Giveaway: The Well's End

I'm excited to be taking part in a Putnam launch event for The Well's End by Seth Fishman.  This one sounds good you guys, I can't wait to get my hands on it. Below is a bit more about the book, an interview with the author and a chance to win yourself an Advanced Copy!

TITLE The Well's End
AUTHOR Seth Fishman
PUBLICATION February 25th 2014 by Putnam Juvenile

Mia Kish is afraid of the dark. And for good reason. When she was a toddler she fell deep into her backyard well only to be rescued to great fanfare and celebrity. In fact, she is small-town Fenton,Colorado’s walking claim to fame. Not like that helps her status at Westbrook Academy, the nearby uber-ritzy boarding school she attends. A townie is a townie. Being nationally ranked as a swimmer doesn’t matter a lick. But even the rarefied world of Westbrook is threated when emergency sirens start blaring and the school is put on lockdown, quarantined and surrounded by soldiers who seem to shoot first and ask questions later. Only when confronted by a frightening virus that ages its victims to death in a manner of hours does Mia realize she may only just be beginning to discover what makes Fenton special.

The answer is behind the walls of the Cave, aka Fenton Electronics. Mia’s dad, the director of Fenton Electronics, has always been secretive about his work. But unless Mia is willing to let her classmates succumb to the strange illness, she and her friends have got to break quarantine, escape the school grounds, and outsmart armed soldiers to uncover the truth about where the virus comes from and what happened down that well. The answers they find just might be more impossible than the virus they are fleeing.

Interview with Seth Fishman

I see that The Well's End was inspired by a pretty dramatic story that happened in your hometown. Can you tell us a bit about that and why you had it in your mind while crafting this novel?
Yeah, Baby Jessica was a big deal everywhere, but especially in my home-town. I remember when they freed her, we were listening to the radio in the car and we honked to celebrate. And everyone else honked too. Nothing like that has ever happened to me since. So, I used that scenario as a base for my character, Mia. Something to craft her with. Then, I figured out an entirely different story to put this crafted character into. The thing is, the well keeps coming back to me, and so does the fall, and now as I write book two, it's creeping up as a more than an 'influence'... that's all I can say, for now. But I'm really enjoying exploring it.

I always wonder if it's difficult for a male author to write about a female main character. Did you find this challenging at all? If so, what steps did you take to bridge any gender gaps you may have come across?
Ha, I found this very challenging. My editor, the wonderful Stacey Barney, was instrumental in helping me sort out some of the technicalities. The funniest thing, though, was writing about the romance budding between main characters. I wrote the boy as I KNEW boys acted, but from Mia's perspective, what they were doing seemed weird, uninterested, which is both very real-life, but also not as helpful for the book. An odd balance to strike.

Do you have a writing room? If so, what does it look like?
I don't really, sadly. That's the future. Right now I'm in the living room in the morning, or the bedroom at night, depending on when. But my wife DID get me an awesome glass desk to write on for my birthday last year. I envision a leather chair and a library and a cat purring nearby.

What books are currently on your to-read shelf?
Good question. My clients' books, of course - can't wait for new ones to come in. But, otherwise, my to-read (and not my currently reading) shelf has Patrick Ness, recommended by the great writer Alexander London. And also, finally, some Alice McDermott.

What were some of your early influences that may have helped shaped your writing style? (books, movies, music, etc.)
My first love was Tolkien, but I wouldn't say that influenced my style. I love books that bend the grammar rules, that feel like the words are actually from a person's mind, and not the author's, and I tried to do that with mine. A modern example would be John Green. When I was younger, everything from Falkner to Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card to ANYTHING by David Mitchell. Movie: Dead Poet Society (I am a crier, even at emotional commercials, ha). This book is sort of a Toy Soldiers meets Red Dawn (the old one), so we can toss those in too, but I love the odd and imaginative. And I try to do the same in my writing. Straightforward different.

Thanks for taking the time to let us get to know a bit more about you and The Well's End, Seth!

Seth's Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Seth Fishman (me) was born and raised in Midland, Texas (think Friday Night Lights) and received his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England (think cold and rainy and millions of castles). His YA thriller, The Well's End, is the first in a series and the protagonist, Mia Kish, is roughly inspired by a hometown drama that (when I was young) really blew him away: Click Here To Read The Article

Giveaway

Putnam has graciously offered up an advanced copy of The Well's End along with an original piece of artwork from Canadian artist Kate Beaton (to see some of her work for The Well's End Click Here.)

Open to US and Canadian addresses only

Giveaway runs until July 4, 2013

Fill out the Rafflecopter below to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Boy Nobody Tour Stop

TITLE Boy Nobody (Boy Nobody #1)
AUTHOR Allen Zadoff
PUBLICATION June 11th 2013 by Little, Brown & CO
READ May 13, 2013
SOURCE From Orchard Books for review

Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school, in a new town, under a new name, makes few friends and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend's family to die -- of "natural causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, and moves on to the next target.

When his own parents died of not-so-natural causes at the age of eleven, Boy Nobody found himself under the control of The Program, a shadowy government organization that uses brainwashed kids as counter-espionage operatives. But somewhere, deep inside Boy Nobody, is somebody: the boy he once was, the boy who wants normal things (like a real home, his parents back), a boy who wants out. And he just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program's next mission.

I waited a bit to write my review and was really worried how that would affect it but I learned something in this process. The way to bring it all back is to describe the plot and happenings to my husband and feed off his reactions. As I described the twists & turns and characters in BOY NOBODY to him he got excited because it played out like an action movie that he would love to watch and through that I was brought back to the excited place I was in while reading it.

Ben is an assassin. He is a highly trained operative who was brought up to be nobody. He knows how to blend into situations and get out completely unnoticed. I loved his inner dialogue, the way that he read every situation as a series of options he could take to deal with it. The novel definitely had a Jason Bourne feel which is always welcome with me. For someone who was so detached from everything I came to really like him and connect with him. When he meets Sam he starts to have emotions that are completely foreign to him and memories start to resurface that he had no idea were in his psyche.

