Monday, November 3, 2014

TICKER Scavenger Hunt & Author Interview with Lisa Mantchev!

TODAY we are participating in a DELICIOUSLY fun Scavenger Hunt for the AWESOME Lisa Mantchev for her new book coming December 1, TICKER. TICKER was one of four book titles to be selected by Amazon for the US Kindle First Program which means you can read the book for ONLY $1.99 RIGHT NOW!! 

Lisa is generously giving away a Kindle Paperwhite customized with the cover of TICKER!! Below are the details on the Scavenger Hunt to enter =)

Happy hunting nerdians! ;)




ABOUT THE BOOK

TICKER

Add on Goodreads!

Purchase on Amazon!

Synopsis: A girl with a clockwork heart must make every second count.

When Penny Farthing nearly dies, brilliant surgeon Calvin Warwick manages to implant a brass “Ticker” in her chest, transforming her into the first of the Augmented. But soon it’s discovered that Warwick killed dozens of people as he strove to perfect another improved Ticker for Penny, and he’s put on trial for mass murder.

On the last day of Warwick’s trial, the Farthings’ factory is bombed, Penny’s parents disappear, and Penny and her brother, Nic, receive a ransom note demanding all of their Augmentation research if they want to see their parents again. Is someone trying to destroy the Farthings...or is the motive more sinister?

Desperate to reunite their family and rescue their research, Penny and her brother recruit fiery baker Violet Nesselrode, gentleman-about-town Sebastian Stirling, and Marcus Kingsley, a young army general who has his own reasons for wanting to lift the veil between this world and the next. Wagers are placed, friends are lost, romance stages an ambush, and time is running out for the girl with the clockwork heart.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Lisa Mantchev is a temporally-displaced Capricorn who casts her spells from an ancient tree in the Pacific Northwest. She is best known as the author of the young adult fantasy trilogy, The Théâtre Illuminata. Published by Feiwel & Friends (Macmillan,) the series includes the Andre Norton and Mythopoeic awards-nominated EYES LIKE STARS (2009), PERCHANCE TO DREAM (2010), and SO SILVER BRIGHT (2011.)

Where to Find the Lovely Lisa!

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

TeamNerd Reviews: What would you say fulfills your nerd status? Is there anything you like to collect (outside of books)?

Lisa Mantchev: Well, I am a fangirl about things like British television, movies like Clue and Princess Bride, and would really like a Toothless of my own (from How To Train Your Dragon.). I can recite most of Eddie Izzard’s Dress To Kill routine by heart. I love knee socks, and collect everything from vintage glass fishermen’s floats to LEGOs.

TeamNerd Reviews: How has being a mom influenced you as a writer? How has being a mom influenced your stories?

Lisa Mantchev: The largest influence is really on my schedule. When the kids were really little, I would get up at five to write uninterrupted for an hour a day. I still hand them over to my super-supportive husband every time a revision or a copy edit or a set of page proofs lands on my desk. It’s certainly influenced my stories in content and characterization; theses are the kinds of stories I want them to read, to enjoy, to think about. That, and I started writing the text for picture books. J

TeamNerd Reviews: TICKER is your latest book, hardcover and audio book coming out December 1, 2014. Tell readers what fun adventures they can expect in the book (not mentioned in the synopsis).

Lisa Mantchev: It really is a fun, rompy adventure story. The things I love writing best are all in there (intrigue and cake, mostly) and I think fans of the theater books will see my fingerprints all over the pages.

TeamNerd Reviews: Tell us more about the characters readers will encounter in TICKER.

Lisa Mantchev: It really is a Scooby-Doo gang of friends. Penny and Nic Farthing are twins. Penny’s best friend is Violet Nesselrode, who is a badass goth baker girl. Sebastian Stirling is my teenage Captain Jack Harkness. They meet up with Marcus Kingsley, who leads the Ferrum Viriae army. Calvin Warwick is the tortured soul antagonist that would be right up Tom Hiddleston’s alley in the movie version (Hollywood, take note!)

TeamNerd Reviews: Where did the idea for TICKER emerge from?

Lisa Mantchev: I found a pocket watch on eBay that had a compass and sundial inside it. That turned into “Papa’s pocket watch” and I immediately began brainstorming how a young lady would come into possession of such a curious item.

TeamNerd Reviews: What was your favorite scene to write in TICKER and why?

Lisa Mantchev: In every draft of the novel, the story has started with Penny riding her Vitesse through Bazalgate to visit Violet at SugarWerks. I still go back to that first chapter as a touchstone, because it remained largely intact… also, the Automatic Dessert Dispenser. The fairies would approve.

TeamNerd Reviews: In the wake of nightmare stories concerning authors and their inability to handle negative reviews well, what advice could you offer to authors (aspiring or otherwise) on how to handle negative reviews the RIGHT way?

Lisa Mantchev: No response is the best response, and the best way to achieve that is to not read any of the reviews at all. Reviews, at the end of the day, are written for other readers, not for authors.

TeamNerd Reviews: Jumping over to the Theatre Illuminata Trilogy:

What was it like when you wrote the final sentence to SO SILVER BRIGHT (the final book)? What did you feel and what did you do to celebrate? What was your favorite scene to write from each book? If you could have gone on a date with Nate, where would you want to go and what would you guys do?

Lisa Mantchev: In the words of David’s Tenth Doctor in reference to reading the Deathly Hallows, “Oh, I cried.” There’s never a whole lot of celebrating when I type “The End” so much as there is momentary and fleeting relief, because there’s always another revision on the horizon. As for favorite scenes, I would still say the Tango in Eyes Like Stars is my favorite of ALL three books, but I still adore Peaseblossom meeting Henry the Marzipan Groom in Perchance To Dream and what happened with Ariel at the conclusion to So Silver Bright.

And a date with Nate would probably consist of a moonlit sail and a picnic basket full of really excellent nibbles.

TeamNerd Reviews: You’re locked in an underground bunker with two of your favorite authors because the zombie apocalypse has taken place. Which two authors would you choose and why? (Could be any author you know or admire). What would your bunker look like (i.e. what would be inside, what provisions would you have)? Which author would you be willing to sacrifice in case the zombies break through so you can get away?

Lisa Mantchev: I’m going with JK Rowling, because she would have been in charge of the real estate and funding of said bunker, so we’ll be living in an underground version of Hogwarts, complete with house elves, BECAUSE YOU KNOW SHE HAS THOSE.

And… um… Stephen King, because On Writing was brilliant and he probably wrote the zombies into existence with a cursed fountain pen, so he can jolly well stay behind and write them back out.

TeamNerd Reviews: Let’s wrap things up with a fun nerdy Q & A! Aaaaaand GO!

Go-to snack when writing: Sriracha- and wasabi-coated peas.

Favorite Book Boyfriend (at the moment): Jamie Fraser from the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.

Favorite Villain From A Book/Trilogy/Series: I am going to go old-school and say Miss Minchin from A Little Princess. That lady was seriously evil. Like, Cruella DeVille evil!

Who would you choose between Spike, Angel, or Xander (from Buffy the Vampie Slayer) to kiss: SPIKE. It’s the snark and the accent that gets me every time.

If you got to partner up with Veronica Mars to go on a case, what essentials would you bring? Taser, pepper spray, handcuffs, cell phone, back-up cell phone, caffeine pills, granola bars… you know, the same stuff I take on road trips with my kids.

SCAVENGER HUNT DETAILS

To celebrate the Kindle First digital launch of TICKER by Lisa Mantchev, the Farthing family would like to loan you your very own Vitesse motorized high-wheeled bicycle and messenger bag. Venture out into the city of Bazalgate to see the sights and retrieve six items necessary to celebrate with Penny and her friends. When you are done, remit the list for a chance to win your very own Kindle Paperwhite customized with the TICKER cover!

Contest open to US residents. Email entries to lisa@lisamantchev.com with the subject line “TICKER Paperwhite Giveaway”. Deadline for entry is midnight PST on November 15th. Winner will be announced here on November 16th.

FARTHING COGS & RIVETS FACTORY
                 
Just ahead, the wrought iron gates of the Gears & Rivets Factory stood open, with half a dozen delivery wagons queued up to enter the courtyard. One of the streetcars paused just before me and disgorged a dozen workers, each wearing our distinctive emerald-and-black uniform. Beyond them, the smokestacks emitted lazy plumes now that the boilers were stoked for the morning. Gaslight shone out of a single window. Ambrose Farnsworth, the supervisor, must already be noting the day’s goals in his ledger with a series of numbers and hieroglyphs worthy of an Aígyptian burial chamber.

Item to retrieve: Special order of Augmentation parts

ONWARD to adventure, glory and teatime!

GLASSHOUSE - Fangirlish

PENNY’S BEDROOM - Emma Michaels

BIBLIOTHÈCA - E. Catherine Tobler

THE FLYING FORTRESS - Fantasy Book Critic
SUGARWERKS FULLY AUTOMATED BAKERY  - Lisa Mantchev

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

TeamNerd Features!