GYDO: April Genevieve Tucholke

April Tucholke, Author of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Happy Never After or Happy Ever After

A bittersweet mixture of both. 

Hardback, paperback, or eBook?

Hardback and paperback. I don't own an ereader. 

Bad boy or boy next door?

Both.

Chocolate or candy?

Dark chocolate.

Coffee or Tea?

Coffee. No question.

Truth or Dare?

Truth.

Reading in the sun or reading next to a fireplace?

Both, with a slight leaning towards the fireplace.

Sweet or Sour?

Sour is my least favorite taste. And I like my desserts bittersweet, like my endings.

Would you rather be super cold or baking in the sun?

Super cold. Hands down.

A million dollars or a life time supply of books?

I already seem to own more books than I could read in a lifetime. I'd take the million dollars and donate half to cash-starved libraries. I would use the rest to build a fleet of bookmobiles that would travel the land, giving away my favorite books.

Favorite YA book? (Besides your own of course!)

That's tough. Sabriel and Lirael by Garth Nix. Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer. To Kill a Mockingbird. The Golden Compass. A Wrinkle in Time. The Folk Keeper. I could go on and on...

Favorite 2013 debut?

THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER by Megan Shepherd. TAKEN by Erin Bowman. IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS by Cat Winters. SPLINTERED by A.G. Howard. And there are still several I haven't had a chance to read yet...

Favorite place?

Northern Italy. Lourmarin, France. The Scottish Borders. Salzburg, Austria. Bruges, Belgium. 

Favorite food?

Affogato. Manakeesh with olives, feta, and crisp cucumbers. Summer Corn Chowder made with coconut milk and fresh corn right off the cob. The Khai Soi at Pok Pok in Portland. The Sticky Chicken at the Real Food Street Bistro food cart.

Favorite website?

I'm on my local library's website almost every day. I really like deviantART.com...and audible.com. I listen to a lot of audiobooks. 

Favorite social media?

None. I wish we could go all go back to writing letters.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Blurb

You stop fearing the devil when you’re holding his hand…
Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town…until River West comes along. River rents the guesthouse behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more? Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery...who makes you want to kiss back. Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.
Blending faded decadence and the thrilling dread of gothic horror, April Genevieve Tucholke weaves a dreamy, twisting contemporary romance, as gorgeously told as it is terrifying—a debut to watch.

Author Bio

April Genevieve Tucholke is a writer who digs classic movies, red-headed villains, big kitchens, and discussing murder at the dinner table. She and her husband Nate Pedersen live in Oregon at the edge of the forest.

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GYDO: Cristin Terrill

Cristin Terrill, Author of All Our Yesterdays

(Happy Book Birthday! All Our Yesterdays releases today!)

Fiction Freak:What's your most embarrassing moment?

Cristin Terrill: Other than my entire middle-school existence? There are so many to choose from. The one that first springs to mind was my very first day of freshman orientation at college. It was already a very stressful day, because I was incredibly nervous and my mom, dad, stepmother, and 6 month old half-sister were there "helping" me move in. Halfway through unpacking I got a note to go to one of the rooms where they were doing administrative stuff. I got there and found out that they'd never received my vaccination records from my doctor, so I had to get a shot RIGHT THEN. I have a severe needle phobia (like, I usually pass out in the doctor's office just from being near all the needles) so all the stress made me immediately burst into tears. My dad looked at me in shock and said, "You're really serious about that needle thing, huh?" and I was like, "YEAH DAD, I REALLY AM." Meanwhile, I'm crying uncontrollably and making a total idiot of myself in front of about fifty of the brand new classmates I was so nervous about meeting. Luckily, I managed to stay conscious, but I still shudder thinking about that moment! 

What's been the most memorable moment that has something to do with your writing?

The night I first got an offer on ALL OUR YESTERDAYS. I was out to dinner with a bunch of my writers friends and ran outside into the bitter cold without my coat to answer my agent's call. She told me not to tell anyone we'd received an offer, so I had to go back into dinner and pretend nothing had happened. My two closest friends could tell something was up, though, so I told them what had happened in the parking lot after dinner was over. We basically just hugged and cried and laughed for like an hour.

What's your most anticipated 2014 or late 2013 read?

