We here at Book Lovers Inc. are so happy to welcome Kristina McBride author of Tension of Opposites, which officially hit the shelves last month! (I enjoyed it very much, you can read my review tomorrow on Book Crazy!)


The YA Lover: First off Kristina, would you mind telling us a bit about yourself and how you got into writing? 


KM: I lived across the street from a library when I was a young child and have always had a voracious appetite for books and words. When I was in high school, I began journaling obsessively – everything from song lyrics to poems to short stories. It wasn’t until I finished my Masters Degree and quit my job teaching high school English that I dove headfirst into writing my first novel. (I know the order of things doesn’t make sense, but I completed my Masters work right after I had my first child. I simply couldn’t go back to the full-time job. Thankfully my husband supported my decision completely.) I wrote three manuscripts over the course of the next 2 ½ years – the first two were rejected widely by agents. I finally landed my agent, Alyssa Eisner Henkin with Trident Media Group, just after I completed manuscript number three. After nearly a year of revisions, we had three offers on the table forThe Tension of Opposites, which turned into a mini-auction that ended with a two-book deal with Egmont USA. 


The YA Lover: I found while reading The Tension of Opposites that there’s a great emphasis, for Tessa, to learn to live with the past, in order to move forward; which I think became a powerful message, we all need to learn more about sometimes. Is there anything in your past that helped you define this with in the pages of Tension of Opposites? 


KM: Oh dear, don’t we all have something that deserves to be let go? I learned how to do this while I was in college – to simply let the past stay in the past where it belonged. Not to say that events shouldn’t be honored and respected for the influence they have on your life. Just that you shouldn’t allow anything to destroy you – but only to make you a stronger person. While this wasn’t at the forefront of my mind as I wrote Tessa through her journey with Elle and Max, it certainly emerged as a theme.

The YA Lover: You dealt with a very real, and scary topic with your debut novel, The Tension of Opposites, almost every day I see on the news about a child abducted, and as a mother it’s tough to watch, was it a tough book to write? Did you talk to doctors, therapists or survivors in your research, or read about them, in order to help make Noelle/Elle more real? 


KM: As a mother myself, it was a very difficult book to write. But as a book lover who prefers creepy topics, it was perfect. Not that the book itself is all that creepy – the story certainly has some very light and romantic scenes to balance out the darkness. I spent quite a bit of time researching several different kidnapped-and-returned stories while writing this novel, and the hardest part for me was learning the stories of these brave young adults who made it through a terrible ordeal. 


The YA Lover: Are you working on anything now you can talk about? As a lover of The Tension of Opposites I am excited to read more of your work!


KM: Oh, that makes me a little giddy! Thank you! I am working on book two of my two-book deal with Egmont USA. It has nothing to do with The Tension of Opposites. Having scrapped all but five chapters of The Tension of Opposites during my almost-year of revisions makes me very hesitant to say more – I never know how much of a WIP will stay and how much will have to go. I am loving the experience of writing this one, so hopefully you’ll enjoy the read! 

The YA Lover: If you could be any fictional character, whom would you be and why?


KM: I love Margo Roth Spiegelman from John Green’s Paper Towns. But I’m not sure if I’d like to be her, or just hang out with her. Same goes for Samantha Kingston in Lauren Oliver’s Before I Fall. 


The YA Lover: What was the last book you read? Did you enjoy it? 


KM: Faithful by Janet Fox – it was amazing!


The YA Lover: Is there anything else you would like to tell us about, signings going on, or anything?  


KM: I am so thankful for all the support I’ve received for this debut! It’s been such fun breaking in to this incredible literary world! I do have a few signings coming up this summer:
June 26 – Columbus, Ohio
July 10 – Hudson, Ohio
July 24 – Ann Arbor, Michigan 
For more details, please check the “Appearances” page on my website.


Author Bio: 
Kristina McBride, a former high-school English teacher and yearbook advisor, wrote The Tension of Opposites in response to the safe return of a child who was kidnapped while riding his bike to a friend’s house. She lives in Ohio with her husband and two young children. This is her first novel. Visit her online at www.kristinamcbride.com.


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Thank you so much Kristina for being with us, I can’t wait to read more about your upcoming book!

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