Q. What inspired you for Dove Arising?
A. Well, I was kind of a worry wort about the state of the planet, always wondering about the what it means politically. How would things turn out and such and basically decided I wanted to move everyone to the moon. My heroine was of the quiet, introverted type instead of the butt-kicking one. My mom was always more quiet and sort, but always thinking too.
Q. Why the moon?
A. There is a lot of mythology about the moon in Chinese culture. There's a lot of folklore centering around it. So I basically decided to mix the moon and earth and delve into their politics!
Q. How many books do you plan to write for this series?
A. It's a trilogy, so three.
Q. What's next?
A. After I finish the trilogy, I've started working on a fantasy series. It'll be for a more mature YA crowd, so kind of like New Adult, though less heavy on the romance scheme of things.
Q. What was your road to publication like? How did your pitch go?
A. I decided to write a story when I was a senior in high school and it took me about a month to write. And I talked to a teacher of mine who happened to be an agent as well. I asked him if he would mind looking over it and telling me what he thought. And shortly thereafter, he basically said 'let's do this!' It took a year of edits to get it ready for pitching to publishers and Penguin picked it up right away!
Q. What are some of your favorite reads?
A. Villette by Charlotte Bronte; the protagonist has some of the similar traits as mine own. And is what helped to inspire my own protagonist. Another is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Q. What do you like to do in your free time?
A. I do taekwondo and just got my black stripe. I also like incorporating it in my books as well.
Q. Comic books, yes or no? Marvel of DC?
A. Definitely more of a Marvel fan! I love the Netflix series Jessica Jones and Daredevil!
Q. Favorite ice cream flavor or other dessert?
A. Well, I'm lactose intolerant, so no ice cream. But my favorite dessert is a Chinese dish called Ma Quiu. It's a red bean pasted coated in squishy rice and sesame seeds and it's all fried!
I always love attending signings! Especially local ones and just hearing the authors talk! It's rare that I have a question to ask, because I'm just a listen and absorb kind of girl! I love hearing about their journeys to publication though! It's always inspiring for me since I'm in the struggling querying stage, though I've stalled at the moment! They're always a delight to listen to, whoever I'm seeing in person! And of course I struggle to tame my inner fangirl! But it's all good fun!
And now for the giveaway!! I have a SIGNED copy of Dove Arising by Karen Bao, plus a SIGNED copy of Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke (with the slightly creased cover in the corner) and a SIGNED poster by all the authors!!
Giveaway is US only, so sorry!! (but if you use a US address where someone else can get the book to you, that totally works too!) Just enter the rafflecopter and you're good to go!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I have not but it sounds like a book I would read.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview!! And sounds like the tour was really fun.
ReplyDeleteNot yet but it sounds really good! Excited for both books, thanks for the chance! Also, lactose intolerant, that sucks! :/
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Dove Arising yet, but both of these books are high on my wish list!
ReplyDeleteSo happy you got to go to one of the tour stop! Looks like a blast!!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Dove Arising but I've heard good things about it :)
I haven't read it yet but I went to their signing in St Paul and it's now on my need to read list!
ReplyDeleteI was at this event. Wasn't it amazing? I still need to read almost all of the books but I still had a lot of fun. The author's really seemed to be having fun as well. Great post!
ReplyDeleteCarole @ Carole's Random Life