The romance in this one could definitely be looked at as pretty insta lovey but I think you just have to take it for what it is here. He has 5 days to complete a mission and get a girl to fall for him, which did not prove easy once he got to know the target. Sam was a feisty one and while she did seem to fall for him rather fast she never made it easy on him at all. These two were pretty evenly matched, they could read every thing the other did and they didn’t hesitate to call them on it. I loved how we would experience the thoughts in Ben’s head and in a snap Sam was calling him out on exactly the head game he was planning to play. I love a girl who isn’t afraid to speak her mind.

The novel also comes along with it’s fair share of twists and I enjoyed watching the bad guy change from page to page. I never knew who to trust completely and I questioned everyone at least once. For a YA book it dealt with a lot of politics, which is usually a huge turn off for me, but there was just the right amount of angst and high school drama thrown in that it didn’t bug me at all. I actually came out really liking how it tied in the Israeli government and also some American politicians.

A strong start to a thriller series that is sure to be a hit, I don’t think this is one to be missed. Filled with action from beginning to end, this is one you will not be able to put down. If you are looking for a story with some endearing characters, great twists and pulse pounding action definitely give this one a go.

Interview with Allen Zadoff

Convince us to read BOY NOBODY twitter style (140 characters or less)

Brainwashed teen assassin wakes up and finds himself torn between his mission and a girl he loves. Will he survive?

What inspired you to write BOY NOBODY?

Boy Nobody himself inspired me. He appeared one day out of the blue when I was writing a comic novel. Suddenly I felt the presence of this boy without a name, a teen assassin with a secret past who moved from place to place, fitting in everywhere but belonging nowhere. I was immediately fascinated by him, and then he started to tell me about his life in short, intense sentences. I was hooked.

Which of the characters in the novel do you identify with most?

I’m a big fan of Howard, the geeky teen hacker who befriends Boy Nobody and may or may not help him in future missions. (I don’t want to give anything away.) Howard gets beaten up in school every day, but instead of plotting revenge, he funnels his hurt and anger towards his creativity. He uses his skills to become a “white hat”, a computer hacker dedicated to doing good and improving things on the web rather than breaking the law.

What has been your favourite part of publishing your novels?

There are two elements to writing that delight me. The first is the actual process of creation. It’s a combination of sweat and magic. If I’m willing to sweat (i.e. do the work), the magic sometimes happens. The second element is sharing my work with readers. As I write this, Boy Nobody is on the verge of publishing in the UK and US. This book that I’ve lived with mostly privately for two years is about to make its way out into the world. I’m nervous and excited, but also relieved that the time has finally arrived.

Being an author can definitely require some thick skin.  What advice do you have for up & coming authors on how to deal with the ups & downs of being a published author?

You’re right. There are a lot of ups and downs. This is true of life in general, but it’s particularly true of a writer’s life. It helps me to remember that not everybody is going to like my work, and they’re not supposed to. Of course I care what people think and I hope they enjoy my work, but It’s a mistake to define myself by what others think of me. This is not just the writer’s journey, it’s all of our journeys. If you need everyone in school or work to love you, then you are going to be very disappointed, right?

This or That:
Coffee or tea? Morning coffee, afternoon tea.
Summer or winter? I live in L.A. I miss winter.
Chocolate or vanilla? Vanilla.
Comedy or horror? Comedy.
Movies or reading? Reading, reading, reading.

Allen's Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Allen Zadoff is the author of three YA novels. His debut novel, Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have won the Sid Fleischman Humor Award and was a YALSA selection for Most Popular Paperbacks of 2012. His second novel was My Life, the Theater, and Other Tragedies, the story of a techie hiding from life after a family tragedy. His most recent novel Since You Left Me is set in Los Angeles and tells the story of a religious school student who doesn't believe. He also wrote the memoir for adults, Hungry:Lessons Learned on the Journey from Fat to Thin.

Allen is a graduate of Cornell University and the Harvard University Institute for Advanced Theatre Training. Look for Boy Nobody, a YA thriller series, coming summer 2013 from Little Brown.

Golden Boy Tour Stop (Review/Interview)

TITLE Golden Boy
AUTHOR Abigail Tarttelin
PUBLICATION May 21st 2013 by Atria Books
READ May 03 to 04, 2013
SOURCE From Simon & Schuster Canada for review

From a rising literary star Abigail Tarttelin comes an unforgettable novel about a boy, a secret, and the single traumatizing event that sends his seemingly charmed life into tailspin.

Max Walker is a golden boy. Attractive, intelligent, and athletic, he’s the perfect son, the perfect friend, and a perfect crush for the girls in his school. He’s even really nice to his little brother, Daniel, a decidedly imperfect ten-year-old. Karen Walker is a beautiful, highly successful criminal lawyer, who works hard to maintain the facade of effortless excellence she has constructed over the years. Now that the boys are getting older, now that she won’t have as much control, she worries that the facade might soon begin to crumble. Steve Walker is also a successful prosecutor, so much so that he is running for election to Parliament. The spotlight of the media is about to encircle their lives.

But the Walkers have a secret. Max was born with forty-six XX chromosomes and forty-six XY chromosomes, which makes him intersex. He identifies as a boy and so has been raised lovingly that way. When an enigmatic childhood friend named Hunter steps out of Max’s past and abuses his trust in the worst possible way, Max is forced to consider the nature of his well-kept secret. Why won’t his parents talk about it? Will his friends accept him if he is no longer the Golden Boy? Who is Max and who will he be in the years ahead?

While Max and his family face life-changing questions, revelations, and the ever-present threat that Hunter presents, Max falls in love. He might be flawed, but could he be the perfectly imperfect boyfriend for misfit Sylvie Clark, the oddball loner in his class?

Told in first person narratives alternating between Max, Daniel, Karen, Sylvie, Steve, and Archie, the physician who attempts to guide Max through this pivotal moment in his life, Golden Boy is at once a riveting novel of a family in crisis, a fascinating exploration of identity, and a coming-of-age story like no other.

GOLDEN BOY is by far the most thought-provoking, eye-opening novel I have read in a long time. I was hit straight off the bat with an unflinching realism and thrown into a family who was dealing with issues that I knew barely anything of. Back in 1999 I watched the movie Boy’s Don’t Cry and it was the first I had ever heard of intersex (back then it was hermaphrodites) individuals. This book took me back into a mind frame where I was curious, emotional and almost in awe at the same time. Not only do we meet Max, who is intersex, but along with him we meet his family who is trying to do their best to find him his place in the world.

