Part II of Antony John's Interview and PRIZE PACK giveaway (US only)

 

So excited to show you guys the rest of Antony John's awesome interview!

Blurb about Antony John: Antony John was born in England and raised on a balanced diet of fish and chips, obscure British comedies, and ABBA's Greatest Hits. In a fit of teenage rebellion, he decided to pursue a career in classical music, culminating in a BA from Oxford University and a PhD from Duke University. Along the way, he worked as an ice cream seller on a freezing English beach, a tour guide in the Netherlands, a chauffeur in Switzerland, a barista in Seattle, and a university professor. Writing by night, he spends his days as a stay-at-home dad—the only job that allows him to wear his favorite pair of sweatpants all the time. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

Visit Antony's Blog: www.antonyjohn.net


Antony's Books (All books signed in Prize Pack!!!)


All of these books are great, but the one closest to my heart is Five Flavors of Dumb. Here's my plug for it!

Rating for Five Flavors of Dumb: 5 out of 5 stars

Goodreads Book Description:  
The Challenge: Piper has one month to get the rock band Dumb a paying gig.

The Deal: If she does it, Piper will become the band's manager and get her share of the profits.

The Catch: How can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? And how can she do it when she's deaf?

Piper can't hear Dumb's music, but with growing self-confidence, a budding romance, and a new understanding of the decision her family made to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, she discovers her own inner rock star and what it truly means to be a flavor of Dumb.

Vote on my Amazon review and get an entry into the giveaway!
Review of Five Flavors of Dumb

And now back to the interview based on ELEMENTAL, Antony John's book that's coming out soon!

Part II of Antony John's Interview

1) What made you decide to write a trilogy instead of a stand alone like your previous books?

First off, I felt that the scope of the story I had in mind was simply too vast for a standalone. This isn’t just a matter of length, but of density of ideas. Most readers of ELEMENTAL admit to feeling slightly disoriented early on (which is what I wanted), though by the end everything comes together. I couldn’t imagine putting readers through all that and then saying “Congrats! You’re a third of the way through the book now!” It seemed important to concretely resolve some of the most pressing issues raised by the book, before launching into the next series of problems.

Second, I’ve always been interested in structure (whether in music or in prose), and the thought of writing a trilogy (which combines internal arcs with a single overreaching arc) was too good to pass up. Writing a standalone is easier in this regard, of course, and something I’m confident I can pull off. But I like to push myself every opportunity I get. It’s what keeps the job of writing fresh.

2) I love your two female characters-- Alice and Rose. But I also thought Thomas was a great character. Which character did you most enjoying writing?

If I had to pick one, it would be Alice, I think. Rose and Thomas are both rather passive at the beginning of the novel and need to earn their stripes, as it were. But Alice is the firebrand, the one who wants out of the colony and doesn’t flinch when their world turns upside-down. As someone who (as a teen) was much more like Rose and Thomas than Alice, it’s fun for me to imagine what it would have been like to have such inner drive and determination. Plus, being a self-identified outsider, Alice has more reason to distrust everyone, which makes her hard to like but also complex and fascinating.

3) Give us a little hint to the sequel to Elemental without giving too much away!

The setting shifts from North to South Carolina, and while it would seem as though earth, water, wind, and fire ought to be the same in both states, that’s not quite the case.

Okay, that was a really cryptic answer. Sorry. How about I just promise that next year we’ll do an ARC giveaway for book 2? That way, your readers can find out for themselves what’s going on.

Thanks so much for having me along today, Christina. And a big hi to all your readers!

Don't forget to enter to win all 4 of his books SIGNED! US only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to also enter my other giveaway - international giveaway of a signed copy of The Night of the Purple Moon by Scott Cramer OR a hard back copy of Fear: A Gone Novel by Michael Grant!
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