Author Interview: P.J. Bracegirdle AND Joy of Spooking Giveaway!

Let’s give a warm welcome to the incredibly talented PJ Bracegirdle, author of the new YA trilogy Joy of Spooking. The first book comes out August 5th, but we wanted to give you a sneak peek and a chance to win one of 3 advance reader copies before the book even comes out!

Ok, first question PJ: If you were to blurb Joy of Spooking: Fiendish Deeds yourself, what would you say?
“Please buy this book—its author is no longer fit for proper work.” Which I guess is one of the many reasons they usually get someone else to blurb it.

I see the logic in that, yes! So, Joy of Spooking is planned as a trilogy. Why stop there? Why not 13 books?
Much like blurbs, the publisher traditionally makes this call. In fact, I’d originally proposed only two installments before they told me unequivocally that I could not kill off every single character at the end of the second book. “How about in Book Three?” I’d said as a compromise—and voila, a trilogy was born!

Okay, that’s a lie. Actually, I think there’s something really special about trilogies—you get to tell a much broader story and explore more characters without being forced into writing something that feels overly controlled and episodic.

I am a firm believer in the rule of three so I can relate. Can you tell us a bit about the origin of the idea for the book and your road to publication?
I have to admit it felt less like a road and more like a champagne-fueled balloon ride in all honesty. Of course, this kind of statement can only instill anger in my fellow authors, so I’m quick to point out my life’s vast litany of disappointments and failures as a counterbalance.
As far as the origin of the idea, it was a similarly happy instance with the title and premise striking me completely out of the blue. Living up to it proved far less easy however, and luckily I had some help from a kindly children’s book editor to whip the first few chapters into shape. After that, it was just a case of landing a fearsome agent and finding the publisher who shared the story’s macabre sense of humor.

Cool! Nicoletta Ceccoli did the gorgeous cover. What was your reaction when you heard she’d be involved?
The specific exclamation is probably best not repeated here, suffice to say that it simultaneously expressed my sense of delight and disbelief in addition to demonstrating my woeful lack of breeding to anyone within earshot. Nicoletta is quite simply one of the most exciting and talented illustrators out there, and I am still awestruck by how perfectly she captured the story’s characters and atmosphere. I get the chills just imagining what she’ll do for the next book, much of which takes place in an insane asylum.

Your main character, Joy, does look rather spooky. She is also a literary horror fan – does she take after you? What books in the genre can you recommend to teens and younger readers?

While it’s hard to live up to a rabid fan like Joy Wells, I do still love a good creepy story, particularly classic ones from Edgar Allen Poe and H.P. Lovecraft. Younger readers may find their style and language a bit challenging at first, however once accustomed there are many great stories to explore. Otherwise, I remember particularly loving SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Ray Bradbury, and becoming forever terrified of those toy cymbal-playing monkeys thanks to a Stephen King short story whose name escapes me.

Great suggestions! The gothic tone of the book might also remind some of the Lemony Snicket books. What do you think Lemony Snicket would say after reading Fiendish Deeds?
Hmm, good question. I hope he would say: “Fiendish Deeds is the most painful book ever to have fallen on my lap, including heavier volumes dropped from a much greater height.” Because the guy can’t pan anything without making it sound like a ringing endorsement.

Regarding any similarities between the two stories, I should point out that while A Series of Unfortunate Events is famously miserable, The Joy of Spooking is substantially more upbeat in its exploration of its dark terrain, as the title might suggest. The two heroes, Joy and her brother Byron, are not desperate orphans but live happy enough lives, although somewhat in the shadow of their overworked parents like so many children these days. With an almost maniacal intensity, Joy revels in the eerie atmosphere of her crumbling hometown Spooking, celebrating the sinister histories she is convinced played out within its limits.

Unfortunately Joy’s happy existence is complicated by the City of Darlington, the soulless suburban sprawl that surrounds Spooking hill where the Wells siblings are forced to go to school. Because in this story, the villain is just as equally an actual place—and even a way of seeing—as it is a living breathing person (which in this case is an embittered ex-punk-rock musician who works for the mayor). And so it happens that Joy and Byron are unable to continually flee in the face of encroaching evil, as in Lemony Snicket’s series, but rather must take a stand against it in order to stop their way of life from being obliterated forever.

Speaking of soulless suburban sprawl (just kidding), you live in Canada so I am going to assume you are Canadian. I had a Canadian boyfriend once who made me learn all the Canadian provinces and capital cities. Can you name all 50 US States and their capitals?

I can only presume that Canadian boyfriend went on to become your Canadian husband since few other nations produce men with quite the same intoxicating combination of qualities—with good manners, faultless hygiene, and a working knowledge of what to do when startled by Grizzly bears being chief among them.

And as such a fellow, I could certainly name every state and a good number of capitals. However this is not a particularly male quality—Canadians of both sexes are equally well-versed in geography. This comes from having spent so many winters gathering around our atlases to marvel at all of the less frigid places we could have been born.

Sorry to disappoint you, but the Canadian didn’t work out – not that I didn’t enjoy the geography lessons and the stories of hapless tourists being stampeded by Moose (or is that Meese?) Thank you so much for stopping by!

Find out more at http://www.pjbracegirdle.com/ and http://www.joyofspooking.com/

And now, on to the CONTEST – YAY! A special thanks to Kate and Sarah at Simon & Schuster who have provided me with 3 extra ARCs to give away to my readers. PJ is throwing in signed book plates as well. Want to enter to win? Here’s what you gotta do:

1. Leave a comment at this post (required)

Each of the following gives you one extra entry:

2. Read the first chapter of Joy of Spooking Fiendish Deeds here (PDF). Then send the answer to the question “What book does Joy inherit?” to lenoreva AT hotmail DOT com with the subject line JOY CONTEST for a second entry. (Make sure you let me know what name you commented with in your e-mail so I can give you credit)

3. Become a fan of PJ Bracegirdle on Facebook. And tell me that you did.

4. Blog about the contest on your blog and leave a link in your comment so I can find it. If you don't have a blog, you can write an e-mail to 5 friends with a link to this post and CC me.

5. Comment on the review of Joy of Spooking: Fiendish Deeds that I will post next week.

Contest is open to residents of US, Canada, Germany and wherever it is that Reviewer X lives and is open until 9 pm CST on July 20th when I will announce the winners. Winners will then have 48 hrs to get back to me with their mailing address or forfeit their prize. Good luck everyone!