That Time I Joined The Circus Blog Tour: Interview and Swag Giveaway

I'm happy to have the That Time I Joined The Circus Blog Tour stopping by today with my interview with J.J. Howard! You can also win a swag pack from me below! Be sure to check out the full tour schedule.

by J.J. Howard

4/1/13

Point

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Purchase: Amazon / B&N 

Lexi Ryan just ran away to join the circus, but not on purpose.A music-obsessed, slightly snarky New York City girl, Lexi is on her own. After making a huge mistake--and facing a terrible tragedy--Lexi has no choice but to track down her long-absent mother. Rumor has it that Lexi's mom is somewhere in Florida with a traveling circus.
When Lexi arrives at her new, three-ring reality, her mom isn't there . . . but her destiny might be. Surrounded by tigers, elephants, and trapeze artists, Lexi finds some surprising friends and an even more surprising chance at true love. She even lucks into a spot as the circus's fortune teller, reading tarot cards and making predictions.
But then Lexi's ex-best friend from home shows up, and suddenly it's Lexi's own future that's thrown into question.
With humor, wisdom, and a dazzlingly fresh voice, this debut reminds us of the magic of circus tents, city lights, first kisses, and the importance of an excellent playlist.

What three words best describe THAT TIME I JOINED THE CIRCUS?

I’m sticking with circus, journey, and snark. But I’d really like to add “with a really great soundtrack” to that list.

Give us your best one sentence pitch to convince readers (especially reluctant readers) to give THAT TIME I JOINED THE CIRCUS a try?

Imagine that in one day your entire life fell apart. And then less than three days later you found yourself a thousand miles away from home, cleaning up after an elephant. That’s what happens to Lexi—and her life just keeps on getting interesting even after the elephant!

Grab a copy of THAT TIME I JOINED THE CIRCUS and answer the following:

Favorite chapter? 

Chapter 22: “Happy Freaking Holidays”

Favorite page? 

97  in the ARC...I love the (super long) chapter title, love the song epigraph, and I love Nick, who shows up on page 97 ;)

Favorite character? 

This is so hard! I’ll go with Jamie, because he just sort of showed up and became this really funny character who even I didn’t expect.

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

There are a lot of reasons why everyone in the known universe has a boyfriend except for me. I can list the top five on command, just in case anyone’s ever interested...

On your blog you created a playlist for THAT TIME I JOINED THE CIRCUS with some really awesome songs...was music a huge influence when writing this book? Is there one song in particular that would be the book's theme song?

I absolutely cannot write without music. I make a playlist for every project, and I add to it as I keep writing.
The book’s theme song: awesome question! I make movie trailers in my head all the time—so of course I’ve made one for CIRCUS. The song came out after I was finished writing, but I think “Ho Hey” by the Lumineers would be perfect.

Your character Lexi runs away to the circus (and who hasn't wanted to do that?!)...if you joined the circus, what job would you want? What's your favorite circus act?

I am a person of limited abilities. I can write, correct your grammar, cook, and do arts and crafts. I think that list would make me either the person who designs the posters and publicity and stuff, or the cook.  

Lexi works as a fortune teller in the circus...let's say you seek Lexi for fortune telling advice: what do you ask her?

Will CIRCUS be an awesome movie someday? Although actually I can see it as a TV show. What could be better than a circus setting every week? You would never run out of stories.

I'm a huge T.V. Junkie so I gotta ask: what are some of your fave shows? Do you belong to any tv fandoms?

Follow me on Tumblr and you’ll see I have been known to fangirl! My all-time favorites are Buffy, Firefly, Roswell, and Veronica Mars. My current favorites are Doctor Who and The Vampire Diaries.

Fill in the blanks:

I'm really awesome at 

grammar

I'm really embarrassed to admit 

I like grammar.

My first literary crush (author or character) was:

a tie between Mr. Rochester and Heathcliff.

The last great book I read was:

 I just re-read Wide Sargasso Sea with my AP Lit class. If, like me, you love Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre, probably don’t read it. But it’s a brilliant book.

The most played song on my iPOD is 

my current favorite song is “Headlights” by Morning Parade. But all-time most played would be a tie between my two favorites: “Hay Fever” by the Trashcan Sinatras and “True Faith” by New Order. Like Lexi, I like music a lot of people have never heard of ;)

If you were to create and bake a cupcake inspired by THAT TIME I JOINED THE CIRCUS what would it look and taste like, and what would you call it?

I like vanilla more than chocolate—so it’s a yellow cupcake with confetti inside (festive for circus!). And then it’s got a buttercream frosting with a stripe of salted caramel (because Lexi is mostly sweet with a little sarcasm thrown in). I’ll call it the Circus Surprise.Now I sort of want a cupcake.

J.J. Howard
Site / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook
J.J. Howard is wearing headphones right now, most likely. She grew up in York, Pennsylvania, obsessed with music, movies, television, and pop culture. You can call her if you ever need to phone a friend for trivia on any of the above topics, but don’t ask about sports, because she is hopeless at those (along with math). 
J.J. graduated from Dickinson College with a BA in English and Tiffin University with an MH in Humanities. She has been some of her students’ favorite English teacher for a quite a few years (she even has a mug somewhere to prove it). THAT TIME I JOINED THE CIRCUS is her first young adult novel. 

Win a That Time I Joined The Circus

swag pack!!!

YOU GET:

-Signed bookplate

-Signed bookmark

-Sticker

To enter simply leave a comment on this post answering the following:

IF YOU WERE TO JOIN THE CIRCUS WHAT JOB WOULD YOU WANT??

Also leave an email address I can contact you at.

OPEN INT

Ends 4/14 at 3pm EST

Winner will be chosen at random

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED