Author Interview with BRODI ASHTON (ARC giveaway!!!)

A couple of weeks ago Harper Collins (Balzer Bray) contacted me (squee!!) and offfered me an interview with the hilarious Brodi Ashton, author of the upcoming Everneath (released Jan 2012). Of course I did a little happy dance and promptly wrote the nice gentleman, Michael, and told him I'd be thrilled and honored. So dear friends you're in for a treat!

ABOUT EVERNEATH:
EVERNEATH is partially based on the Greek myth of Persephone: a 17-year-old who's been banished to the underworld escapes to her former earthly existence with her family and boyfriend. The catch is that she only has six months in the real world before being sent back to Hades, this time forever.

Add this one to your Goodreads | Shelfari

Preorder it now Amazon

ABOUT BRODI:
Lives in Utah with her husband and two young boys, who still have no idea why she's at the computer all the time.

She received a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Utah and a Master’s degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics.

She blogs several times a week and always manages to make me laugh out loud. I have often been heard referring to her blog as my morning comic strip.

Q&A

-What was your favorite part about the journey of writing Everneath?

I loved exploring a different voice in the narrator Nikki. If you read my blog, you know I don't take things very seriously and I like to laugh, usually at myself. But Nikki's story would not have been well-served by that voice. I had to stretch myself as a writer. I couldn't think, "What would I do in this situation?" I had to put myself in Nikki's shoes. It made her come alive for me.

-Is there a particular scene that you loved writing or just gave you that feeling like, 'yes, this is why I love writing!'? Can you reference it enough without spoiling it so that we can know when we read it later?

Yes, I can reference my favorite scene! It was the first scene I wrote, in Chapter 1, where a girl returns to school after she's been in this horrible place. The rumor mill is going full swing, but she still chooses to go back to her school, and face the people she left behind. The tension in that scene was what drew me to the story, and despite several rounds of revisions, very little has changed in that scene.

-What's been one or two fun things you've gotten to do since/because of signing on with a publisher?

I got to go to New York and have lunch with my agent and editor! The whole time, I nodded and pretended I was listening to the conversation, but really I was thinking, I'm having lunch with my agent and my editor. This is the life.

Okay, I may have said it out loud a few times too. I was all, "This is my agent. And my editor." and the waiter was all, "Umm... I asked what you wanted to drink."

-What was your favorite book you read in the last year?

Oh man, that's a tough one. How about WHERE SHE WENT, DIVERGENT, BACK WHEN YOU WERE EASIER TO LOVE... to name a few.

-You've got a pretty hilarious sense of humor. Have you always been funny? or To what do you credit it? (it's just how you grew up? your family? your friends? you found it during college)?

It was these strange "magic beans" I bought from a door to door salesman in 1997.
Okay, that's not very funny. People are going to read this, and be all, "Seriously? That's not funny. Say something funny, harpy! Make me laugh!"

-What would be better, eating lunch with Rafa or hitting the NYT bestsellers list? :)

Eating lunch with Rafa! And then getting a text that I hit the NYT list. Just kidding. I really can't think about stuff like that. It would make me crazy. So, definitely, lunch with Rafa. And perhaps some afternoon delight. Just kidding, Sam. I love you.

Thanks for the chat Brodi! I'm looking forward to this winter when I can get my hands on a copy of EVERNEATH!

EVERNEATH ARC GIVEAWAY!

Brodi has kindly offered up one of her coveted ARC's for Windy and I to giveaway so pay attention to the rules folks so you can make sure to enter.

Here's what to do in a nutshell:

**Get the part 1 tweet from me (below) and part 2 from windy and tweet it. Everything else is just extra pudding. :)

Mandatory entry:

Have a Twitter account? Good. No? Better get one, or else you're gonna miss a chance to win your very own Brodi Ashton-signed ARC of EVERNEATH! Here's all you've gotta do:

Take the first half of the "OFFICIAL Brodi-approved #everneathARC tweet" from below:

Part 1: "I can't wait to read @BrodiAshton's EVERNEATH in January, but"

Go get the second half of the "OFFICIAL Brodi-approved #everneathARC tweet" from Windy's blog.

Go ahead, I'll wait for you to collect both pieces.

Back? OK. Now, put them together and go TWEET IT!!

Easy-peasy right? Of course it is!

Extra entries:
Now, if you want some extra chances to win ... there's a few things you can do, and NO, you do NOT have to keep track of your points or come back to us with an email or anything like that. If you just do any of the following things, we'll take care of all that hard math, counting and adding and stuff for you!

+1 following either of our blogs (+2 if you follow both) - new and old followers, same number of points.
+1 commenting on either of our #everneathARC blog posts (+2 if you comment on both)
and the big one ...
once the cover is revealed and available on the PageTurners blog you can get
+5 for changing your Twitter avatar over to the EVERNEATH cover and leaving it up for the next week! (we'll be spot checking - no work necessary from you other than the switch over)

And don't think the ARC is all we've got up for grabs! If that's not enough for you, there's an awesome second prize as well containing oodles of EVERNEATH-y goodies! You won't be disappointed!

This contest is open to all US residents only (sorry international friends) through Thursday, June 30 and we'll be announcing the winners on our blogs Friday, July 1.


*For more EXCLUSIVE! (part 2) Q&A with Brodi check out Windy's blog.

*For the official cover launch stop by Page Turners blog (It's soooo pretty)!