Interview and Giveaway: Emma Adams

Emma Adams is stopping by the March MG Madness today to talk about her book The Puppet Spell. You can win an e-copy too!

The Puppet Spell

by Emma Adams

1/2013

Rowanvale Books

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Unlike her rebellious sister Lucinda, fifteen-year-old Lexa prefers to spend her free time playing video games, fighting the forces of evil with her partner-in-crime Marlon. But when Lucinda steals an invisibility potion from their uncle’s storeroom, she unleashes chaos into their lives. Lexa and Marlon find themselves catapulted into a world far more dangerous than any video game, full of misleading illusions, sinister Conjurors and deadly Fey, and threatened by a man with a grudge known as the Puppeteer. Accompanied only by Lexa’s uncle’s unreliable (and rather dangerous) Chimera, Lexa and Marlon must navigate this world to find Lucinda- before they too fall under the spell of the puppet master…

What three words best describe THE PUPPET SPELL?

Fun, imaginative and wacky!

Can you give us your best one sentence pitch to convince readers (especially reluctant readers) why they should give the THE PUPPET SPELL a try?

It’s a fast-paced fantasy adventure for all ages featuring eccentric characters, bizarre spells and an unreliable sidekick who also happens to be a terrifying monster. Convinced? :P

 Grab a copy of THE PUPPET SPELL and answer the following:

Favorite chapter? 

Chapter Six was one of my favourites to write. Crazy conjurors and buildings coming to life – fun!

Favorite page? 

Tough one! Looking at the first chapter, I’m quite fond of Lexa and Marlon’s conversation about zombies on page 15.

Favorite character? 

Has to be the chimera. I enjoy writing characters who refuse to do what they’re supposed to. He’s unreliable, sarcastic and unpredictable – and likes to eat people when their backs are turned. Yep.

Flip to a random page and give us 1-2 sentence teaser:

“I looked back at the bottle. The label read, ‘Instantaneous Invisibility: three doses.’”

What inspired THE PUPPET SPELL? Where did the story idea come from?

I wanted to write a traditional fantasy adventure with a modern twist.  I’d been working on another book series for years but it just wasn’t working out, so it was refreshing to invent a whole new set of characters. The original idea for this was in an old notebook I found in my room. I’d written the beginning of a story about a hidden laboratory a few years back, and I started thinking about how I might finish it. One idea led to another and The Puppet Spell was born!

THE PUPPET SPELL is infused with mythological elements...what are some of your favorite mythological beings?

My all-time favourite has to be dragons. I collect dragon ornaments and someday I’m going to write them into a story! When researching The Puppet Spell, I became fascinated by the idea of chimera, too, as they’re formed of pieces from different mythological creatures and as the legends are so varied I pretty much had free rein to give them whatever abilities I liked!

Why did you decide to write a middle-grade book? What do you love about writing middle-grade?

I like how fun and action-packed it is – after all, the key is not to bore your reader! It means I get to have fun writing it, too. And I get to revisit my childhood self.

Why do you think middle-grade is such a popular and important category of books?

Again, I think it’s because it’s fun. Kids at that age need heroes to root for, and the best MG books have fast-paced storylines and inventive plots.

 What is your all time favorite middle-grade book? Who is your favorite middle-grade hero and heroine?

I’m going to have to be cliché and go with the Harry Potter series…but Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy is a close second! My favourite HP characters are Snape, Sirius and Hermione.

Fill in the blanks:

I'm really awesome at 

multitasking (seriously…I must be the only person I know who can read a book and watch a film at the same time!).

I'm really embarrassed to admit that 

I fall over. A lot. Except it happens so often I don’t even really get embarrassed any more if I face plant in public! I also can’t dance to save my life.

My favorite video game is 

Pokemon HeartGold. Yep, I’m still an unashamed Pokemon nerd at 21!

My favorite place to write 

is at my desk.

The last great book I read was 

the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. Fantastic series.

If you were to create and bake a cupcake inspired by THE PUPPET SPELL what would it look and taste like, and what would you call it?

Very interesting question! I’m picturing a cupcake that’s two-sided – one vanilla, representing the ordinary world, and one chocolate, representing the other world! And rainbow sprinkles on top. I’d call it the Chimera Cupcake! 

Emma Adams

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Emma is a 21-year-old author of fantasy, urban fantasy and paranormal for young adults, from Birmingham, UK. When she isn't reading voraciously, studying, or taking every opportunity to travel, she can be found in front of her writing desk.
Having aspired to be a writer since the age of ten, Emma aims to give life to her (admittedly bizarre) daydreams, through creating weird and wonderful alternative worlds. Her debut novel THE PUPPET SPELL, published in January 2013 by Rowanvale Books, is a fantasy tale for young adults and the young at heart, inspired by her lifelong love of traditional fantasy, mythology, and video games.
When not living the crazy life of an English Literature with Creative Writing student at Lancaster University, Emma reluctantly resides in the attic in her parents' house in Birmingham, writing about demons and other assorted night terrors. She has recently signed a contract to publish her new NA/YA supernatural fantasy series with Curiosity Quills Press. 

Win an ebook copy of The Puppet Spell!

Emma has generously offered up one e-copy of her book to one reader.

DETAILS

-OPEN INT

-will end 3/31

-must be 13+, one main entry per person

-winner will be emailed and must claim prize within 48 hours

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