Monday, April 30, 2012
About Andrea:
Andrea Cefalo is a bit of a roamer, growing up in New Hampshire, Maryland, and South Carolina, though the bulk of her family lives in Maine. She dreamed of a career in art restoration, but somehow ended up becoming a grade school teacher before realizing she really wanted to be a writer. She taught for three years and then decided to finish The Fairytale Keeper series and pursue her new found ambition. Andrea lives with her husband and two border collies in Greenville, South Carolina, which she calls home, at least for now.
Where You Can Find Her:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/
Website: http://www.andreacefalo.com
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/
Book Reading: http://www.youtube.com/
What inspired the idea for this story? Was is totally random or based on something?
I got the idea six years ago while I was getting my undergraduate degree in education. I was listening to a lecture about the commonalities of fairy tales. The professor said that nearly all cultures have a Cinderella story which made me wonder if one person, living thousands of years ago, could have been the real Cinderella. Could it be possible that this one girl spawned all the different versions of the story? Well, that’s probably not likely, but it did get me brainstorming. I am especially fond of Grimm’s fairy tales so I twisted my unlikely hypothesis into the presumption that one girl could have been the origin of Grimm’s most famous fairy tales.
When did you know you wanted to write?
When I was a junior in high school, I planned to become a poet. I had this huge anthology of horrible poems that I’d written. I’m so glad that I didn’t get them published. They were terribly depressing.
Most excited books by other authors to read this year
Now that I’ve finished my last round of revisions, I am so excited to delve into the pile of half-read books that I already have: The Queen’s Fool by Phillipa Gregory, Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet, Dearskin by Robin McKinley, The Amarenth Enchantment by Julie Berry, and Graceling by Kristin Cashore.
Was there an author that inspired you to write a fabulous book? Someone you look up to?
There are so many to list, but it wasn’t until I read Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series that I actually sat down and wrote my first chapter. She writes characters incredibly well. When the Twilight series ended, I felt like my friends had moved away. I’m still holding out hope that she’ll write a sequel to The Host or finish The Midnight Sun.
What are your favorite scenes to write?
Writing Adelaide’s dreams is oddly liberating. I’m writing historical fiction so there are boundaries to what my characters can say and do. Dreams are so unrestricted. They allow me to expose Adelaide’s true thoughts and fears more creatively.
We are both determined. When I decide I am going to do something and it becomes a priority, I’ll get it done or just about die trying. I think Adelaide has that quality, but she lives in a time and place where that kind of mindset can kill a person. We’re also both quite clumsy. That can kill a person, too I suppose.
Favorite quote from a book?
No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.
-Jon Donne Meditation XVII
Favorite quote from your book?
Any advice to Aspiring Authors?
Keep doing what you love. Read books you love and write what you’re inspired to write. Don’t let the idea of making lots of money ruin your love of the craft. That being said, if you intend to be published, find out everything you can about the industry as you’re writing. It’s very complex and there are definitely some things I know now that I wish I knew then.
Any upcoming projects we should look for?
There are three more books to come in The Fairytale Keeper series. The sequel will be out next summer. I’ve already written it and now I’m racking my brain trying to come up with a title.
Book Excerpt:
12 March, 1247 Afternoon
His hand strokes my wound and we flinch simultaneously. Holding his hand up in front of his face, he sees his bloodstained fingers. He grabs my hand, spinning me around to face him and pushes the sleeve of my cloak up to my shoulder roughly to reveal the gash.
“What is this? What happened?”` he yells. I rip my hand from his and shove the sleeve back down.
“It looks worse than it is. I fell on my way through the fields.”
“It needs to be bandaged.”
“After we go to the Gilded Gopher. We can stop at my house and I shall bandage it there.”
He reaches for my arm again and I pull away. He huffs and shakes his head in annoyance at my stubbornness. We walk the rest of the way in silence. The road is quiet. I had assumed the Gilded Gopher would be closer to Hay Market or on Harlot’s Alley, but we near Pantaleon’s parish. The walk gives me pause to think of what I shall say to Father when I finally find him.
I should like to scream at him for letting me worry. Then, I think, what if Father is not there? And I feel guilty for wanting to yell at him. I say a quick prayer and tell the Lord I shall be forever grateful if He returns Father to me.
My legs start to quiver beneath me and I grab Ivo’s shoulder to keep from falling.
“I stumbled,” I lie. I am weary from hunger, I convince myself, and we keep walking.
My head swims and I stumble toward the city wall in case I need to grasp it for support. A small red stream winds its way down my middle finger, trickling slowly to the ground. My wound has reopened. Heat drains from my face as everything spirals. My legs shake violently and I reach for the wall, sliding down it to the ground.
I hear my name and I see a face. Ivo. My cheek stings as he slaps me.
“Addie! Wake up, Addie! Oh, thank God,” he shouts and then huffs. “You are worse than the oxen. You know that?” he scolds.
“What are you doing? Stop hitting me,” I mumble in a trance. My eyelids bounce heavily and I desperately fight the urge to sleep. Ivo rips the strings that tie my cloak and throws it aside. He stands and rips off his cyclas, standing before me in only his tunic which is slightly translucent with the sun behind him and riddled with holes. I notice a large golden bruise through a hole in his sleeve and another on his stomach which I can see through the tunic. He kneels and pulls a knife from his boot. He cuts away at the bottom of his tunic.
“I must tie this around your wound, Addie. It has to be tight to stop the bleeding.” He shoves my blood-soaked sleeve past my shoulder and ties the fabric painfully tight around my gash. I cry out as the knot pinches my skin. He sighs and checks the wound which still bleeds. “Not tight enough.”
He races to untie it and rebinds it again. I feel him yank it tightly with all his strength. The world goes black.
Giveaway:
~Andrea has sent me copy of her book to giveaway so one luck winner will receive this!
~Only US residents may enter! I'm not going to be shipping internationally for some time. Sorry!
~ Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Look for my review of The Fairytale Keeper coming soon!
3 comments:
Heyo! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! I love to hear from my awesome-sauce blog readers. You just made my day! I try to reply to every comment I get so if you have a question check back later! Or just link me up to your blog (if you have one) and I'll visit you! Have a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious day! <333 Inky
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The only one that comes to mind is A Kiss in time by Alex Flinn, which is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I really enjoyed it and thought it was funny and cute.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many that I love! Midnight Pearls by Debbie Viguie is a retelling of The Little Mermaid. Love it!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite fairy tale retelling is probably Bewitching by Alex Flinn. It's a retelling of Cinderella in a way, only it's told in the 'ugly' step-sister's point of view. It's very enjoyable, and fun to read, I like it. ^.^
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