THE DREAM THIEVES, the sequel to Maggie Stiefvater's THE RAVEN BOYS. That was my favorite read of last year, and I'm so missing those characters and dying to see what they're up to!

What's your biggest pet peeve?

People who say "literally" when they mean "figuratively."

If you could learn a talent in a day, what would it be?

Hmm, I'd love to be able to draw or ballroom-dance or speak a new language, but I think I'd have to pick learning to play the guitar. I can play the trumpet and French horn from my many years of school band, but you can't just whip out your French horn around the campfire with your friends, you know? 

You can meet anyone, who is it?

William Shakespeare. I can pick someone dead, right? I have a master's in Shakespeare Studies, and I have so many questions I would love to have answered!

What YA character would you LOVE to meet?

Tough one! Well, Peeta is my YA boyfriend, so it would be good if we actually knew each other, but I would also kill to have a slumber party with Frankie Landau-Banks and THE DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE'S Zuzana.

Give us some random facts about you!

I've lived in twelve cities in two countries,

Judi Dench overheard me calling her creepy once, and I saw a flying saucer one night at my grandparents' house when I was fifteen. 

Favorite

2013 debut:

I'm reading MAID OF SECRETS by Jennifer McGowan right now and really enjoying it. There's also this awesome book I heard about called ALL OUR YESTERDAYS...

Series:

HIS DARK MATERIALS by Philip Pullman

TV Show:

I'm a TV addict, so I don't know if I could choose. Some favs are Arrested Development, Friday Night Lights, Firefly, and Battlestar Galactica.

Website:

My life would not be worth living without Netflix.

Animal:

Dolphin. Or sea lion. Or sea otter. Basically any sea mammal will do.

Color:

Blue

Food:

French fries

Bookstore:

Book People in Austin, TX

Social Media:

Twitter, although I really love Tumblr too.

This or that

eBook or physical?

Physical. Ebooks are easier to read, but I like to be able to look at my books.

Paperback or hardback?

Hardbacks. They're prettier.

Twitter or Facebook?

Twitter! Facebook and I just never clicked, and I'm always on Twitter.

Dogs or cats?

The cat is my spirit animal, although I love dogs too.

Morning bird or night owl?

Night owl. I basically became a writer so that I would never have to get up early.

Junk food or candy?

Junk food. I'm not much for candy, but French fries or brownies or pizza? Love.

Contemporary or paranormal/fantasy?

Paranormal/fantasy. It has to be a really special book to make me want to relive high school!

One Direction or Justin Bieber?

Although I've literally never heard any of their music, I'll go with One Direction. I have a weakness for British accents.

NUTELLA OR NUTELLA?

I make these Nutella crepes that would BLOW YOUR MIND, MY FRIEND.

All Our Yesterdays Blurb
Marina has everything. She’s got money, popularity, and a bright future. Plus, she’s best friends with the boy next door, who happens to be a gorgeous prodigy from one of America’s most famous families.
Em has nothing. Imprisoned in a small white cell in the heart of a secret military base, all she has is the voice of the boy in the cell next door and the list of instructions she finds taped inside the drain.
But Marina and Em have one big thing in common: they’re the same person.
Now Em must travel back four years in time in order to avert the terrible future from which she’s fled, and there’s only one way to do it. She must kill the person who invented the time machine in the first place: someone from her past. A person she loved.
But Marina won’t let them go without a fight.

Author Bio
Cristin Terrill is a YA author and aspiring grown-up. She holds a BA in Drama from Vassar College and an MA from the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon and has worked in the theatre on both sides of the pond. She now teaches creative writing to children and teens in Washington, D.C. 

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Blog Tour: Taste Test by Kelly Fiore

Me? I definitely loved this book! My review goes up in two days! Now read on for some food related questions. Because I just couldn't help myself.

Fiction Freak: What made you want to write about a TV show and why food?

Kelly Fiore:I think the food part was more of a choice than the TV show part. I’ve been involved in a lot of writing workshops and classes and the two things that always ring true are “show, don’t tell” and “write what you know.” I know food – I can remember the dishes I ate on important days more than I can remember what I wore or what I said. Food was a huge part of my childhood and I always cooked with my mom, until I was old enough to do it alone.

