Debut Authors Bash Interview 2014: Robin Talley

Hey guyz! I'm participating in the 2014 DEBUT AUTHOR BASH! This is a really cool event that I found through twitter last year so I'm doing it again!

The author I'm hosting this year is... ROBIN TALLEY!
ou guys need to know though: who is she?

Robin's Goodreads | Twitter | Website |

I grew up in Roanoke, Virginia, and escaped to Washington, D.C., at the first opportunity. I now live with my wife, our antisocial cat, and our goofy hound dog on Capitol Hill and work for a progressive nonprofit organization. I spend my nights and weekends writing young adult fiction about LGBT characters, reading books, and enjoying The Daenerys Show (you may know it as Game of Thrones).

My first novel, Lies We Tell Ourselves, will be released Sept. 30, 2014, by Harlequin Teen. It's set in 1959 Virginia, and it's about a black girl who's one of the first to integrate an all-white high school, and the white girl with whom she ultimately falls in love. My next book, Unbreakable, follows a high school couple -- Gretchen, who identifies as a lesbian, and Toni, who identifies as genderqueer -- whose relationship is tested when they're separated for their first year of college.

My website is at http://www.robintalley.com. You can reach me on Twitter at @robin_talley or by email at robintalley678 at gmail.com.

To get a bit more about Robin here's an interview between us. So much fun!

1. Give us a brief description of your book?
Lies We Tell Ourselves takes place in 1959 Virginia at the height of the school desegregation movement. It follows two girls ― Sarah, who’s one of the first black students to enter a previously all-white high school, and Linda, who’s always believed in “separate but equal” ― as they navigate treacherous times and develop a friendship that just might be turning into something more.

2. What was the hardest part about writing your book?
Getting into Linda’s head. Writing dual POV is always challenging, but when one of the two point-of-view characters is someone who holds a lot of truly abhorrent beliefs ― well. Writing from her perspective was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done.

3. Do you like your cover?
I love it! Both the U.S. and U.K. covers do a great job capturing the spirit of the book. And I adore the model they used for Sarah on the U.S. cover. She looks exactly as I’d pictured her in my head.

4. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
I’d love to change my name to something really confusing. It would be awesome to have people call me, like, Queen Victoria or something. Probably more awesome in theory than it would be in reality, though.

5. Fave kind of ice cream?
Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie Frozen Yogurt.

6. Name one characteristic your main character has that you wish you had.
I would LOVE to be as courageous as Sarah is. She astonishes me every time I read her chapters over again. Even though I’m the one who wrote her!

7. What fictional world would you want to live in?
Can I say Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, but minus the Oompa Loompas? I know they mean well and teach valuable lessons, but I’d always be afraid one of them was going to toss me into a pot of hot chocolate or something.

Title: Lies We Tell Ourselves

Author: Robin Talley

Pub Date: September 30th 2014

Publisher:  HarlequinTEEN

Page Count: 3204

In 1959 Virginia, the lives of two girls on opposite sides of the battle for civil rights will be changed forever.

Sarah Dunbar is one of the first black students to attend the previously all-white Jefferson High School. An honors student at her old school, she is put into remedial classes, spit on and tormented daily.

Linda Hairston is the daughter of one of the town’s most vocal opponents of school integration. She has been taught all her life that the races should be kept “separate but equal.”

Forced to work together on a school project, Sarah and Linda must confront harsh truths about race, power and how they really feel about one another.

Boldly realistic and emotionally compelling, Lies We Tell Ourselves is a brave and stunning novel about finding truth amid the lies, and finding your voice even when others are determined to silence it.