The bold font are the questions I asked, the regular font are her answers, and the bold italic font are my comments about her answers.
Would you please tell us a little about The Frame-Up?
Hi Jessica! I’d love to!
The book is a middle grade fantasy based on one major idea: What if every original piece of art in the world is alive, but doesn’t want us to know they’re alive?
It’s set at the real-life Beaverbrook Art Gallery, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, where I live, and a lot of the characters in the story are masterpieces that you can actually visit (and which Greenwillow Books amazingly included in a full-color insert in the book!). In the story, one of the masterpieces, a portrait of a thirteen-year-old girl named Mona Dunn, is caught moving in her portrait by the gallery director’s son, Sargent Singer. As they become friends, they’re caught up in a potential art heist and all kinds of other shenanigans. It’s a real page-turner!
I loved the idea of exploring how people interact with art, especially children, because for many people, visiting art galleries can be an intimidating or a dry experience. I hope that once they read The Frame-Up, that won’t be the case! I also wanted to write a story in which the two main characters couldn’t interact in the same place; the worlds in front of the frame and behind the frame are completely separate. And what would it be like to be always thirteen like Mona is? There were so many juicy ideas to dig into!
Because of the book, I have to ask. What's your favorite piece of art?
My favorite piece of art is actually the portrait of Patsy Ryder that’s included in the book, because it’s a portrait of my mother!
But in terms of paintings that don’t belong to me, it’s gotta be Mona Dunn. I loved her portrait before I ever dreamed of writing the book!
 |
| Image of Mona Dunn |
That's neat! :)
Random question! What's your favorite movie?
The Wizard of Oz! And I had the campers watch it in the story!
If you're able to talk about it, what are you working on now?
I just handed in my next book to Greenwillow Books. It’s about a girl who’s been forced to move a lot and to fit in, she always acts like the other kids. Except in the latest move, she actually begins to turn into them…
It sounds good! :)
What are some books you've recently enjoyed reading?
Oh my gosh where to start? You Go First by Erin Entrada Kelly is beautiful! Stanley Will Probably Be Fine by Sally J. Pla is wonderful, too! I am dying to read the next Jason Reynolds book and I am on a countdown for the last Penderwicks book!
You Go First is on my TBR list! :)
Thank you to Wendy for letting me be a part of this blog tour! :)
Author bio: Wendy grew up in St. Stephen and wrote her first novel at age nine. She worked for the Government of New Brunswick for twenty-five years, ending her career as the Deputy Minister of Education when the siren call of writing became impossible to ignore. Wendy is represented by Lauren Galit of the LKG Agency in New York City. Her debut middle grade novel, It’s a Mystery, Pig Face! was published by Sky Pony Press in 2017. Her second book, The Frame-Up, a fantasy set at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, was sold at auction to Greenwillow Books in a two-book deal and will be published June 5th 2018.
Here are a few links:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for taking the time to comment!
It makes me smile! : )