But, the idea of a teen Top Chef came to me when I was driving – which is when I get a lot of my ideas, actually. And being such a big Top Chef fan (and rooting for Bryan Voltaggio in the TC Masters right now – he lives in my hometown!) it just seemed like a win-win.

FF: What research did you have to do for TASTE TEST?

KF: Wow, the word “research” really gives legitimacy to the concept of me lounging on the couch and watching every cooking show ever!

Honestly, I did watch a lot of cooking television – not just the “reality” stuff, but the regular half-hour Food Network shows, too. I wanted to get a concept of timing and how ingredients are prepped. I watched a lot of “behind the scenes” stuff that I found online – like, I remember watching a show where Giada DeLaurentis was showing how her show gets made. I used a lot of those details to pull together what I expected the inner workings of the show to look like. Other than that, the recipes had to be cooked and re-cooked to make sure they were something I would stand behind in a book. And I had to attach measurements to ingredients because I don’t measure anything.

FF: The banter between Christian and Nora had me LOLing. Did you ever have a witty banter going on between you and someone else?

KF: Absolutely – that is chemistry and it is pure gold. You have that with someone and it means you are totally in tune with them. It can be a friend and totally platonic, but the best is when that banter is really a cover for sexual tension, as in the case of Nora and Christian.

My husband and I were still in our teens when we met and I can tell you that we had very witty banter – it’s one of our many compatibilities J

FF: What is your FAVORITE recipe out of all the ones you've included in TASTE TEST?

KF: It’s a toss up between the Chicken Pasta Nora (which is imbedded in the book, not at the end) and the Mahi Mahi dish. Both of those are staples in my kitchen and they’re both delicious!

FF: If you were placed in a cooking competition, what place do you think you'd get?

KF: Oh, jeez – probably last. I can’t plate to save my life. My food never really looks “pretty” even if it does taste good. That, and I’m a little too sassy for my own good. I’d probably have a hard time building alliances and winning people over J

FF: If you had to choose one dessert to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be?

KF: It’s another toss up – it’s either Crème Brulee or Chocolate Mousse. Or a good brownie sundae. This question is too hard!!!

FF:  Are there any snacks you ALWAYS have to have on hand while you write?

KF: I LOVE sushi – especially spicy tuna and vegetable rolls – and Korean BBQ, so those are my go-to take out options when I’m writing. I don’t keep a lot of snacks around the house, honestly. But I do a LOT of ordering in.

FF: Who was your favorite character to write?

KF: I loved writing Christian and Nora’s interactions more than anything else. I love that bantering chemistry between them.

FF: Did you mean for the contradiction in Joy's (the mean girl's) name?

KF: No, not at all. Sometimes I put a ton of thought into names – Giada (GiGi), for example, was what we were going to name my son if he was a girl. But other times – like with Joy? It’s just the first name that pops in my head J

FF: Do you happen to have any embarrassing cooking moments you'd like to share?

KF: I did a lot of cooking experiments in my youth – this question would probably be a better one for my mom!

Lately, though, the most embarrassing thing I did was forget to put the sugar in a chocolate zucchini cake batter. I didn’t realize it until the batter was in the muffin tins – so I had to dump/scrap all the batter out of the little paper cupcake cups and back into the bowl so I could add the sugar. It was worth it, though, obviously. Cake without sugar is NOT good.

Taste Test Blurb
Nora Henderson has been basting baby back ribs for as long as she could reach the counter of her dad's famous barbecue joint. When she's accepted to Taste Test, a teen reality cooking competition, Nora can't wait to leave her humble hometown behind. On set, run-ins with the maddeningly handsome and talented son of a famous chef, Christian Van Lorten, make Nora wonder if it's him or the win she really wants, but as she and Christian emerge as front-runners for the final prize, Nora can't ignore the mysterious accidents plaguing the kitchen arena. Someone is conducting eliminations of their own, and if Nora doesn't stop them, she could be next to get "chopped" for good. 

With romance and intrigue as delectable as the winning recipes included in the story, this debut novel will be devoured by all.

Author Bio
Kelly Fiore has a BA in Creative Writing from Salisbury University and an MFA in Poetry from West Virginia University. Cooking and writing are two of Kelly's greatest passions; others include cupcakes, facials, and VH1 Classic. She lives in Maryland where she lives with her husband and son. Taste Test is her debut novel.

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