November 22, 2013

Guest Post: Shalini Boland, Author of The Perimeter

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The Perimeter by Shalini Boland
Series: The Outsider #3
Genre: Dystopia, Young Adult
Release Date: November 18, 2013

In this fractured world, a sinister force is coming for Riley, and the only things keeping her safe are a perimeter fence and the people she loves. As her life is threatened, she must make impossible choices. But help comes from the most unlikely of places, and all Riley needs to know is: who can she really trust?

Meanwhile, a repentant killer searches for peace and salvation, but what he gets is the exact opposite. Now he’ll have to make the hardest decision of his life.

The Perimeter is a darkly captivating dystopian tale of adventure, danger, love and redemption that will have you on the edge of your seat and up at night turning the pages to find out what happens next . . .

About The Series:


Set in the near future, these three heart-stopping novels follow Riley as she overcomes the murder of her younger sister by tracking down the killer across a post-apocalyptic Britain. At the same time, she is forced to take on the might of a twisted regime intent on conquering the nation. The series is packed with action, suspense, drama and dystopian adventure.

Book 1:



Book 2:




Purchase The Outside Series:



About The Author


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Shalini lives in Dorset, England with her husband and two noisy boys. Before children, she was signed to Universal Music as a singer songwriter. Now, writing novels has hijacked her life and she is usually to be found with a laptop welded to her fingers and the house in a permanent state of neglect.

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Why I Write YA Fiction
Shalini Boland


I’m just a big kid.
I write in the Young Adult genre mainly because I identify most with that age group. I’ve never really felt like a proper grownup. (Except when I’m arguing on the phone with British Telecom).

Brave or stupid?
It’s a biological fact that teens’ brains are wired differently to adults’ brains. Which is probably why adults and teens clash so much. Teens don’t necessarily make the same informed choices that adults do. They might just do things as opposed to, erm, thinking things through. I’ve had readers say, ‘Why did such and such a character do that? It was just dumb.’ But another reader might class the same action as extreme bravery.

That’s the beauty of writing YA fiction; you have these amazing vibrant characters who just do stuff of their own accord. Sometimes, I swear they take over my laptop and write themselves.


Ahh, teen angst, I love it. It’s deliciously self-indulgent, but absolutely justified. All that sexual tension and hormonal activity racing around teen bodies is a recipe for deep introspection/rage/misery/burning love. Those moments when they gnaw the skin off their knuckles and stare at the ceiling, fuelling their angst with music and dark literature.

Coming-of-age
Forging their way in the world. Making mistakes and finding their place when everyone else seems to know theirs. I especially like dumping my teens into scary settings without parents. Making them grow up quickly. Throwing them into tricky situations where they have to lose their childish ways and come through for someone else.

I don’t write FOR young adults. I write for myself, for the memory of the teen I used to be, if that makes sense. I imagine being back at that age and how it truly felt to be neither child nor adult, but something in between. In your own exclusive world that no one else really understands. When I write, I pull out all those feelings I once had and keep them close to the surface – that first kiss, the insecurity, the excitement of new experiences. It’s all there inside us, if we care to remember. I think that’s why adults enjoy reading literature about teens – it takes us back to that time and place; like the smell of cheap aftershave or an illicit cigarette.