Shattered Blog Tour {Interview and Giveaway}

I'm excited to have the Shattered Blog Tour stopping by today with an interview with author Kathi Baron and a giveaway...

Shattered

by Kathi Baron

9/1/09

Westside Books

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Purchase: Amazon / B&N

Teen violin prodigy Cassie has been tiptoeing around her father, whose moods have become increasingly explosive.After he destroys her beloved and valuable violin in a sudden rage, Cassie, shocked, runs away, eventually seeking refuge in a homeless shelter.She later learns that her father, a former violinist, was physically beaten as a child by her grandfather, a painful secret he's kept hidden from his family, and the cause of his violent outbursts. With all of their lives shattered in some way, Cassie's family must struggle to repair their broken relationships.As Cassie moves forward, she ultimately finds a way to help others, having developed compassion through her own painful experiences. Written in lyrical prose, SHATTERED tells the moving story of how one girl finds inner strength through music.

What three words best describe SHATTERED?

Lyrical, emotional, hopeful

Can you give us your best one sentence pitch to convince readers (especially reluctant readers) to give SHATTERED a try? 

Cassie unravels a painful family violin secret after her father breaks her beloved and valuable violin, forcing her to decide if she’ll ever play again.

Grab a copy of SHATTERED and answer the following: 

Favorite chapter?

Chapter 22

Favorite page?

Page 14

Favorite character?

Cassie! She’s my girl. 

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

“He grabs my violin by the neck and heaves it. In slow motion, it hits the kitchen window, and resonates with a pathetic, deep percussive sound.”

Where did the inspiration for SHATTERED come from? What do you hope readers will walk away with from this book? 

Years ago, I worked with abused teens. They shared their trauma with me, but also their capacity for transformation, which was truly inspiring. I wanted to write a novel to pay tribute to that kind of resilience. Also, I’m a big fan of the violinist from the Dixie Chicks, Martie Maguire, and thought it would be fun to do a story about a teen violinist. I hope readers walk away inspired to do what they love, no matter what. 

Since music is such an important aspect of SHATTERED, did it play a big role in your writing process? Are there any songs that you would call the SHATTERED's theme song? 

I listened to a lot of different types of violin music during the writing of the book. I was trying to figure out what it was like to play the violin and how to write about it, since I’ve never played a violin. As a theme song for SHATTERED, I think of HERE COMES THE SUN, by the Beatles, as arranged and recorded by the violinist Tracy Silverman. It’s gorgeous and fits the hopeful tone I tried to give the book. 

If you could “borrow” any character from any medium (book/tv/movies/etc) to write about, who would you choose? 

I’d really enjoy “borrowing” Robert B. Parker’s private investigator, Spenser. I’m a big fan of the author and of this character and have read every mystery in his series. It would be fun to have a teen character apprentice with Spenser on a case.

If you could transport any book character into the real world for just one day, who would you pick and what would you do with them? 

THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by Jandy Nelson comes to mind. I’d spend the day with the main character, Lennie Walker, talking poetry, music and books. 

What's one of your favorite book quotes (from any book)? Why do you love it and/or what does it mean to you? 

“So now live for real, Craig. Live. Live. Live. Live.Live.”
The quote is from the ending of Ned Vizzini’s IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY. The main character, Craig, has just left the psychiatric hospital after being treated for Depression. He was suicidal but now he’s choosing to live (which is why I love the quote). When I’m not writing, I work as an Occupational Therapist in an outpatient psychiatric hospital and the focus of my work is to help people discover how to love their lives through doing meaningful things. When they do, it’s a remarkable moment!

Fill in the blanks: 

I'm really awesome at ___

being an Occupational Therapist.

I'm really embarrassed to admit that ___

In 2007, I watched 152 FULL baseball games on TV.

The last great book I read was ___

Chad Harbach’s, THE ART OF FIELDING.

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

The cupcake would be a chocolate chip cookie batter, since Cassie loves chocolate chip cookies. It would have white frosting on it with black lines across it horizontally (to look like a page of musical composition paper) and it would have a piece of chocolate carved into the shape of a musical note stuck into the frosting at an angle. I would call it Calliope, also the name of Cassie’s cat, which is named after the Greek goddess/muse of epic poetry.

Kathi Baron

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

(This giveaway prize has been changed to one ebook copy, open INT)

Win an e-copy of Shattered!

Thanks to Kathi and JKS Communications, I have one ebook copy to give away.

DETAILS

-INT

-will end 6/23

-there will be one winner

-must be 13+, one free/main entry per person

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

-Word Spelunking is not responsible for lost, stolen, or damaged prizes in the mail

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