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Monday, November 11, 2013

The Grimm Chronicles (Book Tour): Author Interview



Young Adult
Date Published: 8/25/2013


The award-winning Young Adult adventure series reaches its penultimate volume! This collection contains the following books:


Book 7: The Giant Slayer

Europe: birthplace of Grimms' Fairy Tales. An unfamiliar land, brimming with its own breed of Corrupted who hide in the shadows, growing more evil with each passing day. For modern-day hero Alice Goodenough, this is more than enough to worry about. But she also has a fencing tournament to think about.

And a promise to keep with Sam Grayle, a Corrupted dwarf who schemes for more and more wealth. When their train breaks down in a small town in eastern Hungary, Alice finds the legacy of the hero is alive and well. Corrupted have visited this town before, and they aren't quite vanquished just yet. There's one left, hiding away, biding his time to enact a terrible price on his enemies. A little creature with big, big plans ...

Werewolves. Vampires. Giants. Europe is a different place with new dangers, new monsters and new surprises.


Book 8: Darkness Rising

200 years ago, the Brothers Grimm brought their stories to life.

But why? The question has haunted the heroes for two centuries, and no one has come close to the truth. Alice Goodenough will learn the terrible truth. And it will come at a terrible cost.

The fencing tournament is in just a few short days. Alice's team is hopelessly outmatched, facing off against fencers who have more experience and an inhuman amount of energy. But the other fencers also have a special drug, one that Alice's team can use to even the playing field. Whether they should take the drug or not threatens to tear the team apart.

Meanwhile, Alice must live up to her agreement with Sam Grayle, who lusts after a hidden treasure that once belonged to the Corrupted. Alice must team up with a group of explorers and delve deep into a forbidden cave that holds more secrets than any of them expected.


Book 9: Malevolence

The Malevolence has been biding its time inside Castle Vontescue, but now Alice must finally confront it. The very same evil force that brought the Grimms' fairy tales to life now threatens the hero and all she holds dear. No one is safe in the darkness.

But what, exactly, is this centuries-old creature? To find that out, Br'er Rabbit will have to use all of his wits and decode a series of clues before time runs out. Meanwhile, Alice must keep her friends close and fight through her numerous injuries if she hopes to stop the evil.

But nothing is certain. Alice's body is breaking down. Her loved ones are in constant danger. There is no escape now ... soon, she must face off against the ancient evil that lurks within Castle Vontescue.

And there will be blood.

This volume also contains the following extras:
- The lost diary of Abigail Bauer
- An exclusive introduction

... And the following Grimms' Fairy Tales:
- Hans in Luck
- The Brave Little Tailor
- Tom Thumb
- Twelve Dancing Princesses
- Rapunzel

 INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHORS
What have you written? Describe your novel(s) in one line.
A super fantastic Young Adult action adventure series filled with characters from Grimms' Fairy Tales and also Br'er Rabbit!!

 Where did you get the idea for The Grimm Chronicles? How does it differ/relate to past writing of yours?
This is the first Young Adult series we've written. Ken had an idea floating around in his head, but didn't really know what to do with it until he started re-reading Grimms' Fairy Tales.

If  you had to play favorites with your characters, which one would you choose to be your favorite?
We're really partial to Br'er Rabbit. It may sound strange having a non-fairy tale character in there, but Br'er Rabbit is a part of American folklore and he's been a blast to write. We wanted our hero to have a traditional hero's helper, only with a twist. Br'er Rabbit is a trickster, but it's also his job to help the hero, so he needs to stay focused. He also loves pancakes.
Where is your absolute favorite writing location?
Someplace quiet.

What are you currently working on? What can we expect to see in the future?
We'll be doing a sci-fi series next. The last episode of The Grimm Chronicles is going to come out in early January, and then we'll take a few months off before we start up again.


Which novels have really inspired you?
Recently: The Hunger Games, "You Think That's Bad" by Jim Shepard, and lots and lots of cartoons. "Mighty Max" is a personal favorite.


When not writing or reading, what do you enjoy doing?
Right now, Ken is addicted to Rome: Total War 2. But we also enjoy reading.


Have you always wanted to be an author?
Ken: For a long, long time now. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't put all of these ideas on paper. My brain would be this big, overstuffed box with ideas just spilling out.


If you were transported into the world of any novel or book series, which would you want it to be?
Someplace comfortable. No dystopian worlds, please! The last thing I want is a bunch of starvation and crazy drama. How about something more quaint, like one of those futuristic Charles Stross stories where lots of problems are solved and everything is generally OK? Yeah, that's the world for us.


If you were stranded on a deserted island for an indefinite amount of time, what is the ONE thing you would want with you?
I guess a really delicious sandwich. A turkey club, hold the mayo, with bacon and melted cheese and a side of fries. I mean, really, if I'm doomed to die on the island, I'd like to at least have a nice last meal. But wait! I'd get thirsty after eating the sandwich. Scratch that ... I'll take a big blueberry smoothy made with melted orange sherbet and a hint of banana.

If we ended up in a zombie apocalypse, who are the people you'd want on your survival team?
Someone weak, so we could clearly choose who to eat first. In fact, why not just roll with a bunch of weak people? You'd be like a shepherd, then, just picking them off one by one whenever you got hungry. And then, one day, you would stare out at the zombie horde below (we live in a condo), and you would think to yourself, "I'm just like them. Truly, I am the monster."

What are three movies you believe every person should watch in their life?
"The Sword in the Stone" by Disney, "Children of Men" by Afonso Cuaron, and "Batman Begins."

 Lastly, what advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Read. Read. I've worked with a lot of writers over the years, and I can't tell you how many I meet who don't read regularly. I don't think a lot of aspiring writers realize just how horrible their writing is, mainly because they have nothing to compare it to. And then we end up with horrible Kindle books filled with all sorts of weird formatting and terrible, terrible structure. The more you read, the more you assimilate. The more you assimilate, the better your writing becomes.


About the Authors:

Ken Brosky received his MFA in fiction writing from the University of Nebraska-Omaha, and his BA in creative writing from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. To date, he's had more than a dozen short stories published in literary journals, including Gargoyle, Barcelona Review and Midwestern Gothic.

This is Isabella Fontaine's first Young Adult series. In addition to managing the family farm, she also enjoys providing design-related services for those who meet the qualification of "fashion nightmare."




 
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