Welcome to the FFBC: LIGHT YEARS by Emily Ziff Griffin + Giveaway

Light Years

by Emily Ziff Griffin
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Release Date: September 5th 2017
Genre: Young Adult

Synopsis:

As a mysterious virus infects the world’s population, a girl embarks on a quest to find a cure in this thrilling debut from Emily Ziff Griffin.

Luisa is ready for her life to start. Five minutes ago. And she could be on her way, as her extraordinary coding skills have landed her a finalist spot for a fellowship sponsored by Thomas Bell, the world’s most brilliant and mercurial tech entrepreneur. Being chosen means funding, mentorship, and most importantly, freedom from her overbearing mother. Maybe Lu will even figure out how to control the rare condition that plagues her: whenever her emotions run high, her physical senses kick into overload, with waves of color, sound, taste, and touch flooding her body.

But Luisa’s life is thrust into chaos as a deadly virus sweeps across the globe, killing thousands and sending her father into quarantine. When Lu receives a cryptic message from someone who might hold the key to stopping the epidemic, she knows she must do something to save her family—and the world.

Suspenseful, lyrical, and thought-provoking, Light Years features a remarkable heroine on an intensely physical and emotional quest for hope and existential meaning.

Today we’re welcoming Emily Ziff Griffin, author of LIGHT YEARS, into the FFBC.  Welcome Emily, we are super excited to have you in our FFBC tours. 




ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Favorite Book?

A Wrinkle in Time


Favorite TV Show?

The Wire


Favorite Movie?

Jaws


Your Favorite Song?

(Impossible question!) ‘I Love You’ by Mary J Blige


Favorite Food?

Vietnamese spring rolls.


Name 3 fictional places you would move to in a heartbeat.

Downton Abbey, Themyscira, The Island in Lost


Name 3 non-fictional places you would move to in a heartbeat.

London; Ojai, California; Berlin


What were your favorite books growing up?

Everything by Agatha Christie; Tuck Everlasting; Nancy Drew books; the Bobbsey Twins books; this weird sci fi series about the Mushroom Planet


 Favorite Quote?

“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” –Lena Horne




ABOUT THE BOOK:


Could you tell our Book Addicts a little bit about LIGHT YEARS?

It’s the story of a brilliant teenage coder whose senses get muddled when her emotions run high. She’s learned to control her feelings in order to keep these destabilizing sensations in check. But when her father is struck with a mysterious virus that is killing thousands of people, she decides to go on a quest to save him, only to discover there is more to her condition, and to everything, than she imagined. 


How did you come up with the story? Did you find inspiration in any other story/movie/show and how has this affected your writing?

It started with wanting to tell the story of losing my father to AIDS when I was a teenager without re-telling what actually happened. I had a lot of great creative collaboration from a lot of people, especially two women at In This Together Media who packaged the book. I would say that the two biggest pop culture influences were A Wrinkle in Time and the movie Contact. 


Tell us your favorite quote from LIGHT YEARS.

“Art is not optional.” 


Is there a specific scene that you had the most fun to write?  Or which part was the most difficult to get through?

The final chapter was the most fun and it remains my favorite part of the book. It’s an ending that may not be for everyone but to me it is where I let loose and took some risks as a writer with an ending that’s not conventional or where everything is neatly tied up and I’m really proud of those choices. As far as atmosphere and tone, too, the final chapter is a section that, as a reader, I would want to linger on for a long time. 


If you had to pick one song to be the Theme Song for LIGHT YEARS– Which one would you pick?

‘Oh, Maker’ by Janelle Monae


What 3 hashtags would you most associate with your book? (Could be a word or phrase or anything that would instantly make you think of LIGHT YEARS.)

#artisnotoptional #makesomethingofyourself #ichooselight 


Are there any recommendations you could give your readers to be in the “perfect mood” to read LIGHT YEARS (specific music, snacks…)?

I think it’s a great book to read when you feel sad or down or like maybe things are just “too much.” When you need to tap into your own fire, power, intuition. From what people have told me, it’s an easy book to tear through in one or two sittings so maybe read it when you can do that! 


What’s next for you?

I just finished production on a beautiful film I produced called ’18 To Party’ and now I’m writing an interactive project that I’m not allowed to talk about but that I am dying to share when the time comes. 


Thank you so much for everything, Emily!  LIGHT YEARS sounds amazing, I can't wait to start it.  Also, the fact that Jaws is your fave movie definitely makes me even more interested in this book.  Plus, what you said about the ending!!!  I'm super curious!

Emily Ziff Griffin lives in LA where she writes, produces, teaches, daydreams, and mothers two young kids. When she was 25, she co-founded Cooper’s Town Productions with Philip Seymour Hoffman and produced the Academy Award-winning film, ‘Capote,’ along with Hoffman’s directorial debut ‘Jack Goes Boating,’ and John Slattery’s ‘God’s Pocket.’ She's run three marathons, slowly, and holds a degree from Brown University in art-semiotics, the study of how images make meaning. She believes children are way more sophisticated than adults typically give them credit for and writes for the teenager who is ready to claim their own worldview and be grounded in their own power. ‘Light Years’ is her first novel. Find her at www.emilyziffgriffin.com.

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