Interview with Rin Chupeco for Wicked As You Wish

Wicked As You Wish (A Hundred Names for Magic #1)

by Rin Chupeco

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: March 3rd 2020

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy 

Synopsis: 

An unforgettable alternative history fairytale series from the author of The Bone Witch trilogy about found family, modern day magic, and finding the place you belong.

Many years ago, the magical Kingdom of Avalon was left desolate and encased in ice when the evil Snow Queen waged war on the powerful country. Its former citizens are now refugees in a world mostly devoid of magic. Which is why the crown prince and his protectors are stuck in...Arizona.

Prince Alexei, the sole survivor of the Avalon royal family, is in hiding in a town so boring, magic doesn't even work there. Few know his secret identity, but his friend Tala is one of them. Tala doesn't mind—she has secrets of her own. Namely, that she's a spellbreaker, someone who negates magic.

Then hope for their abandoned homeland reignites when a famous creature of legend, and Avalon's most powerful weapon, the Firebird, appears for the first time in decades. Alex and Tala unite with a ragtag group of new friends to journey back to Avalon for a showdown that will change the world as they know it.

Can you briefly describe WICKED AS YOU WISH and its characters?

WICKED AS YOU WISH is a story where fairytales are a part of world history, where a Filipina teen named Tala, who can negate magic, finds herself aiding the exile prince of Avalon in his fight against the Snow Queen as he tries to get back his kingdom, Avalon, frozen and inaccessible for close to twelve years. And it all starts when the most powerful weapon his family possesses - a firebird - lands on his doorstep.

Who would you say is your favourite character from the story and why?

There’s bits of me in the main cast, so that’s always been a hard question. I would definitely go with Tala, because I put a lot of my own personal experiences into her story and tend to be protective of her. And also definitely the firebird, who’s just a funny but annoying little ass.

How did the story occur to you? Did you find inspiration anywhere?

I love fairytales, and when I was a kid I legit thought that fairytales WERE a part of history, so I just continued to build up on my old assumptions from there.

If you could choose one song to describe your book, which one would it be?

“Count on Me” by Bruno Mars seem pretty perfect to me. Especially this part, because it absolutely encapsulates both the family and the found family aspects of WICKED AS YOU WISH that I believe is one of the book’s most focal points: 

If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea,

I'll sail the world to find you

If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see,

I'll be the light to guide you

Find out what we're made of

When we are called to help our friends in need

If your book was going to be made into a movie, who would play your characters?

Tala: Ylona Garcia

Alex: George Shelley

Kensington: Makenyu Maeda

Loki: Min Junqian

West: Noah Schnapp

Zoe: Millie Bobby Brown

Cole: Diego Tinoco

Nya: Marsai Martin

Kay (Tala’s father): Rory McCann

Snow Queen: Eva Green

the firebird: if it could talk it would have chaotic Danny Devito energy

What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?

As my favorite place to go and write the book was at a lot of Korean grills, I would heartily recommend that! I also think that a buffet is sort of the best kind of dining to describe the book - it features different kinds of cuisines all over the world, but they’re cuisines that I am intimately familiar with, and it’s the best place to eat when you’re with your friends!

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish WICKED AS YOU WISH?

The Foxheart middle grade series by Claire Legrand is sweet and sad and magical, and you can’t go wrong with a reread of the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer!

What would you say is the most difficult part of writing a book?

Not getting bogged down by the middle. Drafts always looks different than the setup you have of them in your head, so it’s hard pushing through, especially because I have a tendency to nitpick and go over a scene and getting stuck there for days instead of revising for later!

What’s next for you?

I just finished writing the sequel, and then there’s a final book after that! I also have WIPs for a very strange Filipino middle grade story, and conversely also for a very strange adult fantasy, and am still deciding which one to prioritize afterward!

Despite an unsettling resemblance to Japanese revenants, Rin always maintains her sense of hummus. Born and raised in Manila, Philippines, she keeps four pets: a dog, two birds, and a husband. Dances like the neighbors are watching.

She is represented by Rebecca Podos of the Helen Rees Agency. She is also fond of speaking in the third person, and may as well finish this short bio in this manner. While she does not always get to check her Goodreads page, she does answer questions posed to her here as promptly as she is able to.

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Interview with Micah Good for The Opposite of Falling Apart

The Opposite of Falling Apart

by Micah Good
Publisher: Wattpad Books
Release Date: February 25th 2020

Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Contemporary

Synopsis:

After losing his leg in a terrible car accident, Jonas Avery can’t wait to start over and go to college. 

Brennan Davis would like nothing more than to stay home and go to school, so she can keep her anxiety in check. 

When the two accidentally meet the summer before they move away, they’ll push each other to come to terms with what’s holding them back, even as they’re pulled closer to taking the biggest leap of all—falling in love. 

