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Get Lucky!

By on July 22, 2014   /   Giveaways  

lucky meCindy Callaghan has visited The Mixed Up Files before, and she’s back with her newest bit of MG fun.

From Indiebound:

After breaking a chain letter, can superstitious Megan find a way to turn her luck around?
Meghan McGlinchey is the most superstitious girl in her family–and probably in the entire state of Delaware. When she receives a chain letter from a stranger in Ireland, Meghan immediately passes it on, taking only a tiny shortcut in the directions.
But after a disastrous day, made complete by losing the election for class president and embarrassing herself in front of the entire school, Meghan realizes that tiny shortcut was a big mistake. Thankfully, her family was already headed to Ireland on spring break, and Meghan makes it her mission to find the original sender and break her extremely unlucky streak.
With the help of an eccentric cast of characters–and one very cute Irish boy–can Meghan figure out a way to stop her bad luck? Or is she cursed forever?

***

Amie:  Tell us a little about your inspiration for LUCKY ME.

Cindy:  Who doesn’t love an old fashioned curse?  Mixed with a bizarre family and the Irish countryside complete with thatched cottages and gothic castles…it’s like all my favorite things together in one story.  Truthfully, sometimes I have a story in my head and I write it.  In this case I had Meghan in my head:  a superstitious girl in a rigid environment.  I wrote her story and those were the places she took me.  It’s really all about Meghan. 

Amie: I love when characters do that!  So, just between you, me and all our readers here at MUF, do you feel as though you have the luck o’the Irish?

Cindy: I’m actually not Irish in my blood, but I fell in love with Ireland when I was there, except the smell of peat…yuck!  I’m not particularly superstitious, but I’m known to have more than a handful of good luck charms.  It’s the kind of token that makes you feel good.  For example, a bracelet I got on a special trip with my daughter.  A little figurine that I toss in my pocket some days, just in case I need its luck.  Maybe if I believe it’s lucky, it is. 

Amie:  So. Jealous. *repeats chant “someday I will visit Ireland!”* We’re passionate about middle-grade books here at MUF, but why are you inspired to write for this age group?

Cindy:  Maybe I’m still middle-grade at heart.  Seriously, a lot about me is totally immature.  My heart just seems to resonate to stories about tweens.  It’s an awesome time: old enough to do lots of fun stuff, but not too old as to have adult responsibilities (bleck, who wants that?)

Amie: Last question. It’s vital to the survival of humankind, so choose carefully. Corned beef and hash? Or bangers and mash?  

Cindy: CB & H!!

Amie: *presses buzzer* Wrong. The correct answer was chocolate. We’ve all become zombies. The apocalypse has begun and now we know it was all because of corned beef and cabbage!

Cindy Callaghan is the author of the middle-grade novels Just Add Magic (2010) and 2013’s Lost in London (Simon & Schuster). She is a full-time writer, animal advocate, and supermom. A native of New Jersey, Cindy lives, works, and writes in Wilmington, Delaware, with her family and numerous rescued pets. She loves hearing from fans, speaking at schools and conferences, and zip-lining.

You can visit Cindy at: Facebook, Website &Twitter

Meanwhile, leave a comment below for a chance to get lucky and win a copy of her new book!

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Kami Kinard Interview and Giveaway!

By on May 12, 2014   /   Author Interviews, Giveaways  

Welcome Kami Kinard back to the Mixed-up Files!

Kami was last here in 2012 to discuss her debut, The Boy Project, which follows Kara McAllister’s quest to find a boyfriend following scientific principles. Kara is successful *spoiler alert* but finding a boyfriend isn’t necessarily the end of the story – for that, you have to find the right boyfriend.

FC9780545575867Enter The Boy Problem. New this spring, Kami’s latest MG novel puts Kara’s bff, Tabitha Reddy, in the staring role as she looks for true love using symbols, predictions, math equations, and… cupcakes!

Thanks for joining us, Kami. First of all, why did you choose to write the second book from Tabby’s perspective instead of Kara’s?

It’s great to be here, thanks!

I just felt like Kara’s story had come full circle. I didn’t think it’d be very believable for her to start another wacky project to find a boyfriend. Somehow, it seemed like that would take away from her credibility in book one. But it was important to my editor and I that Kara still have a big role in the second book.

Which was easier to write – The Boy Project or The Boy Problem?

It was much easier to write my first book, The Boy Project because I didn’t have any pre-set limits.  Usually a writer can create characters and settings that will help their plots move forward, but a lot of the characters and settings for The Boy Problem were already established! Puzzling in pieces of a new story with an old one can get pretty complicated.

In addition to some new boys, The Boy Project introduced a strong new secondary character, Priyanka, who successfully befriends both Kara and Tabby without creating a problematic triangle. Pri is interesting, well-developed, and likeable.  Any chance she’ll be narrating the next book?

Head Shots from Carpe Diem 003When I wrote my first novel, I thought it would be a stand-alone novel, so I didn’t really set things up for a second novel. I didn’t want to make that same mistake again. In Priyanka, I tried to create a unique character we’d want to spend more time with given the chance. So yes, I hope we get that chance to hear her narrate her own story!

Me too! Any advice or suggestions for authors considering giving a secondary character in one of their books a starring role in the follow-up?

Yes! I have given this a lot of thought. Plan for the future, even if you don’t think you need to! You may not anticipate your book being part of a series, but are you really going to turn your publisher down if offered a contract for another book? Of course not! Here are some ways for you to leave room for a second book.

1. Think about the calendar. When will your story take place? I regretted setting The Boy Project at the end of the school year. This forced the next book to fall in the next year, so teachers changed, when it would have been nice to keep those established characters. (You might notice that The Boy Problem starts on the first day of school. I’m trainable!)

2. Think about the calendar. Yes, I know I just said this, but I want you to think about it in a new way. How many days, weeks, or months will it take for the action to take place in your book? Some middle grade novels have fast moving plots that cover only a few days or weeks. These leave plenty of room for other books to follow with the same characters in the same school year. Smart.

3. Think about the calendar. Is this getting old? Hopefully not, because, you have to do a lot of thinking about this or you will write yourself into a corner in a hurry.  What are your characters’ birthdays? How old will they be at the end of the story? What grade are they in? You don’t want your beloved characters to age out of the action too soon. I had intended for Kara, the main character of my first novel to be in eighth grade. But my publisher asked me to move her down to seventh. Thank goodness.

4. Develop story-worthy secondary characters. (I regretted not giving Kara a younger sister or brother in The Boy Project.) Because I needed to use a character my readers were familiar with for the second book, so I really only left myself one choice. I love the way Tabbi evolved into a main character for The Boy Problem, but if I had planned ahead, I would have set her up for this better.

Great advice, Kami!  Thanks for returning to the Mixed-Up Files.  Good luck with The Boy Problem!

Thanks so much for interviewing me. It’s exciting to have another book on the shelves and I appreciate your being part of the celebration!

To find out more visit Kami’s website and cool blog, Nerdy Chicks Rule.  You can also enter to win a hard cover edition of The Boy Project by following the Rafflecopter widget below. The winner will be announced on Thursday!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Yolanda Ridge is the author of Trouble in the Trees (Orca Book Publishers, 2011) and Road Block (Orca Book Publishers, 2012), Both stories follow irrepressible, rule bending Brianna Bridges – but her neighbour’s been begging for a book of his own!

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