Interview With Bridget Hodder!

Today is the final day in A Week of Debuts, and to finish the week off I have an interview with Middle Grade author Bridget Hodder! Her book (Which is a retelling of Cinderella!) The Rat Prince releases August 23rd! :)

Here's the summary of the book:
The dashing Prince of the Rats--who's in love with Cinderella--is turned into her coachman by the Fairy Godmother on the night of the big ball. And he's about to turn the legend (and the evening) upside down on his way to a most unexpected happy ending!


The bolded questions are what I asked, the regular font is her answers, and the bold italic font are my comments about her answers!

1. The Rat Prince looks like a fun retelling! Would you please describe it in five words?

Ooooh! That's hard...

Cinderella! Danger! Secrets! Magic! ...er, Rats!

Now, in time-honored spelling class fashion, I will use each of the five words in a sentence:

Cinderella (Lady Rose de Lancastyr) is not the meek lackwit you might believe her to be. She suspects her stepmother's hiding a dangerous secret. That's where the Prince of the Rats of Lancastyr Manor comes in--with a cunning plan to help Lady Rose, and to get rid of her stepmother. But both Rose's plan and the Rat Prince's schemes are turned upside down by a magic ring and a fairy-goddess on the night of the big royal ball-- with delightful, and most unexpected, results!

You'll have to read the book to see where everyone ends up, but I can promise you a very satisfying happy ending.

Ahh, it sounds good! :)

2. Is there another fairytale you would like to retell?

Oh, yes. I'm absolutely 100% scheming and plotting more retellings here in my sparkly fairy bower ;-)

So many fairy tales are based on outdated, disturbing ideas that don't feel right to me. And that's exactly what makes them so fun to "fix".

You know what I mean--it's hard to be happy about a story where someone breaks into an innocent giant's house, killing him and stealing the goose that lays the golden eggs. (Jack in the Beanstalk) And it's not my idea of happily ever after when two strangers meet and instantly become engaged based on the woman's beauty and the guy's money and high social status.(Sleeping Beauty, etc.) Or when a guy walking through the woods sees a dead girl in a coffin, falls in insta-love, and...kisses her, arggggghhh! (Snow White).

I could go on and on. (Maybe I already did.)

3. Random question time! Favorite color?
A glowing, rich honey-brown. Like polished wood floors lit by a cozy fire, or a soft, brown, velvet skirt with the sun shining across it. Mmm, don't you feel relaxed now?

4. If you're able to talk about it, what are you working on now?
A super-secret fairy tale project...with romance and adventure at its heart, because that's the way I roll.

Sounds fun! :)

5. What books in 2016 (debut and non-debut) are you looking forward to?

So many. SO many, I could not possibly choose. I read fast and I read a LOT, and lately I've been trying to put up my reviews on Goodreads, so you can see what I like there.

By the way, all the 2016 YA and MG or Tween debuts can be found in one friendly place, www.thesweetsixteens.com. There are author photos, Top Sixteen Lists, interviews, book descriptions, giveaways, a calendar of upcoming events...

And it may be strange for a book author to say this in this context, but I am almost hyperventilating already in anticipation of seeing FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM in November. With JK Rowling having written the screenplay, I think it counts to mention this as the work of the absolute, uncontested queen of youth literature, coming out in 2016!

Thanks for inviting me over, Jessica, and thanks for being excited about THE RAT PRINCE!

Thank you for letting me interview you! :)

Here Are A Few Links:

Her Website

Her Facebook

Her Goodreads