INDIGO by Gina Linko, Blog Tour: Author Interview, Excerpt & Giveaway

Welcome to the final stop in the INDIGO blog tour. I'm thrilled to have author Gina Linko on the blog today. After you read my interview with her, check out a little bit about the book, read an exclusive excerpt from the book, and enter to win!!!

Hi Gina! Welcome to Mundie Moms. Which of the characters from Indigo would you have been friends with as a teen?  

Probably Mia-Joy.  She's a little crazy and lots of fun.  We probably all wish we had a friend like that.

Who was an authored that inspired you as a young reader?  Stephen King.  It's cliche.  Every writer loves him.  But it's true.  His writing speaks to me.  The rhythm of his writing feels so true, like home, to me, and his characters are always so real.  And as a young reader, I LOVED him because I saw in his books, normal people reflected back at me, living their normals lives --with a little bit of a speculative edge.  There would always be a little twist that seemed almost believable -- aliens, telekinesis, all kind of stuff that I love to read (and write) about.  And it would hit a little too close to home.  Because it felt like it could happen!  Isn't that always the scariest stuff?  

What's one piece of advice you'd give to an aspiring teen author?

 Read, read, read.  But don't think you only have to read the required reading list.  Read whatever you are interested in.  

Do you have a favorite place to write? If so, where is it?

I just sit very nerd-like at my dining room table with my laptop, Mabel.  (Isn't Mabel a nice, dependable name for a computer?)

What's one book you've read as a adult that you wish you had, had as a teen?  

There are so many of them.  Tons of YA, for sure.  Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty.  For me, that's a YA masterpiece.  Great writing, blending genres.  YA as literature.  Just really well written.  And also, I have to say The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer.  This is hands-down my favorite book of all time (for now at least-- haha) and the writing in it is just perfect.  I LOVE her writing: the turns of phrase, the attention to the characters' motivations, the importance given to love in its many forms.  This book makes me want to be a better writer, and I wish I had read it sooner.  

About The Book

A gift?

A curse?

A moment that changes everything. . . .

Caught in an unexpected spring squall, Corrine's first instinct is to protect her little sister Sophie after a nasty fall. But when Corrine reaches out to comfort her sister, the exact opposite occurs. Her touch--charged with an otherworldly force and bursting with blinding indigo color--surges violently from Corrine to her sister. In an instant, Sophie is dead. From that moment on, Corrine convinces herself that everyone would be better off if she simply withdrew from life.

When her family abruptly moves to New Orleans, Corrine's withdrawal is made all the easier. No friends. No connections. No chance of hurting anyone. But strange things continue to happen around her in this haunting,  mystical city. And she realizes that her power cannot be ignored, especially when Rennick, a talented local artist with a bad-boy past, suggests another possibility: Corrine might have the touch. An ability to heal those around her. But knowing what happened to her sister, can Corrine trust her gift?

Released on October 22nd, 2013 from Random House, you can pick up INDIGO from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble or purchase it from Random House.

Read an excerpt from the book:

He turned, and, again, he closed the distance between us.  I tipped my face up toward his.  In the moonlight, his eyes shone, glittered.  “I want to kiss you,” he whispered, leaning in toward me, his lips an inch from my ear.  “I know you aren’t ready.  But I just wanted you to know.”   And his voice was music, the notes playing down the skin of my neck.  I closed my eyes, and I leaned in, let his breath play over me.

“A lot has changed,” I said, finally, opening my eyes.  “The bugs, the crayfish.  I –“

“Between us,” he said, and he was looking at me so intently.  My eyes had adjusted, and I could see that worry line in his brow.  I could see the want in his eyes.  “I can keep from touching you,” he said.  “And I will.  Still,” he said, swallowing, “I just needed you to know that I don’t want to stop myself.”  I watched the silhouette of his Adam’s apple in the moonlight, transfixed.  “You can’t hurt me, Corrine.”  He tipped my head back up to him, and I let him, met his eyes.  “You didn’t kill Sophie.”  I looked away, took a step back.  “Don’t do that,” he said.  “Don’t leave.”  

“I was there,” I answered.  “I know what happened.”

“But you tried to help Seth.  You must believe it on some level.”

I nodded.  “It’s …” I couldn’t really explain it. “It’s hard to give it up.”

He leaned closer again, and I let him. Again. His breath was on my neck, and then his hand was on the small of my back.  He pulled me to him, and I let him.  I melted into him, my body against his.  

The warmth, the comfort of being held.  My throat closed against the emotion of it.  

“Corrine,” he breathed into my hair.  “Corrine, please, don’t push me away.”
“Rennick,” I began to protest, but I inhaled against his t-shirt, and then I just sighed, let myself relax into him.  I let him hold me, his chin resting on top of my head, my hands still balled in my pockets.  I listened to the rhythm of his heart beat.  Da, dum.  Da, dum.  And I thought it would be perfectly okay if I never moved again.

“Corrine,” he whispered, his words shivering down my neck, his hands tracing the knobs of my spine.  “Corrine, touch me.” His voice was low, soothing.  “Believe this is okay.”

“I can’t,” I said, and after a long moment, I pulled away.  He was right.  I was on the precipice. I was.  But I wasn’t ready.

“Why?” he asked.  And he looked hurt.  “You saw what you did today.  You know –“

“I’m scared,” I said.  And this was the simplest way I could explain it.  His eyes were not mad, not angry.  But there were other things there.  Longing.  Frustration.  Worry.

I turned, and I ran back up the porch.  Things had changed, but not changed.  Things were better, but not better.  

Check out the book trailer!

About Gina

Gina Linko has a graduate degree in creative writing from DePaul University and lives outside Chicago with her husband and three children. Gina teaches college English part-time, but her real passion is sitting down at a blank computer screen and asking herself the question, "What if...?"

You can find Gina via her Blog | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

The Giveaway
Thank you to Gina, followers of the blog tour can enter to win an amazing prize pack! The 1st winner will win a KINDLE FIRE! The 2nd winner will SIGNED copies of both Flutter & Indigo from Gina! Fill out the form below to enter to win!

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