Interview and Giveaway: Aisha Tritle, author of the YA Occidis

I'm thrilled to have author Aisha Tritle here today to chat about her new young-adult novel, Occidis...

Occidis

(Sophia Moreau Trilogy #1)

By Aisha Tritle

October 10, 2017

After Glows Publishing

At the age of ten, Sophia was offered a choice: join Program Occidis and train to become an assassin, or let her mother die.

Seven years later, Sophia’s life serves one purpose: to do the bidding of the narcissistic Danish billionaire who controls her, Norbert Alexander. But her panic attacks keep getting in the way of her job, and when she witnesses the death of another Member, Sophia knows her time of sanity is running out. 

When the handsome new member of Occidis, Ilya, kidnaps her while on a job and tells her she’s been chosen to take down the man she’s served for almost half of her life, Sophia reluctantly accepts. Things start to unravel, however, and Sophia finds herself fighting to balance her attraction and distrust when the details of Ilya’s mysterious history come to light. 

With her life threatened at every turn, Sophia goes on a transatlantic mission to destroy the man responsible for the deaths of so many.

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Q1. What three words best describe your YA novel, Occidis?

Fresh. Adventurous. Thrilling.

Q2. Grab a copy of Occidis and answer the following:

Favorite chapter? Chapter 17. It’s very intense and shows how much stronger Sophia is compared to the beginning of the book.

Favorite page? The last page! Page 348. I won’t say why. ;)

Favorite setting? BASE, for sure. It’s the lair in the desert where all of the members of Program Occidis

and their handlers live. So much drama happens there, and the layout of the building is

so expansive and interesting.

Flip to a random page and give us a 1-2 sentences teaser: “Her bloodied face turned back to look at the wreckage, her eyes filled with horror.

There was nothing left except black dust and smoke.”

Q3. What inspired the Sophia Moreau Trilogy? How did the story come to be?

Growing up, I was super into the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz. I loved the excitement and adventure, but really wished there were more Young Adult Adventure series’ with female protagonists. One day, when I was nineteen, I decided to just go ahead and write the Adventure series with the female protagonist that I’d always wanted.

Q4. Can you tell us a bit about your heroine, Sophia? What makes her unique, what do you love about her?

I’ve noticed many authors who write YA Adventure novels tend to make their heroes/heroines too perfect. They’re usually always super strong and do everything right. I wanted to have a heroine who was more relatable, more human. Sophia suffers from panic attacks and a general lack of confidence in the beginning, but she becomes stronger throughout her journey.

Q5. In Occidis, Sophia is trained to be an assassin...what’s the number one rule/piece of advice you think all assassins in training should know?

This is tough, haha. I’d say to have a good knowledge of weapons, and be able to handle them well.

Q6. What actress and actor would you cast to play Sophia and her love interest Ilya, in the Occidis movie?

For Sophia, I think Camila Mendes from Riverdale would be a great fit. I would cast Lucky Blue Smith to play Ilya - I think he’d be very interesting.

Q7. What’s next for Sophia and the trilogy?

The second book in the series should be out sometime in 2018! I recently went to England and Portugal, and both of those locations are incorporated. A lot of familiar characters come back, and Sophia faces a new villain in the form of a very, very dangerous tech entrepreneur. She also loses someone close to her.

Q8. Do you have any other upcoming projects you’re excited for?

Yes! The first of my vampire novella series, Quimby Bay, will be coming out in either May or June of 2018. This is unrelated to my writing, but I also am planning on releasing some original music.

Q9. Fill in the blanks:

I’m really awesome at _whistling__.

I’m really embarrassed to admit _that_I’m bad at cooking_.

The last great book I read was _Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen. I reread it for about the thousandth time__.

Q10. If you were to create and bake a cupcake inspired by Occidis, what would it look and taste like, and what would you call it?

It’d be a dark chocolate cupcake with dark chocolate filling. Then, there’d be

blue frosting and gold sprinkles on top. I suppose it’d be called, “The Occidis Cupcake.”

I’m bad at coming up with cupcake names - and titles, haha.

Aisha Tritle is a novelist, playwright, actress, singer, marketer and tea fiend. Spending her childhood in Arizona, she was active in the performing arts - which led to her moving to Los Angeles at the age of eighteen to pursue a career in acting. She has studied with famed acting coach John Kirby, and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Turning to her hand in plays, she completed two One-Act Comedies in 2016: of which, one was recently performed and published in the U.K.

Aisha spends her days in sunny Los Angeles producing films, marketing for innovative tech startups, and working on her true passion of writing novels.

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Win a signed copy of Occidis!

Aisha has generously offered one (1) signed copy for one winner.

-US only

-ends 1/2/18

-winner will be emailed and must claim prize within 48 hours

-word spelunking is not responsible for lost, damaged, or stolen prizes in the mail

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