Mundie Moms

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

The False Princess Blog Tour- Interview with author Eilis O'Neal

We are thrilled to have debut author Eilis O'Neal with us today for our interview portion of The False Princess Blog Tour, hosted by The Teen Book Scene.

We are big fans of fantasy, action and romance. What element of the three did you enjoy writing the most and why?

I had fun writing all three, but I’d probably have to say that, in this book, I liked writing the romance portion best. I think I had that part plotted out the least—I ran on a lot of instinct and what felt right, rather than having it planned out beforehand. So there was a larger aspect of anticipation to writing it. More tingles, if you will. Also, the romance part of The False Princess involves one of my favorite characters, Sinda’s best friend, Kiernan. He’s very witty and clever—a bit of a tease, really--and writing him always made me smile.

What would you have done if you were in Nalia's position, when she was cast out of the only life she ever knew?

That's a tough one, and honestly, I'm not sure I would have faired as well as Sinda. There's this moment in the book when Sinda has to decide whether she's going stay in a tiny village and let a hedge witch teach her magic, or take her own path alone. I think that, as a teenager, I might have had a harder time than Sinda going my own way. Then again, it takes Sinda a bit of time to get to that point herself, so maybe I would have surprised myself! That's the thing about drastic changes of circumstance—I don't know if you can know for sure what you would do until you're faced with them.

What is one piece of advice Nalia would give to those who are learning to find themselves?

To realize that you have to like yourself, regardless of who or what other people think you ought to be. To listen to the voice inside rather than the ones outside, even when it's difficult.

When you're writing, do you listen to music? If so, can you share with us a sample of The False Princess's play list?

I don’t actually listen to music while I’m writing, mainly because when I am listening to music I tend to get sucked up into the songs and start singing along! And, sadly, that’s not very conducive to writing. I actually need for it to be pretty quiet to get good work done.

If you could be a Princess for a day, what is something you'd want to do?

I'd like to wander around a castle feeling like it was mine, like I really and truly lived there. As someone who's always lived in Oklahoma, I have this deep obsession with castles. As in, I wish I owned one or could at least live within driving distance of one. I know that in reality they're pretty cold and dark and probably not that fun to really live in, but I still want to try it! So that's what I'd like to do.

Thank you Eilis for being with us today!

If you haven't picked up The False Princess yet, I highly recommend it. You can read my 4.5 star review here http://tinyurl.com/4p6y4cs

Be sure to visit Eilis's site here http://www.eilisoneal.com/
You can also follow Eilis on Twitter and her blog on live journal.

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