Well, folks, as release date draws ever nearer, I think you're going to start seeing my mug/book in more places. Sorry about that.
But, hey, along with a brand new interview, there are now two separate contests where you can win The Mapmaker and the Ghost ARCs and signed swag.
And, guess, what...I myself have one ARC left that I'll be giving away starting on Sunday (to commemorate that we are officially one month out from publication...eek!).
You can check out Word Spelunking's ARC giveaway and interview with me (where I reveal my favorite MG villain) here. And Cari's Book Blog's ARC and swag giveaway here.
Showing posts with label interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interview. Show all posts
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
On the Radio
This weekend I was a guest on my first-ever live radio show...and I had a great time!
Mostly because host Barry Eva has done almost 500 episodes of his A Book and a Chat show. He was such a great interviewer, had obviously done a ton of research and made me feel very much at ease. A big feat considering I was drawing a blank for days before as to how on earth I could fill an hour-long radio show with anything.
So, without further ado, here is the show where you can hear Barry and me chat about writing, the pros and cons of criticism and the piles of my old junk that are laying around my parents' house. And if that isn't enough to entice you, how about the fact that Barry has a wickedly awesome British accent? Yes? Listen below!
Barry also wrote up a lovely blog post and review of The Mapmaker and the Ghost which you can read here if you're so inclined.
So, without further ado, here is the show where you can hear Barry and me chat about writing, the pros and cons of criticism and the piles of my old junk that are laying around my parents' house. And if that isn't enough to entice you, how about the fact that Barry has a wickedly awesome British accent? Yes? Listen below!
Listen to internet radio with A Book and a Chat on Blog Talk Radio
Barry also wrote up a lovely blog post and review of The Mapmaker and the Ghost which you can read here if you're so inclined.
Friday, March 9, 2012
The Voice Behind the Trailer: Rachel F. Hirsch (Or How I Learned That Being an Actress is Shockingly Similar to Being a Writer)
Today I'm so excited to spotlight the #1 reason I love my trailer: Miss Rachel F. Hirsch, the fantastic voice you hear in it.
Rachel is an actress who grew up in Alabama where she practically spent her whole life on a stage (she even got married on one!) before moving to the home of the Great White Way (that's New York City). Throughout our friendship, we have discovered that, even though Rachel wants to belt out songs on stage and I want to hide under my desk most of the time, being an actress and being a writer are very similar.
How, you might ask? Read on to my interview with her to get that insight along with a lot of fascinating information about how to pick up accents! Which is going to come in very handy for my future spy career. (Where I feel like my talents for hiding under desks might be put to good use).
Can you tell us a bit about your acting background?
Rachel F. Hirsch: My love affair with acting started when I was teeny-tiny. I was lucky to grow up in a town (Birmingham, AL) with an amazing theater scene (I know...it's surprising, right?), so I had a fantastic summer theater workshop available to me every summer and spent childhood to 18 performing in the local professional and community theater shows, and traveling the state and country with a performing group. I continued my training in college at George Washington University, and made the inevitable move that all actors with Broadway on the brain do…to NYC right after college. All this training and traveling has led me to work with companies like the Really Useful Theatre Company with the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (longest title ever!), National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, Washington National Opera, and Manhattan Repertory Theatre.
And then of course I added voiceover to the mix, but I'm sure we'll get to that in minute…
What made you decide to get into voiceover work?
RFH: Ahhh and there it is! As a kid, when I wasn't performing or taking some sort of theater based class, I was watching Disney movies and The Muppet Show. For me, the most interesting parts about those movies and shows were the people behind the voices. I always loved when I got to see behind-the-scenes footage--when I got to put a faces to voices. I started to listen and try to recognize who was who, sometimes even attempting to mimic their sounds and styles. With someone like Robin Williams for example, I loved when I picked out his voice even if it sounded drastically different each time. The way he could change his sound depending on the role was like magic. I wanted to do that.
When I moved here as an actor, I realized I could finally get started pursuing this crazy dream of mine. As a singer I have a strong ear and good control over my voice. Those skills have definitely made it an easier transition for me.
You did a fantastic British accent for my trailer (you probably couldn’t tell, but Rachel is not really British!) Do you have other accents you can do? What are they?
RFH: Haha thanks! British accents are particularly fun because there are so many different kinds! Actually though, for the trailer I approached it more as an animation project than a narrative in an accent. With character work I usually try to get a visual in my head. For example, for the trailer I imagined an older lady in a rocking chair knitting and telling this story. Somehow, that character seemed to me like she would speak in a slightly British accent...you know, like old ladies in rocking chairs tend to.
In my voiceover work I do specialize in accents/dialects and character voices, so when I'm working on projects that require accents, I have quite a few to draw from. My strongest are different variations on British, Russian, Southern, Italian, French, and Eastern European/Yiddish. But if I'm required to do something new, it's just a matter of spending a few hours doing research and I can usually start to get it down.
