I am so happy and pleased to be a part of this blog tour, for an event that is sure to be fantastic. I’m going to post the official flyer in just a moment so you take a look at the amazing authors in attendance.
Isn’t that list of authors absolutely beautiful?
You can follow the Pasadena TBF on a various number of web platforms to keep updated on all the 411 for the event:
Facebook / Twitter / Tumblr / Instagram / Blogspot
The most IMPORTANT thing you need though is the link to get your free tickets! You can do that by clicking HERE. Don’t forget the best part: its FREE!
Like I said before, I am very fortunate to be a part of this tour, and to be a part of it twice! That’s very exciting. But more importantly, there are a ton of amazing bloggers out there, sharing spotlights on the various authors that are guests at the festival. Check out the tour list!
Today’s spotlight is on Margaret Stohl!
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Margaret Stohl is no stranger to the young adult literature community. You may know her as part of the duo responsible for the best-selling book series turned movie, Beautiful Creatures. She is now working on her Icons series, the first of which was released last year. The sequel, Idols, will be released on July 8th of this year!
About Her Book
Everything changed on The Day. The day the windows shattered. The day the power stopped. The day Dol’s family dropped dead. The day Earth lost a war it didn’t know it was fighting.
Since then, Dol has lived a simple life in the countryside — safe from the shadow of the Icon and its terrifying power. Hiding from the one truth she can’t avoid.
She’s different. She survived. Why?
When Dol and her best friend, Ro, are captured and taken to the Embassy, off the coast of the sprawling metropolis once known as the City of Angels, they find only more questions. While Ro and fellow hostage Tima rage against their captors, Dol finds herself drawn to Lucas, the Ambassador’s privileged son. But the four teens are more alike than they might think, and the timing of their meeting isn’t a coincidence. It’s a conspiracy.
Within the Icon’s reach, Dol, Ro, Tima, and Lucas discover that their uncontrollable emotions — which they’ve always thought to be their greatest weaknesses — may actually be their greatest strengths.
Bestselling author Margaret Stohl delivers the first book in a heart-pounding series set in a haunting new world where four teens must piece together the mysteries of their pasts — in order to save the future.
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.
Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.
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Interview with Margaret!
Nerd Girl: What made you want to be a writer? Did you have other career ambitions before that?
Margaret: When I was little, I read in my bed by my nightlight. I read in the avocado tree in my backyard. I read with blankets and a pillow in my closet. I read in church. I read at the piano. From about age 5, I identified as a reader and since that didn’t seem like something you could be when you grew up, I knew I’d be a writer.
Nerd Girl: What was the inspiration behind the Icons series? Where did the idea come from?
Margaret: Icons is, as I have often said, a story about big feelings. As a teenager, I grew up in a conservative religious culture. I felt like if I spoke my inner emotional truths I would disappear and the world would end – which only made me want to speak them more. So Icons is about four teens who have out of control emotions – love and hate, fear and sorrow – that are essentially weaponized. Their feelings literally could destroy the world. And I guess you could say the way they evolve from their fear of who they are to a place of power because of who they are is my take on growing up.
Nerd Girl: What can you tell us about Idols? What can we expect from it?
Margaret: The Icons story moves from what one was the city of Los Angeles, now the Hole, to what once was Southeast Asia, now the SEA Colonies. There’s a lot of action – as is so often the case, when you’re on the run from a totalitarian government overseen by an alien race :) – but lots of romance and friendship and family building as well. I wrote the book, in part, in a jungle near Chiang Mai in Thailand, and did things like take care of an elephant in a rescue shelter as research. Obviously, I really loved writing this book…!
Nerd Girl: What are the best parts of being a published author?
Margaret: The community, not just of readers, but also of other writers. At all the festivals, including the one I work on myself, the Charleston Yallfest, are like giant parties. We all really love hanging out with each other. But I also love traveling the 50+ countries our books are in to meet our readers from around the world.
Nerd Girl: What sort of advice do you give to aspiring writers and authors?
Margaret: Notice the world around you. Keep a notebook and write down your observations. When you do start writing, have mercy on yourself — just not on your draft. Learn to finish what you star, that’s the hardest thing in the world. Don’t be a chicken. Be brave and write!
Nerd Girl: Was it difficult to make the transition from writing in a duo for Beautiful Creatures to writing solo for Icons? Why/why not?
Margaret: Not really. The way Kami and I worked, we edited each other while we wrote. So we basically taught each other to write. Now that we’ve written books alone, though, it’s super fun to come back and work together.
Nerd Girl: Who are some authors that are inspirational to you? Who are some authors you enjoy reading for fun? Or both?
Margaret: I was the head of the Susan Cooper Fan Club in third grade, so she is a goddess to me. Also Diana Wynne Jones. And I love Veronica and am so happy for Divergent’s success. I also love Richelle Mead’s Age of X series; Melissa de la Cruz’s Witches and also her Ring and Crown books, and of course all of Kami Garcia’s books! I love all my friends’ everythings!
Nerd Girl: Which book is harder to write: the first or the second?
Margaret: All books are hard to write, for different reasons. But usually it’s the second, when you’re just learning to write on a contract, instead of on pure hopes and dreams and love.
Nerd Girl: What are some things you like to do in your free time, when you are not writing?
Margaret: Eating tacos, ramen, soup dumplings, traveling. Three out of four of those I did today :)
Nerd Girl: What book (that is not yours) do you wish you had written?
Margaret: The Kenyon College commencement speech written by David Foster Wallace.
Nerd Girl: A little last fun question that I enjoy asking everyone I interview: who is your fictional crush?
Margaret: #TeamAdrian from Vampire Academy. Han Solo, however, is my longest running character crush, going back to middle school, when I crank called his house with my friends ALMOST EVERY DAY. That’s a patient, patient man :)
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Okay, I love that Margaret and I have two shared fictional crushes and I really want to have tacos with her now…
I hope you all enjoyed this spotlight on the amazing Margaret Stohl and are able to come down on the 26th to enjoy the Fest and meet Margaret and all the other fantastic authors!