The part of this story that stood out to me the most was the family dynamic of the Walker’s. None of them were perfect and they all had incredibly selfish thoughts here and there but in the end they were truly looking out for one another. In the beginning I questioned Steve’s (the dad) devotion to his family, he seemed to be putting his career before everything that was going on at home and he did for much of the novel. But once we start to see all the sides of the story (through the very well done multiple POV’s) we see that there is so much more to his actions and intentions. The mother, Karen, was a difficult person for me to come to understand but once again, once my eyes were opened to everything that was going on I’m not sure I can say I would have been much different if thrown into the same situations. Daniel and Max had a wonderful relationship and seeing the story through Daniel’s eyes was great. He was the innocent onlooker, I felt. He didn’t have all the details of what was going on with his brother or why he was feeling the way that he was, and he didn’t really care. He just wanted to know that he was OK and to get on with life.

All of these characters came to life for me because Tartellin mastered their voices. Each one felt so distinct that I always knew whose perspective I was reading without question. This was done to the point that I was annoyed with Daniel’s POV at first because of how juvenile and repetitive it was, but that’s because it was so perfectly a 9-year olds way of thinking and speaking about things. The character that I connected the most to was Max. His struggles in finding out who he was were heartbreaking and I felt so incredibly sad for him as he forged his way through everything that was thrown at him. Not only did he have to make it through some rough patches but all of it brought to light that he didn’t know who he was or where he fit in the world which no one should ever have to feel.

This novel was an eye opening experience for me as I saw first hand the struggles that an intersex individual can go through in their life. The feelings of displacement, of shame and of a disconnect to things such as sex and marriage really took their toll on Max and it was hard to read at times. As I said before I don’t know too much about the “condition” (for lack of a better word) but I found myself googling a lot throughout the story and finding real life stories that paralleled his in many ways. I also appreciated how we would get a doctors perspective at times which made it possible to teach the reader at the same time that they are reading.

A strong novel that will get your emotions going and leave you wanting to talk about it for hours, GOLDEN BOY does not disappoint. The voices of the characters are strong and the relationships are ones that jump off the page. If you are in the market for a rather unconventional novel with a New Adult feel, this is the one for you.

Interview with author Abigail Tarttelin

What was your inspiration for writing GOLDEN BOY?

Several experiences and works of art inspired me to write Golden Boy. ‘The Women’s Room’ by Marilyn French first had me thinking about gender and feminism. Secondly, having seen XXY in 2009, an Argentinian feature film featuring an intersex protagonist, made me think that I could explore gender through the eyes of someone who had no need to define themselves as either male or female, but was pressured to do so by their family and community. Finally, the summer before I wrote Golden Boy, I was thinking about the way men treat women and vice versa, particularly in regards to rape culture and catcalling across the street. I thought that life must be such a different experience in some ways for men and women, even though gender seems to be so arbitrary and nothing to do with our own choices. Through the eyes of Max, Golden Boy’s protagonist, I felt like I could explore how it felt to be a woman with the surprise of someone who had been brought up as a male.

Which of the characters in the novel do you identify with most?

There are aspects of my experience and my point of view in every character in Golden Boy, but I probably identify with Max and Sylvie most. I’m a little less bold than Sylvie, and a little more insistent than Max, but when I was in school I dealt with aspects of gender roles that Max and Sylvie deal with in the book, for instance the strange segregation of girls and boys in high school, or feeling that encroaching fear as you grow up as a girl and realise that the night is not your friend.

Golden Boy is a split POV novel, why did you decide that was the way you wanted to tell this story?

I enjoy writing in the first person and getting into the minds of my characters. I believe at the moment, for me, that is the best way to understand them and communicate their feelings. I also think Max’s situation has a lot to do with point of view, and I wanted the reader to understand why his parents might react the way he did, why the doctor doesn’t tell anyone, Sylvie’s background in dealing and thoughts on gender, and why Max makes the choices he does.

What has been your favorite part of publishing GOLDEN BOY?

I have thoroughly enjoying my warm-up reading gigs in London. This week I read form Golden Boy at an event called ‘Speakeasy’ and also wrote a story and performed for the ting Hill International Book Festival. I have so much fun meeting readers and I feel that performing really transforms writing into something even more personal to the person who wrote it. That is why I cannot WAIT to tour the US and Canada! I think it will be so exciting and I’m planning on making a video diary for each city on www.abigailtarttelin.com!

I saw that there is some interest in a GOLDEN BOY movie possibly happening, do you have any ideas as to who you would like to see portray the main characters?

I see a Golden Boy movie as a sort of The Kids Are All Right independent film. It’s about gender, where The Kids was about sexuality, but both stories are set in a loving family, in a very nice community and I think that makes the difficult themes much more accessible to audiences. On my facebook page at www.facebook.com/abigailtarttelin I’ve uploaded some ideas for cast, but I’m really interested to see what other people think! I can totally see Naomi Watts as a brilliant Karen though! And this wasn’t how I saw Steve to begin with, but I think Patrick Wilson would make a great Steve. Max would have to be a young River Phoenix type! I’d love Quvenzhané Wallis to be able to play Sylvie, but she’s a bit young right now.

What are some of your early influences that shaped your writing style? (music, books, movies, etc.)

I don’t know if they shaped my writing style, but I’ve read almost everything by Enid Blyton! I was very inspired too by Hunter S Thompson’s The Rum Diary and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Every time I pick up a book I tend to write a piece of prose in that style. But I have always been a huge film fan and offbeat, quirky French films or Spanish films like the works of Pedro Almodovar have influenced me greatly. When I was sixteen or seventeen, my English teacher gave me a copy of The Cement Garden, a novel by Ian McEwan, and I realised that I could write about anything, literally anything. Until then I had just read the classics, and although I love them, they didn’t show me that contemporary culture was an acceptable topic for a novel.

Do you have a writing room? If so, what does it look like?

I would absolutely LOVE to have a writing room. I’m 25 and I’ve never owned a property or rented anywhere bigger than one room in a shared apartment, so I really would love to find a home one day soon where I can have a little writing nook. A friend of mine has a shed he used for recording music in his garden. I’d like to build a tree house to write in in my (currently inexistent) garden!

What are you reading right now? What’s your most anticipated book at the moment?