Do you practice and develop different voices? Tell us a little bit about your process when you get a voiceover project and how it differs from your theater work.
RFH: Wow that's actually three questions at once! I'll start with the first one: Yes! Whenever I watch a movie or TV show and someone has a strong accent I secretly whisper to myself, repeating what they say. I pick up most accents, dialects, and character voices by watching people's mouths. It's something I've done since I was a kid. The way we sound when we speak is mostly based on tongue placement, lip shape for vowel production and cadence. I pay close attention to these three elements any time I encounter or want to learn a new accent. YouTube is a fantastic tool for watching videos of people talking and there is this great site called the International Dialects of English Archive that I often turn to as well to listen to recordings of authentic international accents speaking English.
As far as approaching new projects, my process really depends on the project type. I already walked you through character work a little bit. For commercial projects it's more about who I'm talking to and why. Those generally require my natural voice, but even that needs tweaking depending on the project. Is the speaker supposed to sound sexy, funny, silly, friendly? Once I figure out the tone I start working on the sounds and placement.
The biggest difference between theater work and voiceover is the size. On stage you have to be a big presence. Your acting choices have to read all the way to the last row of the balcony. Voiceover is more like the approach to film acting--it usually needs to be much smaller. If your choices are too big it can come off sounding phony and sometimes even abrasive. (Think local car commercials). The key is to be natural. Whether it's animation, commercial work, narration, it needs to sound natural…like you are sitting with a friend at a table. That has definitely been the hardest transition for me to make since I have spent most of my life and career focused on stage work.
What are some dream voiceover projects you’d like to attempt?
RFH: If they start to regularly bring back Disney Princess movie musicals (as it seems like they might be) that would definitely be my dream role. In the past, they used to use a separate actor for the speaking part and the singing part. My dream was always to do both parts! I would also really love to be the voice of a commercial campaign--like if Flo from those Progressive commercials was a voiceover (although I'd take an onscreen campaign as well!) And I LOVE to cook and am a little obsessed with The Food Network, so it would be pretty awesome to be the voice of that channel as well or something like that.
You’re also responsible for creating Actors’ Embassy, a resource for actors living and working in New York City. Could you tell us a little bit about what led to that? How has creating a community for actors helped you in your career and pursuits?
RFH: Like you do with writing, I write a blog about being an actor called I Hope I Get It--which I've written for about a year and a half. It started out as me addressing all the questions I had when I first started out in the biz but didn't know where to get answers. I started to realize though, that the real issue wasn't just a lack of answers in the acting community…it was the lack of community! So I set about to help facilitate change.
Actors' Embassy is now an extension of the blog in 3 parts. Part 1 is a comprehensive website which serves as a resource for actors. There are also forums on there so we can crowd-source answers to issues and questions that might come up. Part 2 is a monthly free event for actors featuring industry speakers. This gives us a chance to hear about the business in ways we may not have thought of and meet each other to start forming our own sense of community. And part 3, which is a little ways down the road, is a shared workspace for actors. It would be like an office space but specific to actors' needs: internet, printers, showers, lockers. A home base for us really.
I created this out of my own need for a sense of community. The work I've done with it so far has introduced me to some amazing folks. I've started to realize that I'm not alone in thinking this business is pretty…well, lonely. All us actors go through the same struggles and triumphs every day, but we aren't necessarily able to connect with each other to talk about it all. But hopefully, with the introduction of Actors' Embassy, we will be able to.
You and I have discovered that pursuing writing and acting have a lot of similarities (perseverance, dedication, the importance of finding a community). Could you share some of your thoughts on that?
RFH: You and I have so much in common when it comes to figuring out our prospective businesses. We both have had to learn to self-promote.
Neither of us have built-in colleagues. If we want that, we have to look for it. And thankfully, it seems like we have both found ways to create that for ourselves.
We both have had to learn to navigate the world of advocates--agents and managers; for me coaches and directors; for you publishers and editors.
And, of course, both of our businesses require a thick skin and true passion for what we do. Neither is worth pursuing if you don't come equipped with those qualities. The funny thing about passion, though, is that most people are drawn to writing and acting because of it. But those that are successful are the ones that take the time to figure out the business, too. Being an artist is great, but if you don't realize you also run a business you are going to have a much harder time getting anywhere with it.
I absolutely could not say it better. Thank you, Rachel!
I highly recommend you check out Rachel's singing here (it is a very cruel thing to go karaoke with her) and definitely take a look at her amazing actor's resource, Actors' Embassy.
Rachel is an actress who grew up in Alabama where she practically spent her whole life on a stage (she even got married on one!) before moving to the home of the Great White Way (that's New York City). Throughout our friendship, we have discovered that, even though Rachel wants to belt out songs on stage and I want to hide under my desk most of the time, being an actress and being a writer are very similar.
