Thursday, July 31, 2008

Author Interview and Contest: Shannon Greenland's Native Tongue

The winner of last week's contest for The Winning Element is....

Liviania of In Bed with Books

Send me your mailing address (my e-mail is in the sidebar).

This week, Shannon is giving away a signed copy of book 4 in the Specialists series which comes out TODAY - Native Tongue. Not only that, she's also signing and giving away a set of all four books to our grand prize winner! So next Thursday August 7th, we'll have 2 winners - YAY! Contest details after the interview.


Ok now we’re on the 4th book in the series, Native Tongue and it comes out today. What are you doing to celebrate? Well, aside from a celebratory margarita at my fave place, I’ll be speaking to a roomful of writers this coming Saturday. And after that, I’ll be hitting the stores to sign stock—always a fun time.

Give us a quick summary of the book? A South American Indian girl has mysteriously emerged from the jungle carrying a centuries-old vase. Legend has it that this vase was important to the culture and heritage of at least fifteen different North and South American Indian tribes. And now that it has been discovered, all fifteen nations want it back. Enter Parrot—with his amazing linguistics skills—will serve as an official translator. Meanwhile, GiGi will be heading to a cave with ancient hieroglyphics that purportedly reveal the rightful owners of the vase. It’s up to GiGi and her coding expertise to try to decipher them. Of course there’s a hitch. One of the tribal chiefs is connected to Parrot’s past—in a bad way.

So, the Specialists team is down in South America in the jungle and they are served Monkey stew for their first breakfast – ew!! What’s the grossest/weirdest thing you were ever expected to eat? Did you eat it? I’m bummed to say nothing more exciting than pickled pigs feet. And, yep, I did eat it. Actually, I’ll eat about anything you put in front of me (except liver—talk about ew!)

Parrot has an amazing ability to pick up languages (I envy him!) and he speaks at least 16 fluently. Do you speak any foreign languages? I can get by in Spanish. Enough to ask where the bathroom is and, of course, for another margarita.

All the books are set in pretty exotic locales, fake, but certainly similar to real countries. Which places did you actually travel to for your research, if any? Oh, man, traveling is my vice. I’ll go in debt to see something cool. I’ve been a ton of places: Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Germany, Austria, Venezuela, Columbia, Bermuda, Bahamas, Isle de Margarita, Canada, Mexico, and lots of others. I can’t say I traveled specifically to research for my books, but I can say I draw from experiences of that travel while I write my books. Next stop for me, though? Hawaii!

If you were asked to write a prequel novel that went deeper into one of the specialists back stories, which character would be the center of it and why? Oh, I would totally do TL (team leader Thomas Liba). There’s something about him that tugs at my heart strings. He’s got such a mysterious past. I would definitely love to explore it. Plus, he’s just plain sexy. LOL.

Do you have any other book related projects in the works that you can tell us about? What can we expect from you in the future? Oh, yes. I’m writing a teen romance right now tentatively titled EM. Its due out in 2010. It takes place on a fictitious island much like Bermuda. I’ve got a few other things brewing that I can’t talk about right now, but definitely keep watch on my website for announcements!




Thanks Shannon! I've had so much fun these past weeks and I wish you all the best in the future. And hopefully book 5 will get a publishing date soon, because I can't wait to read it!




So everyone, for a chance to win Native Tongue or the set of all 4 Specialist books, just comment on this post.




Extra entries for:


+2 Posting a link to the contest on your blog


+2 Commenting on my review of Native Tongue


and +1 for every comment you make on any post this week!



Only open to residents of the US and Canada!
PS - I posted this on the bloggy giveaways carnival. There are over 1,000 contests going on where you can win books, crafts, gift certificates, and much more. Check it out here.

48 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great interview! I'll be posting about this on Saturday. Don't forget to email this info to Susan so she can post it on West of Mars - Win a Book. :)

Anonymous said...

Hey, somehow I missed this earlier, but I would love a chance to win this!

Liviania said...

Yay!

Urgh, my mom likes liver for some reason.

Chick Lit Teens said...

Great interview!
I'm so excited for Native Tongue!

Anonymous said...

Interesting interview!

I love South American, and enjoy books set there!

I blogged about the giveaway HERE.

windycindy said...

This book sounds amazing! Please enter me in your wonderful book drawing. Many thanks, Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com

tetewa said...

Enjoyed the interview, I'd like to be included! tWarner419@aol.com

Lana said...

What a cool interview! I'd never heard of these books before, but I've definitely just added the whole lot to my TBR pile :-).

Anonymous said...

Looks to be good reads!
-Terra
partymix25(at)hotmail(dot)com

Kimberly said...

