Hey y'all! I am stoked to be hosting a spot on the blog tour for THE PERILOUS JOURNEY OF THE MUCH TOO SPONTANEOUS GIRL by Leigh Statham! I have an interview with Leigh to share with you today. Check it out & make sure to enter the giveaway!
Haven't heard of THE PERILOUS JOURNEY OF THE MUCH TOO SPONTANEOUS GIRL? Check it out!
Lady Marguerite Vadnay and her trusty automaton, Outil, have settled into life in New France rather well. Marguerite is top of the class at flight school and her future as an aerpilot is nearly secure. She has everything she wants— except a commission on the pirate hunting dirigible The Renegade. Using every card in her aristocratic arsenal, Marguerite wiggles her way onto the finest warship France has to offer. But as usual, Marguerite’s plans endanger the lives of those she holds dear— only this time no one else is going to save them. As Marguerite and Outil set off on a rescue mission they may not return from, she finally realizes it’s time to reorder her cogs.
This steampunk adventure is littered with facts from The Golden Age of Piracy and follows (not too closely) some of the lives and adventures of the brave men and women who sailed the seas as privateers, pirates and soldiers.
Now on to the interview!
Hi Leigh! First I want to say welcome back to
Two Chicks on Books! THE PERILOUS JOURNEY OF THE MUCH TOO SPONTANEOUS GIRL was
absolutely fantastic and I can’t wait for everyone to read it! And am so happy
that you could stop by for a visit!
Thank you so much for having me! Delighted to be here!
For the readers: can you tell us a little bit about THE PERILOUS JOURNEY
OF THE MUCH TOO SPONTANEOUS GIRL and the characters?
Sure! This is the sequel to my first book,
The Perilous Journey of the Not-So-Innocuous Girl. Marguerite is still the main
character, and I don’t want to spoil anything, but let’s just say that she ends
up sneaking into a very interesting voyage that ruins her hair, and her outfit,
and almost costs her two of her dearest friends. There are new characters that
I loved writing about and Outil is back, of course. I don’t think Marguerite
would be able to get through a whole day without Outil at her side.
Will there be a book 3 and if not what are you working on now?
Right now I’m working on an MFA in creative
writing. I love to teach and I love to write, so it’s a perfect marriage. I
have been writing a lot of short stories for that program and also a YA novel.
It’s a lot of fun to see the academic side of creative writing and to learn
from some really accomplished authors.
Book 3 is simmering in my heart, brain and
hard drive :)
Were any of the characters in the book inspired by people from your real
life?
Why, Yes! Marguerite Vadnay was my
great-great-great (add a couple more greats) grandmother. She was an actual
girl that was adopted by Louis the IVX and sent to Montreal to chose a husband
to marry and help settle the wild new world they were building. I stumbled upon
this story while doing family history research and I loved it so much that I
had to write about it. Some of the other characters are based on real people
from history as well. Captain Douleur is a mix of female pirates I researched
but I’d say she is mostly based on Madame Ching, an infamous female pirate
leader from early 19th century China. In her prime, she commanded a naval fleet of more than 1,500 vessels
with a crew upwards of 180,000, and she was one of the only pirate captains to
ever retire from pirating alive.
Who was your favorite character to write? What about your least
favorite?
My favorite character is definitely Outil. She’s such a lovely
automaton, and I love writing about her little accomplishments toward
understanding humans. My lease favorite character to write was probably
Butterfield. She’s a great character, and a key character, but we just didn’t
get along very well.
What is your favorite passage/scene in THE PERILOUS JOURNEY OF THE MUCH
TOO SPONTANEOUS GIRL?
It is one of the scenes toward the end of
the book, when Marguerite has to do something she would never dream of doing that really grosses her out. But she ends up
getting through. I think it really helped her grow as a character. And no… I’m not going to tell you what it was. No spoilers! But if you’ve read
the book, I think you’ll know what I’m talking about. It has to do with major
events at Claude’s homestead.
What kind of research did you have to do for the story?
LOTS! I read as many books as I could get my
hands on about the history of pirates. I visited all the pirate museums I could
find while wandering around the country, and I even went on a cruise. I know,
tough life, eh? (Don’t be too jealous. I was sick as a dog for weeks afterwards
and I’ll never go on a cruise again.)
Who is your ultimate book boyfriend?
I have about 500 characters running through
my head right now. So I’m just going to pick one at random. How about Gilbert
Blythe from Anne of Green Gables. An oldie, but definitely a goodie.
What inspired you to write YA?
I love that time of life. I admire young
people today so much. They go through so many changes and have to make so many
HUGE decisions. I never want to relive it, but I love writing about it and I
would love to help someone get through it (or escape it) with my books.
Lightening Round Questions
What are you reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re
dying to read?
Right now I’m reading Barren Ground by Ellen
Glasgow for school. I’m DYING to read A Taste for Monsters by Matthew Kirby.
Love me some monsters!
What Hogwarts House would the Sorting Hat place you in?
(Love this question!) The sorting hat
usually puts me in Hufflepuff. But I usually self-identify as
Griffindor/Ravenclaw = Griffinclaw. However, after doing some research, I think
Hufflepuff is pretty accurate. (Can you tell I take my Potter seriously?)
Twitter or Facebook?
Twitter.
Favorite Superhero?
WONDER WOMAN! *ching*ching* (that’s the sound of bullets bouncing off
her gold wrist cuffs). She’s been my idol since I was a little girl. Linda
Carter all the way!
Favorite TV show?
Stranger Things or Poldark *swoon*
Sweet or Salty?
Salty
Any Phobias?
I really don’t like falling. It hurts. So
I’m afraid of it.
Song you can’t get enough of right now?
The remake of While My Guitar Gently Weeps
by Regina Spektor from the movie Kubo – LOVE! Must see that movie. Must hear that song. So good.
Fall Movie you’re most looking forward to?
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children!
Is there any other movie coming out? No way!
Thanks so much Leigh for answering my
questions! I can’t wait for everyone to read THE PERILOUS JOURNEY OF THE MUCH TOO
SPONTANEOUS GIRL!
About Leigh:
Leigh
Statham was raised in the wilds of rural Idaho, but found her heart in New York
City. She worked as a waitress, maid, artist, math teacher, nurse, web
designer, art director, thirty-foot inflatable pig and mule wrangler before she
settled down in the semi-quiet role of wife, mother and writer. She resides in
North Carolina with her husband, four children, five chickens and two suspected
serial killer cats. If the air is cool and the sun is just coming up over the
horizon, you can find her running the streets of her small town, plotting her
next novel with the sort of intensity that will one day get her hit by a car.
Giveaway Details:
Contest ends October 7, 2016
Contest ends October 7, 2016
·
One (1) winner will receive a scrabble tile book
cover charm (US ONLY)
·
Five (5) winners will receive a digital copy of
books 1 and 2 in the Perilous Journey of the Not So Innocuous Girl series by
Leigh Statham (INT)
Go to Chapter by Chapter to check out the Tour Schedule for more awesome posts!
Make sure to grab book 1 now if you haven't read it!
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