Blog Tour: Seriously Wicked by Tina Connolly (Author Interview + Giveaway)

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Hey everyone! I’m so, so excited to be on the blog tour for Tina Connolly’s upcoming release, Seriously Wicked (May 5, 2015, Tor Teen). This book looks seriously, insanely amazing and I’m so excited to have Tina on my blog for an interview! First, here’s more information about the book:

SERIOUSLY WICKED coverAbout the Book
Title: SERIOUSLY WICKED
Author: Tina Connolly
Pub. Date: May 5, 2015
Publisher: Tor Teen
Pages: 384
Formats: Hardcover, eBook

The only thing worse than being a witch is living with one.

Camellia’s adopted mother wants Cam to grow up to be just like her. Problem is, Mom’s a seriously wicked witch.

Cam’s used to stopping the witch’s crazy schemes for world domination. But when the witch summons a demon, he gets loose—and into Devon, the cute new boy at school.

Now Cam’s suddenly got bigger problems than passing Algebra. Her friends are getting zombiefied. Their dragon is tired of hiding in the RV garage. For being a shy boy-band boy, Devon is sure kissing a bunch of girls. And a phoenix hidden in the school is going to explode on the night of the Halloween Dance.

To stop the demon before he destroys Devon’s soul, Cam might have to try a spell of her own. But if she’s willing to work spells like the witch…will that mean she’s wicked too?

Goodreads

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

And now here’s the interview! Enjoy!

Question: Seriously Wicked will be out very soon! How do you feel?
Answer: Seriously Excited! (Hey, someone had to say it!)

Question: Looking back on the last few months, what was the hardest part of the publishing process? The easiest? Most nerve-wracking?
Answer: As far as the publishing process goes, the hardest and most nerve-wracking part on every book is when I finally get it in good enough shape to turn it into my editor and hold my breath that she likes it! The easiest and best part is seeing the cover art. Seriously (I use that word too much!), Tor has an amazing art department, and they have knocked it out of the park with all four of my books. I’ve been blown away every time I get to see a new cover.

Question: What do you think you’ll do when you see your book in bookstores for the first time?
Answer: Take pictures! The thrill never gets old. Plus, this time my book will be in a new section – as a long-time reader of YA and MG I am super stoked to have a book in those aisles.

Question: Describe your book in ten words or less. Go!
Answer: Witch Girl hearts Demon Boy. Seriously Wicked mom. Garage-Dragon.

Question: Seriously Wicked sounds AMAZING. Where’d the idea come from?
Answer: Thank you! I was sitting down to write one day and the idea for this modern Rapunzel-ish story about a high school girl who lives with a *seriously wicked* witch just jumped into my head. The whole thing spilled out very quickly.

Question: Seriously Wicked has an awesome title and cover! Did you come up with the title? Without spoilers, can you explain what part(s) of the story the cover is depicting?
Answer: Yes! I did come up with the title. So far I’ve titled all my four published books… we’ll see how long that trend continues!

Seriously Wicked wasn’t the first title I came up with, though. Looooong ago when I was writing the zeroth draft, the very first working title was How I Stopped The Witch Who Ate Manhattan. (Please note that the witch does not, in fact, eat Manhattan. Or even attempt to eat it. That’s why they call it a working title. ;) Once I reached the end and knew what the book was about, I retitled it Witch Girl Hearts Demon Boy. It stayed that way for quite awhile. Then finally, when I was writing my pitch for the completed book, I wrote the opening hook:

Camellia’s adopted mother wants Cam to grow up to be just like her. Problem is, Mom’s a seriously wicked witch.

And “Seriously Wicked” just leaped out at me.

As to the cover – I absolutely LOVE the cover! It is so much fun. It shows Cam in her bedroom studying spellbooks. Spells are written like some horrible combination of math problems, logic puzzles, and bad puns, so Cam will have a lot of work to do if she wants to figure one out.

Question: Since Seriously Wicked features a wicked witch, can you tell us who your favorite wicked witch of all time is? Why? Would you consider writing a retelling that features your favorite wicked witch?
Answer: One of my favorite wicked witches is definitely Elphaba from Wicked – I love what Gregory Maguire did with her in retelling her story. And I do love retellings where you see the other side of the evil person you thought you knew! Even though I love all the Oz books (I was obsessed with both L. Frank Baum and Ruth Plumly Thompson’s stories as a kid) I think Maguire has done a definitively good retelling, so I’m unlikely to visit Oz anytime soon. :)

While we’re on that subject, one of my favorite good witches is cranky Eglantyne Price, as played by Angela Lansbury in Bedknobs and Broomsticks. I love that movie to pieces.

Question: According to your bio, you used to do a lot of theatre. How did that influence your writing, if at all?
Answer: Oh, it definitely does! One, in that I like writing dialogue. But two, in that what I love about both theatre and writing is getting into a character’s head. I really feel for all my side characters, and it’s hard putting only a little of what I know about their backstories and hopes and dreams into the story, and making the rest of them stay off stage!

Question: Are you working on anything new?
Answer: I am working on the next two Seriously books AND a Seriously story! It’s going to be all Seriously, all the time around here for the next year. They are all stand-alone adventures (you can’t keep a megalomaniac witch down, you know! Sarmine always has a new plan to take over the world, and Cam always has to stop her…)

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And now for the giveaway! 5 winners will receive a finished copy of SERIOUSLY WICKED! US Only. To enter, complete the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Tina_Connolly-author-headshot2-bwAbout the Author
 
Tina Connolly is the author of the Ironskin trilogy from Tor Books, and the Seriously Wicked series, from Tor Teen. Ironskin, her first fantasy novel, was a Nebula finalist. Her stories have appeared in Women Destroy SF, Lightspeed, Tor.com, Strange Horizons, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and many more. Her narrations have appeared in audiobooks and podcasts including Podcastle, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, John Joseph Adams’ The End is Nigh series, and more. She runs the Parsec-winning flash fiction podcast Toasted Cake.

She is originally from Lawrence, Kansas, but she now lives with her family in Portland, Oregon, where it is nice and green and wet. Photo credit Caroline M. Yoachim.

Website | Twitter | Tumblr

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Tour Schedule

Week One:
4/27/2015 – Pandora’s Books – Interview
4/28/2015 – Bookfever – Review
4/29/2015 – On Starships and Dragonwings – Guest Post
4/30/2015 – GenGen’s Book Blog – Review
5/1/2015 – Bookhounds ya – Interview

Week Two:
5/4/2015 – The Midnight Society – Review
5/5/2015 – Alice Marvels – Guest Post
5/6/2015 – Book Briefs – Review
5/7/2015 – Bittersweet Enchantment – Interview
5/8/2015 – Stories & Sweeties – Review

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