Sounds very interesting. Thanks for the interview. And thank you for a very generous giveaway. One can not have enough reading material. LOL!!! I love books!!!

Thanks so much.

AudreyO said...

Great interview. I love reading books that take place in other countries, other areas of the world. I always am amazed at how much some customs are so different.

Anonymous said...

I love to read.

mariettaseller(at)yahoo(dot)com

Keri Mikulski said...

Great interview and giveaway! NATIVE TONGUE sounds like an amazing read. :)

CrystalGB said...

Great interview. Sounds like a great book.

shaunjoy said...

Love to read new authors! Thanks for hosting this giveaway.

shaunjoy(at)juno(dot)com

CanCan said...

Nice! I would love to read these!

onlycancan at hotmail dot com

Re said...

great interview! very interesting selection of books!! :)

Great giveaway!

kamewh said...

What a great interview! Thank you for the giveaway!

Anonymous said...

can't wait for more specialist books. Any idea how many will be in the series?

toohotforturtle said...

These books sound like a great "End of Summer Beach Read-athon". Thanks for the contest.

Lenore Appelhans said...

Hi Jennifer - Right now there is a 5th one planned but it doesn't have a pub date yet. Beyond that, I don't know, but here's hoping!

sweetsue said...

This book sounds very exciting! It is just the type of book I like to read.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like an amazing book! I would love to read this!

faked_sugartone at hotmail.com

Ginny said...

Great interview, count me in the drawing!

Dani' said...

sounds great!solta(at)hotmaildotcom

The Random Muse said...

good interview, and that sounds like a great book.

Alea said...

Darn it! I don't know why I didn't enter when you started this a few weeks ago. I guess better late then never!

PS I really want to read the Willoughbys! It's on my to be purchased list!

Shannon Greenland said...

This contest is great! I'm having a blast reading everyone's comments.

Anonymous said...

I swear I signed up already but whatever here goes, I love the books and hope I win!

Anonymous said...

This sounds awesome! Enter me please!

-Cyndi
mistique44952@yahoo.com

Rachael Stein said...

i have the first book, but i want all of them :D

Tarasview said...

I am always looking for good books!

Laura said...

I've been hooked since Model Spy - I would love to win this!

Anonymous said...

I would love to win this!
KawaiiNeko2008 (at) aol (dot) com

Anonymous said...

What a fascinating story, I'd love to read a copy. Almost like a modern day Indiana Jones thriller or something.

purplepassion126 said...

Always looking for new stuff to read. Thanks for sharing the interview and the books!

Anonymous said...

What a great interview. I have not read any of these books. I want to run out now and get the entire series. It must be so great to have been able to visit all those places. With all the children we have I know I'll never get there but hope to one day see the grand canyon , Italy and Hawaii too. My grandpa was stationed in Hawaii and he always said he wanted to go back there. Unfortunatly he never did. I would love to go for him and see what he loved so much about it.

Anyhooo I get to chatty on these comments. lol

Thanks for the givaway
please enter me.
Nikki
homeschooling mom of 6
Angelheart135@aol.com
www.homeschoolblogger.com/Angelheart/

photoquest said...

What a awesome contest! My daughter would love this book, so would i actually Please put my name in the drawing Thanks!! photoquest(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Steph said...

Even though I'm not qualified to enter this contest, I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your interview. Especially the "--ew!!" in there :P

Steph

Erica said...

Sounds like a great story, I need to stock up for winter reading!

asdfjkl; said...

Awesome, can you enter me? I also made a post about it on by book blog: www.inthecurrent.blogspot.com

Thanks!

do I need to include my email? here it is: teenage_critic@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Wow... I am totally in love with Shannon Greenland now... I want my life to be like GiGi's! Everytime I go to cheerleading practice, I think of it as PT (physical training) and everytime I go somewhere where I don't know anybody, I feel like I'm undercover. I know it's crazy, buy I want to be a spy.

P.S. I have alread posted a comment on the other blog, which should give me +2 entries aside from this one! And I get another +2 for posting on other entries. YAY!

Tasha said...

I love these books! Please sign me up. Great interview by the way.

Carolina said...

I haven't read any of these books but now I really want to. Great interview! I'll link your contest to my blog. Great contest you're having! :)

Anonymous said...

Wow, cool!

Anonymous said...

I sent you an e-mail with my contact details in case I win. Thanks. - C

Ellie Wright said...

I'm always looking for new and interesting books. Thanks for the giveaway!

Anonymous said...

Do you know how I found her books?? She was my math teacher last year and she told me to read them because I was reading another spy series by all Carter!! Before I thought she was just a normal math teacher, but it's almost like she's famous!!