Author Interview: Sadie Hayes on "The Start-Up"

Ana: Today we have Sadie Hayes introducing their novel, The Start-Up. I haven't read this book myself, but Sadie was kind enough to agree to guest blog about their book to any readers who might be interested in the subject. Sadie, how would you describe your novel to your prospective readers? In broad terms, what is your novel about?

Sadie: Set against the fast-paced, winner-take-all world of Silicon Valley, where today’s software geek is tomorrow’s billionaire, The Start-Up chronicles the meteoric rise of Adam and Amelia Dory, a talented brother and sister team. With only each other to rely on, the naïve eighteen-year-olds must make their way through a treacherous world of money, power, and envy.

Ana: What themes does your novel explore and what do you hope the reader will take away from the experience? Is there a particular feeling or experience that you hope to evoke in the reader? Essentially, do you hope your novel will mean to a reader?

Sadie: At one level, this book is about exposing Silicon Valley -- the culture, the money, the power. It's not all about Zuckerberg and like buttons, or algorithms and free lunches at the Googleplex. There is a very real struggle between inspiration/creativity and money. Companies rise and fall, people rise and fall, and Silicon Valley is a tumultuous landscape of ego, envy and pride. At the level of the protagonist, the story is about naivete, inspiration and general good intentions. It has themes of the female entrepreneur in a male-driven world, and also the purity of creativity when most people are driven by fame and power.

Ana: What prompted you to write this novel and did you have a specific inspiration in mind? Were you influenced by a certain author or work that inspired you to add your voice to this genre? Besides the boatloads of money and rockstar fame, what motivated you to write this book?

Sadie: I've lived and worked in Silicon Valley for quite some time. As a woman, I've experienced both inspiration and discouragement. Furthermore, I've read countless books about Entrepreneurship, but never has the experience and world been truly captured… And I feel like fiction is the best way to educate the world on the ins and outs of Silicon Valley. More specifically, I was speaking with my publisher Backlit Fiction and they were looking for the next Gossip Girl -- some type of a world that is both exotic and accessible but one that also captures the spirit of the times. Silicon Vally and The Start-Up was the only way to go!

Ana: If you could compare your novel to any other existing works, which ones would it be and why? If the one thing you could say to a prospective reader was, "If you like X, you'll love my book!", which work would be invoked so that a reader could judge whether or not your novel is their cup of tea?

Sadie: I would say it's Gossip Girl set in Silicon Valley, or a sexy version of The Social Network.

Ana: Is this your first or only published work, or have you published other novels? If you have publishedother novels, how do they compare to this one? Do you have any more novels planned, either as a follow-up to this one, or as a completely different novel or genre?

Sadie: My third book in the Start-Up series is scheduled for early December. And I’m currently working on books 4, 5 and 6. This is my first creative work.

Ana: Where can readers obtain a copy of your novel for them to enjoy? How can they contact you with any thoughts or questions? And do you have a means by which they can "sign up" to be notified when your next novel comes available?

Sadie: The Start-Up series is available in ebook form on Amazon and B&N. Follow me on twitter @DigitalSadie or at www.Doreye.com to stay in contact with me and keep posted on upcoming releases!

Ana: Thank you, Sadie. I understand you have the first chapter of your novel available as an excerpt for interested readers? And is there anything else you wish to add for our readers?

Sadie: Yes! There are sneak previews of my three books available on www.Doreye.com (or www.TheStartUpBooks.com)! Would love readers to come check them out and discover the world of Silicon Valley. The Start-Up is a fun, important story for all young readers to experience.

1 comments:

Bayley G said...

Just as a heads-up, the kindle version of this book has a very bad Kindle Sample -- it has so many review quotes in the beginning that only 2 kindle-sized pages of actual story made it into the Sample. Generally, when formatting for Kindle, it's best to stick those sorts of things at the end of the file so that I don't have to hunt down a facebook page (and like it!) in order to get a sense of what the book's about.

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