How, you might ask? Read on to my interview with her to get that insight along with a lot of fascinating information about how to pick up accents! Which is going to come in very handy for my future spy career. (Where I feel like my talents for hiding under desks might be put to good use).
Can you tell us a bit about your acting background?
And then of course I added voiceover to the mix, but I'm sure we'll get to that in minute…
What made you decide to get into voiceover work?
RFH: Ahhh and there it is! As a kid, when I wasn't performing or taking some sort of theater based class, I was watching Disney movies and The Muppet Show. For me, the most interesting parts about those movies and shows were the people behind the voices. I always loved when I got to see behind-the-scenes footage--when I got to put a faces to voices. I started to listen and try to recognize who was who, sometimes even attempting to mimic their sounds and styles. With someone like Robin Williams for example, I loved when I picked out his voice even if it sounded drastically different each time. The way he could change his sound depending on the role was like magic. I wanted to do that.
When I moved here as an actor, I realized I could finally get started pursuing this crazy dream of mine. As a singer I have a strong ear and good control over my voice. Those skills have definitely made it an easier transition for me.
You did a fantastic British accent for my trailer (you probably couldn’t tell, but Rachel is not really British!) Do you have other accents you can do? What are they?
RFH: Haha thanks! British accents are particularly fun because there are so many different kinds! Actually though, for the trailer I approached it more as an animation project than a narrative in an accent. With character work I usually try to get a visual in my head. For example, for the trailer I imagined an older lady in a rocking chair knitting and telling this story. Somehow, that character seemed to me like she would speak in a slightly British accent...you know, like old ladies in rocking chairs tend to.
In my voiceover work I do specialize in accents/dialects and character voices, so when I'm working on projects that require accents, I have quite a few to draw from. My strongest are different variations on British, Russian, Southern, Italian, French, and Eastern European/Yiddish. But if I'm required to do something new, it's just a matter of spending a few hours doing research and I can usually start to get it down.
Do you practice and develop different voices? Tell us a little bit about your process when you get a voiceover project and how it differs from your theater work.
RFH: Wow that's actually three questions at once! I'll start with the first one: Yes! Whenever I watch a movie or TV show and someone has a strong accent I secretly whisper to myself, repeating what they say. I pick up most accents, dialects, and character voices by watching people's mouths. It's something I've done since I was a kid. The way we sound when we speak is mostly based on tongue placement, lip shape for vowel production and cadence. I pay close attention to these three elements any time I encounter or want to learn a new accent. YouTube is a fantastic tool for watching videos of people talking and there is this great site called the International Dialects of English Archive that I often turn to as well to listen to recordings of authentic international accents speaking English.
As far as approaching new projects, my process really depends on the project type. I already walked you through character work a little bit. For commercial projects it's more about who I'm talking to and why. Those generally require my natural voice, but even that needs tweaking depending on the project. Is the speaker supposed to sound sexy, funny, silly, friendly? Once I figure out the tone I start working on the sounds and placement.
The biggest difference between theater work and voiceover is the size. On stage you have to be a big presence. Your acting choices have to read all the way to the last row of the balcony. Voiceover is more like the approach to film acting--it usually needs to be much smaller. If your choices are too big it can come off sounding phony and sometimes even abrasive. (Think local car commercials). The key is to be natural. Whether it's animation, commercial work, narration, it needs to sound natural…like you are sitting with a friend at a table. That has definitely been the hardest transition for me to make since I have spent most of my life and career focused on stage work.
What are some dream voiceover projects you’d like to attempt?
RFH: If they start to regularly bring back Disney Princess movie musicals (as it seems like they might be) that would definitely be my dream role. In the past, they used to use a separate actor for the speaking part and the singing part. My dream was always to do both parts! I would also really love to be the voice of a commercial campaign--like if Flo from those Progressive commercials was a voiceover (although I'd take an onscreen campaign as well!) And I LOVE to cook and am a little obsessed with The Food Network, so it would be pretty awesome to be the voice of that channel as well or something like that.
You’re also responsible for creating Actors’ Embassy, a resource for actors living and working in New York City. Could you tell us a little bit about what led to that? How has creating a community for actors helped you in your career and pursuits?
RFH: Like you do with writing, I write a blog about being an actor called I Hope I Get It--which I've written for about a year and a half. It started out as me addressing all the questions I had when I first started out in the biz but didn't know where to get answers. I started to realize though, that the real issue wasn't just a lack of answers in the acting community…it was the lack of community! So I set about to help facilitate change.
Actors' Embassy is now an extension of the blog in 3 parts. Part 1 is a comprehensive website which serves as a resource for actors. There are also forums on there so we can crowd-source answers to issues and questions that might come up. Part 2 is a monthly free event for actors featuring industry speakers. This gives us a chance to hear about the business in ways we may not have thought of and meet each other to start forming our own sense of community. And part 3, which is a little ways down the road, is a shared workspace for actors. It would be like an office space but specific to actors' needs: internet, printers, showers, lockers. A home base for us really.
