Interview and Giveaway With Middle Grade and YA Author Gail Nall!

Today on the blog I'm very happy to present an interview (And giveaway!) with the wonderful Middle Grade and YA author, Gail Nall! She's the author of the MG books, Breaking the Ice (The PB release is tomorrow!), the Fall 2016 release Out of Tune, and written with Jen Malone, You're Invited, and You're Invited, Too (Releasing in February!). And the YA book, Exit Stage Left! :)

I'm excited for you all to get to read this interview! And make sure to read all the way through to the bottom of the post, because there is an absolutely AWESOME giveaway from Ms. Nall, that I'm very excited to get to host! :)

The bold font is the questions I asked, the regular font is Gail Nall's answers, and the bold italic font is the comments I made about her answers!

1. You're Invited was so much fun! I'm looking forward to the sequel a lot! What can you tell us about You're invited, Too (Releasing in February!)?

Jen and I had so much fun writing new adventures and mishaps for the RSVP girls! The second book picks up right where the first left off, with the girls agreeing to plan a wedding. Of course, in true RSVP-style, not everything goes as planned. There's a bridezilla who puts all other bridezillas to shame, and then add in the fact that Sadie's mom doesn't know this bride used to be her client. Lauren goes a little too crazy having fun (there's a great golf cart scene!), there's a new (French!) boy for Becca, and Vi's life gets a whole lot harder when her dad starts his new job as the school janitor. Bubby is back (of course!). And then something even bigger threatens the wedding the girls have so carefully planned.

Yay!  This sounds like a lot of fun! I'm so looking forward to getting to read about these characters again! And getting to read about them planning a wedding with a bridezilla! :)

2. You write both Middle Grade (Breaking the Ice, the fall 2016 book Out of Tune, and the You're Invited books written with Jen Malone) and YA (Exit Stage Left). Did you always want to write both?

Originally, I'd only thought about writing middle grade. I love the weird awkwardness of that age group and I adore writing fun, over-the-top contemporary books that capitalize on how crazy and confusing it is to be twelve or thirteen. But then I started reading more and more YA, and I had the opportunity to write EXIT STAGE LEFT, and I fell in love with YA too. I now have a nice long list of YA ideas! I can't imagine not writing both now.

3. In the You're Invited books, the girls are party planners. What would be the theme of your dream party?

Cruise-themed! Mostly because then it could happen on a cruise ship and there is nothing bad about that. I mean, fruity drinks with tiny umbrellas, exotic islands, dancing on the lido deck, midnight chocolate buffets -- sigh! :)

I absolutely love this party theme! :)

4. If you're able to talk about it, what are you working on now?

I'm one of those writers with multiple projects in various stages. I just finished the first round of edits for OUT OF TUNE, a middle grade I have coming out next fall about a girl who wants to be a country music singer but whose parents sell their house in Nashville and move the whole family into an RV to travel the country. I have the draft of a new YA finished, and I'm working on some new MG ideas now. I also have a couple of secret projects cooking that I can't really talk about. (heeheehee!)

 I think Out of Tune sounds awesome! :)

5. Middle Grade books (And the authors who write them!) are awesome! What are a few of your favorite Middle Grade books?

I love (love, love, love!) the other books in the Aladdin M!X line, including AT YOUR SERVICE by Jen Malone and 25 ROSES by Stephanie Faris. Basically, you can't go wrong with any book from M!X! The books that meant the most to me as a kid were the LITTLE HOUSE books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, ANNE OF GREEN GABLES by L.M. Montgomery, the ALL OF A KIND FAMILY books by Sydney Taylor, and THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB books by Ann M. Martin. I'll forever love HARRY POTTER, of course. This year, I've really enjoyed Erin Entrada Kelly's BLACKBIRD FLY, Dan Gemeinhart's THE HONEST TRUTH, and Laurie McKay's VILLAIN KEEPER. And next year my good friend Abby Cooper's debut book, STICKS AND STONES, will be out -- and I love this book soooo much! It's about a girl who has a mysterious condition in which the names people call her -- and the names she calls herself -- show up on her arms and legs. It's such a unique idea and is told in this hilarious, amazing voice. Definitely put it on your to-be-read!

I love the Aladdin M!X line! Both At Your Service and 25 Roses are wonderful! And The Baby-Sitter Club books?! Love them! Sticks and Stones has already been on my TBR list, but hearing you talk about it makes me look forward to it even more! :)

Here are a few links:

Her Website
Her Twitter

Her Blog

Her Facebook

Photo by Whitney Powell, 2013.

Gail Nall lives in Louisville, Kentucky with her family and more cats than necessary. She once drove a Zamboni, has camped in the snow in June, and almost got trampled in Paris. Gail is the author of the middle grade novel, BREAKING THE ICE (Aladdin/S&S, 2015) and the co-author of YOU'RE INVITED (Aladdin/S&S, 2015). She is also the author of the young adult novel, EXIT STAGE LEFT (Epic Reads Impulse/HarperCollins, 2015). You can find her online at gailnall.com and on Twitter as @gailecn.

Here's the giveaway!

The author has generously offered up three books for one lucky winner!

A paperback copy of Breaking the Ice, a copy of You're Invited, and an ARC of You're Invited Too! (This is an awesome giveaway, I'm excited for whoever wins!)

Information:
Giveaway runs between December 14th through January 3rd.
Enter using the rafflecopter below.
There will be one winner!
Afterward I will contact the winner to get the information for the author, the winner will have 48 hours to reply.
If the winner does not reply within 48 hours, I will draw a new winner.
US only

No cheating!

Good luck! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway