EXCLUSIVE Interview & #everneathARC

UPDATE: The #everneathARC Contest has been EXTENDED! For your chance to win, keep reading, but know that you now have until 5pm on Tuesday, July 5th to get your tweet on!

A few weeks ago, I had a Twitter conversation with a friend that basically ended up with me landing an awesome opportunity to FINALLY be one of the cool peeps to get an EXCLUSIVE! I mean, come on, who doesn't want one of those, right? And what did I get? Well, according to Michael of HarperCollins, I got the ever-amusing Brodi Ashton! Well, an EXCLUSIVE interview with Brodi, I mean. Along with Debbie over at CranberryFries, we were able to get some insights into Brodi's life, writing and the world of her debut novel EVERNEATH (coming January, 2012).

Ah, yes. EVERNEATH. What is it, you ask? Well, here's the lowdown:

EVERNEATH is partially based on the Greek myth of Persephone: 17-year-old Nikki's been banished to the underworld escapes to return to her former earthly existence with her family and boyfriend. The catch is that she only has six months in this real world before being sent back to Hades, this time forever.

Now if that doesn't sound like you need to CLICK HERE to go add it to your GoodReads, I don't know what does!

You're probably now at the stage where you're wondering, okay, so who is this Brodi character, anyway? Well, she, like about 2.7 million other people (give or take a 100,000) lives in Utah. She's married with two young boys who still have no idea why she's at the computer all the time. Brodi has a Bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Utah and a Master's degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics. Several times a week, you can catch up with her and her amusing antics on her blog HERE. And sometimes, if she's not around, her hilarious husband covers for her and it's worth keeping up with the blog just to read his posts sometimes!

And now on to the EXCLUSIVE! part 2. (You can find EXCLUSIVE! part 1 at CranberryFries!)

Me: So Brodi, can you share your favorite one-liner from Everneath?

Brodi: I love it when Jack says to Nikki, "Let's meet at that one place by that tree where we went that one time." And Nikki knows exactly where he's talking about. It really shows how much history they have together and how well they know each other.

Me: What was your first thought when you saw your cover?

Brodi: My first thought was pure joy, and then relief that I wouldn't have to be one of those authors who has to pretend she loves her cover. I absolutely love love love my cover! [Me too!] It's really what I had pictured, only way better because I'm not very creative.

Me: Does thinking about the upcoming signings and other public events make you nervous? Or have you not thought about the groupies and paparazzi who will be stalking you at said events yet? Oh, should I have not brought them up... ?

Brodi: Ha ha ha. For some reason, I have not been worried about paparazzi. Mostly I just hope at least two people turn up to my signings. And then I hope those two people aren't my husband and my mom.

Me: How has working with a "real-life" publishing house editor affected your writing? Do you drink more Diet Coke now than in the era BE (before editor)?

Brodi: I'm lucky enough to have the world's best editor by my side, Kristin Daly Rens. Seriously, I think she was recently voted "Smarted editor on the planet" and was awarded a golden burrito. She taught me (by force, which may or may not have involved a whip) [dare I even ask??] to never stop asking questions about the world in my book, and thus made it a stronger book. And she loves Diet Coke and cinnamon bears as much as I do.

Me: You're working on Everneath 2 right now, what's been the most challenging aspect of writing a sequel?

Brodi: The most challenging aspect has been trying to keep my focus when all this exciting stuff is... I HAVE A COVER! BECCA FITZPATRICK BLURBED MY BOOK! ARC's ARE ON THEIR WAY! ... Sorry... where were we?

Me: What, besides the cinnamon bears and Diet Coke, gets you "in the mood" to throwdown some major wordage and get the creative juices flowing?

Brodi: My friend and critique partner Bree Despain and I have been holding "Word Wars" on twitter where we write for an hour straight and then report back our word counts. It's all about getting as many words as you can, so it allows you to write crap, which is the first step toward writing awesome. Any writers can join in!

Me: And finally, with your books having Greek mythology in the roots, if you suddenly discovered you were a Goddess, what's the first thing you'd do?

Brodi: Easy. I'd cure cancer.
That's kind of boring, though, so how about I'd cure cancer, and I'd also give me the power of having acid for blood. So if someone picked a fight, and made me bleed, they'd be sorry.

Thanks so much for your great answers and giving us some insight into the book as well as you and your writing! So basically what it comes down to is, Don’t mess with the Diet Coke & Cinnamon Bears powered Goddess Brodi, or else you’re gonna be in big, BIG trouble!!

But WE are not in trouble and I know you’re DYING for this next part! … but before we begin, let’s check --

Do you have a Twitter account? Good.

No? Better get one asap or else you're gonna miss a chance to win your very own Brodi Ashton-signed and donated ARC of EVERNEATH! Here's all you've gotta do:

Go get the first half of the "OFFICIAL Brodi-approved #everneathARC tweet" from CRANBERRYFRIES’ #everneathARC post HERE

Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Okay, got it? We’re back now? All right.

Add that to this second half of the "OFFICIAL Brodi-approved #everneathARC tweet":

I want the #everneathARC NOW!!! (deets: http://bit.ly/fLhG0)

Now, put them together and go TWEET IT!!

Easy-peasy right? Of course it is!

Now, if you want some extra chances to win ... there's a few things you can do, and NO, you do NOT have to keep track of your points or come back to us with an email or anything like that. If you just do any of the following things, we'll take care of all the math, counting and adding and stuff for you!

+1 following either of our blogs (+2 if you follow both) - new and old followers, same number of points.

+1 commenting on either of our #everneathARC blog posts (+2 if you comment on both)

and the big one ...once the cover is revealed and available on the PageTurners blog you can get

+5 for changing your Twitter avatar over to the EVERNEATH cover and leaving it up for the next week! (we'll be spot checking - no work necessary from you other than the switch over)

And don't think the ARC is all we've got up for grabs! If that's not enough for you, there's an awesome second prize surprise basket containing oodles of EVERNEATH-y goodies! You won't be disappointed!

This contest is open to all US residents only (sorry international peeps) through Thursday, June 30 and we'll be announcing the winners on our blogs Friday, July 1.

UPDATE: The #everneathARC Contest has been EXTENDED! For your chance to win, keep reading, but know that you now have until 5pm on Tuesday, July 5th to get your tweet on!

And now that you’ve finally reached the end of this forever long blog post – hey, my name is Windy, I can’t help that I’m a bit long-winded, okay? – Click on over to the PAGETURNERS Blog for the big reveal of EVERNEATH’s breathtaking cover! You won’t want to miss it!!