The Cross Roads Blog Tour, hosted by author Judith Graves kicks off today. Be sure to stop by the tour blog page HERE to check out the awesome line up of authors who are apart of this year's tour, as well as the bloggers who will be hosting each author. Mark your calendars for Monday, October 29th, as MM's will be hosting the Cross Roads author chat on Twitter! Trust me, you won't want to miss it. More info that will be posted soon.
I'm excited to be featuring author Amanda Ashby today on the blog.
You're a superhero fighting for truth, justice and the creative way. What writing "villains" would you banish with your mighty pen? (and what will your costume look like?
My costume would be very snazzy, though it would also be comfortable and allow me to stretch without fear of ripping anything, so I’m thinking some cute hot pink skinny jeans (which I might already own) along with some green Converse (again, which I might already own). I would team it up with a top that covered all the necessary lumps and bumps. As for what writing villains that I would banish, it would have to be the ‘But’ Monster. This beast is the one who is always making excuses:
I would write some more words today, but…
I would like to try my hand at doing a ninja alien book, but….
I would stop eating chocolate today, but…
Actually, with the last one I really must deal with that or I won’t be able to fit into those skinny jeans anymore!
You're quite the world traveller! How have these experiences influenced your writing?
Probably the biggest thing that I’ve learnt from my travels is that while the scenery, language and customs might change from place to place, people are predominantly the same in that they still worry about getting their washing dried and paying their bills. I think this really helps me as a writer because I try and look for universal truths that a character might be feeling, rather than something that only relates to their specific culture. And actually, the book I am working on now is set in London, which is the first time I’ve actually written a book in a setting that I’m familiar with!
We agree - Joss Whedon IS a genius! What writing tips can new - or seasoned - writers learn from his genius?
Yay for team Joss! For me the thing that he teaches better than anyone else is emotion! He always looks for the true emotion that a character is feeling and then he explores it as fully as he can. And while we know he can do great action scenes (hello Avengers) he always looks for the heart of a character. Plus, he is funny as anything!
You're deserted on an island with ONLY bananas. You certainly won't eat them (you hate them) - how will you use them for survival?
Okay, this is a very evil question and if you run into a superhero dressed in cute pink skinny jeans and green sneakers, then you really only have yourselves to blame!!!! Thankfully, I am a complicated woman and while I do in fact hate and detest anything to do with raw bananas I do like them in muffins and cakes so, being the genius that I am, I would somehow figure out a way to make banana and coconut muffins and then lie in the shade and read. I can have some books, right?
Thank you Amanda for being on the blog today and to Judith for supplying the questions for this stop.
About The Author:
Amanda Ashby was born in Australia and after spending the last sixteen years dividing her time between England and New Zealand, she’s finally moved back and now lives on the Sunshine Coast. 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. Her debut book, You Had Me at Halo was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewer’s 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. Her latest release, Fairy Bad Day, has been selected by Voya as one of their Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers 2012 and is a SCBWI Crystal Kite Award finalist for the Australia/NZ region.
Visit her via her Website | Twitter | Facebook | GoodReads, where you can also check out her YA books: Fairy Bad Day, You Had Me at Halo, and Zombie Queen (each published by Speak).
The Tour:
Each day of The Crossroads Blog Tour, a new research question will be revealed on The Crossroad Blog Tour main page:http://judithgraves.com/events/the-crossroads-tour/crossroads-2012/ and each day the answer to that question will be found within one of the different blog posts by Crossroads Tour authors. Your job is to get the question, read the blog posts, and collect all answers by the end of the tour.
Answers are to be emailed to judithgraves @ ymail dot com by October 28th at MIDNIGHT. Winner of the grand prize will be announced on OCTOBER 31st – HALLOWEEN.
The Giveaway:
The GRAND PRIZE you’re vying for? A brand new KINDLE, preloaded with a title from each of the participating Crossroads Blog Tour Authors. That’s right folks, a free KINDLE and 13 free EBOOKS!
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