The War Inside by M. Kircher - Virtual Tour and Giveaway

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Why YA fiction? What draws you to it?

You know, I think that no matter what age any of us are, we all feel about sixteen inside. There’s just something amazing about the teenage years; a feeling like the world is yours to explore and change. Teens and young adults dream bigger, love harder, and feel deeper. I read YA fiction all the time and have been doing so since I was an actual teen myself. (Which wasn’t so long ago, I’m only 30 after all!) Also, so much of adult fiction is about selling books and using violence or dirty stuff to do so. YA fiction, on the other hand, seems to be able to stick to the basic principal that every book needs to tell a great story. If the story isn’t engaging, fun, gut wrenching, fantastical, or inspiring…what good is it? I love that YA books help new generations of teens, young adults, and readers of all ages to fall in love with reading again.

What’s your favorite sweet treat?

It’s cliché, but I am so addicted to chocolate. It’s not actually a dessert if there’s not some element of chocolate involved. Currently, I’m in love with this brownie recipe that I found online where you use baking cocoa instead of flour as a base. The brownies come out super chocolate-y and have the consistency of a flourless cake. To die for! I’m a big fan of online recipes instead of cookbooks. People can rate recipes, share what did or didn’t work, and give tips on how to make the recipe even better. It’s much smarter in my opinion, because not all of us can be five star chefs, but we want to be able to make something easy and delicious.

What would you write in a letter to your teen self?

Honestly, I would tell myself teenage self to take more risks. I’m an introvert, so I’m more than happy curling up in a quiet corner with a book all day. In high school I had good friends, but I think if I had made myself be a bit more outgoing, I could have had some great experiences. One of the best memories I have from high school is when a friend of mine (guy friend, and yes I was totally in love with him) gave me a ride home from school and we stopped, bought ice cream, and then sat in the woods overlooking a lake and talked. I never made a move! It seems that I gave off this “don’t touch me vibe” when inside I was dying, literally dying, for male attention. I wish I had just leaned over and kissed him. Maybe he would have been repulsed, but maybe he’d have kissed me back. And now I will never know! I think being open to failure and trying new things is also so important. The world likes to tell you that you have to conform to a certain set of standards. You have to do things a certain way. But you don’t. I’d tell my teenage self to dream big, take risks, learn from failure, and keep on trying new things.

What superpower would you love to have? Why?

Flying. Doesn’t everybody say that? I don’t know, I just think that out of the realm of superhero possibilities, the power of flight is the coolest thing ever. Plus, it’d save you from having to spend money on gas, you’d never have to sit in traffic, and you could drop water balloons on people and they’d never

What are your favorite books?

There are many because not only am I a total bookworm, I read really fast too. It’s the result of reading books instead of having friends over as a child. A few I’m reading right now are: Dragoon by A.R. Ivanovich, The Crowd, The Critic, and the Muse: A Book for Creators by M. Gungor, Black Amaranth by Sasha Hibbs, Lexicon by Max Barry, and Inferno by Dan Brown.

Hunger Games or Twilight? Why?

Hunger Games all the way. I loved Twilight, I really did, but The Hunger Games captured my imagination, made me think, and kept me reading into the wee hours of the morning.

At first, the plot of the book horrified me. A bunch of children fighting to the death? It sounded awful. And I will admit that the violence was hard to take. But as I read further, I began to see what Suzanne Collins was trying to make us understand. We have the ability to forget the innate worth of every human being, even to the point that we let our children kill one another. The Capitol is an exaggerated take on where our society might be heading; they’re people obsessed with money, looks, themselves, and completely ignorant of anyone else less fortunate. They see the other people of Panem as sub-human and so they forget to be appalled by the fact that they watch children massacring each other on TV as a form of entertainment.

It’s a brilliant series…I think even as insightful about today’s society as Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice was about the marriage market and the plight of women in her day. And on top of that, the books were amazingly well written and beautifully woven. Each third of the trilogy left you with a bit of a wrap-up so that you didn’t feel cheated out of an ending. One big, giant well done.

Sum up your book for Twitter: 140 characters or less.

The end of the world is only just the beginning. THE WAR INSIDE - A new YA Paranormal Dystopian novel by @MKircher83

You’ve just won a million dollars and you’re not allowed to save any of it. What do you spend it on?

I’m trying to work on being more generous, so at first I’d want to challenge myself to at least give about $200,000 of it away to charity or people in need. I’d love to figure out a way to change the nation’s foster care system. It’s a mess and if some money could help that mess, I’d write a check in a second. After that, I would buy a house. My husband and I have moved around a lot and probably will continue to do so. We’re sort of wandering souls that need big life changes every five years or so. But I’d love to buy a beach house somewhere that we could have for summers and vacations. The ocean feeds my soul like nothing else, so I’d want it to be somewhere warm, southern, and by the water. If I had any left over winnings after those two things, I’d put them into a fund for my two kids. Who knows what college is going to cost in seventeen years? I shudder to imagine.

