Interview with Justin Ordoñez, Author of Sykosa

Justin Ordoñez was born in Spain, raised in the mid-west, and currently lives in Seattle. He's nearly thirty years old, almost graduated from the University of Washington, and prefers to wait until TV shows come out on DVD so he can watch them in one-shot while playing iPad games. For fifteen years, he has written as a freelance writer, occasionally doing pieces as interesting as an editorial, but frequently helping to craft professional documents or assisting in the writing of recommendation letters for people who have great praise for friends or colleagues and struggle to phrase it. Sykosa is his debut novel.



When did you begin writing?

I started writing “seriously,” and I consider serious to be me writing for myself and not for a grade in school or anything, in the ninth grade. It was the first time I set time aside, like a kid would set time aside for baseball practice or something, and said, “This is time for writing. This is what you’re going to do during this time.”

What is this book about?

Here is the blurb I most prefer:

Sykosa (that's "sy"-as-in-"my" ko-sa) is a sixteen-year-old girl trying to reclaim her identity after an act of violence shatters her life and the life of her friends. This process is complicated by her best friend, Niko, a hyper-ambitious, type-A personality who has started to war with other girls for social supremacy of their school, a prestigious preparatory academy in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. To compensate, Sykosa has decided to fall in love with her new boyfriend, Tom, who was involved in the act of violence. Propelled by survivor guilt, an anxiety disorder, and her hunger for Tom and his charms, Sykosa attends a weekend-long, unchaperoned party at Niko's posh vacation cottage, where she will finally confront Niko on their friendship, her indecision about her friends and their involvement in the act of violence, and she will make the biggest decision of her life—whether or not she wants to lose her virginity to Tom.

What inspired you to write it?

Furious, uncontained jealous at my peers. When I was young, I was falling behind in my class, having trouble learning how to read and complete math. I remember that some of the first graders in my class were already at a second grade level, which made no sense to me as we’d only be in school for, like, two weeks total—how did they already skip a grade? Well, I know now their parents probably taught them a ton of stuff early. At the time, I assumed I was stupid and got rather upset about it. For some reason, this really centered on reading and writing for me. I became obsessed with reading books, even though I couldn’t do it at all, and I’d stay up at night staring at some of my mother’s fiction books (Danielle Steele and stuff like that) in my room by myself, pretending I could read. One night, as I was “reading” Sidney Sheldon’s “Memories of Midnight,” I was overcome by a notion. I would write a book one day and I’d show those kids I wasn’t stupid.

Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?

At Amazon! Or if you don’t like the Kindle, or you don’t own one, we can figure something out, just visit my contact page and send me a message: http://www.sykosa.com/bio.html

Do you have a video trailer to promote your book?  If yes, where can readers find it?

I do! Lots of people have said they like it!

http://youtu.be/l8RU2iunctI

What is up next for you?

The latest news is Sykosa, and trying to see if I can somehow get her to connect with readers. I think people will connect with her and her story. At the same time, I think there’s a hesitancy to go on a limb for her, and I think I can understand that. There’s so many things fighting for our souls right now—corporations, politicians, sports teams, religion. Who wants to invest themselves in a piece of art? Really go all out for it like we go all out for the previously mentioned four items? It doesn’t feel as important, which is a dangerous and disastrous thing to both think and feel, but I must admit, even I struggle to separate myself from this idea sometimes.

 Price: $12.95 paperback, $2.99 ebook

Pages: 320
ISBN: 9780985424312
Publisher: TDS Publishing
Release: March 2012

Amazon paperback buy link
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0985424311?tag=tributebooks-20

Barnes and Noble paperback buy link
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sykosa-part-i-justin-ordo-ez/1110112960?ean=9780985424312

Kindle buy link
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007N709IG?tag=tributebooks-20


Justin's Ordoñez's web site:
http://www.sykosa.com/

Justin Ordoñez's blog:
http://sykosa.wordpress.com/

Justin's Ordoñez's Facebook:
http://facebook.com/sykosanovel

Justin's Ordoñez's Twitter:
http://twitter.com/sykosanovel

Justin's Ordoñez's Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5621748.Justin_Ordo_ez

Sykosa Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13448796-sykosa

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186

Sykosa blog tour site:
http://sykosa.blogspot.com/