Girl in the Shadows
Gwenda Bond
(Girl on a Wire #2)
Published by: Skyscape
Publication date: July 5th 2016
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Eighteen-year-old Moira Mitchell grew up in the shadows of Vegas’s stage lights while her father’s career as a magician soared. More than anything, Moira wants to be a magician too, but her father is dead set against her pursuing magic.
When an invitation to join the Cirque American mistakenly falls into Moira’s possession, she takes action. Instead of giving the highly coveted invitation to its intended recipient, Raleigh, her father’s handsome and worldly former apprentice, Moira takes off to join the Cirque. If she can perform alongside its world-famous acts, she knows she’ll be able to convince her dad that magic is her future.
But when Moira arrives, things take on an intensity she can’t control as her stage magic suddenly feels like…real magic. To further distract her, Raleigh shows up none too pleased at Moira’s presence, all while the Cirque’s cocky and intriguing knife thrower, Dez, seems to have it out for her. As tensions mount and Moira’s abilities come into question, she must decide what’s real and what’s an illusion. If she doesn’t sort it out in time, she may forever remain a girl in the shadows.
Welcome Gwenda!
1. Did you always know you wanted to be a writer or did you want to be something else?
I was that obnoxious kid who declared I wanted to be a writer before I could even write, forcing my parents to tell me if I’d inadvertently made a word while making swirling fake cursive.
2. How long does it take you to write a book from start to finish?
It depends on the book. Generally speaking, I can manage a draft in two-three-four months or so, then it’s nice to have a little bit of a break before revising. Some books take longer, so that’s my fastest.
3. How are you able to balance other aspects of your life with your writing?
For a long time, I would have said not well! And it is always a challenge, because writing eats up so much of your mental bandwidth. But I finally left my long-time other full-time job at the beginning of the year and so have some semblance of, “Oh, I could go get lunch with a friend this week!” and that sort of thing. It’s still a very time-consuming profession with a lot of stress, though. On the other hand, it’s also the best job in the world, as far as I’m concerned.
4. What was the hardest thing about writing a book?
How long do you have? I always say that writing a novel is like trying to catch a whirlwind with a butterfly net. Every book has its own challenges to best and secrets to unlock.
5. How many books have you written so far? Do you have a favorite?
So...wow, it’s hard to believe since my first novel was published in 2012, that Girl in the Shadows is my sixth published novel. I’m working on what will probably be the seventh now, and my husband and I co-wrote a middle grade together called the Lost Legacy in a series called the Supernormal Sleuthing Service that comes out next year, so that’s eight. Or does it count as a half because it’s co-written? ;) Anyway! It took me a longish time to sell my first book, so I have two trunk novels I wrote that will never see the light of day. A lot. I’ve written a lot of books so far. The favorite tends to be whatever I’m working on at the moment.
6. Where do you write?
On my laptop or my Alphasmart neo. Usually at my desk. Sometimes at a coffeeshop or in the backyard. In cars sometimes.
7. Have you gotten feedback from family about your book(s)? What do they think?
I’m lucky to have an extremely supportive family. My mother is always keen to read my books right away and buys many copies. My dad even once told me one of my books was “Almost as good as a Western,” which is high praise from him.
8. What kinds of things do you like to do outside of writing?
Last fall I took up going to an aerial studio here in town, doing aerial yoga and some aerial silks. It had been so long since I had done something with no expectation of being any good at it, and it’s been a life-changer. So fun, and a great counterbalance to all the time I spend at my desk. And, obviously, I love the circus so.
9. What kinds of advice would you give to someone who wants to start writing?
Read everything. Think about what works for you in it and what doesn’t and why. Find the people who will help you do the work you want to do. Don’t give up.
10. Are you working on anything now?
Always! I have a book due September 1 that I can’t talk about yet, and we’re still finishing up the comic miniseries Girl Over Paris that comes out this year and takes place between Girl on a Wire and Girl in the Shadows (the first issue’s out this month, July!). And I’m working on another unsold project in any bits and pieces of time I can grab from the rest.
Thanks for the interview!
Author Bio:
Gwenda Bond is the author of the young adult novels Lois Lane: Fallout and Girl on a Wire, among others. Lois Lane: Double Down and Girl in the Shadows, a companion novel to Girl on a Wire set in the Cirque American, are next up in 2016. She’s also hard at work on some secret projects you don’t know about yet.
Her nonfiction writing has appeared in Publishers Weekly, Locus Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, and many other publications. She has an MFA in writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She lives in a hundred-year-old house in Lexington, Kentucky, with her husband, author Christopher Rowe. There are rumors she escaped from a screwball comedy, and she might have a journalism degree because of her childhood love of Lois Lane. Visit her online at www.gwendabond.com or @gwenda on Twitter.
Thanks for hosting today! :)
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