Interview With Suzanne de Montigny

Hi,
Today I am interviewing Suzanne de Montigny the author of The Shadow Of The Unicorn The Legacy to be released Nov 30 by Museituppublishing.

Suzanne de Montigny wrote her first unicorn novel when she was twelve and has always kept it in a safe place. In her twenties, she freelanced as a composer and pianist in Vancouver, B.C. Later, she began teaching elementary music where she learned she could spin a good tale that kept kids and teachers begging for more. She has written four novels. The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Legacy is her first. Living in Burnaby, she resides with her husand and her two boys.


Tell us about The Shadow Of The Unicorn: The Legacy and how the story came to be.

The Shadow Of The Unicorn: The Legacy came about in a strange sort of way. When my father died, six years ago, I was stricken by an intense urge to write. A year later, I found an old box of childhood memorabilia while cleaning the basement. And in that box, I found the first four chapters of a rewrite of my grade six unicorn story that I must have done somewhere in my teens. I threw it in the recycling box, along with all the rest of my garbage, but a couple of days later, on a rainy afternoon, my curiosity got the best of me, so I brought it back in, dried it off, and read it. I was utterly fascinated. A week later, I sat down and wrote the first draft, then a month later, a second novel. And I’ve never stopped.

What three words best describe your main character?
Azaria, a unicorn colt is brave, loyal, and funny.

What types of books do you like to read?
Anything that takes me away from my real world. Thus fantasy, historical fiction, science fiction, that sort of thing.

What do you like to do when you aren't writing?
My boys and I fiddle. If I’m not writing, I’m either playing music or helping the boys with their
homework.

What's next for your writing? Are you working on a new story?
I just recently completed a YA Paranormal entitled: A Town Bewitched about a fourteen-year-old child prodigy in classical violin who struggles to survive in the small town of Hope, British Columbia. When a fiddler bewitches the town, only the girl suspects it’s her who has been vandalizing the town, leaving tokens of dead and gutted birds. I’m also rewriting the second of The Shadow of the Unicorn trilogy.

Where can readers find you and your books?
From Muse It Up Publishing and Kindle.

Anything else you want readers to know?Yes, the most important part of all. Last July, I was stricken with a visual impairment for which I’ve been undergoing numerous tests. At present, my ophthalmologist feels it’s only temporary and will clear itself up in time. But it got me to thinking there are countless people in the world, who have no hope for their vision. And so, I decided that half of all my proceeds from the The Shadow of the Unicorn: The legacy will go to the Third World Eye Care Society, a group of eye specialists who travel to underdeveloped nations, bringing thousands of pairs of used glasses and operating for free.

  Check out Suzanne's book trailer, It is very powerful
http://youtu.be/St9OsyK974o

After checking out the book trailer go over to MuseItUp and order the book.
https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=466&category_id=69&manufacturer_id=230&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Thank you Suzanne.

Excerpt From Ghostly Clues

Excerpt:
I slid under the covers and closed my eyes and began tossing and turning, trying to block out my haunting thoughts. Once more I flopped over and faced the wall. From somewhere something creaked like someone stepping on the floor board. I pried my eyes open trying to figure out where it was coming from. Under the bed? From the closet? Just outside my closed bedroom door? The noise stopped so I flipped with my back to the wall. A white glow appeared in front of the bedroom door. It came from the center of the door and headed toward the bed. I gasped in a breath, holding back my scream. The light hovered over the foot of the bed.

The smell of lilacs drifted in the air and I held the sneeze in, too afraid of the scene in front of me. My heart beat faster as the glow transformed into the shape of a woman. The lady had snow-white hair pulled back in a bun. A smile formed on her face and her familiar sky-blue eyes twinkled. The springs creaked as she lowered herself to the bed and the smell of lilacs greeted me like a hug.

“Grandma?” I whispered, sitting up and staring.

Grandma looked the same as when she was alive except her hair was grayer than I remembered.
She bent down to pick up the doll. As she handed it to me, her mouth moved but no sound came out.

“Grandma, what are you trying to tell me?” I whispered.

“Kay, darling, don’t cry. Your grandfather will be okay,” Grandma finally said. “It’s not his time to go home yet.”

“Wow.” My jaw dropped open. “I can hear you.” I wanted to wrap my arms around her and squeeze, but fear that any movement would cause Grandma to disappear stopped me. “How do you know Gramps will be okay?”

“He’s too stubborn. He just needs to take it easy. So make sure he does that. It’s not his time to be with me.”

“How can you be here?”

“That’s not important.” Grandma touched my hand.

The touch felt strange like a warm tingling sensation. I sat very still afraid this moment wouldn’t last long.

Grandma stared at me for a moment. Her form seemed to become more transparent. The cluttered dresser behind her started to appear clearer.

“Find your father. There are two sides to a family. I love you, Kay,” she whispered before she vanished along with the sweet flowery aroma.

pre-order Ghostly Clues and save 20%
https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=527&category_id=69&manufacturer_id=255&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Ghostly Clues

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https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=527&category_id=69&manufacturer_id=255&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Interview With Sarah Kay From Ghostly Clues

 

As a writer/author, it is my job to make the characters come alive for the readers. Before I can make the characters come alive for the reader, first they need to come alive for me. How does a writer do that? By doing a character sketch. Not just what they look like, but also what do they do, about their family, hobbies, likes and dislikes, friends, things you'd want to know about a person you just met. So once I get a character developed, then I like to interview them, to get to know them better. Once they have come alive for me, I put the characters into situations, give them problems to solve. So I hope as a writer my characters come alive for the reader because they do come alive for me.

