The plan for the week ahead is to do a bit of focusing on one of my favourite imprints, Strange Chemistry, so I'm delighted to be interviewing one of their authors, Ingrid Jonach, today! This is part of the blog tour for the just released When The World Was Flat (And We Were In Love.)
Make sure you keep reading to the end, by the way, as the blog tour has a stunning giveaway running!
1. When you close
your eyes and imagine your readers, who do you see?
What a fantastic
question! I probably picture myself and my friends as the readers. I
shared the draft manuscript with a range of close friends, who were
both male and female of various ages and from various professions. I
guess that means I imagine a broad range of readers – both genders
and various age groups from teens through to readers my age (yes, I
am being coy about my age!) and beyond.
2. I really enjoyed
Lillie's narration. Who's your own favourite narrator?
That would have to be
Clarice Bean (you can tell I write children’s books too!). I love a
main character who makes me laugh and I was hooked from the moment I
started reading Utterly Me, Clarice Bean by Lauren Child.
Exhibit A: I am the
third oldest, and I think it would have been a good idea if I was the
youngest, too. I am not quite sure why my mom and dad wanted to have
more children after me. They don't need another one and it's a shame
because he is spoiling it for everyone else.
3. I'm intentionally
trying to be vague here, so apologies if this question is confusing!
(To you or to readers...) When The World Was Flat... deals with some
really heavy scientific topics. Do you have a background in science?
And how much research did you have to do before writing it?
I have no formal
scientific qualifications (unless you count my stint as the
unofficial weather girl for my local newspaper), but I am a bit of a
geek when it comes to science – particularly quantum physics and
fringe science. I am mesmerized by theories like string theory and
entanglement, and writing a science fiction novel gave me a
legitimate reason to spend hours researching these theories and
others.
I would say that only a
pin-prick of what I researched ended up in the novel. There were a
few scientific explanations that we cut out during editing to
simplify the story, but I am looking forward to including them on a
spoilers page on my website!
4. You describe When
The World Was Flat... as ''taking inspiration from Albert Einstein's
theories and the world-bending wonder of true love itself.'' If
Einstein was alive today and asking you for book recommendations, I
take it your own would be one - but what else do you think he'd
enjoy?
I would have to be able
to form a coherent sentence in front of him first (I would be very
star struck!), but, if I could, I would definitely recommend Alan
Lightman's Einstein's Dreams (I recently found out it is also
a musical, so I would suggest he went to see it as well).
Einstein placed a high
value upon imagination and I think he would have had an appreciation
for this imagining of his dreams while he was developing his famous
theories. In fact, Einstein even said that imagination was more
important than knowledge!
5. You're taking
part in what must be the longest blog tour I've ever seen! How do you
find the time to write so many fab pieces, and is this delaying your
next book?
It definitely grew a
bit bigger than intended, but I am so thankful for the support and so
excited to be 'traveling the world' as part of my Around the World in
80 Days Blog Tour. I do constantly moan about not having enough time,
but I am an eternal optimist. Thankfully my optimism has paid
dividends, because I have not only been able to dream up and draft a
bunch of blog posts, but I have also been busy finalising my current
WIP.
I am a to-do list
person, so I give myself a quota of blog posts that I have to write
each week and make sure I stay at least a couple of weeks ahead. I
write at night and have cleared most of my weekends. It is all about
time management – as I have learned from years of balancing a day
job with writing. You also have to be a bit inventive, for example, I
listen to audio books in the car and edit on my eReader on my lunch
breaks.
6. While this is
your YA debut, you've written the Frankie books for younger children.
What's the main difference in the way you approach writing to
different age groups?
I definitely draw more
on my own experiences when writing YA. There are characters and
scenes in When the World was Flat (and we were in love) that
were inspired by my own teenage years. I also censor a lot less. I am
very conscious of writing age-appropriate books and my books for
children are very G-rated as a result.
7. Do you listen to
music when you write? If so, what was the soundtrack to When The
World Was Flat...
I tend to listen to
music before I write to get in the mood. I generally like to write or
edit without distraction (although there are days when I will just
let the playlist continue).
