“Deception”–YA Spotlight & Interview with Stacy Claflin

Ohhh, you thought Young Adult was just for … young adults? Think again: Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games, and now … “The Transformed Series” first installment, Deception is available free TODAY on Amazon.

I interviewed Stacy about secrets, lies and adoption Yes! it’s not that big of a stretch, believe me!

Read my review of Deception here.

Laura – Your main character, Alexis, is caught in a web of secrets, lies and special powers right from the beginning. I love how over the course of both Deception and Betrayal (part 2 in the series) we slowly see the truth, and of course for each “truth,” there are more lies and secrets. How does Alexis cope with the layers of lies? Sometimes she does a good job of handling it, other times she lashes out.

Stacy – Alexis is confused and out of her element because she’s in a society that is so different from the one that she is used to. Where she grew up, with her adoptive parents, she was on top of the academic circles and was very much in her element. She finds herself in a place where her academics don’t help her out.

She’s doing the best that she can, but is still a teenager trying to find her way through life – which is more than she ever imagined.

Laura – Without giving too much away, can you comment on the issue of “real parents” as it relates to the series?

Stacy –  Alexis suspected that she was adopted in Deception, and eventually found out that she was. In Betrayal, she finally gets to spend time with her birth parents. She’s excited about that because she wants to get to know them and learn more about herself as well because they hold the keys to most of her unanswered questions.

She struggles with her identity and how she should refer to her adoptive parents when in the presence of her birth parents. A couple times, she says something along the lines of, “My parents…I mean, my other parents…I mean, the parents who raised me…I mean raised me after…”

Alexis also feels bad about leaving her adoptive parents to spend time with her birth parents, so the issue of adoptive versus birth parents is a theme that has been running through the series, and will continue to through the other books too.

Laura – Where do you get your inspiration?

Stacy – At this point, as I’m writing the third book, the story almost writes itself. I have a firm grasp on most of the characters and the world. Often it’s as I write that new ideas arise, and those are the times when it really writes itself.

Laura – What do you hope readers will take away from your stories?

Stacy – With it being fiction, I want them to be entertained. I hope that reading it is an experience filled with all kinds of emotions, including anticipation and surprise. I hope that they laugh and even get frustrated, because that means they are invested in the characters.

Aside from that, I want to offer hope or some kind of help to people who are dealing with similar issues as some of the characters. Bullying and depression are two topics that arise in the stories and I hope to show the readers that going through either or both of those isn’t the end of the world. You’ll move on and life will get better.

Bio: Stacy Claflin lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, their two boys and a dog. She has just published her first novel, Deception which is the first in The Transformed series. Stacy has been writing stories since she was about nine years old. Her favorite genre, to read and write, is young adult paranormal romance. When she isn’t writing, she loves spending time with her friends and family. She runs a home-based preschool and also educates her children from home.

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Read more and download Deception for free today on Kindle

Images courtesy of Stacy Claflin