The Opposite of Falling Apart has more than 2.1 million reads on Wattpad.

Can you briefly describe THE OPPOSITE OF FALLING APART and its characters?

The Opposite of Falling Apart is about Jonas, a teenage amputee who lost his leg in a tragic car accident and is suffering from PTSD and Brennan, a girl struggling with anxiety and the fear of her impending freshman year at college. The story is about learning to accept the things that you might think make you broken and realizing that they are the things that make you human.

Who would you say is your favorite character from the story and why?

I think, aside from the main characters, that Mrs. Avery (Jonas’s mom) is my favorite character. She is loving and supportive, and even if she doesn’t always know how to help Jonas, she always tries her best, and keeps trying. She’s a lot like my real-life mom, and that makes her special to me.

How did the story occur to you? Did you find inspiration anywhere?

When I first went off to college, I found solace in books. I was super anxious (like Brennan) and found the worlds in books a lot less overwhelming than the real world. At the time, I had a hard time finding many books that really made me go ‘that’s me. I see me in this story’. In the years since, I’ve noticed that mental health is starting to be more of an accepted topic in books. It’s a lot easier to find now! But in the in between time, when it wasn’t as easy, I started writing what would become ‘The Opposite of Falling Apart’, because I hoped (and still do hope) that it might give even a few readers the chance to say ‘that’s me. I see me in this story’.

If you could choose one song to describe your book, which one would it be?

Oh, this is a hard one, because I have a whole playlist of songs that remind me of the book and the characters! I think it’s usually easier for me to pick songs that remind me of particular characters, because I’ll hear lyrics and think ‘that’s Brennan!’ or ‘hey, it’s Jonas!’. If I had to pick a song for the story as a whole, I think it’d be either “The Good Parts” by Andy Grammer or “Intertwined” by Dodie Clark.

If your book was going to be made into a movie, who would play your characters?

And here I thought choosing just one song for the story was hard! I used to be set on making a cast for any book I wrote, but by the time TOOFA came around, I was more in a mindset where I wanted to let readers be able to picture the characters in their head, unhindered by any cast I might make. This is why: I was a little late to the whole Harry Potter craze and read the books after all the movies were out. I’d seen pictures of the actors as their respective characters, so I didn’t get the experience of picturing the characters in my head first, which is a part of the reading experience that I really love. I do think I would want to see some new actors cast in TOOFA, some we haven’t really seen before, if it were made into a movie. Brennan is probably the only character I’ve kind of given a real-life counterpart in my head, and that’s because I tend to picture her as a somewhat shorter Dodie Clark.

What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?

I think that you and TOOFA should have a book date at a diner. Get yourself some breakfast food, and a drink of your choice (hot tea, coffee, milk, or orange juice—it’s all acceptable: if the diner has it, it’s fair game) and tuck into a booth with the story. Bonus points if you’re doing this in the very early hours of the morning, like between one to four am.

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish THE OPPOSITE OF FALLING APART?

I like “Fangirl” by Rainbow Rowell. John Green’s “Turtles All the Way Down” is good. Also “All the Bright Places” by Jennifer Niven and “Five Feet Apart” by Rachel Lippincott. I do want to warn that some of these stories may be triggering to you, depending on what place your mental health is in right now. I believe it’s important to take care of yourself, and if that means not reading a particular book, so be it. A lot of these books deal with mental health, and one of them does deal with suicide/suicidal thoughts.

What’s next for you?

I’m heading back to Fantasy, which is actually where I got my writing start. Hopefully I’ll have more on that soon!

Micah Good has been writing since middle school. She’s been writing stories on Wattpad since the summer before her freshman year of college. Her stories have been featured, won a Watty, and she was invited to participate in Wattpad’s Paid Stories program. She currently lives in the midwestern United States, where she is pursuing a career in nursing. She loves dogs, naps and getting lost in a book.

