Author Spotlight - Q&A with Jennifer Hartz

STEPH: I don't know much about Evacuation. What's it about?

JENNIFER: Evacuation is the third book in The Future Savior Series. This series is a Speculative Christian Fantasy. The main character, Christina, is mysteriously sent from our world to the land of Meric… at least she thinks Meric is a different land. Christina soon learns of a prophesy claiming that she will be the savior of Meric and that she has amazing powers.

STEPH: Evacuation is book three in the future savior series. What's the underlying theme that ties the books together?

JENNIFER: Future Savior is a true hero's journey, combined with intricate Biblical allegory. Future Savior is one very long story broken into five parts. They cannot stand alone. Christina's hero journey takes place over the course of all five books.

STEPH: How long did it take you to write the novel?

JENNIFER:It took me about five months to writer Evacuation.

STEPH: What was the inspiration behind Evacuation's plot?

JENNIFER: The inspiration for the entire Future Savior Series comes from several places. First and foremost, the Bible. Someone familiar with the Bible will catch all of the Bible stories being played out in Future Savior. Even someone with limited Bible knowledge will be cognizant of at least of few of the more obvious ones, but there are some more subtle Bible stories in there too. Another big contributor to Future Savior was some of my favorite fiction stories like The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia.

STEPH: Christina is a main character. What are her strengths? Weaknesses?

JENNIFER: Christina likes to joke that she has the super power of sarcasm, but in actuality she is quite powerful. She has supernatural abilities like telekinesis and levitation she also has visions of the past, present and future. As far as weaknesses, she has a tendency to be self-sacrificial which is a detrimental since she is always willing to sacrifice herself for her friends and for Shaw, the love of her life. If she dies for them, she won't be around to save Meric.

STEPH: What do you want readers to take with them after reading the story?

JENNIFER: Hopefully a desire to read Book 4! Besides that, I hope they become interested in their Bible. By reading The Future Savior Series they'll catch the Bible stories that I talked about before. I hope Future Savior makes them scratch their head and say, "Hey! That story is familiar!" So they pick up their Bible and investigate.

STEPH: The cover has a castle by a lake at nighttime. What aspect of the story does it represent?




JENNIFER: castle on the cover represents Bristol Fortress which is the home of King Malcolm and Queen Aladonna. They were two of the four original Guardians who died almost one-hundred years ago. There is only one Guardian still alive, Leticia, and she is the evil tyrant that Christina must save Meric from. Christina's father, King Davis, was the fourth Guardian, but he died before Christina was born.

STEPH: What's your writing space like?

JENNIFER: Anywhere I can find! Sometimes I write in the library during my off-bell at work. (I work as a teacher) Sometimes I write with my laptop on my couch. Sometimes my husband will watch our young son so I can spend some time in a coffee shop. I've even been known to write in the car.

STEPH: Do you have an ebook reader? If so, which one?

JENNIFER: I have an Amazon Kindle and I absolutely LOVE it! It's so convenient for holding a ton of books and easy to hold in my hand. Plus it's really nice since I live almost an hour from the nearest Barnes and Noble. I like being able to get books so easily and instantly.

STEPH: Fun Question: How do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day?

JENNIFER: Even though I'm part Irish and I love all things from the emerald isle (I even gave my son a Gaelic name!) I don't really celebrate St. Patty's Day. I might wear some green and try to get my hands on a Shamrock Shake! But my biggest dream (besides having a book made into a movie *dream big*) is to have a long, fantastic vacation to Ireland someday.

But before I take my Irish trip (LOL!) let me leave you with a small snippet from Future Savior Book Three: Evacuation.
Excerpt:

We readied ourselves for the ensuing battle. The odds were horribly stacked against us, but I felt confident in my powers and in the abilities of my brave friends. Using the fallen rubble from the wall as a bridge across the newly created ravine, the enemy charged us. I stepped in front of my friends. I had no clue if the plan slowly forming in my mind would work, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to try.

Forcing all the power I could muster into my telekinesis, I wrenched dozens of the huge grey rocks and boulders previously a part of the wall out of the ground and into the air. Even though my powers had grown immensely, trying to move this large amount of weight certainly zapped my strength. I concentrated as hard as I could and threw the humongous rocks at the front lines charging toward us. The rocks wiped out the first wave of advancing troops and our enemies behind them looked utterly stunned at my display of power.

"That was incredible!" Markella exclaimed.

"Too bad I don't think I can do it again. It was way too heavy." I dropped to one knee to try and recollect my strength. Shaw knelt down beside me and placed a strong arm around my shoulder.

"Are you all right?"

"I'll be fine. Let's just get ready." I smiled at him. Then I looked up as the stunned humans and Leviathans recommenced their charge.

"Well, let's giddy up and go!" Drexton hollered, gripping his whip and readying himself for the battle.

Within seconds we were all enveloped in combat. Sword clangs and spear clashes rang out through the plains around us like thunder. Looking at the vast numbers continually flowing from the city, I was immediately concerned for my friends. Sure they were all trained fighters, but our numbers were so lacking. That's when my mind landed on Charis. Through everything I had endured here in Meric, I had never seen her in a battle. As far as I knew she didn't even have a sword. All she ever carried was a white staff.

I used my powers to throw a particularly large Leviathan back into his comrades. He knocked them down like bowling pins. During the slight hiatus after my Leviathan toss, I looked around for Charis. Worry instantly overtook me when I couldn't find her anywhere. I edged my way over to Shaw who was fighting right beside me. He was doing exceptionally well, as usual.

"Where's Charis," I asked him. I wrenched my slender rapier sword out of the belly of an exceptionally tall man. It was really difficult for me not to focus on the fact that during this battle I would be killing humans. The only way I could possibly fight them without excessive amounts of guilt was by realizing they were trying to kill me and my friends. A feeble attempt at easing my conscience, but it was all I could do to keep my mind focused on the battle.

"I have no idea," he replied and he looked around the fighting to see if he could see our silver haired friend, but she was gone.
Just past Shaw I saw Markella cutting a line through the human fighters. I always loved Markella's fighting style. She used two lightweight swords with such elegance and grace her fighting looked more like a dance than the deadly onslaught it actually was.

The sun would be setting soon. We had maybe an hour of full daylight left. As soon as darkness fell, the Nitehawks would join the fray. Not only would that increase the number of our enemies, but they would be attacking us from the air. The last time I encountered the Nitehawks I still was unaware of my levitation abilities. Should I try to fight these monsters in the air?

Here's where you can find me on the web.
Website: http://jenniferhartz.com
Twitter: @JenniferLHartz
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000624983529

Plus some buy links for Future Savior: Evacuation:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007F422AU/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_ask_urHID.1M1VA2B
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/future-savior-book-three-jennifer-hartz/1109161021?ean=2940013890671&itm=1&usri=jennifer+hartz
Desert Breeze Publishing: http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-268/Future-Savior-Book-Three/Detail.bok