I just read Sahar Delijani’s Children of the Jacaranda Tree, and it’s wonderful! Sahar is also really nice – I met her the other day because we share the same English language editors! So that’s two reasons to read her book. I am currently looking for the next book to catch my eye. I want one that I’ll really love and will savour. Recommendations welcome!

Abigail's Website | Twitter | Goodreads

In May 2013, from twenty-five-year-old literary rising star Abigail Tarttelin comes Golden Boy - an unforgettable novel about a boy, a secret, and the single traumatizing event that sends his seemingly charmed life into tailspin.

Abby writes for London Fashion Magazine Phoenix and hails from Grimsby, England. She grew up in a field in the middle of nowhere, and likes reading, films, astronomy, the wilds, The Big Bang Theory and Buffy The Vampire Slayer!

Blog Tour Stop: If You Find Me

Today I am beyond excited to be taking part in the blog tour for If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch which is brought to you by The Midnight Garden.  This is by far my favorite read of 2013 so far and is a novel that I still think about to this day.  My stop features my review of the novel, an interview with Emily and a chance for US & CAN readers to win a beautiful finished copy of the novel.


TITLE If You Find Me
AUTHOR Emily Murdoch
PUBLICATION March 26th 2013 by St. Martin's Griffin
READ February 17, 2013
SOURCE St. Martin's Griffin via Netagalley for review

There are some things you can’t leave behind…

A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

This review is probably going to be an incoherent jumble of feelings that I can’t translate eloquently into words so there are some things I want to just throw at you in the beginning to make sure that I get my point across. This book. This book is everything that I want in a book; this book is about love and it is so full of heart that I found myself teary eyed pretty much once in every chapter. This book is full of amazing characters and amazing relationships; it is bleak, it is honest, and it is a novel that will definitely stick with me for a long time to come.

Carey and Janessa are girls who have grown up living in a camper in a national forest most of their lives. There they live with their mother, but not really because she is a meth addict who disappears for weeks (sometimes months) at a time leaving Carey in charge of feeding her younger sister & herself and in charge of bringing Janessa up. The way that these girls lived is terrible. They freeze in the winters and often find themselves eating nothing but beans for days, it was shocking to see all the things that they went through growing up. Not only do they live under harsh conditions but the people that their meth addict mother brought into their life and the things she made them do to feed her meth addiction are disgusting and had me so angry that addictions like this exist. The desperation of users to get their next fix is frightening and it puts everyone around them in danger as they are used as pawns. We get most of this part of the story through memories that Carey has throughout the novel, the real story here is when they are found and taken to live with Carey’s father on his farm.

The transition to living in civilization is what really brings these characters to life for me. The bond that Carey and Janessa formed in their years of living in the wild and Carey essentially raising her younger sister is beautiful. Once they are found that bond remains and Nessa really looks to Carey for how to react and deal with everything that is going on. I loved Carey, my heart broke for her situation but she had such a big heart & her undying devotion to her younger sister made everything OK. Even in their dismal situation in the forest their relationship brought light to their life and really got them through it. Nessa was an adorable character and through her mutism we learn that something pretty bad happened that made her lose her voice. What really blew me away here was how Nessa felt like such a developed and well rounded character and for much of the novel the girl didn’t even talk. I loved her and I wanted to cuddle her. We see through Carey how she can read everything about her younger sister without words and it’s really beautiful. I also really liked Carey’s father and his wife Melissa, the effort that they put into helping the girls is so great and you really just felt the love they had for them so much in every page of this novel.

There is no way that this review will ever do this book justice and I don’t even want to think about how many times I used the word love in it but everything I think about this book is love. The characters, the relationships, just everything. There are some pretty shocking scenes, ones that are so hard to read but looking back on it love just conquers all and is what I took away from it. Read this book people, and have some tissues at the ready.

Interview with Emily Murdoch

I had the pleasure of inviting Emily over for a bit of a tea party and before we got going we had a chat about herself and the novel:

Tell us about your book Twitter style, so in 140 characters or less.

That’d be the tagline I came up with for the UK edition:

“What happens in the woods, stays in the woods ... “

If You Find Me is a very poignant and touching story, what was your inspiration behind the novel?

I’m learning as we go along that there are so many answers to this question; some I didn’t even know of consciously at the time of writing If You Find Me.

Such as how easy it was to write a portrait of an abused child, having been one, myself. The psychology of fooling myself in order to write dark and deep, and, as I’m seeing, something so necessary to the world as it stands today …

I’m honored if my darkness can shed some light. This is me paying forward all those books that saved me, as a child.

What character in If You Find Me do you identify with most?

Carey. Most definitely, Carey.

But that’s not to say that Carey is me in disguise. She isn’t. I’d call her an archetype of abused children. Her longing for love and a place to belong. Her uncertainty. Her resourcefulness. Her hero’s journey.

We have a lot in common.

What drew you to the YA genre? Why did you decide that it was the place for you?

Interesting questions! I’m not the color-within-the-lines kind of gal; I’m the by-the-seat-of-my-pants, on-a-wing-and-a-prayer type. I wrote the story I wrote, and ended up with offers from both young adult and adult Big Six publishers.

I guess fate wanted me here. I’ve met the most amazing people, here, too.

Do you have a writing room? If so, what does it look like?

One day I will have a writing room; I describe it in a recent interview on Imaginary Girls author Nova Ren Suma’s blog (Nova’s amazing new novel, 17 and Gone, releases March 21st!).

In the meantime, I write at the kitchen bar, quite happily. When I write, I enter a state of flow so complete, I have no idea what’s around me, anyway.

Who are your favorite authors?

Ooooo, love this question! I’m very old fashioned:

Frances Hodgson Burnett
Louisa May Alcott
Lucy Maud Montgomery
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Charlotte Bronte
Madeleine L'Engle
Charles Dickens
Judy Blume
Madeleine Brent
Anne Frank
Rumer Godden
Carlo Collodi
J. M. Barrie
Roald Dahl
Rudyard Kipling

If you were stranded on a desert island and you could only have one book with you, what book would it be?

Merlin’s Keep by Madeleine Brent

What are some of your early influences that shaped your writing style? (novels, movies, music, etc)

Besides the authors mentioned above, I’d have to blame it on my ferocious diary and journal keeping. There’s just a place you learn to go inside, and when you write from there, your arrow flies true.

