Synopsis:
Abby Banks is your
typical sixteen-year-old girl, except that her entire life has been one
big lie. Kidnapped as a young girl and fostered by a government agency
as collateral, Abby never knew she was important… until her mom’s
terrorist organization unleashes a devastating attack on the facility.
I am sitting in the coffee shop, waiting for Abby to arrive. I pull out my papers to write down what she says. When I glance up, she is sitting across from me.
Me: I smile, and then glance down at my notes once more before looking up at her. You left a friend back in the community you were from. Lisa? Do you ever wonder how she is doing since you left? Since she has no idea where you have gone and haven’t heard from you at all?
Abby: I blush and look away for a second embarrassed. Actually, yes, I think about her from time to time. I also secretly harbor the idea of going back and rescuing her from the clutches of the Agency, but I’m not sure how she would feel about that, honestly.
Me: Nods in understanding. If you could have switched places with your mother, Esmeralda,would you have?
Abby: I swallow and stare at my shoes. Wow, you’re not pulling any punches, are you? I swallow again and fidget uncomfortably. Does it make me a bad person to say that I wouldn’t? I mean I love her and all, but well, I like my current status in this world a little more than her current status.
Me: How do you feel about the new knowledge and abilities you possess? Are you scared of it? Do you enjoy it?
Abby: I smirk and try to suppress the urge to flex my bicep. I fail. It’s awesome. I can do all these things I never thought I could. I can even pick locks,me, the queen of no-dexterity can pick a lock? If I wanted to, I could hack into my old school’s computer and change my grades… I may still do that.I know this is a bad example, but imagine being really bad at playing the piano and waking up and being able to play Gershwin?
Me: That would be pretty impressive. Do you feel the same way about Stephen that he feels towards you?
Abby: Blushes again. I um… don’t know. Stephen is a little intense, and I’m not sure how much of our relationship is based on the situation we were in. I’ve heard he fell in love with the last girl he rescued, too. That doesn’t exactly give him a strong track record. But at the same time, he’s really hot, like temperature of the sun hot. Does it make me horrible to say that if he was less attractive I would be running away screaming?
Me: I would probably do the same thing, well at least the running part, not necessarily the screaming part. If you could, would you wish to change lives with someone else? To become them, and not have the memories you have? To have an easier life?
Abby: I bite my lip. Um… I’m not sure. That’d be like cypher in the matrix right,where he wants them to stick him back in the Matrix? I’m not sure I could do something like that. It seems so… cowardly, and while I’m not the toughest cookie in the jar, I’d like to think I wouldn’t run away from my destiny and hide…
Me: Smiles, and takes a sip of coffee. My final question, do you ever worry that there is some of your biological mother’s evil side that is within you? Like in the saying, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”. I tilt my head to the side and await her answer.
Abby: Yes, actually. I worry about this from time to time. Sometimes I get these urges… I get up and take a step toward her, my hands convulsing at my sides. Sometimes I worry I can’t control them. I swallow and reach out toward her, fingers twitching as I reach for her neck before a smile breaks across my face, and I start laughing. Thanks for the interview. It was fun.
I watch thoughtfully as Abby leaves, before getting up and leaving myself.
J.A. Cipriano Bio:
When J. A. Cipriano was in second, grade his teacher gave everyone in class a journal to write down whatever they wanted. Their first subject was to write about something they didn’t like. J. A. chose to write about why he didn’t like writing. His reasoning was simple. He had bad handwriting. Even then he was destined to be an engineer due to his messy scrawl.
Unfortunately, he found through the course of this little adventure that he actually liked writing. That year was sort of the high point for his writing career because he won a writing contest for the state. He got to go to a big dinner and his teacher was all dressed up.
He kept writing little stories, year after year, and in sixth grade, won another contest. In seventh grade he broke his arm and got the cast signed by both Dean Koontz and Stan Lee. It is, by far, the coolest cast he’s owned. That was about the time he found video games and anime. His writing turned mostly toward fan-fiction until about ninth grade where he wrote his first novel, a small book about twenty thousand words called Revelations. In sophomore year, he wrote two more books to complete the trilogy because he saw Star Wars that year and learned trilogies were the cool thing to do.
Since then, he’s written six more novels, four of which are in the Lillim Callina Series, and one in the Abby Banks series. The other is stuck in a drawer for time undetermined. He’s writing his next book now which is about werewolves fighting mummies in Ancient Egypt. After that, he will move onto Abby Banks 2. The Spy Within will come out in June or July.
J.A. also has three chinchillas. Two of them are grey and because of this, they are named Slate and Cadmium. The third is named Jet because he’s black, and Jet is old English for black. See, creative. He also has a cat named Turtle. This does pose problems for his two-year-old from time to time.
Giveaway
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