Interview: Gin Price – Author of ‘On Edge: A Freerunner Mystery’

Gin Price is a young adult author who specializes in action mystery thrillers. She loves keeping readers flipping out while flipping pages and uses the street knowledge gleaned from being born and raised in Metro Detroit in her stories. A proud mother of two children, she balances being a mom, an author, and a companion to her biologist beau as they travel all over the States in search of amphibians and reptiles. Gin loves to visit young writers groups, so feel free to contact her about a visit in person or on Skype.

Congratulations on the release of your latest book, On Edge: A Freerunner Mystery. When did you start writing and what got you into young adult?

I’ve been writing since I was a kid. In the sixth grade, I just wanted to have something to say for Show & Tell. I liked the story I came up with and was writing in old diaries since that day. I got into Young Adult because I’m wicked immature. JKing. I can just relate more to teens and twenty-somethings because a lot changed in my life in those years. They are the years that shape who you become as an adult. The friends you gain and lose, the loves you experience. Everything is a new adventure and when bad things happen, you keep going without coming up with too many reasons to use caution.

What is your book about?

It’s a new twist on a Shakespearean favorite. Star-crossed love and all that puddle of madness using a graffiti crew vs. a freerunning tribe to show the hate. The main character, LL (Emanuella), is being stalked by a serial-killing graffiti artist and she has to find out who the culprit is, regardless of how painful the truth may be, before her death starts a full-on gang war.

What was your inspiration for it?

Years ago, on the news, there was a lot of violence in a public school area because some rival schools were forced to merge into one due to budget issues. I couldn’t help but wonder why no one anticipated that, knowing what they know about gang violence in the area. Kids were dying! And the looks on the faces of those kids on the news still burn holes in my brain. I wanted to spread the word about the possibilities of this happening elsewhere using my fiction.

What type of challenges did you face while writing this book?

This book came very easy to me once I employed the use of two of my favorite forms of expression. Graffiti and freerunning. The challenging part came in describing both expressions with truth and clarity. It’s not always easy describing a move or a painting with enough detail to get the real feel.

What do you hope readers will get from your book?

Hours of entertainment! LOL. I’d love for readers to finish the book and do research on graffiti and parkour. I’d love to get people to move their butts. I’d also love for people to stand up and say…find the money. Don’t shut down schools and put rivals in one building. Even one life lost is too steep a price to justify merging.

Did your book require a lot of research?

Yes!! I watched a ton of athletes from pro to amateur do there thang on YouTube. I watched a ton of artists throw up a masterpiece in a matter of minutes, which just boggles my mind. I hopped around on my hikes to get a sense of freerunning, I tried to paint things to get a sense of graffiti. I read what articles I could to make sure I used the right terms. It was a lot of work, but it was awesome. I enjoyed everyone who posted on YouTube. Even the ones others ripped on and down voted. Someone out there is watching and appreciates you all!!

Do you have a website or blog where readers can find out more about your work?

I do! I have two. I have a wordpress that you can find under www.authorginprice.com and then I have a blog that I like to forget to write in at [email protected].

What is your advice for aspiring authors?

The road is only short for the lucky few. For the most part, it is a very long and tedious road to publication, but if you truly love it, you’ll do your best by it. Join writers organizations so you can feed your writing with knowledge. Go out there and talk to people in the industry so you can learn the steps and how to climb them successfully. READ! Don’t follow what is trending on the shelf, write what speaks to you. Watch what you say and do on social media. Ripping on editors and houses that passed on your manuscript isn’t going to work out well for you in the end. I see so many people do this, I always wonder if no one told them it was a bad idea…so I’m just throwing it out there in hopes of saving someone.

Author photo and cover art published with permission from the author and author’s publicist.