Thank you so much, Jenni, for inviting me over! It was such a pleasure chatting with you! Now for that tea party. How many lumps in your tea? Cream? I sure hope you like cupcakes!

The tea & cupcakes were great, but the company was even better. Thanks for stopping by, Emily!

Giveaway

St. Martin's Griffin has been kind enough to offer up one finished hardcover copy of If You Find me for one lucky reader.

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian addresses only.

Fill out the Rafflecopter below to enter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check out all the other great stops on this tour:

3/18 The Midnight Garden
3/19 Alluring Reads
3/20 Live to Read
3/21 YA Romantics
3/22 Winterhaven Books
3/23 Once Upon a Prologue
3/24 Hobbitses
3/25 ExLibris Kate
3/26 Xpresso Reads
3/27 Bookish
3/28 Great Imaginations
3/29 Good Books and Good Wine

Possession & Surrender Blog Tour Stop (Interview/Giveaway)

Today I am excited to be a part of the Possession and Surrender blog tour for author Elana Johnson! My stop on the tour features an interview with the author as well as some great opportunities to win.  First here's a little more about the books:

Possession (Possession #1)
by Elana Johnson
published June 7th 2011 by Simon & Schuster

Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous--everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn.

This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

Surrender (Possession #2)

by Elana Johnson

published June 5th 2012 by Simon Pulse

Forbidden love, intoxicating power, and the terror of control…

Raine has always been a good girl. She lives by the rules in Freedom. After all, they are her father’s rules: He’s the Director. It’s because of him that Raine is willing to use her talent—a power so dangerous, no one else is allowed to know about it. Not even her roommate, Vi.

All of that changes when Raine falls for Gunner. Raine’s got every reason in the world to stay away from Gunn, but she just can’t. Especially when she discovers his connection to Vi’s boyfriend, Zenn. Raine has never known anyone as heavily brainwashed as Vi. Raine’s father expects her to spy on Vi and report back to him. But Raine is beginning to wonder what Vi knows that her father is so anxious to keep hidden, and what might happen if she helps Vi remember it. She’s even starting to suspect Vi’s secrets might involve Freedom’s newest prisoner, the rebel Jag Barque....

Interview with Elana Johnson

Convince us to read the Possession series in 140 characters or less, Twitter style!
The Possession series is about choice. Why do you make the choices you do? Who do you listen to? Vi, Raine, & Gunn need to figure that out.

What book by a favourite author do you wish YOU had written?
I think the quintessential answer would be Harry Potter, right? I mean, I love those books, and the movies, and the theme park, and… yeah. I would’ve liked to have written that. But with more kissing. Ha!

I read that you were a 3rd grade teacher for 4 years, what was your favourite part of teaching elementary? Least favourite?
Oh, I still teach elementary school. I spent a few years as an upper grade music and art specialist, then moved into 3rd grade, and now I teach the whole school! Grades K-6 come and go every few minutes, and I basically teach typing and how to stay safe on the Internet. It’s a great job.

My favorite part of teaching is the interaction with the kids. They are so funny sometimes. My least favorite part is that I can never have a bad day. Sometimes I just want to sit at my desk and do my work, but teaching is so not like that. So I paste on my Jerry Seinfeld skin and I go entertain those kids!

Do you have a writing room? If so, what does it look like?
I wish! I have a little table pushed against the wall in my kitchen. It’s a huge mess, and I haven’t used it for a while, because it’s so piled with books and papers and bills and yeah. Thank goodness for my lap desk!

Being an author and putting your work out into the wild takes some pretty thick skin; do you have any advice for up & coming authors on how to deal with the ups & downs of the profession?
Write what you like to read, and recognize that reading is subjective.

This or That
Coffee or tea? Um, I don’t drink either of these. Hot chocolate?

High heels or flats? Flats, for sure. I can’t wear heels to save my life.

Comedy or horror? Comedy. I’m such a huge wimp! The last horror movie I watched was The Ring, and I sometimes still have nightmares.

Early morning or late riser? Late riser. I loooove sleeping in, or simply laying in bed.

Peeta or Gale? *sigh* This is such a hard question! For the first two books, I was total Team Gale. Childhood love and all that. Mockingjay swayed me toward Peeta, but in the end, I didn’t think Katniss was good enough for him. So yeah. I don’t know. Team Peeta? I guess.

Elana's Website | Twitter | Facebook

Elana wishes she could experience her first kiss again, tell the mean girl where to shove it, and have cool superpowers like reading minds and controlling fire. To fulfill her desires, she writes young adult science fiction and fantasy.

Using her boring human powers, she graduated from Southern Utah University with Summa Cum Laude honors in Elementary Education with a minor in Mathematics. She started her teaching career as an upper grade music and art specialist. After a four-year stint in 3rd grade, she is currently the technology specialist.

 Now for the winning! There are three chances to win on this tour and you can enter using the Rafflecopters below!

Giveaway #1

Hardcover of Starcrossed, Witch Eyes, When We Broke Up and The Liar Society
Open to US/Canada only
Ends December 9, 2012
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway #2

Hardcover of Surrender, a Possession paperback, an ecopy of Regret, bookmarks for both books, stickers for both books, and a Jag-inspired necklace
Open to US/Canada only
Ends December 9, 2012
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway #3

Ebooks of Possession, Surrender and Regret
Open Internationally
Ends December 9, 2012

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Two and Twenty Dark Tales Tour Stop (Interview & Giveaway)

Today I am excited to be able to bring you an interview with author C. Lee McKenzie who wrote the story Into The Sea of Dew which is a dark retelling of Blinkin, Winkin and Nod.  There is also a great chance to win an ebook, so be sure to check that out.  First here is a bit more about the book:

Two and Twenty Dark Tales
by Various Contributing Authors (Click the Goodreads link to see them all)
published October 16th 2012 by Month9Books

In this anthology, 20 authors explore the dark and hidden meanings behind some of the most beloved Mother Goose nursery rhymes through short story retellings. The dark twists on classic tales range from exploring whether Jack truly fell or if Jill pushed him instead to why Humpty Dumpty, fragile and alone, sat atop so high of a wall. The authors include Nina Berry, Sarwat Chadda, Leigh Fallon, Gretchen McNeil, and Suzanne Young.

 Interview with C. Lee McKenzie

1) Convince us to read your story in 140 words or less, twitter style!

