Home 12 Authors of Christmas Giveaway #MGBookElves Christmas Giveaway ~ 12 Authors of Christmas ~ Author M.G. King (Fizz & Peppers at the Bottom of the World) Interview

#MGBookElves Christmas Giveaway ~ 12 Authors of Christmas ~ Author M.G. King (Fizz & Peppers at the Bottom of the World) Interview

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Welcome to the fantastic 12 Authors of Christmas seasonal giveaway and blog tour!

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Our busy Book Elves are giving away a total of 30 prizes of books suitable for Middle Grade readers – age roughly 8 to 14 – although a lot of adults enjoy them too! Hello everyone, Paul here again with fellow author M.G. King. Ms. King is the author of the children’s book Fizz & Peppers at the Bottom of the World.

Before I get to the interview let’s take a look at her book. Here’s the Goodreads blurb:

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Everyone knows that sunlight turns trolls to stone. What most people don’t realize is that a single bubble of soda fizz wakes those violent, bickering creatures back up! Just ask Colin Colbeck.

When Colin drops through a mysterious hole under his brother’s bed, he discovers a band of smoothie drinking trolls who tell him his grandmother has been kidnapped. It’s up to Colin to journey into the deep to save her.

Followed by his ex-best friend and a reckless little brother, Colin and his companions discover a troll war about to cause a catastrophic earthquake. Scandanavian mythology meets suburbia in this perilous tale.  

Now for the interview:

Tell us a little about yourself 

A little known fact about me is that I originally graduated with a degree in Cultural Anthropology — one of my professors predicted that those of us who didn’t end up doing research would end up writing fantasy or science fiction, and well, he was right. I went on to get a second degree in nursing and worked overseas for a couple of years before returning to Texas with my husband where we now live with a 55 pound lap dog, a cat, and the occasional live snake that the cat brings into the house. 
  

That’s a fascinating story. I’m curious as to where you worked overseas, but that’s a discussion for another day. I love your professor’s prophecy! Okay, next question. Who designed the cover of Fizz & Peppers at the Bottom of the World?

 

Against all sound advice and my own good judgment, I created the cover for FIZZ & PEPPERS by myself with a Wacom digital pen. (Sorry, Paul here, I have to interrupt. I can’t believe you did this with a digital pen. How cool. I have to admit, though, that I have never heard of a Wacom digital pen so that shows you my skill level.) I wrote this book when my kids were small and begging for new chapters each night before bedtime, so I’m especially sentimental about this story. It didn’t seem right to hand FIZZ over to some stranger churning out cookie cutter covers. To be honest, I had a lot of fun with it.

  

Well, I for one, think you did a great job and I am mightily impressed. What is your latest news? 

FIZZ & PEPPERS just came out this past spring, so it’s still trying to find legs. But I’m over-the-moon excited about a picture ebook I have coming out this month (December). 

THE CLOCK SNATCHER is the story of a young dragon who steals all the clocks in a local village, with surprising results for everyone. It’s a great tale for kids who have spent the year rushing from soccer practice to piano lessons while trying to get homework done in the backseat. I’m in love with the enchanting pen and ink illustrations by Colombian artists Angela Alvarado Corson and Sebastian Alvarado. Eventually it will be published in both English and Spanish.

So many questions, so little time. I’ll have to do another interview because I would love to know how you connected with Ms. Alvarado Corson and Mr. Alvarado. Moving onward, what books have most influenced your writing? 

I grew up reading C.S. Lewis, Tolkein, Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens, and Ellen Raskin. As an adult reader I find myself rebelling against the recent darker trends in fiction; who needs depressing fiction when we have the news? I’ve been reading a lot of P.G. Wodehouse, Alexander McCall Smith, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I also read quite a bit of nonfiction.

I grew up with Tolkein and absolutely love Arthur Conan Doyle. Staying on track, do you have any advice for other writers? 

Write because you love to write and write what is in your heart. Focus on your art and craft. My artist friend Angela Corson puts it all in beautiful perspective. She says, “We do creative work because we can, because we are making something new that wasn’t there before.” For writers, it’s easy to get caught up in numbers: dollars earned, advances paid, numbers sold, relative rankings, and the dreaded returns. Remember that you are more important than any number. Only you have been given your particular time and place from which to understand the world.  


 

That is wonderful advice Ms. King, and thank you so much for the interview. As you may have noticed I came up with more questions than I started with so we’ll have to do this again soon. 


Now for the burning question; Who are the Authors on tour?

 

All these authors are interviewing each other, reviewing each others’ books and more in the Giveaway blog tour starting 1st December. Click the links to go to their websites and find out more about them, and check out their books in the InLinkz list below.

Jemima Pett: the Princelings of the East series (1st, 11th and 18th December)

M G King: Fizz & Peppers at the Bottom of the World (2nd and 10th December)

Fiona Ingram: The Secret of the Sacred Scarab (3rd and 12th December)

Wendy Leighton-Porter: The Shadows from the Past series (4th and 14th December)

Stanley and Katrina (Pet Authors): The Perpetual Papers of a Pack of Pets (5th and 17th December)

Ben Zackheim: Shirley Link, ace detective series (6th and 19th December)

Rebecca Douglass: The Ninja Librarian and Return to Skunk Corners (7th and 16th December)

Cheryl Carpinello: The Young Knights of the Round Table series (8th and 13th December)

S Smith: The Seed Savers series (9th and 18th December)

Julie Grasso: Caramel Cardamom series (11th and 22nd December)

Paul R Hewlett: Lionel’s Grand Adventure series (16th and 20th December)

S W Lothian: the Quest series (tba)

 

Check out all these books!

Now Enter the Giveaway!

You could win a prize from one of these authors. Most are offering one or two books from their series: if you’ve already got the first, they may offer you a different one if you win. The prizes are as detailed on the rafflecopter form.  
Contest runs: December 1st to 23rd, 11:59 pm EST, 2013  
Open: Worldwide  
How to enter: Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.  
Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Winners will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have until 28th Dec. to respond. If the winner does not respond in that time, a new draw will take place for a new winner. No cash alternatives to the ebooks offered. Authors may (at their sole discretion) offer a different ebook from that listed if the winner already owns the prize listed. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the authors named and is hosted and managed by Jemima Pett, the Princelings author. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send an email to jemima (dot) pett (at) gmail (dot) com.
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Indie author-friendly freelance editor, children's book blogger for picture books through YA, kid lit, SF/fantasy lover with special fondness for middle grade, pun-loving SCBWI member, meter-maid for poetry and rhyming picture books.

4 Comments:

  1. Cool Mom
    December 20, 2013 at 9:25 am

    Great interview! I enjoyed your professor’s prophecy as well. Your book sounds great AND I LOVE your cover – GREAT JOB!!!

    Reply
  2. DMS
    December 22, 2013 at 2:15 pm

    Fizz and Peppers sounds like a great fantasy! I loved hearing how the story came to be and I bet it is great for M.G. Kings children to have their childhood bedtime stories available to be read at any time. 🙂 Best of luck to MG and the other authors on the tour.
    ~Jess

    Reply

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