Debut '19 Interview: Lillian Clark & Immoral Code

In 2019 our goal is to work with as many debut authors as possible and spread the word about their debut novels. Follow us this year as we pick the mind of the 2019 debuts and chat with them. Also stay tuned for news of giveaways, twitter chats and more!

Today Lillian Clark is stopping by to talk about IMMORAL CODE which is one of my most anticipated reads of this year.  Make sure to add it to your TBR lists! 

About Lillian!

Lillian Clark, a graduate of the University of Wyoming, grew up riding horses, climbing trees, hiking, and going on grand imaginary adventures in the small-town West. She’s worked as a lifeguard, a camp counselor, and a Zamboni driver, but found her eternal love working as a bookseller at an independent bookstore in historic downtown Laramie, WY. Now living with her husband, son, and two giant dogs in the Teton Valley of Idaho, she spends her snowy winters and sunny summers reading almost anything and writing books for teens.

Keep up with Lillian: Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Instagram 

Interview!

The Book Bratz: How does it feel that IMMORAL CODE is debuting this year?

Lillian: Incredible! Surreal! Vaguely nauseating! Haha, okay, less that last one, but still. It’s amazing. I have no clue how to wrap my head around it. This is the culmination of (ACK) thirteen years of work! Not all on IMMORAL CODE, but I first started writing with the hope of maybe, someday, possibly publishing a book thirteen years ago. And what a trek it’s been! I am beyond proud and am so excited that soon readers will get to meet Nari, Keagan, Reese, Bellamy, and Santiago!

The Book Bratz: In the length of a tweet (280 characters!) can you give us an overall summary of IMMORAL CODE?

Lillian: Okay, here goes: When MIT-bound Bellamy loses funding thanks to her estranged, super-wealthy dad, she & her four devoted best friends hatch a plan to right that wrong. Sure it involves cyber crime & a couple felonies, but what could go wrong? For fans of stories with found families multi-POVs!

The Book Bratz: Where did your inspiration for IMMORAL CODE come from?

Lillian: Honestly? Failure. I wrote this book after my first book (epic! dystopian!) failed to sell, and I thought, you know what? I want to write something FUN! So I did! I started out knowing I wanted to write an ensemble cast in multiple POVs, and I’ve always loved the structure of the Ocean’s movies. But as I worked it moved farther away from that aesthetic and evolved into a book more about friendship than anything else. I like to tell people, yes, it’s a heist! But more than that it’s a book about five loyal friends willing to do (almost) anything to help one of their own.

The Book Bratz: Is there anything from your personal life that you used as inspiration in IMMORAL CODE?

Lillian:You know, not really! I think a little bit of me ends up in all of my characters? But the pieces are tiny and warped, and then the characters take them and make those pieces their own. With IMMORAL CODE I worked to push these characters away from me enough to make them feel like separate and unique people, and I so hope I succeeded! I did steal inspiration for Keagan’s backyard—where the group likes to hang out around his fire pit—from a friend. Her house in high school had this fantastic overgrown, private feel, and that’s exactly how Keag’s backyard feels to me.

The Book Bratz: Can you share a secret about IMMORAL CODE that not many people know yet?

Lillian: Oh gosh! I have no idea, haha. I don’t have any spicy, behind-the-scene secrets I’m waiting to share. But maybe that’ll change soon! You never know with publishing, ha.

The Book Bratz: If you had to create Twitter or Instagram handles for your characters, what would they be?
FUN!

Lillian:

• Nari: @NariTheGreat

• Reese: @MoltenTitanium (readers will get this *wink, wink*)

• Santiago: @DiverSan

• Bellamy: @BellamyBishop (Bells is nothing if not pragmatic, haha.)

• Keagan: @Keagypants

The Book Bratz: Do you have any ideas you plan to visit after IMMORAL CODE? 

Lillian: Yes! I’m actually deep in revisions for my second book (HALF LIFE, out from Knopf BFYR in 2020) right now. I can’t say too much, but it’s another standalone novel that I’d call "contemporary sci-fi.” It's set in the real world with a STEM-heavy sci-fi element. I love science (as readers can probably tell from Bellamy’s POV!), and I especially love thinking about how science and tech work within the context of human nature. Also, like IMMORAL CODE, HALF LIFE poses big questions (identity and personal acceptance and feminism and internalized misogyny) all in a fast-paced, entertaining package! 

About IMMORAL CODE:

Title: Immoral Code

Author: Lillian Clark

Genre: Contemporary, LGBT

Publication: February 19th 2019

Buy Immoral Code: 

Amazon / B&N / BAM! / Indie Bound / Book Depository 

Summary: For Nari, aka Narioka Diane, aka hacker digital alter ego "d0l0s," it's college and then a career at "one of the big ones," like Google or Apple. Keagan, her sweet, sensitive boyfriend, is happy to follow her wherever she may lead. Reese is an ace/aro visual artist with plans to travel the world. Santiago is off to Stanford on a diving scholarship, with very real Olympic hopes. And Bellamy? Physics genius Bellamy is admitted to MIT--but the student loan she'd been counting on is denied when it turns out her estranged father--one Robert Foster--is loaded.
Nari isn't about to let her friend's dreams be squashed by a deadbeat billionaire, so she hatches a plan to steal just enough from Foster to allow Bellamy to achieve her goals. Fast-paced and banter-filled, Lillian Clark's debut is a hilarious and thought-provoking Robin Hood story for the 21st century.

Thank you so much Lillian for stopping by and answering some of our questions!  We can't wait for IMMORAL CODE to be out in the world on February 19th!