I created this out of my own need for a sense of community. The work I've done with it so far has introduced me to some amazing folks. I've started to realize that I'm not alone in thinking this business is pretty…well, lonely. All us actors go through the same struggles and triumphs every day, but we aren't necessarily able to connect with each other to talk about it all. But hopefully, with the introduction of Actors' Embassy, we will be able to.
You and I have discovered that pursuing writing and acting have a lot of similarities (perseverance, dedication, the importance of finding a community). Could you share some of your thoughts on that?
RFH: You and I have so much in common when it comes to figuring out our prospective businesses. We both have had to learn to self-promote.
Neither of us have built-in colleagues. If we want that, we have to look for it. And thankfully, it seems like we have both found ways to create that for ourselves.
We both have had to learn to navigate the world of advocates--agents and managers; for me coaches and directors; for you publishers and editors.
And, of course, both of our businesses require a thick skin and true passion for what we do. Neither is worth pursuing if you don't come equipped with those qualities. The funny thing about passion, though, is that most people are drawn to writing and acting because of it. But those that are successful are the ones that take the time to figure out the business, too. Being an artist is great, but if you don't realize you also run a business you are going to have a much harder time getting anywhere with it.
I absolutely could not say it better. Thank you, Rachel!
I highly recommend you check out Rachel's singing here (it is a very cruel thing to go karaoke with her) and definitely take a look at her amazing actor's resource, Actors' Embassy.
Monday, November 7, 2011
MG Author Spotlight & Giveaway: Interview with A.J. Hartley
I'm so pleased to have this month's MG author on my blog. A.J. Hartley is a New York Times bestselling author and a Shakespearean professor. His first middle grade novel came out just last month. It's called Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact and it's filled with adventure, fantasy and a great, great friendship at its core. It also has a British protagonist (and, you might know, I'm a bit of an anglophile) and is a novel suitable for boys and girls of all ages.
Read on after the interview to see how you can enter to win a copy of A.J.'s book!
Eleven-year-old Darwen Arkwright has spent his whole life in a tiny town in England. So when he is forced to move to Atlanta, Georgia, to live with his aunt, he knows things will be different - but what he finds there is beyond even his wildest imaginings!
Darwen discovers an enchanting world through the old mirror hanging in his closet - a world that holds as many dangers as it does wonders. Scrobblers on motorbikes with nets big enough to fit a human boy. Gnashers with no eyes, but monstrous mouths full of teeth. Flittercrakes with bat-like bodies and the faces of men. Along with his new friends Rich and Alexandra, Darwen becomes entangled in an adventure and a mystery that involves the safety of his entire school. They soon realize that the creatures are after something in our world - something that only human children possess.
To borrow (and modify) a question from James Lipton, what’s your favorite middle-grade appropriate “curse word” or insult?
A.J. Hartley: As a Brit, all my favorite curse words are a bit obscure. My current favorite is "chuff": a nicely flexible Northen English curse which can mean happy or pleased (as in "I'm right chuffed that Chelsea lost on Saturday") but is also a less specific intensifier: "He's a right chuffin' idiot, he is." Or "What the chuff do you think you're playing at?" "Chuffin' 'eck!" is the exclamation form. It's a chuffin' useful word to have in your arsenal.
If you could step into a magic mirror and go anywhere, where would you go?
AJH: I have favorite places in the world. Delphi, in Greece, for instance. Uxmal, in Mexico. Kenilworth castle or the Castlerigg stone circle in England. But I think if I had a truly magical mirror I'd want to be surprised. Take me somewhere completely unknown. Somewhere impossible.
You're already a bestselling author, but Darwen Arkwright is your first children's book. Were there any challenges you didn't expect in writing for a younger audience? Were there any similarities in your process?
AJH: It really is a completely different process in some ways, and not at all in others. I hope that in the end children's, YA and adult books are all finally about story, character and good prose, but the MG market is entirely new for me and in many respects what I've tried to do with DARWEN feels like an entirely different entity from anything I've written before. At first I worried that I might be pitching the language at too sophisticated a level, but I talked to R.L. Stine about this and he assured me that if I considered "dumbing down" the book, I would be making a huge mistake and that my readers would sniff out that they were being condescended to. In the end, I took the path of a great storyteller like Dickens, who knows how to be absolutely clear and straightforward without simplifying his ideas. Shakespeare too, though his language seems more arcane to us now, is often at his most powerful when he is most simple in his word choice.
One of the things I love about writing middle grade books, though, is that I don't have to worry quite so much about genre, since MG is defined by age group rather than literary categories. When I write adult books I'm accutely conscious that I'm often blurring or straying entirely from the genre I'm supposed to be working in, and that this will irritate my editors and readers. I don't feel that in MG. So long as the story makes sense according to its own internal logic, I don't worry if the tone shifts, or that some scenes are closer to horror than to fantasy, humor to sci-fi etc. I'm also delighted that I don't have to DECIDE not to write literary fiction for younger readers, or that sensational story lines might disqualify me from being a 'serious' writer :)
Like Darwen, you're an Englishman who now lives in the South. Do you remember the first American phrase/idiom that really caught you off-guard?
