GCC Presents Amanda Ashby and FAIRY BAD DAY!
I'm excited to welcome another author from the Girlfriends Cyber Circuit, Amanda Ashby! Amanda's latest novel FAIRY BAD DAY is out from Puffin/Speak this week.
About the book:
It’s going to be a fairy bad day
First, my rightful designation of dragon slayer is STOLEN right out from under me by Curtis Green. Sure, he’s really cute, but that doesn’t give him an excuse.
On top of that, I am assigned to slay fairies. I know what you’re thinking-how hard could it be, right? Wrong! These menacing beasts with their tiny hipster clothes and mocking sarcasm love taunting me. And they won’t STOP!
But the thing that tops my list of stuff to ruin my day? That would be the GIANT KILLER FAIRY that I have to hunt down and slay because I am the only one who can see it. There is someone who can help me. Unfortunately…it’s Curtis.
About Amanda:
Amanda Ashby was born in Australia, and has spent the last fifteen years dividing her time between England and New Zealand before finally deciding that to move home. When she's not moving country, she likes to write books (okay, she also likes to eat chocolate, watch television and sit around doing not much, but let's just keep that amongst ourselves, shall we?)
She has a degree in English and Journalism from the University of Queensland and is married with two children. As well as writing, she works part-time at the children/teen desk of her local library, which basically means that someone pays her to talk about books. Her debut book, You Had Me at Halo was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice award, and her first young adult book Zombie Queen of Newbury High was listed by the New York Public Library's Stuff for the Teen Age 2010.
A short interview with Amanda:
1. Tell me about your book in seven words or less.
Funny, cute and full of skittles!
2. Other than your main character, who's a favorite character of yours in your novel and why?
I have some little fairies in the book that spend most of the time making Emma’s life hell and they were lots of fun to write. I tend to get a bit carried away with secondary characters and these guys are the perfect example. All they do is mock people, hang out at the mall and moon people!!!!
3. What's one piece of writing advice you would give to aspiring authors?
If you’re writing for publication then you need to keep the faith and believe in yourself. This is a tough business that is full of rejection and if you don’t have that little kernel deep down inside to push you through, it can be hard going.
4. What did you write when you were a teen? Did you journal? Write poetry? Write overly literary or emotional stories? Or avoid writing altogether?
I didn’t do any private writing at all, however I was always good at creative writing in school and the more people liked what I wrote, the more over the top I became with my writing. I then went to college and studied English and Journalism (which was a sad disappointment when I realized that I had to tell the truth and we weren’t allowed to make things up!). But it wasn’t until I was in my mid-twenties that I realized I wanted to actually write books!
5. What's the last book you read that you really loved?
Eon by Alison Goodman. She’s an Australian author but the book is out in the US now and it is extraordinary. It’s the story of a young girl who has to disguise herself as a boy to try and become a dragon warrior.
What people are saying:
"Teens with a taste for the paranormal school story and a tolerance for raucous humor will be involved with and amused by this romantic fantasy. The exciting plot, humor throughout-often provided by the little fairies-and relatively innocent romance between characters will grab readers and keep them involved. " Kirkus Reviews
"In a fun mashup of the modern and the magical, Ashby (Zombie Queen of Newbury High) creates nicely developed characters and supports them with strong plotting and zippy writing. Laced with humor, danger, and romance, this book will have readers smiling all the way to the last page." Publisher's Weekly
“Great fairy fun from page one! If Buffy and Harry Potter got together and threw a magical slayer party, it would be the world Amanda Ashby created in Fairy Bad Day. With plenty of laugh-out-loud humor, emotional depth, and cute boy romance, reading this book will guarantee your day is fairy awesome.” Tera Lynn Childs, award-winning author of Oh. My. Gods. and Forgive My Fins
"Fairy Bad Day is fairy awesome supernatural slaying fun." Stacey Jay author of You are So Undead to Me and Undead Much
"I really liked that no matter how mad Emma wanted to be at Curtis, she just couldn't stay mad-not with those beautiful brown eyes and that lopsided grin. I loved the cover design, it really drew me in. This was a very good book and I would highly recommend it."- School Library Journal Vanessa, age 12
Want to find out more about Fairy Bad Day?
http://www.amandaashby.com
http://www.amandaashby.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/#!/amandaashby/
About the book:
It’s going to be a fairy bad day
First, my rightful designation of dragon slayer is STOLEN right out from under me by Curtis Green. Sure, he’s really cute, but that doesn’t give him an excuse.
On top of that, I am assigned to slay fairies. I know what you’re thinking-how hard could it be, right? Wrong! These menacing beasts with their tiny hipster clothes and mocking sarcasm love taunting me. And they won’t STOP!
But the thing that tops my list of stuff to ruin my day? That would be the GIANT KILLER FAIRY that I have to hunt down and slay because I am the only one who can see it. There is someone who can help me. Unfortunately…it’s Curtis.
About Amanda:
Amanda Ashby was born in Australia, and has spent the last fifteen years dividing her time between England and New Zealand before finally deciding that to move home. When she's not moving country, she likes to write books (okay, she also likes to eat chocolate, watch television and sit around doing not much, but let's just keep that amongst ourselves, shall we?)
She has a degree in English and Journalism from the University of Queensland and is married with two children. As well as writing, she works part-time at the children/teen desk of her local library, which basically means that someone pays her to talk about books. Her debut book, You Had Me at Halo was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice award, and her first young adult book Zombie Queen of Newbury High was listed by the New York Public Library's Stuff for the Teen Age 2010.
A short interview with Amanda:
1. Tell me about your book in seven words or less.
Funny, cute and full of skittles!
2. Other than your main character, who's a favorite character of yours in your novel and why?
I have some little fairies in the book that spend most of the time making Emma’s life hell and they were lots of fun to write. I tend to get a bit carried away with secondary characters and these guys are the perfect example. All they do is mock people, hang out at the mall and moon people!!!!
3. What's one piece of writing advice you would give to aspiring authors?
If you’re writing for publication then you need to keep the faith and believe in yourself. This is a tough business that is full of rejection and if you don’t have that little kernel deep down inside to push you through, it can be hard going.
4. What did you write when you were a teen? Did you journal? Write poetry? Write overly literary or emotional stories? Or avoid writing altogether?
I didn’t do any private writing at all, however I was always good at creative writing in school and the more people liked what I wrote, the more over the top I became with my writing. I then went to college and studied English and Journalism (which was a sad disappointment when I realized that I had to tell the truth and we weren’t allowed to make things up!). But it wasn’t until I was in my mid-twenties that I realized I wanted to actually write books!
5. What's the last book you read that you really loved?
Eon by Alison Goodman. She’s an Australian author but the book is out in the US now and it is extraordinary. It’s the story of a young girl who has to disguise herself as a boy to try and become a dragon warrior.
What people are saying:
"Teens with a taste for the paranormal school story and a tolerance for raucous humor will be involved with and amused by this romantic fantasy. The exciting plot, humor throughout-often provided by the little fairies-and relatively innocent romance between characters will grab readers and keep them involved. " Kirkus Reviews
"In a fun mashup of the modern and the magical, Ashby (Zombie Queen of Newbury High) creates nicely developed characters and supports them with strong plotting and zippy writing. Laced with humor, danger, and romance, this book will have readers smiling all the way to the last page." Publisher's Weekly
“Great fairy fun from page one! If Buffy and Harry Potter got together and threw a magical slayer party, it would be the world Amanda Ashby created in Fairy Bad Day. With plenty of laugh-out-loud humor, emotional depth, and cute boy romance, reading this book will guarantee your day is fairy awesome.” Tera Lynn Childs, award-winning author of Oh. My. Gods. and Forgive My Fins
"Fairy Bad Day is fairy awesome supernatural slaying fun." Stacey Jay author of You are So Undead to Me and Undead Much
"I really liked that no matter how mad Emma wanted to be at Curtis, she just couldn't stay mad-not with those beautiful brown eyes and that lopsided grin. I loved the cover design, it really drew me in. This was a very good book and I would highly recommend it."- School Library Journal Vanessa, age 12
Want to find out more about Fairy Bad Day?
http://www.amandaashby.com
http://www.amandaashby.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/#!/amandaashby/