Risking It All by S.M. Koz
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: June 18th, 2019
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
A high-achieving teen who’s determined to become a fighter jet pilot is matched up with an accused criminal at an elite military boarding school in SM Koz’s YA novel, Risking It All.
Paige knows exactly what she wants—to graduate from Wallingford Academy and become a pilot in the US Air Force. She’s inherited her father’s no-nonsense attitude and whip-smart intelligence, all of which have made her the perfect Wallingford cadet.
Wallingford Academy is the last place in the world Logan wants to be. But after his girlfriend borrows his car and commits a crime, Logan takes the fall and ends up there with hopes of striking a decent plea bargain. For him, graduation can’t come soon enough.
When Paige is asked to mentor Logan, it’s the perfect opportunity to prove her leadership skills—but she doesn’t account for the feelings that start to develop or the baggage from Logan’s past which could threaten both of their futures.
~AUTHOR INTERVIEW with SM Koz~
1) What gave you
the inspiration for the storyline?
I wanted a
different type of setting, one that is uncommon in YA books. I went through a
few possibilities, but they all felt contrived or not something that would
significantly contribute to the storyline. While at the beach with my dad last
year, we were talking about his time in the Marines and inspiration hit!
2) Are there any hidden (or not so hidden) themes in the book that you hope readers will discover?
A big, obvious
theme in this book is loyalty. Logan is loyal to a fault and gets taken
advantage of because of this. It’s not until his time at Wallingford Academy
that he learns what true loyalty should look like. A more obscure theme is the
face of feminism in today’s world. So much attention is now placed on women
with regard to climbing the corporate ladder and making a name for ourselves in
the workplace that our role in relationships and family seem to have been
forgotten. This is Paige’s mindset in the beginning--her entire self worth and
happiness is dependent on becoming a fighter pilot—but over the course of the
book, she realizes there’s more to life and focusing on these other aspects
won’t detract from her career goals.
3) Are any of the characters based on real people you know?
Well, of all the
female characters I’ve ever written, Paige is most like me. In high school, I
was focused, driven, and uptight. Okay, I’m still those things! It made writing
her character very easy.
Logan has bits and
pieces of a few people. His loyalty to a fault is based on a college friend,
his sarcasm came from my husband, and his lack of motivation has similarities
to a close family friend.
Paige’s dad is
actually based on radio host/TV commentator Dan Bongino, who used to work for
the Secret Service. I saw him once when I was flipping through channels and
knew immediately that had to be Mr. Durant, the ex-Navy Seal!
4) Who has influenced you most as a writer?
The online writing
community, especially Swoon Reads, Fanfiction, Wattpad, and the now defunct
Authonomy. I’ve been sharing my work with other authors and aspiring authors
for over 7 years on these sites in hopes of continually improving my writing.
During this time, I’ve learned so much from these awesome and supportive
people. My only complaint is everything is so anonymized I can’t even
personally thank those who provided the best feedback throughout the years,
though I’ll always remember their tips and tricks.
5) If you could have any three literary characters over to your place for game
night, who would you invite, what would you play, what would you serve, and
why?
Hmmm… interesting
question. Let’s see, I like card games and Ticket to Ride so let’s go with those.
As far as guests, I’m competitive so I’d probably want Ender from Ender’s Game
as he’s pretty good with strategy and we could partner up. I’d also invite
Einstein, the genetically altered golden retriever with human intelligence from
Watchers, because who doesn’t want a dog that can participate in game night?!
Finally, I’d need a partner for Einstein … maybe Lisbeth Salandar from The Girl
with the Dragon Tattoo because she wouldn’t mind a non-verbal partner. Plus, as
an added bonus, she’d be able to figure out who stole my credit card number
last month and make them pay for the thousands of dollars they spent at Macy’s!
As far as food, I guess I’d need some of those dehydrated space meals to make
Ender feel at home and some pickle and cheese sandwiches for Lisbeth, as she
seems to like those. And, of course, plenty of dog treats for Einstein!
6) Do you feel that you can ever have too many books?
Um, is this a real
question? Of course not! You can never have too many books, as evidenced by the
multiple towers of books on the floor of my office. Eventually I’ll get around
to reading them all!
Author Bio:SM Koz was born in Michigan, but moved to North Carolina for college and never left. She enjoys traveling, camping, hiking, photography, reading, spending time with foster kids who call her house home, and learning new things. When she’s not creating online training for pharmaceutical companies (her day job) or writing, Koz can be found at the local community college taking courses on various topics ranging from digital art to HTML to desktop publishing. SM Koz has written six novels. Although her stories differ by genre, ranging from contemporary realism to sci-fi to fanfiction, two things they all have in common are a young or new adult focus and romance. If you’d like to learn more about SM Koz, check her out on social media.