AJH: Tricky. Like most Brits I've been exposed to American language use through film and television from an early age, and British English continues to morph towards an American standard. No one where I grew up would ever use the word "guys" to describe a group including women, and when I first spent time with Americans I found it bizarre to the point of irritation. I now use it all the time regardless of gender. I still refuse to use "momentarily" to mean "in a moment" rather than "for a moment." I just can't get away from the grammatical logic of the thing no matter how many times I am told someone will be with me momentarily. But then I also wince when people (everyone, now, it seems) use "impact" as a verb... I know, I know. I'm a fuddy duddy. Which is ironic, when you think about it. No one says fuddy duddy anymore except fuddy duddies.
What are two MG books you'd recommend and why?
AJH: John Masefield's The Box of the Delights, because it's old and reminds me of childhood Christmases, and is one of those archetypal Travels to Other Worlds stories (like my own) which I always loved as a kid. The resolution of the story feels a little dated now, but I love the villainous card-sharping curates on the train who, when looked at the right way, look like foxes...
Right now I'm just discovering (somewhat behind the curve) the delights of Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles. Fun stuff. I love the bickering narrators and the sense of ancient magic.
Oh, and can I add Joseph Delaney's Last Apprentice series? Tales of seventeenth century Lancashire witchcraft. I grew up in the bleak hills which are the core of the stories and he manages to master an understated creep factor which really gets under your skin. The first MG books to actually give me nightmares for a very long time!
Thank you A.J. for an awesome interview. My goal for the year is to find a way to use 'chuffed' in daily conversation.
GIVEAWAY:
And now, I'm right chuffed to present this giveaway! (Mission...accomplished)
The giveaway is now closed! Congratulation to winner, Aiecha, and thanks to everyone who entered!
Read on after the interview to see how you can enter to win a copy of A.J.'s book!
Eleven-year-old Darwen Arkwright has spent his whole life in a tiny town in England. So when he is forced to move to Atlanta, Georgia, to live with his aunt, he knows things will be different - but what he finds there is beyond even his wildest imaginings!
Darwen discovers an enchanting world through the old mirror hanging in his closet - a world that holds as many dangers as it does wonders. Scrobblers on motorbikes with nets big enough to fit a human boy. Gnashers with no eyes, but monstrous mouths full of teeth. Flittercrakes with bat-like bodies and the faces of men. Along with his new friends Rich and Alexandra, Darwen becomes entangled in an adventure and a mystery that involves the safety of his entire school. They soon realize that the creatures are after something in our world - something that only human children possess.
To borrow (and modify) a question from James Lipton, what’s your favorite middle-grade appropriate “curse word” or insult?
A.J. Hartley: As a Brit, all my favorite curse words are a bit obscure. My current favorite is "chuff": a nicely flexible Northen English curse which can mean happy or pleased (as in "I'm right chuffed that Chelsea lost on Saturday") but is also a less specific intensifier: "He's a right chuffin' idiot, he is." Or "What the chuff do you think you're playing at?" "Chuffin' 'eck!" is the exclamation form. It's a chuffin' useful word to have in your arsenal.
If you could step into a magic mirror and go anywhere, where would you go?
AJH: I have favorite places in the world. Delphi, in Greece, for instance. Uxmal, in Mexico. Kenilworth castle or the Castlerigg stone circle in England. But I think if I had a truly magical mirror I'd want to be surprised. Take me somewhere completely unknown. Somewhere impossible.
You're already a bestselling author, but Darwen Arkwright is your first children's book. Were there any challenges you didn't expect in writing for a younger audience? Were there any similarities in your process?
One of the things I love about writing middle grade books, though, is that I don't have to worry quite so much about genre, since MG is defined by age group rather than literary categories. When I write adult books I'm accutely conscious that I'm often blurring or straying entirely from the genre I'm supposed to be working in, and that this will irritate my editors and readers. I don't feel that in MG. So long as the story makes sense according to its own internal logic, I don't worry if the tone shifts, or that some scenes are closer to horror than to fantasy, humor to sci-fi etc. I'm also delighted that I don't have to DECIDE not to write literary fiction for younger readers, or that sensational story lines might disqualify me from being a 'serious' writer :)
Like Darwen, you're an Englishman who now lives in the South. Do you remember the first American phrase/idiom that really caught you off-guard?
AJH: Tricky. Like most Brits I've been exposed to American language use through film and television from an early age, and British English continues to morph towards an American standard. No one where I grew up would ever use the word "guys" to describe a group including women, and when I first spent time with Americans I found it bizarre to the point of irritation. I now use it all the time regardless of gender. I still refuse to use "momentarily" to mean "in a moment" rather than "for a moment." I just can't get away from the grammatical logic of the thing no matter how many times I am told someone will be with me momentarily. But then I also wince when people (everyone, now, it seems) use "impact" as a verb... I know, I know. I'm a fuddy duddy. Which is ironic, when you think about it. No one says fuddy duddy anymore except fuddy duddies.
