CSFF January Blog Tour ~ Outcasts Day 3

Welcome to Day 3 of the first CSFF blog tour of 2014!

Outcast by Jill Williamson is kicking-off the year and Jill took time from her busy schedule
to take part in a short interview about her newest book - Outcasts.

1) Omar is trying to change. Do you think part of the problem he has is the attitude Levi and Jordan have towards him?

Levi and Jordan treat him in a similar way that his father did. And Omar’s insecurities come from his relationship with his dad. So that’s why those two tend to get under Omar’s skin. But Omar is starting to learn that he doesn’t have to be the person his dad wanted him to be. That he can be who God created him to be.

  

 2) Levi is having trouble getting the Glenrock survivors follow his directives as elder, do you feel this is a result of Levi's own insecurities in his position or is it a result of being in the Safe Lands?

Well, Levi is elder. They even voted him in. So he’s trying to be the best leader he can. But he’s young, and he doesn’t really understand what grace is all about. So he’s quite legalistic in his ways. He strongly believes that with enough will power a person can be perfect, and he’s determined to try. That does stem from his insecurities over his past mistakes. He doesn’t want to make mistakes ever again. But he is human, so he will never be perfect—at least not on earth.

  

3) I like the link that you created with the naturals and the people from Glenrock, did you have this in mind before you put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) or was this a revelation to you as well?

Hmm… By “link” do you mean the common ancestor? If so, I did have that in mind. I started writing the apocalyptic prequel before I ever started writing the dystopian series. So those characters and what happened to them were always in my mind.

4) With the little tidbits you've dropped about Papa Eli and his time in the Safe Lands what are the possibilities of a prequel?  I for one would be in line waiting.

It could happen, sure. I originally sold the prequel, which is called Thirst, and Captives to Zondervan. But when they learned that I had intended for the dystopian book to be a trilogy, they opted not to buy the prequel. So if the books do well enough, I think Zondervan would be willing to publish the prequel about Eli and his youth group friends. That book is half written, so it wouldn’t take all that long to finish it. Though some of the revelations in the Safe Lands series are spoilers for how Thirst ends.

5) Why the Owl?  What drew you and Omar to this particular character?

In the beginning of Captives, Omar was drawing an owl. I had said he had an obsession with them. So that’s why I thought it would be a good fit. I didn’t give him that interest for any reason in particular. I was just writing, and when Mason has said there were pictures all over the walls in Omar’s room and he felt like there were eyes everywhere, that made me think of owls, since they are always depicted with large eyes. And that’s also why I made the Owl was one of Omar’s favorite superheroes from the comic books his grandfather gave him. The Owl is a real superhero, just not a very popular one. So Omar made it his own.

6) The cover for Book 3 is really interesting ~ which brother do you see as being on the cover?

The way I see it, Levi is on the cover of Captives, Omar is on the cover of Outcasts, and Mason is on the cover of Rebels.

If you are interested here is the link to the interview I did with Jill for last year's CSFF Captives tour.

Pick-up your copies of Captives  and Outcasts today at Amazon.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out Outcasts the CSFF January Blog Tour offering! 

Be sure to visit all the CSFF Blog Tour stops Jan 20 - 22, 2014.

Red Bissell  Thomas Fletcher Booher  Beckie Burnham  Pauline Creeden  April Erwin 

Victor Gentile  Ryan Heart  Timothy Hicks  Jason Joyner  Julie Bihn  Carol Keen 

Shannon McDermott  Meagan @ Blooming with Books  Melanie @ Christian Bookshelf Reviews

Rebecca LuElla Miller  Joan Nienhuis  Nissa  Jalynn Patterson  Writer Rani  Chawna Schroeder 

Jacque Stengl  Jojo Sutis  Steve Trower  Phyllis Wheeler  Deborah Wilson