In November, Ghostly Clues will be released. It will become a book and I hope a lot of young readers will enjoy reading about Sarah Kay, the main character in Ghostly Clues. I hope the readers will be able to relate to her and she will come alive in their minds as they read her story.

Today I would like to do an interview with Sarah Kay from my new book Ghostly Clues.

Welcom Sarah Kay.

Thank you. You can call me SK.
Okay, SK. First question. Did you really see your grandmother's ghost?
You really need to read the book to find out. But I will tell you, grandparents have creative ways of communicating even from beyond the grave.
How does your grandma communticate with you from beyond the grave?

Well whenever her spirit is around and she wants me to know it, she sends the smell of lilacs, her favorite flower. Which is kind of silly on Grandma's part because I sneeze like crazy when I smell lilacs. Grandma must think it's funny. Gramps says it's the best way to get my attention. And it does get my attention especailly when I smell lilacs and they're not even in bloom. The first time I smelled lilacs was at her funeral. I didn't think much about it until I heard a voice say Kay. Only Gramps and Grandma called me Kay most other people call me Sarah. So that kind of freaked me out when I realized that Gramps wasn't calling my name.

Wow. Before this ghostly experience, did you believe in ghosts?
Oh, sure. In books and movies, but not in real life. MJ and I love scary movies.

Who is MJ?
Mary Jane. She's my best friends. She helped me out a lot on figuring out Grandma's ghostly clues.
So now you are a firm believer in ghosts? You bet. Grandma's ghost helped me find my dad.

So has your grandma's ghost left you any more ghostly clues lately? Not since I found my dad. But MJ and I look forward to following more ghostly clues from grandma or any other ghosts if they wish to leave us clues.

Well thanks, SK, for talking with us. It has been nice getting to know you a little better. Thanks. For the readers out there, don't just think ghosts are in books and movies, because ghosts are real and it is fun to follow the ghostly clues they leave for us to find.

You can read more about Sarah Kay in Ghostly Clues to be released in November from museituppublishing.com
Next week I will interview Mary Jane, Sarah Kay's best friend.

Keep writing and reading.

Book Cover

Here is my book cover for Ghostly Clues to be released Nov 2012 from Muse It Up.

Charlie did a great job on this cover. Thanks

Random Thought of a Writer


NaNo is next month. Part of me is excited about doing it again this year. What will the story be about? What new characters will pop out of my head. Part of me worries about will I be able to write everyday. Will I be able meet my goal everyday. 50,000 words is a lot of words to write in a month.

Some writers outline and plot the story they will be working on. Every year I always tell myself I'll plot and outline and get ready for NaNo, but just like this year I never get around to actually plotting the story. Nov. 1 I sit down in front of the blank screen and just start typing. I start with an idea and as I type the characters start to reveal themselves.

As long as I sit down and write something everyday, I try not to worry if I meet the word limit or not everyday. Some days I get in the groove of writing and the story just seems to flow through me. Then other days it is a struggle.

I look at NaNo as a way to discipline myself to write. Somedays it is so easy to get involved in other things/stuff and avoid writing. Other days I feel off if I don't sit down and write.

This year I have a lot of writing projects I'm working on so my writing time is limited. But I think NaNo will give me the chance to free write instead of just revising all the time.

This is just my random thoughts on NaNo. So if you don't see me blogging in the month of Nov. this is why - my fingers are flying away on the keyboard.

Keep writing and reading.

Random Thoughts of a Writer

We all have thoughts running though our heads on a regural basics. As a writer I am continually thinking about writing - different scenes, characters, and story ideas. These ideas pop into my head when I'm out walking the dogs, or cleaning house or when I'm just waking up in the morning from a dream. Usaully I try to write my dreams down first thing in the morning because sometime those dreams turn into stories. Usually when I get idea for a scene or character or what I think might be a good idea for a story, I like to write it down as soon as I can.

What if one day I'm in the tub soaking and this great idea pops into my head. It's the greatest ending to my story that I had been struggling with. No time to wait. I have to get to a pencil and paper now. So I dash out of the tub with nothing on but a robe. I'm dripping wet, leaving puddles as I scramble around to find paper and pencil and I fall, flat on my back on the floor. This great idea for the closing scene falls out of my head and lands in a million pieces all around me. I lay sprawled on the floor whishing I kept a pad and pencil by the tub.

This has never happened to me, thank God. I'd probably break a hip or something. But I thought about all the great ideas I had floating around in my head that never got written down because I didn't have anything to write it down on. So it's important as writers to have a notebook, pencil, maybe even a recorder so that we can jot down our ideas before they fall out of our head or get crowded out by another character.

When a writer takes a shower do they sing or do they plot out a story into a recorder? I usually sing, but if I had a recorder my family would think I was crazy talking to myself.

Next time you hear someone talking to themselves, listen closely. They could be plotting their next best seller. I know I would be.

Keep writing and reading.