Playlist for your current book.

Muse, the Snow White and the Huntsman soundtrack, Radioactive by Imagine Dragons, Switchfoot, Flyleaf, Gungor, Linkin Park (the earlier albums), and Lovestrong. by Christina Perri. Those are just a few bands and songs that were in my head as I wrote, and edited, The War Inside.

The end of the world is only just the beginning. So eighteen-year-old Thea discovers when her solitary life on a dying Earth is shattered by a mysterious dream, a devastating choice, and a strange gift that propels her on a journey towards the restoration of all mankind.

Thea is bitter and alone; eking out her miserable life on the sunless, cloud-covered Earth she inhabits. A terrifying dream convinces her to save the life of an injured girl, and despite her misgivings, Thea decides to rescue sixteen-year-old Viviana. She soon learns that gentle Viv has a life-threatening infection, as well as a freakish patch of glowing skin over her heart. When this light spreads to Thea, causing her palms to glow, she is forced to trust Caden, an arrogant, lazy, and annoyingly handsome boy she despises. Caden has a map to the last city on Earth, and the only place that might have a cure for both Viv's infection and the strange light on Thea's hands. As the trio embark on a journey through the barren wilderness, Thea and Caden discover, and try to fight, their mounting attraction to each other. Along the way they are joined by Rain, Naomi, and Enoch who explain that the light is not a curse, but a powerful gift meant to heal the polluted Earth and reconnect the remnants of humanity. When the group learns that Viv is the key to this planet-wide redemption, and that there are deadly shadows who will do anything to keep humans in the darkness forever, they each must make the difficult decision to help Viv fulfill her destiny...and save the world.

Don't miss THE WAR INSIDE, an exciting young adult dystopian/fantasy novel by debut author M. Kircher.

Now enjoy an excerpt:

“It’s real. All of it. And Viv. She changed me, even before I left, I think. I started to feel things, and it scared me. Is that what you want me to say, Thea? I was scared; I admit it.”

Thea hunched her shoulders, knowing Caden was right. If she had been in his place, she would have walked away. Without a second thought.

Caden stepped closer and pulled Thea to her feet. “I’m sorry I left. I’ve never cared about right or wrong before now. But somehow I knew I had to come find you.”

He took her hands, and Thea felt a tingle of sensation run up her spine. She knew she should pull away, but she stood frozen, unable to break the contact. Caden slowly unwrapped the strips of cloth that still covered her palms. When they fell to the floor, he took his thumbs and rubbed them in circles over her shining skin. It felt very warm.

“What do you want from me?” she whispered.

Caden ran his palms over hers. “A second chance,” he said softly, and Thea felt her heart jump. “Ahem!” Rain cleared his throat loudly, and Thea and Caden leaped apart. “I hate to break up this touching scene.” Rain grinned mischievously. “But Enoch wants us to go with Naomi. He says we need to practice. Whatever that means.” He looked from Thea to Caden. “Unless you two have other plans….”

“No!” said Thea quickly, her heart still pounding in her chest. She couldn’t even look at Caden. How had she let herself be drawn in like that? Ugh, no wonder he’d been with almost every girl in the Valley. The guy could turn on the charm, but she wouldn’t let him get to her. She could never forget what he had done.

“We’re coming,” she told Rain briskly.

About the Author:

M. KIRCHER graduated with a B.A. in Fine Arts from Gordon College and is currently an author and artist. "The War Inside" is her first novel, but there are more to come including the second book in The Horizons Trilogy, "The Gray Horizon" and "Dreamcatchers", a futuristic twist on the legend of Rip Van Winkle. She devours YA, science fiction, fantasy, and romance on a regular basis and is immensely happy to pour her time and energy into creating stories for other people to enjoy. Bob Ross and J.R.R. Tolkien tie for her two favorite people of all time. She and her husband write regularly for Relevant Magazine (www.relevantmagazine.com) and Simply Youth Ministry (www.youthministry.com). They also just had their first book published called "99 Thoughts on Marriage and Ministry", by Group Publishing. M. Kircher lives in Connecticut with her husband, one energetic son, and a new baby girl.

Find M. Kircher online at:

Website: www.mkircher.com
Blog: http://mkircher.com/blog/
Twitter: @MKircher83
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mkircher83
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7202354.M_KircherAmazon Author Profile: http://www.amazon.com/M.-Kircher/e/B00E8AKEGI