What are two MG books you'd recommend and why?
AJH: John Masefield's The Box of the Delights, because it's old and reminds me of childhood Christmases, and is one of those archetypal Travels to Other Worlds stories (like my own) which I always loved as a kid. The resolution of the story feels a little dated now, but I love the villainous card-sharping curates on the train who, when looked at the right way, look like foxes...
Right now I'm just discovering (somewhat behind the curve) the delights of Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles. Fun stuff. I love the bickering narrators and the sense of ancient magic.
Oh, and can I add Joseph Delaney's Last Apprentice series? Tales of seventeenth century Lancashire witchcraft. I grew up in the bleak hills which are the core of the stories and he manages to master an understated creep factor which really gets under your skin. The first MG books to actually give me nightmares for a very long time!
Thank you A.J. for an awesome interview. My goal for the year is to find a way to use 'chuffed' in daily conversation.
GIVEAWAY:
And now, I'm right chuffed to present this giveaway! (Mission...accomplished)
The giveaway is now closed! Congratulation to winner, Aiecha, and thanks to everyone who entered!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
MG Author Spotlight & Giveaway: Interview with Greg R. Fishbone
This month's Middle Grade author spotlight and giveaway is extra special because it's also part of a much larger blog tour for Greg R. Fishbone's new book, Galaxy Games: The Challengers!
In this blog post you get:
- an interview with Greg
- a chance to win Greg's book plus a bonus book (courtesy of me)
- a chance to gather a puzzle piece for Greg's blog tour filled with other fabulous prizes
- to marvel at the fact that Greg R. Fishbone has the best children's author name ever
And all for the low, low price of...nothing! It's a bargain.
First, here is a bit about Greg's book.
Things are looking up for Tyler Sato (literally!) as he and his friends scan the night sky for a star named for him by his Tokyo cousins in honor of his eleventh birthday. Ordinary stars tend to stay in one place, but Ty’s seems to be streaking directly toward Earth at an alarming rate. Soon the whole world is talking about TY SATO, the doomsday asteroid, and life is turned upside down for Ty Sato, the boy, who would rather be playing hoops in his best friend’s driveway.
Meanwhile, aboard a silver spaceship heading for Earth, M’Frozza, a girl with three eyes and five nose holes, is on a secret mission. M’Frozza is the captain of planet Mrendaria’s Galaxy Games team, and she is desperate to save her world from a dishonorable performance in the biggest sporting event in the universe.
What will happen when Ty meets M’Frozza? Get ready for the most important event in human history—it’ll be off the backboard, around the rim, and out of this world!
INTERVIEW
To borrow (and modify) a question from James Lipton, what’s your favorite middle-grade appropriate “curse word?"
Greg R. Fishbone: M'Frozza likes to say "smazzroot" when there's something really good that she can't quite have. Smazzroot literally means "rotten fruit" because of a famous Mrendarian story about a child whose deliciously rotten fruit rolls into a ditch and out of reach.
Describe your elementary-school self in three words.
GRF: Imaginative, helpful, and friendly. But my daughter has those three traits down even more than I ever did.
If you were chosen to lead an intergalactic sporting event, which sport or event would you hope it was?
GRF: The Galaxy Game, of course! Any other game you can think of can be part of it, and the rules are different every time.
If aliens invaded the earth, what’s one technology you would hope they’d bring with them and share with earthlings?
GRF: If they've already taken control and it's not purely a social visit? In that case I'd hope they've come because they think we'd make cute and cuddly pets, and not because we all look so delicious... Maybe the aliens would bring a technology to provide us with endless hours of excitement and entertainment, like the way we use laser pointers with our cats!
What are two MG books you'd recommend and why?
GRF: There are so many! Readers looking for other books that combine science fiction with humor will enjoy The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex. I'd also recommend the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer--the books seem like fantasy at first, because there are fairies, dwarves, and centaurs in them, but they're all creatures of science and advanced technology. Colfer takes tired old myths and reworks them in an original and refreshing way.
Thank you, Greg! Read on for how you can win out-of-this-world prizes. (Yes, I had to go there.)
BLOG TOUR
Here's the info you need for Greg's blog tour! An exclusive puzzle piece is below. Go to http://galaxygam.es/tour/ to find out how you can gather more pieces.
MY GIVEAWAY
Is now closed and the winner is Suzanne. Thanks to everyone who entered!
In this blog post you get:
- an interview with Greg
- a chance to win Greg's book plus a bonus book (courtesy of me)
- a chance to gather a puzzle piece for Greg's blog tour filled with other fabulous prizes
- to marvel at the fact that Greg R. Fishbone has the best children's author name ever
And all for the low, low price of...nothing! It's a bargain.
