Giveaways

Wish by Beth Bracken and Kay Fraser

By on August 22, 2013   /   Author Interviews, Giveaways  

Two friends, torn apart. Soli and Lucy argue, and then Lucy disappears, taken by the faeries who live in the forest near their homes. Can Soli save her friend, even if it means facing the biggest dangers she’s ever experienced?  (Facebook,  Facebook Capstone , Capstone)

Wish

 Me: *Waves* Hello ladies! Great to have another writing team on The Files.  What’s the best part about writing middle-grade books?

BETH: The best part is collaborating with my co-author. But I also love the rush I get from writing: I sometimes get lost in it, and it feels really good.

KAY: The best part is that it brings you back to that time period in your life. It gives you the opportunity to get in touch with the tween that lives in your heart no matter the writer’s age. Middle grade is a time when you make huge discoveries about yourself and others, and it’s always great to have the opportunity to write for that audience and entertain them with new ways to look at things they haven’t yet considered.
Me: I love that part, too, Kay!  What is your favorite type of middle-grade book to read?
BETH: My favorite middle grade books always have really strong main characters and clear settings. I don’t really love historical fiction or high fantasy, but prefer books that are rooted in contemporary settings. I think I just connect better to that kind of book.
KAY: I’m a huge J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan fan. I’m always intrigued by fantasy, and the way the writers approach the book’s world building. It’s really fascinating to me.
Me: Oooh. Good answers! I love world building, too. I especially like to see how a character develops in that world, what sort of influence it has on them. What do you like most about your main characters, Soli and Lucy?
BETH: I like that they’re both complicated girls. It’s not as easy as one being popular and one being quiet; they’re both real, with good qualities and bad.
KAY: What I like the most about Lucy and Soli is their bond and understanding of each other. They believe in one another; they understand they can make mistakes; they trust their hearts; they keep strong side by side, showcasing that friendships can move mountains. I believe in those friendships. I still have them, and they mean the world to me. Friends like that exist, and they will change your life. Both girls are extremely relatable, and I identify with both of them, in different levels of their personality. They are just girls, true girls, you see everyday walking down the street, and they are really trying to grow and discover themselves throughout the story.
Me: They sound like characters many middle-grade girls can relate to.  Do you prefer bologna and cheese or peanut butter and jelly?
BETH: I have peanut butter and strawberry jam on an english muffin for breakfast almost every day, so I’ll choose that one. 🙂
KAY: Peanut butter, no jelly, or bologna, no cheese. It’s a cultural thing. We Argentineans are odd. LOL!
Me: I guess I can’t have lunch with either of you. I’m allergic to nuts and meat! Maybe we can find a nice salad to munch on 🙂 Thanks for coming to MUF today, ladies!
Wish authors
Kay Fraser and Beth Bracken are a designer-editor team in Minnesota. Kay is from Buenos Aires. She left home at eighteen and moved to North Dakota — basically the exact opposite of Argentina. These days, she designs books, writes, makes tea for her husband, and drives her daughters to their dance lessons. Beth lives in a light-filled house with her husband and their son, Sam. She spends her time editing books, reading, daydreaming, and rearranging her furniture. Kay and Beth both love dark chocolate, Buffy, and tea.
Would you like to win a copy of WISH? Then just fill out the rafflecopter form below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Amie Borst is the co-author of Cinderskella, a twisted fairy tale. She writes with her middle-grade daughter, Bethanie, and they’re excited about their debut on October 26th, 2013. You can find them both on facebook.
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Texting the Underworld…

By on August 16, 2013   /   Giveaways  

Booraem_Texting the Underworld

…is the terrific title of Ellen Booraem’s new middle grade, on shelves as of yesterday.  With a starred review from Kirkus, it’s sure to win even more fans for the author of the very popular “Small Persons with Wings.”

Here’s Ellen’s description of the new book:

Perpetual scaredy-cat Conor O’Neill has the fright of his life when a banshee named Ashling shows up in his bedroom. Ashling is—as all banshees are—a harbinger of death, and she’s sure someone in Conor’s family is about to require her services. But she’s new at this banshee business, and first she insists on going to middle school.

Even as Conor desperately tries to hide her identity from his classmates and teachers, he realizes there’s no way to avoid paying a visit to the underworld if he wants to keep his family safe.

