All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill Rocks the Holiday Weekend

“You have to kill him.” 

Imprisoned in the heart of a secret military base, Em has nothing except the voice of the boy in the cell next door and the list of instructions she finds taped inside the drain. 

Only Em can complete the final instruction. She’s tried everything to prevent the creation of a time machine that will tear the world apart. She holds the proof: a list she has never seen before, written in her own hand. Each failed attempt in the past has led her to the same terrible present-imprisoned and tortured by a sadistic man called the doctor while war rages outside. 

Marina has loved her best friend James since the day he moved next door when they were children. A gorgeous, introverted science prodigy from one of America's most famous families, James finally seems to be seeing Marina in a new way, too. But on one disastrous night, James’ life crumbles apart, and with it, Marina’s hopes
for their future. Now someone is trying to kill him. Marina will protect James, no matter what. Even if it means opening her eyes to a truth so terrible that she may not survive it. At least not as the girl she once was. 

All Our Yesterdays is a wrenching, brilliantly plotted story of fierce love, unthinkable sacrifice, and the infinite implications of our every choice. 

CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR CRISTIN TERRILL’S  ALL OUR YESTERDAYS 

“Time travel done right… Powerful emotional relationships and tight plotting
in this debut mark Terrill as an author to watch.” – Starred Review, Kirkus
Reviews 
“Masterfully plotted and rich with emotion, ‘All our
Yesterdays’ is possibly the most addictive book I’ve read this year.” – Becca
Fitzpatrick, New York Times Bestselling Author 
“‘All our Yesterdays’
is one of the most astonishing debuts I have read so far this year. A real nail
biting and mind-bending time warping adventure that will have readers everywhere
on the edge of their seats. I loved it!” – Fiction Fascination 

“Cristin Terrill’s mind-bending thriller is intense, clever and achingly
romantic. This is time-travel as it should be – exciting and completely
unpredictable. A definite must read.” – Realm of Fiction   

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING…  
On GoodReads.com: 
“You  guys will want to read this book! Yes, the writing is that good. The premise is
that good.” 
“There are three elements I look for in a young adult
novel: an exciting plot, compelling characters and a strong narrative voice. All
Our Yesterdays has all three. The combination of sci-fi time travel elements, a
heart-wrenching love triangle, gripping action sequences and a ‘Hunger
Games-style’ political background provides something for every kind of reader
and made it a book that I, personally, found difficult to put down.” 

“Brilliant time-slip adventure that genuinely keeps you on the edge of your
seat and desperate to find out what happens.” 
“This book is definitely
worth all of the buzz that it’s been getting. Cristin Terrill has created a
fantastic time travel adventure, and I can’t wait for everyone else to read
it.” 
“I will be recommending this one to everyone I know.”

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BIOGRAPHY OF AUTHOR CRISTIN TERRILL 
A self-proclaimed aspiring  grown-up, Cristin Terrill is finding grown up success as a young adult  novelist. 
Terrill’s first book, All Our Yesterdays, will be released by Disney-Hyperion on September 3, 2013. Global Produce and Gold Circle Films  have bought screen rights to turn the sci-fi YA thriller into a movie. 

Before writing, Terrill worked as a theatrical stage manager. She grew up in Texas then headed to New York to study drama at Vassar College. For post-grad education, she traveled overseas to the United Kingdom where she attended the prestigious Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham.  

Today Terrill lives in Silver Spring, MD, where she helps kids and teens hone their creative writing skills at workshops through Writopia Lab. The nonprofit organization connects published authors with aspiring writers ages 6 to 18.
 
A regular contributor to YA Confidential and selected member of the Class 2K13 for debut YA authors, Terrill is also already hard at work on her second novel. She is a featured presenter at this year’s Book Expo of American and the American Library Association’s annual conference.

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Q&A WITH “ALL OUR YESTERDAYS” AUTHOR CRISTIN TERRILL  

The  title for All Our Yesterdays comes from Shakespeare. Why did you choose it?

I  was at a total loss for a title as my agent and I were preparing to submit the book to publishers. I have a masters in Shakespeare Studies, so I often turn to Shakespeare when I get stuck, because you might as well steal from the best. “All our yesterdays” is a phrase from Macbeth’s famous Act 5, scene 5 soliloquy,  which is about the ruthlessness of time.   