First, here is a bit about Greg's book.
Things are looking up for Tyler Sato (literally!) as he and his friends scan the night sky for a star named for him by his Tokyo cousins in honor of his eleventh birthday. Ordinary stars tend to stay in one place, but Ty’s seems to be streaking directly toward Earth at an alarming rate. Soon the whole world is talking about TY SATO, the doomsday asteroid, and life is turned upside down for Ty Sato, the boy, who would rather be playing hoops in his best friend’s driveway.
Meanwhile, aboard a silver spaceship heading for Earth, M’Frozza, a girl with three eyes and five nose holes, is on a secret mission. M’Frozza is the captain of planet Mrendaria’s Galaxy Games team, and she is desperate to save her world from a dishonorable performance in the biggest sporting event in the universe.
What will happen when Ty meets M’Frozza? Get ready for the most important event in human history—it’ll be off the backboard, around the rim, and out of this world!
INTERVIEW
To borrow (and modify) a question from James Lipton, what’s your favorite middle-grade appropriate “curse word?"
Greg R. Fishbone: M'Frozza likes to say "smazzroot" when there's something really good that she can't quite have. Smazzroot literally means "rotten fruit" because of a famous Mrendarian story about a child whose deliciously rotten fruit rolls into a ditch and out of reach.
Describe your elementary-school self in three words.
GRF: Imaginative, helpful, and friendly. But my daughter has those three traits down even more than I ever did.
If you were chosen to lead an intergalactic sporting event, which sport or event would you hope it was?
GRF: The Galaxy Game, of course! Any other game you can think of can be part of it, and the rules are different every time.
If aliens invaded the earth, what’s one technology you would hope they’d bring with them and share with earthlings?
GRF: If they've already taken control and it's not purely a social visit? In that case I'd hope they've come because they think we'd make cute and cuddly pets, and not because we all look so delicious... Maybe the aliens would bring a technology to provide us with endless hours of excitement and entertainment, like the way we use laser pointers with our cats!What are two MG books you'd recommend and why?
GRF: There are so many! Readers looking for other books that combine science fiction with humor will enjoy The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex. I'd also recommend the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer--the books seem like fantasy at first, because there are fairies, dwarves, and centaurs in them, but they're all creatures of science and advanced technology. Colfer takes tired old myths and reworks them in an original and refreshing way.
Thank you, Greg! Read on for how you can win out-of-this-world prizes. (Yes, I had to go there.)
BLOG TOUR
Here's the info you need for Greg's blog tour! An exclusive puzzle piece is below. Go to http://galaxygam.es/tour/ to find out how you can gather more pieces.
MY GIVEAWAY
Is now closed and the winner is Suzanne. Thanks to everyone who entered!
Monday, September 12, 2011
MG Author Spotlight & Giveaway: Interview with Stephanie Burgis
I am very excited to present a new monthly feature on my blog: the MG Author Spotlight and Giveaway! Every month, I will be featuring an interview with a Middle Grade author along with a giveaway of the author's book.
And I am extra, ginormously, stupendously excited to present the first author to be a part of this: Stephanie Burgis, author of Kat, Incorrigible. If that title sounds familiar, it may be because you read me raving about it just a couple of weeks ago.
First, a little about Stephanie's wonderful book:
Katherine Ann Stephenson has just discovered that she's inherited her mother's magical talents, and despite Stepmama's stern objections, she's determined to learn how to use them. But with her eldest sister Elissa's intended fiancé, the sinister Sir Neville, showing a dangerous interest in Kat's magical potential; her other sister, Angeline, wreaking romantic havoc with her own witchcraft; and a highwayman lurking in the forest, even Kat's reckless heroism will be tested to the upmost. If she can learn to control her new powers, will Kat be able to rescue her family and win her sisters their true love?
And now for the interview:
To borrow (and modify) a question from James Lipton, what’s your favorite middle-grade appropriate “curse word” or insult?
Stephanie Burgis: Since I'm a Regency author, of course my answer has to be: "Dash it!" ;)
If you could be BFF with any Jane Austen character, who would you pick?
SB: Definitely Elizabeth Bennet! There might be other Austen heroines that are even more admirable, but none that would be more fun to hang out with - and she's loyal to her friends even when they make choices she hates, so that's just one more bonus!
If you had only five minutes with Kat's mother's spellbooks, which spell would you look up and try to master?
SB: Since I'm often wrangling a toddler nowadays, I'd love to be able to make teapots and other practical things move without using my hands!
In your acknowledgments, you mention you have a "writing club" with your brothers. Tell me more about that. Did your relationship with them inform the relationship between the three sisters in the book?
SB: I'm the oldest in my own family, with two younger brothers, both of whom are also writers. (My brother Ben has published several science fiction and fantasy short stories for adults, while my brother David works in film and also writes screenplays.) So of course we had a secret writing club as kids! It was great to have a critique group within my own house as I grew up, and now that we're adults, we still read and critique most of each other's stories.