What if you were one of four in a lifeboat? What if you were the only girl? What if you might be the last survivor?


2) What inspired you to write Into The Sea of Dew?

I've always loved the nursery rhyme, Winkin' Blinkin' and Nod and I loved the phrases like "nets of silver and gold," "that misty sea," "of crystal light" and--of course--"into the sea of dew." To me these were so beautiful. I wanted to weave some of that into the tale, so that while my version of the story would be dark, the language wouldn't be. I also have always been charmed by the idea of the three fishermen tucked inside a wooden shoe that becomes the baby's trundle bed, rocking him gently while he dreams. The fantasy seemed all the more exciting when I was little because of the connection to the real world. I could close my eyes and imagine a bed becoming a shoe cast onto an open sea. It was lovely and scary at the same time. I hoped to create that same feeling in my short story.

3) Do you have a writing room? What does it look like?

Oh yes, I do. My office is perched on the second story of our house and looks out onto a forest canyon. If you find a lot of trees or canyons in my books, that's why! As to what the room looks like I guess I'd say it's as close to being outdoors as I can make it. I have a wall of windows--it's that tree/canyon thing, you see. I have tons of books and a desk that takes up about nine feet of space. I splurged a few years ago and treated myself to a desk that would accommodate me, my writing, my cat and my almost-outdoor-writing room. I keep pictures on the wall next to my computer of my favorite places, mottos (Never Give Up is one.) and things to do. "Write Great Books" has been there for a while. If I had only three words to describe my writing room they'd be: light, hope, possibility.


4) I see that you write young adult as well as middle grade novels. How does writing one genre differentiate to the other? Do you prefer to write one more than the other?

They're very different critters in many ways, yet crafting a story for either one is still the same. You have to create fleshed out characters, have good pacing, write prose that creates images and excitement, so people will enter the story and stay there. The characters are younger in MG than YA and they have different kinds of goals and needs. What that means is the themes are very different. In MG, most kids are still trying to fit into their families or communities. In YA, teens are trying to establish their own identities, separate from their parents. I love to write both because they present different challenges and switching keeps me fresh and on my toes. When I'm writing YA I hang around the teen fringes to hear and watch. When I'm writing MG I get to play with the kids and talk.

5) What are you currently working on?

I've just sent another MG off to my readers. It's a sci-fi fun story about visitors from Murrg--a wanna be planet. I'm still into my play with the young kids mode, so I've set aside my YA manuscripts for a time, although, I have a couple with an editor who's reading them.

This or that:
A) Coffee or Tea? Coffee unless I have a cold, then it's green tea.
B) Vanilla or Chocolate? Chocolate, especially hot fudge on ice cream or Almond Rocca.
C) Paperbook or ebook? Euuu. Very hard. I love both, but crave eBooks when I travel.
D) Morning or night? Morning, hands down.
E) Cake or pie? Pie. Fresh, hot apple. I'm very Americana when it comes to my pie.
F) Peeta or Gale? Peeta.

Your writing room sounds absolutely stunning! And I totally agree that ebooks are just much more convenient when you are on the move. Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions!

C. Lee's Website / Facebook / Goodreads

In her other life--the one before she began writing for teens and younger readers--C. Lee was a teacher and administrator at California State University, San Jose. Her field of Linguistics and Inter-cultural Communication has carried her to a lot of places in the world to explore different cultures and languages. She can say, “Where’s the toilet?” and “I’m lost!” in at least five languages and two dialects.

Her idea of a perfect day is one or all of the following: starting a new novel, finishing writing a blockbuster novel, hiking on a misty morning trail in the Santa Cruz Mountains, saying Namaste after a great yoga practice, sipping a cappuccino topped at a bustling café, reading in front of a fire with snow outside, swimming in an ocean someplace.

Giveaway

 Winner will receive an ebook copy of A Want So Wicked by Suzanne Young

Giveaway is open internationally

Fill out the Rafflecopter below to enter! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To see all the stops on this tour Click Here!

White Lines Reveal/Interview/Giveaway

White Lines
by Jennifer Banash 
to be published April 2013 by Putnam Juvenile

A gritty, atmospheric coming-of-age tale set in New York’s Lower East Side.

Seventeen-year-old Cat is living every teenager’s dream—she has her own apartment on New York’s Lower East Side and at night she’s club kid royalty, guarding the velvet rope at some of the hottest clubs in the city. The night with its crazy, frenetic, high-inducing energy—the pulsing beat of the music, the radiant, joyful people and those seductive white lines that can ease all pain—is when Cat truly lives. But her daytime, when her real life occurs, is more nightmare than dream.

The sounds of the city grate against Cat’s nerves, she shrinks away from human touch, and can barely think the words “I love you” even when she feels them. Having spent years suffering her mother’s emotional and physical abuse, and abandoned by her father who’s found happiness in another woman, Cat is terrified and alone—unable to connect to anyone or anything. But then someone comes along who makes her want to stop escaping her life and actually live it, only she’ll need to summon the courage to confront her demons and take control of a life already spinning dangerously out of control. Both poignant and raw, White Lines is a gripping tale and the reader won’t want to look away.

Jenni: Hi Jennifer! Thanks for stopping by the blog today and for sitting down for a few questions. The Goodreads description of White Lines currently states: "Jennifer Banash's WHITE LINES, set in New York City in the 1980s and centered around the club kid scene." What were you like in the '80's? What were your interest?
Jennifer: Hi Jenni!  (love the name--we are surely kindred spirits :))Thank you so much for taking part in the cover reveal! I started out as a punk in the mid-eighties, then I had a brief stint as a goth (long black and purple extensions, all-black wardrobe, the whole bit), and by the late eighties, I had become a club kid, much like Cat in WHITE LINES. I basically got paid to throw parties at clubs like Tunnel. It was crazy, as I was super young!

Sounds like you went through quite the transition in that time! What made you choose New York's lower east side for the setting of White Lines?
Cat lives on the Lower East Side because it was the neighborhood I loved best at her age. New York City used to be a very different place, super gritty and very atmospheric---the Village now is pretty cleaned up and corporate with high rental prices to match. My first apartment at 3rd and 1st was located right next to the headquarters of the Hell's Angels, and was $400 a month with no kitchen. Ah, memories :)

No kitchen? Holy smokes, I can honestly say I have never heard of a home without a kitchen. Must have been loud next to a biker gang too! So, no let's talk a bit more about you, what does you writing room look like? 
I don't really have a writing room, per se. I write in bed a lot, funnily enough, and right now I'm borrowing a friend's house in Malibu to work on my next novel, SILENT ALARM, which is about a school shooting. It's bizarre, to say the least, to be writing about mass murder while staring out at an unobstructed ocean view!

