Tumble & Fall Alexandra Coutts Interview & Giveaway!

TUMBLE & FALL

By: Alexandra Coutts

Publication Date: September 17, 2013

A novel about the end of days full of surprising beginnings

The world is living in the shadow of oncoming disaster. An asteroid is set to strike the earth in just one week’s time; catastrophe is unavoidable. The question isn’t how to save the world—the question is, what to do with the time that’s left? Against this stark backdrop, three island teens wrestle with intertwining stories of love, friendship and family—all with the ultimate stakes at hand.

Alexandra Coutts’s TUMBLE & FALL is a powerful story of courage, love, and hope at the end of the world.

Interview With Alexandra

Give us your elevator pitch about Tumble & Fall!

TUMBLE & FALL is a book about three teenagers living in the shadow of imminent disaster. An asteroid is headed straight for Earth and there is nothing left to do but wait. Three island teens struggle with questions of love, hope, faith and family. What would you do, with five days left?

Why did you choose to focus on three different stories in Tumble & Fall instead of choosing one? Which was your favorite to write?

Writing about the end of the world is a daunting task. I think my instinct to tell three stories instead of just one was an attempt to cast as wide a net as possible, and capture as much as I could about what our world (or my world, anyway…the island of Martha’s Vineyard,) might feel like if we truly had less than a week to live.

It’s hard to pick a favorite, but Sienna was the first character I put into the T&F universe, and I’ve always had a soft spot for her story. She has so much going on: her family is struggling after the death of her mother, she has her own mental health issues, she has a hard time making friends. It was almost like the end-of-the-world registered in a totally different way, for her, because she was so broken at the beginning of the book.

Tumble & Fall deals with the end of the world as we know it, and what people are doing on those final days that they think they have… what would you do?

It’s a terribly boring answer, but I would spend my final days with my family, doing whatever they wanted to do. I don’t think I’d be big into grand gestures, especially with so little time left. I’d just want to be around the people I love most, and give a lot of hugs.

Was it easy to write this in three different points of view, how did you make that work for you?

It was really challenging to write in three different points of view. I’d never done it before, and I think the hardest part was keeping track of the chronology. I always had a clear sense of how each character was different and how they would be reacting in their own, unique ways to the news of the asteroid. But it became sort of like a mental jigsaw puzzle, keeping track of where everyone was and when, especially in such a condensed period of time.

Tell us about your writing process. Are you a plotter or pantser, where and when do you write?

I am definitely a plotter. I make many, many outlines, which change quite a bit as I go. But even as I’m writing, I go back and update the outline, so that it constantly reflects the way the book ends up. I’m sort of addicted to that process, I think. It’s not completely normal.

What would readers be surprised to learn about you?

I hate lettuce. And hot tubs. And American Idol. But I love The Voice.

What is the best advice you ever received from another author?

Authors don’t tend to give out a lot of advice, at least not to me. I think maybe because writing is such a strange, personal venture. What works for one writer might not work at all for another. That said, I did just read this great list of writing tips from Elmore Leonard, who recently passed away. I like his list of “rules” because it’s a bunch of really practical advice, like “Never open a book with the weather.” and “Never use a verb other than ‘said’ to carry dialogue.” People talk a lot about how there are no rules in writing, so it’s refreshing to hear somebody come out and say, definitively, “Dothis, don’t do this.”

Do you have any current or future projects you can tell us about?

I’m in the very early stages of a new YA book. It’s another island story, and it deals with some of the same themes I played around with in T&F, only…you know, no asteroids.

ABOUT ALEXANDRA
Alexandra Bullen Coutts has been a playwright, waitress, barista, gardener, script reader, yoga instructor and personal assistant. She grew up in Massachusetts, went to college in New York City, and lives ~~most of the year~~ full time on Martha’s Vineyard.

WEBSITE / TWITTER / GOODREADS

Tumble & Fall by Alexandra Coutts
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars…

What would you do if the world were ending? Who are the people you would spend time with, what would you be doing, how would you come to terms with the end of everything?

That is the story behind Tumble & Fall. It’s told from multiple perspectives, but all are aware of the end of days, and all chose to spend these last days in completely different ways.

One person goes on an scavenger hunt, of sorts, to find out if the person she thought she loved was truly the person she thought he was.
One person is brought home to reconnect with their family … only to find out that maybe that family isn’t as perfect as they may seem on the outside.
One person is brought to the place where they were the happiest… before all the bad things happened. And there is where she may have found love.

Through each story though there is a common theme… not of sadness and despair, instead a hope for what comes after and enjoying the time that is left to them. Never a focus on the actual event that could end their lives… instead living it to the fullest while they are here.

Coutts writes beautifully and the story itself was really wonderfully done. The characters were well developed and of Sienna, Zan and Caden I couldn’t pick a favorite story line… I enjoyed them all. They didn’t blend together, they were completely different and unique and I found myself invested in what was happening with each of them.

All that said, there were a few things that did bother me though. The insta-love for Sienna’s character. I just was not feeling it. I get that it’s the end of the world and that it’s kind of either now or never, but it just was a bit forced for me. I’d have also liked to see some resolution between Zan and Nick… something that was never addressed by the end.

I loved the ending… which is a surprise if you know me at all. I just thought it was perfect for this. Overall this was an enjoyable read… one that will make you think even well after you’ve finished reading it. What would you do if the world were ending in seven days?