When it came to writing Kat, I didn't base any of the characters on real people, but the fact that I come from a noisy, loving, close-knit family definitely influenced the way I wrote Kat's noisy, loving, close-knit family! Kat's the youngest of four, with two older sisters, whereas I'm the oldest of three with no sisters at all...but her siblings, just like mine, all bicker, laugh, irritate, enjoy and love each other deeply.
What are two MG books you'd recommend and why?
Maryrose Wood's The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book One: The Mysterious Howling made me laugh out loud several times. It's incredibly funny and just so much fun to read!
And Sheela Chari's Vanished is a wonderful, globe-trotting MG mystery about music and curses that's also a beautifully-written novel about family and growing up. I absolutely loved it.
Thank you so much for the interview, Steph! I can't wait for Renegade Magic, the sequel to Kat, Incorrigible, which will be out in April.
GIVEAWAY
The giveaway is now closed. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who entered! I had such a blast reading all your comments.
After the random.org drawing, congratulations to...Heidi Grange! Heidi has won a copy of Kat, Incorrigible and one copy of Sheela Chari's Vanished (Stephanie's MG recommendation).
Stay tuned for next month's MG Author Spotlight and Giveaway. It'll be a good one, I promise!
And I am extra, ginormously, stupendously excited to present the first author to be a part of this: Stephanie Burgis, author of Kat, Incorrigible. If that title sounds familiar, it may be because you read me raving about it just a couple of weeks ago.
First, a little about Stephanie's wonderful book:
And now for the interview:
To borrow (and modify) a question from James Lipton, what’s your favorite middle-grade appropriate “curse word” or insult?
Stephanie Burgis: Since I'm a Regency author, of course my answer has to be: "Dash it!" ;)
If you could be BFF with any Jane Austen character, who would you pick?
SB: Definitely Elizabeth Bennet! There might be other Austen heroines that are even more admirable, but none that would be more fun to hang out with - and she's loyal to her friends even when they make choices she hates, so that's just one more bonus!
If you had only five minutes with Kat's mother's spellbooks, which spell would you look up and try to master?
SB: Since I'm often wrangling a toddler nowadays, I'd love to be able to make teapots and other practical things move without using my hands!
SB: I'm the oldest in my own family, with two younger brothers, both of whom are also writers. (My brother Ben has published several science fiction and fantasy short stories for adults, while my brother David works in film and also writes screenplays.) So of course we had a secret writing club as kids! It was great to have a critique group within my own house as I grew up, and now that we're adults, we still read and critique most of each other's stories.
When it came to writing Kat, I didn't base any of the characters on real people, but the fact that I come from a noisy, loving, close-knit family definitely influenced the way I wrote Kat's noisy, loving, close-knit family! Kat's the youngest of four, with two older sisters, whereas I'm the oldest of three with no sisters at all...but her siblings, just like mine, all bicker, laugh, irritate, enjoy and love each other deeply.
What are two MG books you'd recommend and why?
Maryrose Wood's The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book One: The Mysterious Howling made me laugh out loud several times. It's incredibly funny and just so much fun to read!
And Sheela Chari's Vanished is a wonderful, globe-trotting MG mystery about music and curses that's also a beautifully-written novel about family and growing up. I absolutely loved it.
Thank you so much for the interview, Steph! I can't wait for Renegade Magic, the sequel to Kat, Incorrigible, which will be out in April.
GIVEAWAY
The giveaway is now closed. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who entered! I had such a blast reading all your comments.
After the random.org drawing, congratulations to...Heidi Grange! Heidi has won a copy of Kat, Incorrigible and one copy of Sheela Chari's Vanished (Stephanie's MG recommendation).
Stay tuned for next month's MG Author Spotlight and Giveaway. It'll be a good one, I promise!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Pottercast!
My friends Billy and Bryan are hilarious and have started a podcast called The Billy and Bryan Show (I said they were hilarious, not very original with titles.)
Last night, I was a guest on their show! We discuss a wide range of [Harry-Potter-related] topics. Including:
- our top 5 Harry Potter actors
- what is up with Cho Chang?
- the Neville/Luna movie conundrum
- Alec Guinness: the Dumbledore that could have been
- the genius of Gringotts Goblin #4
And so much more!
Got an hour to kill (and have seen the last movie 'cause here be spoilers)? Download it for free on iTunes here.
Last night, I was a guest on their show! We discuss a wide range of [Harry-Potter-related] topics. Including:
- our top 5 Harry Potter actors
- what is up with Cho Chang?
- the Neville/Luna movie conundrum
- Alec Guinness: the Dumbledore that could have been
- the genius of Gringotts Goblin #4
And so much more!
Got an hour to kill (and have seen the last movie 'cause here be spoilers)? Download it for free on iTunes here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)