It's day 2 of Simon & Schuster's The Sinner's to Saints, The BLESSED Blog Tour, and I'm thrilled to have author Tonya Hurley on the blog today to talk about her newest release.
Hi Tonya! Thank you for being on Mundie Moms today. How would you describe Blessed in 5 words or less?
Supernatural Bachelorette with blood
Out of your three main female characters, Agnes, Cecilia, and Lucy, who do you feel your most connected to?
I definitely feel a connection to all three – either to myself personally or people I’ve known in New York. Agnes is the hopeless romantic, I think there’s a bit of her in all of us. Lucy is the attention seeker. But, Cecilia is probably most like me. Moving to New York from the Midwest hoping to make it in the music industry. I can definitely identify most with her struggle.
What inspired your story, The Blessed?
I’ve always loved martyr stories and art – the gruesomeness and the glory. When I went back to read some of these legends, I realized that they are probably some of the first YA stories we have, supernatural romances in the most literal sense with strong female characters. I think people often mistake their martyrdom for passivity, but in their patriarchal world, at that time, the refusal to submit to authority, to compromise your values, was the ultimate act of defiance.
Also, the idea of fame, the pursuit of it, how people deal with it and respond to it, fascinates me and is a strong undercurrent in The Blessed. It really allowed me to explore and experience these characters in a modern context in a way that I thought was completely relatable. These girls were superstars, influential not just in their own day, but ever since, outshining even the brightest of today’s tabloid stars.
Who were some of your favorite authors as a teen?
As a teen, I loved V.C. Andrews, Judy Blume and S.E. Hinton and of course, Stephen King.
With Halloween around the corner, what's one of your favorite Halloween traditions?
I love creating murderous silhouette scenes out of paper and taping them to my windows!
Speed round questions:
* Sinner or saint?
Sinner in life, saint at heart.
* A Knight in shinning armor or the bad boy?
BAD BOY.
* Comedy or horror movie?
I love humor mixed with horror, so black comedy.
* Cold or warm weather?
Cold.
* Audiobooks or physical book?
I definitely get the book before the audiobook. However, both formats allow you to experience the story in a totally different way. As I did for the ghostgirl series with Little, Brown, I spent so much time with the S & S designers on The Blessed hardcover and reverse jacket by Natalie Shau, on the interior art, even the logo and typefaces because I believe all these elements add value for the reader. It’s such an intimate experience – to hold a book in your hands - and I think it’s the little extra touches that make reading an even more enjoyable experience . Likewise for the audiobook. Vince Clarke created the score and Moonrise Kingdom star Kara Hayward voiced the characters and the vibe perfectly and brought an almost cinematic quality the text. Vince and Parker Posey did the same for the ghostgirl audio, so it is getting to be a sort of tradition for me.
About the Book:
By: Tonya Hurley
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Released on: September 25th, 2012
Series: The Blessed #1
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
From the author of the New York Times bestselling ghostgirl series, the start to a captivating and haunting teen trilogy about three girls who become entangled with an enigmatic boy—a boy who believes he is a saint.
What if martyrs and saints lived among us? And what if you were told you were one of them?
Meet Agnes, Cecilia, and Lucy. Three lost girls, each searching for something. But what they find is Beyond Belief -quoted from Goodreads
About the Author:
Tonya Hurley is the New York Times best-selling author of the highly acclaimed “ghostgirl“ book series; creator, writer and producer of animated and live action hit television series; writer and director of independent films; writer and director of commercials for Playstation, Gameboy and Warner Home Video; and creator of groundbreaking videogames. Her new young adult trilogy, THE BLESSED, will be released by Simon and Schuster in Fall 2012.
The Giveaway:
Thank you to Simon & Schuster, each stop featured on this tour will be giveaway a copy of BLESSED. In addition to the books, the first 3 winners will also receive a BLESSED candle. To enter, please fill out the form below: