has an agenda. Her mother is very manipulative, and at times I wanted Ruby to go against her, as well as Darwin. I finally get my wish, but the price Ruby pays is painstakingly high.

Ruby has no clue what goes on just past the woods. She doesn't know what kind of life is out there even if she did want to be a part of it. When Ford begins to friend Ruby, he describes his life and she doesn't understand a lot of things. Even though she is 200 years old, she has known no other life outside of gathering water. Bachorz does a fantastic job of convincing the reader that Ruby and the rest of the world are separate. I immediately was sympathetic and felt connected to Ruby, her mother, and Ford. They are all living the same dreadful life for one reason or another. Bachorz didn't go easy on any of them, and we often want Ruby and the Congregation to be rescued. I can tell you now, that doesn't happen.  

Drought is captivating and I highly recommend!

4 stars!