That is quite the contrast, I recently read my first school shooting book and was totally engrossed in the desperation of it all, I will definitely be on the lookout for Silent Alarm! What books are currently on your to-read shelf? Which upcoming releases are you most looking forward to? 
I'm dying to read Robin Benway's new book, AKA, which is coming out around the same time as WHITE LINES. I just finished GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn, which was suspenseful and fantastic--if you like thrillers, give it a shot! I'm just starting Barry Lyga's new novel, I HUNT KILLERS.

I really enjoyed I Hunt Killers, it was pretty dark for YA and I really appreciated that. I'll have to look into the other two as they are new to me. Finally, I'm curious to know what some of your early influences were that possibly shaped your writing style (music, books, movies etc.)?
Authors like Bret Easton Ellis really shaped me as a writer when I first started out a million years ago. LESS THAN ZERO is one of my favorite books of all time. Ditto for Joan Didion--her novel PLAY IT AS IT LAYS is a masterpiece. Francesca Lia Block's WEETZIE BAT books are some of my favorite YA in the entire universe. No one writes like that woman--no one. I am in a state of awe, completely enchanted every time I open one of her books. I grew up reading the classics like A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN, LITTLE WOMEN, and MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR. I'm a total movie buff, and films like David Lynch's BLUE VELVET, and, more recently, MULLHOLLAND DRIVE, continue to obsess me. One film that made a huge impact on me as a kid was Alfred Hitchcock's REBECCA--I loved that the protagonist goes through the entire film nameless--and also pretty much every John Hughes movie ever made, although I am extremely partial to Sixteen Candles--Jake was a hottie!

John Hughes was definitely a great filmmaker, he had so many classics! Thanks for stopping by Jennifer!

 
     I’M SITTING ON THE STONE STEPS at school, pretending to en¬joy an apple that I bought from an Asian grocery a few blocks over, when all I’m really thinking about is how long I have left until I can go home and start getting ready for the club, every stroke of makeup on my skin sliding me further from daylight. I tongue the white flesh and sink my teeth in, wishing the ripe fruit was the tanned blond head of one of the salad girls.
     Since Manhattan Prep is housed in a brownstone and has a population of only one hundred students or fewer in the entire school, we don’t have a cafeteria. Or a prom. Or dances. Or phys ed. Instead, the Park Avenue girls buy salads at a cafeteria next door and sit in the glass atrium picking at their wilted greens, retouching their lip gloss with sticky pink wands. Even though we are all essentially weird in some way— after all, this is a school for kids who have gotten into some kind of trouble—it’s not enough to banish cliques completely. We still have the same bullshit categories as any other school: the jocks, the popular girls, the nerds. And the untouchables.
     Like me. It goes without saying that nobody wants to have lunch with the weirdo who goes to clubs all the way down¬town every night, so I sit on the steps and try to pretend that it doesn’t matter, when really, I’d do just about anything to have a friend here. This silent admission makes my cheeks flush with shame. How can I be so weak? Even at Nightingale, I only ever really had Sara, her blond curls hanging over my shoulder, elaborately folded notes tossed at my feet during study hall. Somehow, it was almost enough. But here, with no one to talk to day after day, the loneliness creeps in like an old friend I no longer want to know. Worse yet, it wants to make small talk. Oh, it’s you again? How’ve you been?
     Across the street, Julian, the new kid, sits on the curb in front of Ray’s Pizza, a slice dangling from one hand. As he brings the pizza to his lips, the cheese falls off in one giant greasy slide to his lap. Julian has long dark hair that hangs to his shoulders and looks as if it hasn’t made friends with soap or water in days. His skin is the color of café au lait, and there’s something about the tilt of his eyes that makes me think he’s vaguely Asian. He wears jeans so tight that I’m sure years from now he’ll be sit¬ting in some clinic with his frosty blond wife, stammering that he has no idea WHY they’ve had such a difficult time starting a family. All I know about Julian is that (a) he sits right across the aisle from me in history class, and (b) he transferred from Dalton last week after some kind of scandal involving his ex-girlfriend, and (c) he’s totally into the Ramones. He doesn’t talk to anyone, and never raises his hand in class, just stares down at his binder and scribbles what looks like pictures of Transform¬ers on the cover with a black pen.
     Julian finishes scraping melted cheese off his jeans and looks up, an irritated expression clouding his face. When his eyes meet mine, I feel a rough shock of recognition between us and raise my apple core in a kind of demented greeting, the air suddenly as thick as pudding. Julian tosses me a curt nod and promptly goes back to stuffing the rest of the slice into his mouth, gnawing hungrily at the edges of the crust, watching me all the while. Even though I love staring, and I think that generally other people’s lives are way more interest¬ing than TV, I feel uneasy as Julian’s eyes lock on to mine. My face burns as he chews the last bite and brushes his hands against his black jeans before walking toward me. I turn the apple core over and over between my palms, my heart careen¬ing in my chest as he approaches, glad that my hands have something to do even if the core is damp, sticky, and turning browner by the minute. As Julian moves closer, I can’t help but notice how he shakes the hair from his eyes with one ex¬pert, jagged motion, how his hazel eyes change from green to brown in the light His skin is smooth and slightly bronzed, as if he’s just returned from some exotic locale. He tilts his chin in my direction defiantly, his eyes flicking coolly over my body, taking me in.
     “See something you like?” He raises one dark eyebrow, and I feel like I’m going to spontaneously combust, which is what always happens when someone potentially interesting talks to me in the real world—especially if that person happens to be a guy. And up close, Julian is definitely interesting—though it makes my stomach churn spasmodically to even think the word to myself. People are dangerous, unpredictable. I know this implicitly, and every time I come into contact with them, I become a caged animal, a panther pacing back and forth behind steel bars, wary and agitated.
     “Yeah,” I stammer, turning redder by the second and wish¬ing that a manhole would just open up and swallow me whole. I look down at my black boots and scramble for something to say, my brain a jumble of images, none that entirely make sense. “Your pizza—I was just . . . hungry.”
     The minute the words leave my lips, I know they are the truth. My stomach begins to growl loudly as if in agreement, and I look up into Julian’s amused face and laugh, my voice echoing in the street, too loud, even with the noise of a passing bus belching a thick cloud of black smoke. As the sound vibrates through me, jolting me into the present, I realize that it’s been forever since I’ve laughed at something legitimately funny or awkward without being prompted by the ingestion of some mind-altering substance. Still, I can’t quite turn off that ever-present voice inside my head, the one that holds up an in¬visible hand to stop me from going further, from moving closer.
     People are dangerous . . .
     “Well,” Julian says, laughing along with me and holding out a hand, “that’s remedied easily enough. C’mon.”
     I stare at his hand, the long fingers, and look into his eyes, which I can now see are flecked with gold. I toss my apple core to the concrete and take hold of him, ignoring the voice that begins, even now, to protest more loudly, whispering like a flock of ruffled birds, Don’t touch, don’t trust. I draw a deep breath and follow him blindly across the street, unsure of where I’m being taken.

