Heidi R. Kling Interview and Giveaway!

I have an awesome guest on my blog today! :D Heidi R. Kling, the author of Sea
and her new interactive series The Spellspinners of Melas County, has answered a few of my questions! And her fabulous publisher, Coliloquy, has generously provided a giveaway that you can find at the end of this post. :)
 
Also, a note, this interview does not contain any spoilers for the series, but it does make mention of characters that you might have never heard of if you haven't started the series yet.

You can find out more about Witch's Brew, and The Gleaning on Coliloquy's website.
And here are their Goodreads pages: Witch's Brew | The Gleaning

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About Heidi R. Kling:

After earning her BA in Literature & Creative Writing Literature from UC Santa Cruz and finding her voice in YA, Heidi went on to earn her MFA in Writing for Children from The New School. She has directed and written children's theatre on both coasts and lives with her husband and two children in Palo Alto, CA.

(Photo and Bio from Goodreads)
 Other Links: Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr


And finally, here is my interview with Heidi R. Kling (questions are bolded):

Hi Heidi! :D Thanks for stopping by my blog and chatting with me! 

Thank you for having me!

First, for people who are just hearing about this series, can you tell us a bit about The Spellspinners of Melas County?

The Spellspinners of Melas County is an interactive eBook series akin to those Choose Your Own Adventure books we loved as kids. But this time there’s no falling off cliffs on page 8 and starting over. Throughout you have choice points and you can lead our main character Lily, head of the young witches, on her dangerously romantic adventure with Logan.

Witch’s Brew is the set-up. The Gleaning tests the strength of their relationship.

 

What made you want to write about witches?

It was actually my agent’s suggestion! After I finished my debut novel SEA, she tossed out, “What do you think about witches?” I’d recently had my second child, a daughter, and while in a hormoned-out state created Lily and her fascinating world.

When you’re writing an interactive story does your method for writing change? / What is the process for writing an interactive story like? Is it a lot different from how you write when the book you’re writing doesn’t have choices?

Yes. It’s both challenging and exhilarating! I want to make sure the readers of each path gets all the pertinent information in regards to plot and character development, so if in Path A Lily finds a specific clue, or has a certain feeling toward a character, I try and repeat it in some way in the other path. It gets tricky! 

In Witch’s Brew and The Gleaning you alternate between Lily and Logan as the narrator. How do you decide when to go from a Lily chapter to one about Logan?

That’s a great question! It just sort of flows like that. I write one POV until it has a nice conclusion line, then I switch. I’m writing Spellspinners 3 now and I’m doing something quite different than in Witch’s Brew and The Gleaning in regards to POV. Remember this question when you read it. J

I love the whole prophecy surrounding Lily and Logan. Did the idea come from anything, or is it all from your imagination?

Thanks! It’s all from my imagination. I love the idea of Yin/Yang and the way females/males balance each other out, create a whole. I practice yoga and the theme comes up again and again about balance. So, I played around with the idea of being unbalanced. What that does to us as people, and, in the specific case of witches, how it would alter your magic.

What can we look forward to in the next installment?

The Gleaning pushes the bar as far as Lily being tempted. The theme largely moves around temptation and want. Also betrayal. Spellspinners 3 is largely about loyalty. Who do we love, why do we love them. (Friendship as well as romantic love.) If they betrayed us in the cruellest way imaginable would we still try to save them? Spinners 3 is action packed AND has the perfect ending (in my humble opinion). :D

And finally, what are some of the things that you love about getting to write in such an interesting format?

Unleashing my creativity in a way that is totally acceptable.

My publisher, Lisa Rutherford, is so awesome in so many ways, but what I love best about her is that I will throw out something like, “Invisible ink! Can we do a magic trick in this book?!” and she’s like, “Yes! Let’s try that!” She’s very much a yes person and I’m a yes person, so it works out great.

Thanks for having me! I’m so happy you’re enjoying the series!

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What awesome answers!!! :D I hope you all enjoyed Heidi's interview as much as I did, and....now here's your chance to win a set of the first two books in the Spellspinners of Melas County series, Witch's Brew and The Gleaning! :D

GIVEAWAY!

Details:

- US/Canada Only
- 1 Winner will win a set of Witch's Brew and The Gleaning in the ebook format of their choice.
- Ends Dec.28th
- Winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to claim their prize.

 TO ENTER FILL OUT THE RAFFLECOPTER BELOW:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also, The Gleaning's official release is today, so if you've read Witch's Brew and can't wait for The Gleaning, you can get yourself a copy at these sites:
Google Play Store  | Barnes and Noble | Amazon.

First, Happy Book Birthday to The Gleaning!!! Second, thank you to Heidi R. Kling for her fabulous answers and Coliloquy for setting up our interview. :)

Now, what did you all think of the interview?
Are you a fan of this series, or is it new to you?
Either way, what do you think? :)

Thanks for reading, and if you've entered, good luck in the giveaway! :D