Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Book Tour {Interview & Giveaway} Plumb Crazy by Molly Blaisdell

 
Plumb Crazy
by Molly Blaisdell
Release Date: 06/10/14
Summary from Goodreads

Small town country girl Elva Presley Hicks is about to attend her five-year class reunion with her best friends, Shay and Margarett.

The discovery of an old fanfic manuscript stirs up memories of her summer job as a plumber’s helper in Houston the summer before senior year. She earned a lot of money that year, but was lonely as heck.

It's not like there weren't any suitors back then. Elva could have chosen between Chase, the obese pig farmer, and Wyatt, the plumber with wandering hands. But Elva yearned for something more, and found it that fateful summer, with electrician, Mitch McCall.

It was magical. Mitch wasn't turned off by Elva's name or fan fiction writing, and Elva didn't lose interest in Mitch after he cut off his nose at work.

Trials and triumphs followed including a friendship implosion, world-wide fanfic humiliation, and goat salvation. It would go down as the most memorable summer of high school.

But as these things sometimes do, the summer romance fizzled and Elva moved on to life after high school. And while she's ready to reminisce, she is unnerved when she runs into Mitch at the reunion. Can they give it another go after so much time has passed, or are they too different now to even try?


Available from:Amazon * Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Molly Blaisdell's first crossover YA/NA romantic comedy, Plumb Crazy, is forthcoming from Swoon Romance. She is also the author of 30 books for children, including Rembrandt and the Boy Who Drew Dogs (Barron’s), The Truth About Unicorns (Capstone Press) and The Big Fuzzy Coat (MeeGenius!). She's written hundreds of articles for many internationally known publishers, including MSN, Scholastic, eHow, Hasbro, and Penguin's Author Learning Center.Molly is a Texan and a graduate of Texas A&M in Chemistry. She is a long-time member of SCBWI, and is a former Regional Advisor of the Western Washington region, a Blueboard Moderator Emeritus and a recipient of the Martha Weston Grant.She formed her first fan fiction group in junior high school and is still a huge fan gal of all things space, Star Trek, anime and blockbuster movies. She's the mom of four, and currently lives under the wide open skies of College Station, TX with her husband Tim. Her interestsinclude fine art, folk art, and Texas music.

Interview


Q. How did you come up with the title?
Molly - I find titles especially difficult. I turn to my network for help. In the dark ages long before publication, I called this book Plumber Girl. It morphed over time into just Plumb. A member of my critique group, Kathy Whitehead, mentioned that I wanted people to read my book and that I need to dress up that title or just not bother. She suggested adding Crazy to Plumb and the rest was history. Plumb Crazy was a slam dunk title – provocative, funny, and memorable.

Q. Do you have a big message that you are trying give your readers?
Molly - I really hate when people try to shovel a message down my throat. Not happy about that at all. What I love is a literary journey that invites me to consider some truth. So what does truth look like?  It doesn't hit me over the head. It allows me to modify it to fit my life. It's there for me when my life goes up in flames. It pulls me out of the rut and sets me on a journey. It helps me to be my best self. I hope that my book does that for my readers.

Q. Is this book based on your real life experience and on your real life friends?
Molly - None of the people in this book are based on real people, but bits and pieces of my characters were inspired by real people. Yes, I was a plumber's helper as a teen and college student. My sister's date might have dumped her once because she was underage, and he didn't want to break parole. I have lived with goats. I have spent much of my life in small towns in Texas. I really do believe in writing what I know.

Q. Name one entity that has supported you (not including family members).
Molly - Big shout out to SCBWI for this. The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators truly helped me on my journey. I give big kudos to the Western Washington region and to the Brazos Valley region of Texas, their programs and membership have helped me become the writer I am today. I give special thanks to SCBWI's Martha Weston Grant committee who believed that I would make a jump from young readers to older readers.

Q. Can you share a little of your current work with us?
Molly - Oh, I am so jazzed about my next book (title still top secret). In this one, a young woman remembers her junior year in high school when she lived in downtown Austin, sought anime voice-over actress fame, and found true romance with an intriguing film student at UT. I love the characters in this book. MC and anime fangirl Gin Autry is so awesome! There are hot college guys, sister wars, Zombie disasters, and sugar gliders. I'm pretty sure I can't write a book without rescuing some animal. Prepare for laughter, heart-break and love!

Q. Is there a reason why you write romance?
Molly - I am living a pretty awesome romance so it makes sense to me that I write romance. When I was in college, I discovered a tree house in a park near my home. This was my go-to place to dream, to invent, and to renew. I began dating a guy my senior year. He took me to that park and that tree house! He was the one who had built my most special place years before I'd ever met him. I married him, and 26 years later, he's still the love of my life.

Q. With so many fandoms to choose from, why did you pick Star Trek for your book?

Molly - I have to give a big shout out to Gene Roddenberry here. His vision of an awesome exciting future full of adventure has always been a huge encouragement. I can't imagine my life without Star Trek. I wanted to pay homage to what was basically the first modern day fandom. Doesn't this just whisper inside you? Explore strange new worlds. Seek and discover new lifeforms. Boldly go, folks, boldly go!

Q. What was the hardest part of writing your book?
Molly - I think the hardest part of writing books is digging deep, toward the bone. Stories need bones and putting that on the page is painful. I mean, I struggle with my own bull s**t. I struggle with my weight. I've got a stupid temper. I really have to watch my inner self talk every day. I have to do the work of honesty with myself to get honesty on the page. This is the hardest thing in the world to do, but it makes you a better person.

Q. Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
Molly - I did learn something awesome from writing my book. I did not know the strongest quality of my character when I wrote this book. I put it on the page but I didn't see  it. Elva is full of grace. I just knew when I wrote the book that I liked her. It wasn't until I completed the book I realized she is a manifestation of grace in this world. She faces life with an effortlessness and brave spirit that I so admire. I think ultimately journeying with her has made me a better person.

Q. Do you have any advice for other writers?
Molly - You can choke your creativity by expecting too much of yourself. Give yourself permission to try. Yoda said "there is no try." But I say, "Try there is."


Author Links:
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