Amber I. from Awesomesauce Book Club and I have been stalking paranormal authors that will be attending the RT Booklovers Convention in Kansas City on May 1-5. We’ll both be there in all of our book nerd glory so we decided to do a bloggy event to get psyched up even more for the convention! Today I’m chatting with Sarah Zettle, author of the American Fairy series!
Introduce Yourself to our readers:
[box]Hello. My name’s Sarah Zettel. I’m just making my start as a young adult author, although I’ve been writing for adults for years. My books have spanned the range of genres. I started in science fiction and fantasy and moved over to romance and mystery, from there into young adult fantasy and historical. I enjoy travel, obviously. I have a web page: www.sarahzettel.com, and I’m on Facebook and Twitter.[/box]
Tell us a little about your books?
[box]My most recent series is the American Fairy Trilogy, about Callie LeRoux a young girl living in the Kansas Dust Bowl who discovers she’s not just of mixed race, but she’s a half-blood fairy princess, and her magical relatives are not at all pleased to find out she’s alive. This fall, I’ll also be debuting Palace of Spies, the first in a YA historical series set in the court of George I, and starring Peggy Fitzroy, house breaker, impersonater of persons of quality, maid of honor and confidential agent to Her Royal Highness, Caroline Princess of Wales.[/box]
What are you most looking forward to at RT?
[box]Meeting new people. I love coming to RT because I get to meet all kinds of new people, writers, readers, librarians, booksellers, all gathering together around a common love of good books.[/box]
If you’ve been to one before any tips for us newbies?
[box]Pace yourself. Go through your program and find those panels you really want to attend, and mark those down, otherwise you can get caught up in the whirl and miss something you really wanted to see. Make sure you take breaks during the day so you don’t totally wear yourself out. I like to plan a little time to get away from the conference just to recoup. And, as always, bring comfy shoes and drink plenty of water.[/box]
Where can we find you at RT? Are you on any panels, going to any parties, etc.
[box]I will be at the Intergallactic Bar & Grill at 5pm on Wednesday night (also known as the Blinky Jewelery Party), and the Seduced by the Unknown panel at 5pm on Friday. I’ll also be signing books and meeting folks on YA row at the Giant Book Fair, and I hope to be attending the Teen Day Mixer on Saturday night.[/box]
If we see you at the bar what drink will be in your hand?
[box]Either coffee, or Perrier with a lime twist. I’m a cheap date.[/box]
Since this event is for paranormal authors, can you tell us more about the paranormal in your book(s)?
[box]In my latest YA, I’m writing about fairies in America, and how American history, culture and zeigeist might shape the nature and the form of the old world magic and magical beings, particularly what forms the magical glamor would take in the new world, and the Depression.[/box]
What inspired you to write in the paranormal genre?
[box]I’ve always loved stories about magic. I learned to read out of the Wizard of Oz, and never looked back. My father was a fantasy reader, so I grew up surrounded by old school literary fantasy books by Lord Dunsany, Tolkein (of course), Ursula LeGuin, Ray Bradbury, and Manly Wade Wellman and so when I started writing, including magic and the paranormal was a natural.[/box]
Any plans in the city while you’re there?
[box]Jazz and BBQ. Most definitely.[/box]
What would you like to score in the “Goody Room”?
[box]Books and more books. I love discovering new authors.[/box]
Why do you attend conventions?
[box]I love a chance to travel and meet new people and discover new books.[/box]
Is your RT experience all planned out or are you more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type person?
[box]A bit of both. I like to pick out several panels and events that are “must sees,” but after that, I play it by ear. [/box]
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rWTJw52fDlQ/UWVqz-gE3bI/AAAAAAAAHyA/rMew4somTg8/s320/Glasses-color.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]
Sarah Zettel is an award-winning science fiction and fantasy author. She has written eighteen novels and multiple short stories over the past seventeen years in addition to practicing tai chi, learning to fiddle, marrying a rocket scientist and raising a rapidly growing son. She is very tired right now.
[tabs slidertype=”left tabs”] [tabcontainer] [tabtext]Dust Girl[/tabtext] [tabtext]Golden Girl[/tabtext] [/tabcontainer] [tabcontent] [tab]
Callie LeRoux lives in Slow Run, Kansas, helping her mother run their small hotel and trying not to think about the father she’s never met. Lately all of her energy is spent battling the constant storms plaguing the Dust Bowl and their effects on her health. Callie is left alone when her mother goes missing in a dust storm. Her only hope comes from a mysterious man offering a few clues about her destiny and the path she must take to find her parents in “the golden hills of the west”: California.
Along the way she meets Jack, a young hobo boy who is happy to keep her company—there are dangerous, desperate people at every turn. And there’s also an otherworldly threat to Callie. Warring fae factions, attached to the creative communities of American society, are very much aware of the role this half-mortal, half-fae teenage girl plays in their fate.[/tab] [tab]
Callie LeRoux has put her grimy, harrowing trip from the depths of the Dust Bowl behind her. Her life is a different kind of exciting now: she works at a major motion picture studio among powerful studio executives and stylish stars. Still nothing can distract her from her true goal. With help from her friend Jack and guidance from the great singer Paul Robeson, she will find her missing mother.
But as a child of prophecy and daughter of the legitimate heir to the Seelie throne, Callie poses a huge threat to the warring fae factions who’ve attached themselves to the most powerful people in Hollywood . . . and they are all too aware that she’s within their reach.[/tab] [/tabcontent] [/tabs]
Owner, designer and main blogger behind Rabid Reads. Avid book reader, snowboard bunny, video gamer and Supernatural fan. I love all things paranormal, werewolves especially. Oh, and I’m Canadian, eh!
Ooh nice! I still have books I got from Sarah last year that I need to read!
I just received the second book Golden Girl and I can’t wait to go back into this world. I love that Sarah incorporated this time period into her books.