The V Girl Book Blitz

Book & Author Details:

The V Girl by Mya Robarts
Publication date: June 20th 2014
Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult

Synopsis:

ROMANTIC DYSTOPIA FOR MATURE YA READERS YOUNG NA READERS
In post-apocalyptic North America, rape and sexual slavery are legal. Lila Velez, desperately wants to lose her virginity before the troops visit her town, and can take it away by force. She makes plans to seduce her only friend, Rey, the most attractive man in her town. Lila does not love him, but he is the only man who has shown her true affection, an affection she is willing to take as a substitute of love.
Lila’s coping mechanism to her mother’s violent attack is her secret. A secret that will bring her closer to Aleksey Fürst, a foreign, broody man that she distrusts because his links to the troops and his rough, yet irresistible appearance. He offers Lila an alternative to her plans, a possibility that terrifies her…and tempts her in spite of herself.
All the while Lila will have to find a way to live in the constant company of death, slavery, starvation, sexual abuse and the danger of losing the people she loves the most.
Due to strong language, violent scenes and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21799202-the-v-girl?from_search=true

Purchase:

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/The-Girl-coming-age-story-ebook/dp/B00L6MFXWG

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-v-girl

Excerpt:

Prologue

In the barely lit room, there are only some gym mattresses and a couple of mirrors. I’ve set the mirrors so I can watch myself losing the V of my nickname.

My “one-hour stand” climbs onto the mattresses and touches my naked, trembling body. His breathing becomes ragged; his eyes are dark.

I never imagined my first time would be like this. In my imagination, when I had my first time, I would be in love.

I always thought I would only allow myself to be with someone in that way if I really, really, loved that person. He would also be unconditionally in love with me. He would be someone who would look at me as though I was his sun.

I wanted to lose my virginity to someone who adores me. Preferably someone who would had said the five magic words: “Lila, will you marry me?” I wanted to have sex for the first time with someone I’d consider worthy enough to spend the rest of my life with. If I only had more time. Eighteen is too young in my book to have met the person to whom I want to commit my life.

I wish this occasion could have been a romantic spur of the moment situation. One thing leading to other in a natural manner and then ... I wouldn’t be a V-girl anymore.

That would have been an ideal situation. But I don’t live in an ideal world; I live in a world defined by a civil war.

My deflowering can’t be romantic or spontaneous. I’ve been preparing my first sexual encounter since I heard the troops were on their way to Starville.

I don’t love my sexual partner. He doesn’t love me, either. But it has to be him, or it’s going to be a random guy from the troops … through force.

My “lover” hesitates for a moment. I feel his weight pressing me into the mattress. His body tenses. I wait for him to make the next move, but I’m afraid he has changed his mind.

AUTHOR BIO:

I am a bookaholic and regret nothing.

I spent years trying to become a contemporary dance choreographer. Eventually I realized that I enjoyed writing my stories rather than creating dances for them.

I am obsessed with books that present damaged characters, swoon worthy guys, controversial topics and happy endings.

Author links: 

http://myarobarts.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/MyaRobarts
https://www.facebook.com/MyaRobartsBooks
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8108373.Mya_Robarts

Author Interview:

What was the first seed that sparked the story that would become The V Girl?

I was doing research for another novel, when I came across testimonies that made my skin crawl because they described the cruel reality of mass rape.  The one that disturbed me the most came from a woman whose country was invaded by several foreign armies. She was fourteen or fifteen at the time. When the Army of her own country was about to regain the control of her town, her mother made provisions so both of them could avoid rape, even though the girl didn’t think this was necessary. Mother and daughter prepared themselves for the soldiers’ arrival by shaving their heads, and the girl acted the role of a very sick girl, hoping the soldiers would spare her. When the soldiers finally came, it turned out the mother had been right all along. Their schemes worked and the soldiers didn’t rape this girl, but they raped other girls. How did the mother know that certain precautions were needed? It was clear to me that abuses from the troops were not only known, but also expected. The fact that the mother knew that this would happen;  the fact that they did not make these provisions around the soldiers of the foreign army, but around the soldiers of their own country, had an impact on my emotions. I thought, Wouldn’t the girl try to lose her virginity to a guy of her choice as part of her preparations? That was a story that deserved to be written, and I wanted to write it myself.

Did you have trouble writing any of the scenes (the action scenes or the most emotional ones)?

Writing the action scenes is extremely hard and I’m rarely satisfied. I write them, discard them and rewrite them repeatedly. Another challenge is putting my characters through such dramatic events and situations. I’m emotionally attached to all of them, even the antagonists, and writing their suffering becomes uncomfortable. During certain scenes, their level of anguish and pain is so high that their emotions rub on me. I also had trouble writing Chapters forty-eight and forty-nine. At the same time writing those chapters was cathartic because I had a similar experience when I was ten years old. I never told anyone until I became an adult, and by writing a scene like this, I was able to have some kind of closure.  

How did you manage to balance the disturbing themes with the romance or the dystopian sense of pushing for freedom in an unjust society?

The romance wasn’t central in the earlier drafts of the book. But my readers, my editor and my own heart responded well to it, so I ended up increasing the time for the romantic storyline. I love YA dystopian books that present a romantic subplot, but more often than not I finish the book thinking: I need more romance. The first draft was brutal and violent, and there wasn’t a romantic counterpart to create balance. But I added more pages of the romantic and emotional attachments. That allowed me to develop the characters more, and to add a bit of humanity to this disturbing world. I like it better this way. I had the chance to add swoon-worthy moments and a little bit of comic relief, by presenting a love story limited by the circumstances of the war,.

How long did it take you to get the plot rounded and what kind of message did you want to convey?

It took months to get the plot rounded. Lila’s storyline ends in The V girl, but the political context was so intricate that I’ll need more books to develop the world building and give resolution to the war storyline. The ending was extremely difficult to write because the book was going to be published in two parts, and I took out around fifty thousand words from the original draft.

I tried to convey the feeling that even under the darkest, most difficult circumstances we can allow ourselves to hope and love. No matter how dire the situation is, there’s always some level of hope. The V girl world is so bleak and at times it seems that everything is lost, but if we don’t lose our humanity, we can find the motivation to hope and love.

Did you have to do any research and what kind?

I looked “rape during war” up in Google, and found eighty-seven million results. I had plenty of material to read. Besides, I read plenty of books and saw documentaries about the topic. Mass rape is something that if you don’t see it, you don’t believe it exists and yet it has been an unfortunate occurrence since forever. I also found useful information in RAINN.org, a site for rape survivors. I dedicated the book to them.

Do you plan to write more stories based in the same world, maybe continue the timeline?

I’m writing more books based on this world featuring different characters as we speak.  Some of The V Girl characters are secondary characters in them. What I’ll write first will depend on the readers feedback. I want to know what they’d love to see in future books.

Can you see yourself as not being a writer in the future?

No. Reading and writing are part of who I am. I'll always write stories even if I decide to keep those stories to myself and never publish them.

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