The character Marina has low self-esteem and tends to be very critical of herself. Why did you shape her this way?

Because at sixteen, I was very self-critical. It wasn’t until I was older that I was able to see how hard I was on myself. The relationship between Em and Marina is the heart of the book for me, and I was inspired to write it after looking at pictures of myself when I was young and realizing that I was so much cooler/smarter/prettier than I thought back then, when I was convinced I was a total loser. I think that’s a pretty common experience, especially for women, who are encouraged to have low self-esteem by a lot of toxic societal messages that are trying to sell us something. My hope is that self-critical readers will notice how hard Marina is on herself and perhaps realize that a lot of their unkind thoughts towards themselves are just as baseless.  

How does Em differ? 

Em can see how valuable Marina is and can appreciate the things about her that Marina can’t appreciate
about herself. But Em is only nineteen and is still struggling to learn to appreciate those same attributes in herself the way she does in her young self.  

The girls have different names. When writing the book, were you at first hoping people wouldn’t find out they were the same person until reading further into the story? 

I picked the names “Em” and “Marina” because “Em” doesn’t immediately look or sound like a nickname for “Marina.” I knew many readers would assume from the beginning that they were the same person, but I wanted there to at least be some doubt in their minds until I revealed it.  

What was it like finding out that the screen rights for your first published novel had been purchased?

Utterly surreal. It still hasn’t really sunk in over a year later. When my film rights agent called to say that Gold Circle was buying the option, my reaction was, “okay.” It takes me a long time to process major emotion, so I usually default to extreme calmness. I think he was disappointed that I didn’t seem more excited and asked if I was all right.  My agent jumped in and said, “She’s great! This is just how she reacts to things!” Which she learned first-hand, when my reaction to the information that we were going to auction with eight different publishing houses was also, “okay.” If I seem cool, it’s just because I’m freaking out so much that my brain has pretty much shut down.  

If you could handpick the actors to play Em and Marina in the film adaptation of “All our Yesterdays,” who would you choose?

This is a tough question. I worked in the theater for many years and in casting specifically for some of that time, so I have a lot of respect and affection for actors, and I know how hard it can be to find the right actor even amongst lots of great ones. I feel like dream casts are often based primarily on who looks the part, but I’m  much more interested in what an actor brings to a role that I never saw there myself, and the person who brings a character to life the most is often not who you’d expect (like Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, which is a piece of casting that was initially surprising but turned out beautifully). So to give a total non-answer answer, I would want whichever actors bring the most life and authenticity to the characters, regardless of any other factors like appearance
or name recognition.  

The book explores a quite controversial subject of justifying harm for the good of many. What would you do if you were in Em’s shoes? 

I have no idea what I would do! The question of whether it’s okay to harm a few for the good of the many was a question I wanted to play with largely because I don’t have a position or an agenda I wanted to get across. If I were Em, I might just take up Finn’s offer to drive down to Florida and spend the rest of my time sitting on the beach, because I’m not sure I could handle the stress as well as she does!  

Reviewers rave that the  book is “time travel done right.” What’s the key to a good time travel book? 

I don’t think there is one, because there are so many different ways to do time travel. You could plop someone a hundred years in the future and do a fish-out-of-water story or send them back in time as a twist on historical fiction. Personally, my favorite is the really twisty, emotional, complicated kind of time travel I’ve written, where a character is traveling into and affecting their own timeline. But it’s hard, and there are so many days when I have to put my head down on my desk to try to figure out just what the heck is going on and how make all the threads match up. As long as I don’t write myself into a massive plot hole, which I’ve done many times, then hopefully I’m doing  it right!  

If you could go back in time to one event or day in particular, which would you choose? 

Wow, that’s hard. One thing I’d love is to go back to the 1600s and see one of the original performances of Hamlet or Twelfth Night.  

You host creative writing workshops for young kids and teens. What tips can you give to aspiring writers? 

Read a lot, write at least a little every day, and figure out what’s unique about your voice. If you can do that, pretty much everything else will fall into place.  

You’re already at work on a sequel. Is there any insight you can give to fans?

Em and Finn were wrong.

If you haven't added All Our Yesterdays to your TBR list, you should. Not only is the author a talented young lady, but any book that can transport you from the real world is worth reading.

Have a wonderful weekend!

(((hugs)))

Louann