Hello and welcome to today's BLACK WIDOW blog tour stop! I'm so thrilled to have one of my all time favorites on the blog today, Margaret Stohl! She's here to talk about her upcoming release. First, here's a little bit about the book.
ABOUT THE BOOK
By: Margaret Stohl
Published by: Disney / Marvel Press
To Be Released on: October 13th, 2015
Add it to Goodreads
Enter the world of the Avengers' iconic master spy
Natasha Romanoff is one of the world's most lethal assassins. Trained from a young age in the arts of death and deception, Natasha was given the title of Black Widow by Ivan Somodorov, her brutal teacher at the Red Room, Moscow's infamous academy for operatives.
Ava Orlova is just trying to fit in as an average Brooklyn teenager, but her life has been anything but average. The daughter of a missing Russian quantum physicist, Ava was once subjected to a series of ruthless military experiments-until she was rescued by Black Widow and placed under S.H.I.E.L.D. protection. Ava has always longed to reconnect with her mysterious savior, but Black Widow isn't really the big sister type.
Until now.
When children all over Eastern Europe begin to go missing, and rumors of smuggled Red Room tech light up the dark net, Natasha suspects her old teacher has returned-and that Ava Orlova might be the only one who can stop him. To defeat the madman who threatens their future, Natasha and Ava must unravel their pasts. Only then will they discover the truth about the dark-eyed boy with an hourglass tattoo who haunts Ava's dreams. . . .
Black Widow: Forever Red features all the heart-pounding adventure readers expect from Marvel, written by #1 New York Times best-selling author Margaret Stohl. Uncover a new side of the Marvel Universe that will thrill loyal fans and newcomers alike, as Stohl reveals the untold story of Black Widow for the very first time.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Welcome back to Mundie Moms Margaret!! Huge congratulations on the honor of writing a story for Marvel for BLACK WIDOW!
Thank you! So great to be able to do this interview with you – your site has been so supportive ever since Kami and I first launched Beautiful Creatures!
Aside from Captain America, she's one of my all time favorites! I'm so excited about this never before story for Black Widow. I love her Marvel character. She's empowering. What attracted you to telling this particular story?
I’ve always loved Marvel comics, and I’ve worked with Marvel in the past, when I made videogames. I love the Avengers and Iron Man and Captain America movies as much as anyone else. But probably my biggest inspiration for tackling Natasha Romanoff’s story is my incredible fourteen-year-old Avenger of a daughter. She knows the importance of speaking her mind and standing up for what she believes is right, and I actually have learned from her example. Black Widow has the same spirit. She’s always her own person, whether or not she’s saying what you want to hear. We’re at the start of a new era of female superheroes—ones that girls can and want to look up to, and I’m so proud to have the honor of telling such a powerful character’s story.
Being that Black Widow is already a character that fans know and have loved for years, did you find that more challenging in writing her story or was it easier than creating a whole new character?
Writing Natasha’s story was a privilege but also a responsibility. It wasn’t easy! I had to stay true to her character and to deliver for her fan base, but I also wanted to be able to tell her story from a different perspective—one that focused less on her relationships and more on who she is, the nature of her heart. She’s always been a mysterious figure, so I didn’t want to lose that element of her character, either. It was a challenging balance to find, and I’ve never worked so hard in my life, but I feel like I found it. Thank goodness!
I'm really looking forward to meeting Ava Orlova, and getting to see her interaction with Black Widow. It sounds like these two have a lot in common. Can you tell us a little bit about their relationship?
Ava and Natasha have a shared moment in their past that resurfaces many years later, when a common enemy unites them. It’s not easy to be united with either one of them; Natasha and Ava are equally stubborn, independent and strong-willed, and when they clash you don’t want to get between them! But their relationship is more complicated than it seems, and it will ultimately evolve into something much bigger than either one of them could have anticipated. But no spoilers...! ☺
What's one thing you admire about both Black Widow and Ava?
Their strength. They have both been through terrible hardships, and they’re both what you could call damaged -- but they keep fighting. They don’t give in, and they never concede that they might be broken beyond repair. The things that they have been through would break most of us, but instead of letting themselves be victims of their situations, they use that pain to motivate them. Most importantly, they use it to motivate themselves to help other people.
