Interview with Travis Haugen, author of SOUP The Future Is Past and Present

Welcome to the book tour for SOUP by Travis Haugen. Today he is telling us a bit more about his mystery adventure novel, as well as giving us a bit more insight into his writing style and process. And find out which historical figure he would most like to meet. There’s also an excerpt for you to enjoy before you download your own copy of the book, plus a great giveaway at the end. Please be sure to leave your own comments and questions for Travis below and all along the tour!

 

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Describe your book in one sentence or fewer than 25 words.

SOUP tells the tale of the second generation of the Yonge family, seeking answers after their musical father’s premature death during times of political unrest.

What kind of research did you have to do for it?  

I did a fair amount of research on the history of the first generations of Americans who arrived in the second wave of the William Penn settlers, I did this to trace the Zoe family history from its’ roots to modern times. For instance, Jeremiah Zeeland, the original Zoe, arrived with the second generation of settlers and married a woman from the LennI Lenape Tribe.  It was at this point that he took the name Zoe.

Besides the family history in the book, there is more for the readers if they choose to click on the Zoe family history link on page 66.  This will take them to an addendum on the SOUP website as part of the interactivity of the book.

Will we see these characters again?  

We will see the characters again in Hedley, the second book in the ‘One Song’ series.  Candy and I are hoping to complete editing and get this book to the publishers within the year.

In the fourth book, in process right now, the readers will be introduced to new characters that will interact with the returning characters. There are many more adventures for the Yonge/Zoe family.

Why should we read your book?

Readers should read this book because they cannot get anything like it anywhere else.  The interactivity aspect of the story is unique. The music, and the lyrics are part of the story itself, a part of the plot.  The music is not meant to be played in the background as you are reading.

What do you hope people will get out of your book?

The story revolves around music.  I hope that the readers lock into the interactivity of the music from the website and the story.  The story itself is one of family drama, mystery, adventure, romance and intrigue. Beyond that, I want to take the readers with me, have them feel what it is like to be on stage performing a live song, or in the studio creating a song out of the air, or at a song’s birth when it is being written.  That is what I hope the readers will experience.

What is the best writing advice you ever received?

I am a rookie writer.  I do not write with an outline; I write entirely from inspiration.  I once attended a writer’s guild in Winnipeg. Many of the people there criticized my approach to writing and pretty much shot me down.  At the end of the session, an elderly woman, a poet, approached me advising me not to be discouraged by their attitude. She told me to always write from my gut.  If you write honestly, the readers will know it.

If you could meet one person living or dead, who would it be and why?

If I could meet one person living or dead, it would be Albert Einstein.  It is hard to believe that a clerk could come up with all that he did in his spare time on his lunch breaks.  But beyond his intellect, his grasp of the human condition, and his gentle outlook to how we should go about fixing many of our human problems makes him, in my mind, the outstanding human being of our times.  

SOUP The Future Is Past and Present

Scott Yonge exploded onto the national consciousness at the 2001 Garrett Awards and quickly rose to legendary status on the wings of his music and his whirlwind romance with independent film actress Michelle Zoe. What should have been a perfect life was interrupted by an ultra-right wing militant group called the American Freedom Force and its leader, Colonel Randall, who forces Scott to choose between his life and that of his son. After his heroic sacrifice, his family is left to pick up the pieces and forge ahead to a future in the vacuum he left behind.

Now, in 2021, his son Hedley inherits music for himself, becoming a star in his own right as technology gives new life to the medium. Scott’s daughter, affectionately known as Soup, throws herself into unravelling the mysteries of her family’s history. Michelle commits herself to keeping them all together and trying to make sense of life without the one she loves. Through it all, the AFF looms in the shadows, threatening to resurrect the pain they have just begun to overcome.

Read an excerpt:

August 25, 1967

The weekly outing had become something of a ritual for them. Friday nights, after supper, they would head out to the country with their hearts pumping and the radio blaring, riding on a wave of blinding optimism. They’d drive for hours, most times talking and laughing about nothing at all. Other times they’d settle into a comfortable silence, speaking without speaking.

They’d been silent for some time when the boy was drawn in by a pretty song on the radio. She was lost in it too, absorbed as though in a trance. The boy looked to his mother. She looked back with warm sadness in her eyes. He felt her love wrap around him as she smiled. She was about to say something when the crunch came. The boy could almost hear the sound of her silent scream as her head snapped to the side at an impossible angle. That’s all there was. He never got to hear what she wanted to say.

Where Soup Is Sold:

https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000048943105/Travis-Haugen-Soup

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1525529293/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539905477&sr=8-1&keywords=soup+travis+haugen

https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/soup-15

www.barnesandnoble.com/w/soup-travis-haugen/1129764065?ean=2940161773833

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/soup/id1439628462?mt=11

https://play.google.com/store/search?q=9781525529306&c=books

https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/soup-the-future-is-past/9781525529290-item.html?ikwid=soup+by+travis+h&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=3

About Travis Haugen

Travis was born and raised in the prairies of Saskatchewan, lived in Calgary for over 25 years and presently lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Travis Haugen has spent forty years of his life touring on the road as a musician and has spent hundreds of hours in recording studios. Travis spends much of his time writing songs, writing stories, playing music and spending valuable time with his family and close group of friends.


Links:

http://www.travishaugen.com

https://www.facebook.com/travishaugenauthor

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqaM4LNQNrpOckyStlBj7yA

Travis Haugen will be awarding a $30 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway