Fantasy Five Friday: Interview with Dan Haring

I am super excited to have Dan Haring by the blog today for another Fantasy Five Friday! Welcome Dan!

Dan Haring is the author of Oldsoul, which debuts April 24th. He has a degree in animation and has worked on movies like Tangled (Ummm coolest thing ever!) You can find him on the web at his website, blog, Goodreads, and Twitter.

Could you give us the one sentence pitch of your book?

Jason must harness the skills of the souls within him in order to
combat the immortals bent on destroying humanity.

Since you have a fantasy novel coming out, the next question I obviously have to ask is: If you were a fantastical creature, which would you be?

I've honestly never thought about that. I'd love to be something that
could fly. Dragons are cool, but usually they're jerks. Maybe a
griffin.

Do you have a favorite fantasy read?

That's a tough one. I'd have to say it's a tie between The Hobbit/Lord
of the Rings and Harry Potter. Both worlds are incredible.

Generally speaking, which comes first: the world, the characters, or the plot?

With OLDSOUL it was the character, with my current WIP it was the
plot. It just depends on the project I guess.

They are always coming out with new editions of board games. If your
book could be a special edition of any board game, which would you
choose?

I love the Lord of the Rings edition of Risk I have, so that would be
awesome. I don't know that my book is epic enough for that though.

Here's a bit about Oldsoul:

Jason Gouvas doesn’t want to believe he has special abilities or that he's an Oldsoul-- a vessel for the souls of people who have passed away, but the dead girl in his mind can be very persuasive.

Her name is Erin, and through her Jason is able to access the knowledge and skills of the souls within him. And with a group of power-hungry immortals bent on destroying the Oldsouls and overthrowing humanity, he's going to need them all.

Buy Oldsoul

Fantasy Five Friday: Interview With Marissa Burt

I am very excited to have Marissa Burt with us here for another Fantasy Five Friday! Welcome Marissa.

Marissa is the author of Storybound. She now lives in the Seattle area. You can find her on the web at her website, Goodreads, and Twitter. And like Storybound on Facebook!

Could you give us the one sentence pitch of your book?

Sure! Shy, twelve-year-old Una Fairchild is suddenly transported by a mysterious book into the Land of Story, where characters from books train to be cast into a Tale of their own, and Una attends the Perrault Academy while trying to discover who has Written her In and why.

Since you have a fantasy novel coming out, the next question I obviously have to ask is: If you were a fantastical creature, which would you be?

Hmmm. The middle-grade me would say without hesitation...a talking cat. Nowadays, I think I would choose to be a human in a fantasy world, but I'd want to have some sort of magical powers. I'd love to be a sword master or a brave warrior - courageous characters are my favorite! And flying capacities that don't involve getting on an airplane wouldn't hurt either - haha! Fantasy me would definitely have a pet dragon.

Do you have a favorite fantasy read?

Lots of them! The first fantasy I read might have been TAILCHASER'S SONG, by: Tad Williams (hence, the aforementioned desire to be a cat). I still read THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy annually, so I should probably mention that, and I'm a sucker for George R. R. Martin and Robert Jordan's epic tales.

Generally speaking, which comes first: the world, the characters, or the plot?

For STORYBOUND, the world came first. Whenever I read a beloved book, I'm always so sad when the story ends, and I imagine the characters going on about their lives - without being spied on by nosy readers. So I wrote a story about a girl falling into that world. Plot follows hard on the heels of an interesting character being thrown into an enchanting world.

They are always coming out with new editions of board games. If your book could be a special edition of any board game, which would you choose?

What a question! If Alison Klapthor and Brandon Dorman (the two artists who worked on STORYBOUND'S cover) were involved, I'd love to see something graphically rich like a fabulous Monopoly edition (a game I despise) or an epic puzzle (I love puzzles!). But for a playable game, I'd want a special edition Settlers of Catan, and we could have fairy tale villains and heroes fighting over Story's resources. How fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by Marissa! Marissa's book Storybound came out April 3. Here's a bit about the book:

In the land of Story, children go to school to learn to be characters: a perfect Hero, a trusty Sidekick, even the most dastardly Villain. They take classes on Outdoor Experiential Questing and Backstory, while adults search for full-time character work in stories written just for them.

In our world, twelve-year-old Una Fairchild has always felt invisible. But all that changes when she stumbles upon a mysterious book buried deep in the basement of her school library, opens the cover, and suddenly finds herself transported to the magical land of Story.

But Story is not a perfect fairy tale. Una’s new friend Peter warns her about the grave danger she could face if anyone discovers her true identity. The devious Tale Keeper watches her every move. And there are whispers of a deadly secret that seems to revolve around Una herself....

With the timeless appeal of books like A Wrinkle in Time and the breathtaking action of Inkheart, Storybound has all the makings of a new classic. Brimming with fantastical creatures, magical adventure, and heart-stopping twists, Storybound will leave readers wishing they too could jump through the pages into this enchanting fairy-tale world.

Buy Storybound: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Fantasy Five Friday: Interview with Courtney Allison Moulton

I am super excited to have Courtney Allison Moulton here at The Book Cellar today, for another Fantasy Five Friday.

Courtney Allison Moulton is the author of Angelfire, Wings of the Wicked, and the forthcoming Book 3 in the Angelfire series. She lives in Michigan with her horse, Pia.You can find her on the web at her website, twitter, and blog.

Could you give us the one sentence pitch of your book?

A teenage girl with extraordinary powers battles the armies of Hell with
the help of her reaper Guardian.

Since you have a fantasy novel coming out, the next question I obviously have to ask is: If you were a fantastical creature, which would you be?

I'd love to have superhuman abilities like in the X-Men. It would be fun
to be a secret government weapon or something. For like a weekend.

Do you have a favorite fantasy read?

Fire by Kristin Cashore

Generally speaking, which comes first: the world, the characters, or the
plot?

This varies. I have about a hundred or so projects to finish on my
computer, and sometimes the world comes first and sometimes the character.
I don't really know why one or the other, but I just go with the flow.

They are always coming out with new editions of board games. If your book
could be a special edition of any board game, which would you choose?

Hungry Hungry Hippos with human faces on the little balls and you, as
Ellie, have to chop their heads off before they eat the little people.
It's like Anti-Hungry Hungry Hippos. I want to play this now.

Courtney's next book, Wings of the Wicked, is coming out on January 31st.

Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.
Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.

She’s been warned.
Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes , the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.

She’ll be betrayed.
Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be hell to pay.

Buy Wings of the Wicked: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Wings of the Wicked's trailer is super awesome! 

Fantasy Five Friday: Interview With Sarah Prineas

I am super excited to have Sarah Prineas by for the first Fantasy Five Friday Interview of the year!

Sarah Prineas is the author of The Magic Thief Series and Winterling. Her latest book Winterling came out on January 3. She has a Ph.D in English literature and lives in Iowa City, Iowa. You can find her on the web at her website, twitter, Goodreads, and blog.


TBC: Could you give us the one sentence pitch of your book?

SP: In Winterling, a girl named Fer follows a tricksy puck-boy through a Way into a world of magic and danger, where she must set right a terrible evil.

TBC: Since you have a fantasy novel coming out, the next question I obviously have to ask is: If you were a fantastical creature, which would you be?

SP: Here is a picture of my own mighty fantastical creature, a dragon.

TBC: Do you have a favorite fantasy read?

SP: As a huge Lord of the Rings geek, I reread the books fairly often (I'm reading them aloud to my kids now), and as a New Year's Eve tradition, my family watches all three of the extended-edition movies. This year we're watching the movies and having a LotR-themed feast, including hobbit beer, mushrooms, and lembas.

TBC: That is the coolest thing ever! My cousin and I always try to have an extended edition marathon on New Years as well, but your house sounds much cooler! Now generally speaking, which comes first: the world, the characters, or the plot?

SP: It's all fairly organic for me. Plot usually arises out of what drives the characters, and the world takes shape around that. I never plot out the story ahead of time, which I call "writing as discovery." It's a very fun way to write.

TBC: They are always coming out with new editions of board games. If your book could be a special edition of any board game, which would you choose?

SP: I'm a huge word nerd and have lots of neologisms in my books, so I'd have to say Scrabble.

Thank you so much Sarah for stopping by! You can find Sarah's books on the web at:

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

And check out Winterling's book trailer:

Fantasy Five Fridays are a part of the 2012 YA/MG Fantasy Reading Challenge. Are you a fan of fantasy? It's not too late to sign up! Check out the central hub of information HERE.