If the Marvel superheroes had sidekicks, which character would you want to be a sidekick for, and why?
Black Widow, of course! But if we ruled her out, I think I’d have to say Kamala Khan, the new Ms. Marvel created by G. Willow Wilson and Sana Amanat, my editor at Marvel. She’s only sixteen but she’s an incredibly strong character. She struggles with her family and her Muslim-New Jersey-Superhero identity, and I love her for it. I also love every word out of her mouth, every awkward thing she does. She’s very real and relatable, but also someone who I feel lots of girls can look up to.
Inquiring minds have to know, will Black Widow or you know any of the Marvel characters, like Captain America or the Hulk *coughs*, be at your book release party?
I’m not sure about that, but you WILL be able to see tons of Marvel characters on my book tour since we’re inviting everyone to come IN COSPLAY…even me! We’re giving prizes to the best costumes at every stop, and I’m sure there will be a Hulk or two in the mix. Lots of my friends from the Women of Marvel and a few YA writer friends will be there too, so it will be super fun.
I'm patiently waiting for your book's release so I can read it. I know many fans are as well. I'm including your tour info below, so fans know where they can come see you. Will be getting more of Black Widow and Ava's story?
My lips are sealed! I wouldn’t want Marvel to send a Widow after me!
Thank you Margie! Can't wait to see you when you're in Austin!
THANK YOU! XO M
THE BLACK WIDOW SIGNING!
Catch Margaret at a book store near you! Check out her book tour signing below. *click image to enlarge*
About Margaret
Margaret Stohl is the #1 New York Times Bestselling co-author of the BEAUTIFUL CREATURES Novels and DANGEROUS CREATURES novels, as well as the author of BLACK WIDOW: FOREVER RED forthcoming from Marvel Press (Marvel YA), and the ICONS Novels.
She is the USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Los Angeles Times, Indie-Bound, Wall Street Journal and Internationally Bestselling author of nine YA novels, and has been published in 37 languages and 48 countries. BEAUTIFUL CREATURES was adapted into a film (2013) by Warner Brothers and Alcon Entertainment, and was an ALA William C. Morris YA Debut Award finalist in 2010, as well as a SCIBA award finalist, a NYPL Book for the Teen Age, and a YALSA Teen Top Ten Pick. Beautiful Creatures was named the #1 Teen Pick from Amazon in 2009, and the #5 Editors Pick, Overall.
Prior to becoming an author, Margaret worked in the video game industry as a writer and lead designer for sixteen years, eventually co-founding 7 Studios game developer with her husband, Lewis Peterson. She is also the co-founder of YALLFEST (Charleston, SC) and YALLWEST (Santa Monica, CA), two of the biggest kid/teen book festivals in the country. An alumnus of Amherst College, Stanford University, and Yale University, Margaret lives in Santa Monica with her family, two rescue cats, and two bad beagles.
Prior to becoming an author, Margaret worked in the video game industry as a writer and lead designer for sixteen years, eventually co-founding 7 Studios game developer with her husband, Lewis Peterson. She is also the co-founder of YALLFEST (Charleston, SC) and YALLWEST (Santa Monica, CA), two of the biggest kid/teen book festivals in the country. An alumnus of Amherst College, Stanford University, and Yale University, Margaret lives in Santa Monica with her family, two rescue cats, and two bad beagles.
ENTER TO WIN!
3 winners will receive a finished copy of BLACK WIDOW: FORVER RED. US Only.
FOLLOW THE TOUR
Week One:
10/5/2015- Caught Read Handed- Review
10/6/2015- Mundie Moms- Interview
10/7/2015- Novel Novice- Review
10/8/2015- IceyBooks- Guest Post
10/9/2015- Word Spelunking- Review
Week Two:
10/12/2015- Fangirlish- Interview
10/13/2015- Wishful Endings- Review
10/14/2015- Nerdophiles- Guest Post
Posts
I love action and adventure books, especially ones with strong female leads. Thanks for the giveaway and post!
ReplyDeleteThanks for introducing us to such an interesting book!
ReplyDeleteThis books looks and sounds so amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteI am reallllly excited for this! I love Black Widow (and the Avengers in general) so I'm really happy/excited to read this book!! Thank you for the chance/giveaway!
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