The Scientist by
Coldplay was definitely the theme song for When the World was Flat
(and we were in love). It sums up the storyline perfectly. I also
listened to a lot of Lana del Rey, particularly Blue Jeans and
Born to Die.
Another song that I
loved to listen to before writing was Bird Girl by Anthony and
the Johnsons. It is not related to the book, but it would put me in a
melancholy mood immediately.
8. If you could
collaborate with any other author, who would it be and why?
Living? Definitely
Victor Kelleher. His books fuelled my love of reading as a kid and
teen, and I still cry when I read his book Brother Night. I also
really appreciate his ability to write across a range of genres and
age groups, which would also mean we would not be limited in what we
wrote together.
Deceased? Definitely
Jane Austen. I just adore the romantic tension in her novels,
particularly Pride and Prejudice, which inspired When the
World was Flat (and we were in love).
9.
If you had a warning label, what would yours say and why? (Thanks to
Laura from Sister Spooky for the rather random question!)
Very random! But I love
it!
My warning label would
say:
Caution – Is likely
to pull out of your party, barbecue, catch up, movie night, dog
walking club, etc. It is not personal.
I am a total
workaholic, and put my day job and writing first. They are my bread
and butter, and the air that I breathe respectively. It often means
socializing has to take a backseat. Thankfully, my family and friends
and very understanding. At least they were the last time I checked,
which was a while ago thanks to my blog tour!
10. What's next for
Ingrid Jonach?
I am hoping to finish
my WIP (probably post blog tour!) and submit it to my publisher via
my agent. It is a standalone, but is loosely connected to the
theories in When the World was Flat (and we were in love). The
genre is sci fi romance again, but with a touch of horror.
Blurb
Looking back, I
wonder if I had an inkling that my life was about to go from ordinary
to extraordinary.
When sixteen-year-old
Lillie Hart meets the gorgeous and mysterious Tom Windsor-Smith for
the first time, it’s like fireworks — for her, anyway. Tom looks
as if he would be more interested in watching paint dry; as if he is
bored by her and by her small Nebraskan town in general.
But as Lillie begins to
break down the walls of his seemingly impenetrable exterior, she
starts to suspect that he holds the answers to her reoccurring
nightmares and to the impossible memories which keep bubbling to the
surface of her mind — memories of the two of them, together and in
love.
When she at last learns
the truth about their connection, Lillie discovers that Tom has been
hiding an earth-shattering secret; a secret that is bigger — and
much more terrifying and beautiful — than the both of them. She
also discovers that once you finally understand that the world is
round, there is no way to make it flat again.
An epic and deeply
original sci-fi romance, taking inspiration from Albert Einstein’s
theories and the world-bending wonder of true love itself.
Author
Bio
Ingrid
Jonach writes books for children and young adults, including the
chapter books The
Frank Frankie
and Frankie
goes to France
published by Pan Macmillan, and When
the World was Flat (and we were in love)
published by Strange Chemistry.
Since
graduating from university with a Bachelor of Arts in Professional
Writing (Hons) in 2005, Ingrid has worked as a journalist and in
public relations, as well as for the Australian Government.
Ingrid loves to promote
reading and writing, and has been a guest speaker at a number of
schools and literary festivals across Australia, where she lives with
her husband Craig and their pug dog Mooshi.
Despite her best
efforts, neither Craig nor Mooshi read fiction.
Find out more at
www.ingridjonach.com
Book Details
When the World was Flat (and we were in love)
Author: Ingrid Jonach
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Release Date: 3 September 2013 in the US and Canada, and 5 September 2013 in the UK, as well as worldwide as ebook and audio.
Giveaway Details
and Widget
Enter below for your
chance to win one of two awesome prize packages as part of the Around
the World in 80 Days Blog Tour for When the World was Flat (and
we were in love) by Ingrid Jonach.
There will be two
winners worldwide. Each prize package includes:
- a signed copy of When the World was Flat (and we were in love)
- a pair of silver plated key-shaped earrings in a When the World was Flat (and we were in love) gift box
- a When the World was Flat (and we were in love) bookmark.
The competition will
run until 21 October 2013 and the winners will be announced on this
page and via www.ingridjonach.com
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