Yay For Middle Grade Books! Interview With Shivaun Plozza!

Hi, everyone! Today I'm happy to present an interview with Shivaun Plozza, the author of A Reluctant Witch's Guide to Magic, which releases in July! She is the author of multiple other books, including The Boy, the Wolf, and the Stars.

Would you please tell us a little about your book, A Reluctant Witch's Guide to Magic?

 

It’s about a young girl, Willa, who absolutely does not want to be a witch. When she’s told she has magical powers and that she must join a coven, she’s convinced it’s a mistake. It’s not! She has a year to learn how to control her wild magic and choose a coven to join; if she doesn’t, she’ll explode …  

It's a fun and funny book about finding your true self, and it's filled with magical cats (hundreds of them!), spells-gone-wrong and a rogue witch determined to embroil Willa in a plot to destroy the city.  

The Boy, the Wolf, and the Stars releases in paperback this summer! Would you like to tell everyone a little about the book?

 

It’s set in a world that’s been overrun with evil shadow creatures after a magical wolf ate the stars from the sky. The main character, Bo, and his best friend, a fox called Nix, are tasked with finding the wolf so they can release the stars and save the land from dying. 

I had so much fun with the worldbuilding in this one - inventing the different creatures and strange landscapes. At its heart it's very much a story of friendship and the families we make for ourselves.

Random Question! What’s your favorite word?

 

I’m a fan of the word ‘zebu’ (it’s the name of an animal). I just really love how the word sounds, especially the contrast between the sharpness of the first syllable followed by the soft, round sound of the second syllable.

If you're able to talk about it, what are you currently working on?

 

I’ve always got a few things on the go. I cycle through different projects so when I’ve finished a draft of one book I can let it sit and steep while I focus on another book for a bit. So I’ve got a lot of projects in the works, some near completion and others only in the early stages of development. The three that are closest to being complete are a YA and two MGs—one has ghosts! I’ve always wanted to write a ghost story so I hope that one turns out well.  

What are some of your favorite MG books you've read recently? And what are some that you're looking forward to reading?

Three I read recently that I loved were: The Glasshouse of Stars by Shirley Marr, Katie the Catsitter by Colleen Af Venable and Stephanie Yue, and Exit Through the Giftshop by Maryam Master. And coming up on my TBR pile are: Those Kids from Fawn Creek by Erin Entrada Kelly, A Duet for Home by Karina Yan Glaser and Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence by Sonja Thomas.

Thank you to Shivaun Plozza for participating in this event! :)

Author Bio: Shivaun Plozza is an award-winning author of books for children and young adults. Her debut novel, Frankie, was a CBCA Notable Book and won a number of awards, including the Davitt Awards and a commendation from the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award. Her second novel, Tin Heart, sold in four foreign territories, received two starred reviews, and was nominated to ALA’S Best Fiction for Young Adults list. She has written two middle grade fantasy novels, The Boy, the Wolf, and the Stars and A Reluctant Witch’s Guide to Magic, both sold in multiple territories. She is a frequent contributor to anthologies, and when she is not writing she works as an editor and manuscript assessor. She lives in Victoria, Australia, with her cat, Fenchurch.

Here are a few links:

Her Website

Her Twitter

Her Instagram