 I am the author of the Young Adult novel, WHITE LINES, forthcoming from G.P Putnam and Sons in April, 2013, as well as the three-book series THE ELITE, published by Berkley Jam and which includes the titles THE ELITE, IN TOO DEEP, and SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE. Please feel free to contact me at jbanash@bwscampus.com with any questions, comments, or just to say hi!

As part of the reveal of White Lines Penguin/Putnam is giving away 1 ARC of White Lines by Jennifer Banash here on the blog! This giveaway is open internationally (as long as UPS ships to your address) and will end at 12:01 AM on July 27!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Interview With Joëlle Anthony

Today I have author of The Right & The Real Joëlle Anthony on the blog for my first every author interview! I read this novel back in March and I absolutely loved it! So it's a pleasure to have her here today.

Alluring Reads: What was your inspiration for writing The Right & The Real? Why did you choose the cult like subject matter?

Joëlle Anthony: It started out less about cults and more about a girl on her own. Then I had to come up with a reason a young teen would be kicked out, so I dug around, and that’s what I came up with.
 

AR: Did you have to do much research on the subject matter? What findings helped you in writing this novel?

JA:There’s always some research, even on the things you know. For example, I was a theatre major at University, but I didn’t do musical theatre, so the writer/singer/actress, Joelle Charbonneau acted as my musical theatre expert. And for the cult stuff, I watched a lot of shows like 20/20 on Youtube. My cousin is an Oregon State Trooper, and he read all the scenes to make sure I portrayed the police accurately, and followed the law. Although, you do have to have some creative license and while I think he would’ve preferred all my officers to be polite, it didn’t really seem realistic to me in certain situations.

Click cover to add it to your GoodReads

AR: I really admired how strong and level headed Jamie was despite the heavy situations she was facing, was it difficult to create a realistic teenage character with these traits?  

JA: Jamie comes across as level headed, but I think sometimes, she simply making choices out of fear. I tried to imagine what it might be like for me to be in her situation, and I would be so scared of living on the street that finding a skanky motel is probably something I would do. Whereas other teens might just live in their car.

AR: There was a strong message in this book to teens about the value of critical thinking, what motivated you to convey that message?

JA: I don’t ever set out to convey a message, but sometimes they come about on their own. The thing I hope teens will get from this book is that sometimes secrets are more harmful than the consequences of keeping them. Jamie might appear to act strong, but actually, her biggest weakness is her inability to ask for help and to trust the people who love her. 

AR: What character in The Right & The Real do you identify with most? 

JA: Well, I am a bit of a blabbering fool like Trent! I mean, I hope I’m not now, but some of the stuff he says are things I probably would’ve said in high school because I was nervous around the opposite sex. 

AR: What does your writing room look like? 

JA: I am the proud owner of a fabulous little writing cabin. We just had it built last fall, and you can take a tour of it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENS-vFPcmL4

AR: Who are some of your favorite authors? 

JA: John Rowe Townsend (British, loads of YA, has been a mentor to me for twenty years), Nevil Shute (possibly the best storyteller ever), Maud Hart Lovelace (Betsy-Tacy series…one of my biggest influences), and Paula Danziger (met her, she had purple sparkly Doc Marten boots!). More contemporary writers I like are Eileen Cook, Kerry Madden, Lisa Lutz, Sara Zarr, A.S. King, Jerry Spinelli, and J.K. Rowling.

AR: What drew you to the YA genre? Why did you decide it was the place for you?

JA: It’s really very simple. YA is what I love to read. I also like teens because they have so much optimism. When writing for adults about serious subjects, the writing is often so glum. Teens have this great outlook and so do I, so I identify with them more than I do adults. 

AR: I read in your bio that you, at one time, gave acting a shot. What is the most memorable moment for you from that part of your life? 

JA: I worked as a professional actor in the play Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding for ten months, doing two hundred performances. I was cast in various roles, but mostly I played the dorky bridesmaid. TTW is a mix of scripted parts and improvisation, and I have to say all the improvising with the audience was my favourite thing ever. I could do that show two hundred more times and never get tired of it.

AR: If you were stranded on a desert island and you could only have one book with you for the rest of time, what would that book be? 

JA: How to Survive on a Desert Island for Dummies. 

AR: What are some of your early influences that shaped your writing style? (music, books, movies etc.)

JA: The theatre in general influences the way I build characters and also write scenes. My husband’s music (www.victoranthony.ca) inspires me all the time and I’m constantly trying to work music into my books. In Restoring Harmony, it was the fiddle and piano. In R&R, it’s musical theatre. In the new book I’m writing now, my character plays piano and sings, but only for herself (her dad is an ageing rock star). And I do think I see things cinematically, which comes from all the movies I watched when I was younger. When I’m writing, I know exactly what everything looks like – from my characters’ clothes to the world around them – in minute detail, even if I can’t put it in the book.    

Thanks for having me!

A writing cabin? Awesome, right?! You can read my glowing review of The Right & The Real here.

Website/Twitter/GoodReads

Joëlle currently lives on a tiny island in British Columbia with her musician husband, Victor Anthony. As for the future, their only plan is to avoid real jobs, write and play guitar in front of the wood stove, and live happily ever after.