Ellen began her writing life as a journalist. A fiction writing workshop changed everything.  Here’s what she has to say about the writing process:

Writing is not fun. It is, as I feared, hard work. Remember when you had a loose tooth and when you pressed it the pain felt good and you couldn’t stop doing it? That’s what writing is like. It’s easy to dread and even easier to put off, but once you’re sitting down at the keyboard it’s …well, a great time.

Ellen’s giving away two copies of “Texting”. To be eligible, leave a comment below–only readers in the U.S and Canada, please. You can also follow Ellen on her blog at http://ellenbooraem.blogspot.com/2013/08/here-comes-blog-tour.html

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Lu Lu in LaLa Land by Elisabeth Wolf

By on August 6, 2013   /   Author Interviews, Giveaways  

Lights! Camera! ACTION!

Lulu in LA LA Land

A screenplay by Lulu Harrison 

Scene 1: 

ZOOM IN on Hollywood mega stars LINC and FIONA HARRISON singing happy birthday to their daughter LULU. Lulu blows out the candles, and they all gather for a group hug— 

CUT! 

If only real life were like the movies. Instead, Lulu Harrison’s massively important eleventh birthday is just three weeks away—and her parents still haven’t RSVPed! 

Lulu’s not like the rest of her glamorous Hollywood family. She likes tamales and they like tofu. She likes gardening and they like grooming. But all she wants for her birthday is for her whole family to be there. Together. So this year she’s planning a super fabulous SPA-tacular party. But what if trying to fit in leaves Lulu feeling even more like she was cast in the wrong family?

LuLu in LaLa Land

Me: Welcome Elisabeth! So glad to have you join us here on The Mixed-Up Files.  I love that LuLu is in a play format! What inspired you to write the book this way?

Elisabeth: When my daughter, Emmeline, was ten, she visited the TV set of Sonny with a Chance, watched the taping, and met the actors. The director gave her a copy of the teleplay that was just shot. Afterward, rather than chat about the young actors or cool set, Emmeline read and re-read that script.  Prying the soon dog-eared pages from her hands night after night, I decided how to write my book, Lulu in LA LA Land.   Why not have Lulu tell her story of life in Los Angeles in a screenplay format?  I decided to take the complaint that “kids don’t read enough because they watch too many television shows and movies” and turn it upside down.  Why not have kids read what a movie looks like before it’s shot?  Read what the actors read? So, I guess my “inspiration” came from TV!

Me:  What a great way to get kids interested in reading! Do you think LuLu is at all like you?

Elisabeth:  Yes! I am quite Lulu.  Like my main character, I grew up in Los Angeles and didn’t fit into the style and fashion centric universe.  I rode an old orange bicycle to school.  Well, that meant I always had to wear sensible outfits.  No heels or wedges.  No clingy clothing or fancy hair-dos. I certainly couldn’t juggle any designer purse!  Like Lulu’s parents, my mother and father were always busy.  I wished they would spend more time with me but I didn’t know how to ask them.   I’ve always been crazy in love with my dogs and interested in interesting people.   Watching birds and worrying about trash washing into the oceans are traits I was born with – like my brown hair and eyes.  Lulu, my character, however, is braver than I ever was growing up. I would only daydream about doing things Lulu does.

Me: I think as writers we’re allowed to develop characters that are braver than we are. It’s a way of showing a side of us we wish we could be. What would LuLu do if she was faced with choosing between chocolate or bacon?

Elisabeth:  Easy.  CHOCOLATE!  Examples of Lulu’s sweet tooth are spread throughout the book.  She’s crazy for cupcakes and dessert in all its glory!

Me: I wonder if this is another trait that you and LuLu share.  🙂 One last question…would you rather dance with a skeleton or eat dinner with a zombie?

Elisabeth:  Punch my dance card with “skeleton.”  Would love that.  Keeping the beat like they’ve got an inner rhythm, drummers are so cool.   Dancing with a skeleton could kinda be like dancing with a drummer. Their rattling limbs could be awesome percussion.  Perfect partner.

Me: Good choice! Thanks for the fun interview, Elisabeth!

 

Elisabeth Wolf

Elisabeth Wolf is a bit Lulu. She lives in Los Angeles where she grows fruits, vegetables, and native flowers. Every so often, she loves a good shopping trip and pedicure. Lulu in LA LA Land is her first book. She can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

Would you like to win a copy of this fun book? Just fill out the rafflecopter form below and you’re entered!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Amie Borst would dance with a skeleton, too. After all, her main character is one! Cinderskella, (co-authored by her middle-grade daughter) debuts October 2013! You can find Amie on her blog and on facebook.

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