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👫🏻 G I V E A W A Y 👫🏻 . . Happy Thursday, beautiful book people! . . Do you or a love one or someone you know suffer of a mental illness? What helps you/them? I have always been a very stressed person. I worry too much. But recently, a loved one has been diagnosed with anxiety, C-PTSD and depression which has spiked my stress levels to the point of needed medical help. Sometimes I feel embarrased of this, of being another number in our society struggling to cope with stress and I feel like things can go wrong if I talk about it with anyone. I feel like I have to be okay because everyone I know is okay. . . I personally know how difficult it is to cope with someone you love being in a bad place and I know how it feels to not be okay some days, just because you are not okay. Life literally can be hard af. Let me know in the comment section if you: 🧡Are struggling. 💛Are okay, but need a friend. 💙Can be a friend. . . I am talking about this because I loved @micahintrepid new novel, #TheOppositeOfFallingApart. I think it has been one of the few novels were I can actually relate to the struggles the main characters face and the depiction of PTSD and anxiety. This novel is a good escape for anyone and this is way, thanks to @wattpad, we are going to be giving away 1 copy to one lucky US Resident. . . Entries for the giveaway: ▪︎Follow @theffbc & @whatmakespatri ▪︎Follow the author @micahintrepid ▪︎Follow the publishing house @wattpad ▪︎Comment - Answer my question above ⬆️ #qotd . . Extra entries: ▪︎Tag a friend (each friend will be an extra entry). ▪︎Share on your stories about the giveaway (remember to tag me @whatmakespatri and @theffbc) ▪︎Follow @michellesulk ▪︎Go to the FFBC tours (@theffbc) website, check the GIVEN blog tour schedule and enter another giveaway any of our bloggers are hosting. Let me know which giveaway you entered in the comment section! . . #yareads #yabooks #epicreads #winbooks #bibliophile #bookish #booknerd #mybookfeature #bookstagramming #bookaesthetic #bookworm #bookcommunity #booksbooksbooks #instaread #bookshimmy #bookgiveaway #bookgram #yabookstagram #ireadya #booksatgrammer

A post shared by Patricia Lopez (@whatmakespatri) on Feb 27, 2020 at 2:58am PST

Interview with Tricia Levenseller for The Shadows Between Us

The Shadows Between Us

by Tricia Levenseller
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Release Date: February 25th 2020

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Synopsis:

Alessandra is tired of being overlooked, but she has a plan to gain power:

1) Woo the Shadow King.

2) Marry him.

3) Kill him and take his kingdom for herself.

No one knows the extent of the freshly crowned Shadow King’s power. Some say he can command the shadows that swirl around him to do his bidding. Others say they speak to him, whispering the thoughts of his enemies. Regardless, Alessandra knows what she deserves, and she’s going to do everything within her power to get it.

But Alessandra’s not the only one trying to kill the king. As attempts on his life are made, she finds herself trying to keep him alive long enough for him to make her his queen—all while struggling not to lose her heart. After all, who better for a Shadow King than a cunning, villainous queen?

Can you briefly describe THE SHADOWS BETWEEN US and its characters?

TSBU is about an ambitious girl who decides to woo, wed, and then kill the Shadow King so she can take his kingdom for herself. Alessandra is our main character. As the second daughter, she was basically ignored by her family, forced to wait to enter society until her older sister was engaged. That gave her plenty of time to scheme. So when the time was right, she knew exactly what she wanted and how she would get it. The Shadow King is our other main character. His whole family was murdered, and he knows someone is trying to kill him as well. He hasn’t allowed anyone to get close to him for an entire year as he tries to solve the crime, but he’s wholly unprepared when Alessandra enters his life.

Who would you say is your favourite character from the story and why?

Definitely Alessandra. She’s just so fun to write! I love all her scheming and planning, the witty banter she delivers. She is definitely my favorite character I’ve written so far!

How did the story occur to you? Did you find inspiration anywhere?

I was thinking about how much I love bad boys, but how the girls so often choose the nice guys because murderers make for poor love interests and happily ever afters. But then I realized that I might be able to pull it off if my main protagonist was also bad.

If you could choose one song to describe your book, which one would it be?

“Youngblood” by 5 Seconds of Summer

What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?

Try and find the nearest Gothic Mansion. Extra dark hot chocolate.

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish THE SHADOWS BETWEEN US?

The TV show The Vampire Diaries is my one true love, so I have to give a shout out to that. As for books, I recommend THE CRUEL PRINCE, WICKED SAINTS, and THREE DARK CROWNS if you’re looking for darker, more complicated romances.

What would you say is the most difficult part of writing a book?

The writing part. No, seriously. It’s so hard putting words on paper. I much prefer the editing process.

What’s next for you?

My next book is called THE SECRET BLADE, and it’s about a socially anxious blacksmith who forges magical blades. When she accidentally creates an all-powerful sword with the ability to extract secrets from those it cuts, she has to protect it at all costs.

Tricia Levenseller is the author of the Daughter of the Pirate King duology, Warrior of the Wild, and forthcoming The Shadows Between Us. She likes to describe her books as young adult alternate–world historical fantasies with heavy romantic subplots.

Initially from a small town in Oregon, Tricia now lives next to the Rocky Mountains with her bossy dog, Rosy. She received her degree in English Language and editing, and she is thrilled that she never has to read a textbook again. When she’s not writing or reading, Tricia enjoys putting together jigsaw puzzles, playing volleyball, playing Overwatch with her siblings, and watching shows while eating extra-buttered popcorn.

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