Interview With Tina Athaide! And a Giveaway!

 

Hi, everyone! Today I'm happy to present an interview with Tina Athaide, author of the MG novel, Orange for the Sunsets, which is out now!

Here's the interview! :)

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 Orange for the Sunsets?

This novel is my gift to all of the people effected by the expulsion of Asian Indians from Uganda. At the heart of the story is the friendship between an Asian Indian girl and an African Ugandan boy—Asha and Yesofu. That friendship is threatened when the president of Uganda announces that Indians have ninety days to leave the country.

Determined for her life to stay the same, Asha clings to her world tighter than ever before. But Yesofu is torn, pulled between his friends, his family, and a promise of a better future. Now as neighbors leave and soldiers line the streets, the two friends find that nothing seems sure—not even their friendship.

What’s your favorite thing about writing Middle Grade books?

I love this age group. I like to think of the middle grade years as golden years. It is a magical time of highs and lows, contradictions, and challenges as kids develop their own individual identities and form their own ideas. It’s the perfect opportunity to connect my love of storytelling with social and cultural awareness.

Random question! What’s your favorite color?

BLUE. Bright spring and summer blue to fall and winter grayish-blue. BLUE takes me through the whole year.

Blue is my favorite color, too! :)

If you’re able to talk about it, what are you working on now?

I am working on another historical fiction story that goes back to the early 1970s, but this time we go to London, England. At the heart of this story is a spunky, adventurous girl who makes you want to join along as she belts out tunes by the Supremes.

This sounds good! :)

What have been some of your favorite books you’ve read this year?

If you took a sneak peek at my bookshelves, you’ll find well read copies of the following books:

Clean Getaway by Nick Stone

Wink by Rob Harrell

When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

A Place At The Table by Laura Shovan and Saadia Faruqi

When Stars on Scattered is on my TBR list! :)

Thank you so much to Ms. Athaide for letting me interview her!

Now, Ms. Athaide is generously giving away TWO copies of the paperback of her book! Follow the rules below to enter via the Rafflecopter form, and good luck!

Giveaway Rules:

US Only!

TWO winners will each win a signed paperback copy of the book.

Giveaway runs from October 6th through October 20th

After the giveaway is over, I'll contact the winner and get their information for the author.

The winner will have 48 hours to reply. If they do not, I will pick a new winner.

The author is the one responsible to get the prize to the winner.

And no cheating!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author Bio: Tina Athaide was born in Uganda and grew up in London and Canada. While her family left Entebbe just prior to the expulsion, she has memories of refugee family and friends staying with them in their London home. The stories and conversations she listened to through the years became the inspiration for her book Orange for the Sunsets. Tina now lives in California with her husband, Ron, and their daughter, Isabella.

Represented by Andrea Cascardi at TransAtlantic Agency.

Here Are A Few Links:

Her Website

Her Twitter

Her Instagram

Interview and Giveaway With Middle Grade and YA Author Jen Calonita!

Today on the blog I'm very happy to present an interview with Middle Grade and YA author Jen Calonita! Getting to talk to her about her newest book, VIP: I'm With The Band was a lot of fun! I enjoyed reading this book a lot! (Here's my review!) And make sure to read all the way to the bottom of the post, because Ms. Calonita is giving away a personalized copy of VIP: I'm With the Band! Yay! :)

The bold writing is the questions I asked, the regular writing is her answers, and the bold italic writing is my comments about her answers!


1. I'm With the Band looks like a lot of fun! And as a boy band fan (One Direction!) myself, I'm sure I will love it! What was the inspiration for writing it? 
Thank you! I am a lifelong boy band fan myself. Writing this book and the main character, Mackenzie, is the closest I've ever come to putting myself on paper. I was as obsessed with boy bands as Mac is and I lived and breathed the band New Kids on the Block and Joey McIntyre. Boy bands are always changing, but one that that never changes are the fans. Boy band fans are loyal and they love their band for all its worth. I thought it would be fun to tell a story like that and yet also show how different a band can be once you really meet them.

2. Even though I'm sure you have been asked this question a lot, I have to ask it. Who is your FAVORITE boy band? And, your favorite song by them? :)

New Kids on the Block, hands down! But I also loved 'Nsync too. But my heart belonged to Joey McIntrye, so I would say my favorite song from them is still I'll Be Loving You from the Hanging Tough album. Fun fact: I met Joey when I was an editor at Teen People magazine and cannot find the photo! What I do remember is that I was starstruck. I could barely speak and I kept thinking, "I slept with my head on a pillowcase with your face on it for years!"

That is awesome! :)

3. I know from your Twitter account you're a big Disney fan (I am too!), what is your favorite Disney movie? :)

I am truly a Disney girl! I can't get enough of the parks, the movies, the whole Disney universe. We are a Disney family! My favorite Disney animated flick is Toy Story 2 (3 makes me cry so hard I get a headache). I am also partial to Tangled, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Frozen, of course. I could go on and on!

Yay for Disney fans! You just named a bunch of my favorite Disney movies! :)

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

I'm working on the third book in the Fairy Tale Reform School series, which is going to be called TRICKED. Rumplestiltskin has come to town and, as you know, that little guy is always up to some tricks! It's so much fun to be back in that world. Also, the second book in the VIP series, BATTLE OF THE BANDS, will be out in July 2016 so I'm excited for that too.

5. What are some of your favorite Middle Grade books?

Do the Percy Jackson books count? I love those. The whole house is into Harry Potter, of course, but I also just read Gitty Danveshari's The League of Unexceptional Children and roared with laughter!

I just looked up The League of Unexceptional Children and it looks funny! :)


Thank you to Jen Calonita for letting me interview her! :)

Here are a few links:

Her Website

Her Twitter

Her Instagram

Her Tumblr

Her Goodreads Page

And now here is the giveaway! Good luck to everyone who enters! :)

Giveaway Rules:
US Only!
One winner will win VIP: I'm With The Band, personalized.
Giveaway runs from January 25th through February 7th.
After the giveaway is over, I'll contact the winner and get their information for the author.
The winner will have 48 hours to reply. If they do not, I will pick a new winner.
And no cheating!

Good luck! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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