A Girl Named Blue: The Adventure Begins
Cecilia Randell
(The Adventures of Blue Faust #1)
Publication date: July 15th 2017
Genres: Adventure, New Adult, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Blue Faust considers herself an ordinary girl. A little shy, maybe, and a smidge isolated. But she’s got a plan for that, and a list.
When she and her mother move to a new city, she implements it. This will be The Year of New Things, and there will be adventures. Little does she know just how right she is.
While out hiking one day with new friends, she finds herself in a strange world. She is confronted with kidnappers, stubborn beast-mounts and killer crystals. Throw in an assortment of hooligans, mercenaries and clansmen, and Blue has all New she can handle.
New List:
Learn to ride a horse-like thing
Find friends
Stop kidnappers
Get home
Easy, right?
*** Please note that this is the first book in a slow burn reverse harem series, there are no sexy times till a few books down***
**Also, there is violence and some swearing, so, yeah.**
Interview with Cecilia Randell
Can you tell us a little bit about the
characters in A Girl Named Blue?
Well, as you can
tell one of them is a girl named Blue (original, right?). She is the main character. I wanted these books to really be about her. Yes, this is also about others that come into
her life, in some instances they barge into her life, but it is mostly about
her. I wanted to try writing a story
with what I considered to be an ordinary girl.
She’s had a pretty good childhood though she had to move around a lot. She has loving parents, and is looking
forward to the future. She’s caring, and
shy, and awkward. She’s me and you and a
lot of people out there, no special training, no secret life, none of
that. I asked myself, what would I HOPE
I would do if thrown into something like she was thrown into.
As for the others,
I admit I have a few favorites, and they change depending on the day. There’s Mo’ata, a noble clansman who, like
Blue, is looking for more than his life has offered him so far. Forrest, who is swept into the adventure with
Blue and her friends, who has a unique outlook on life and relationships. Felix, the playful mercenary who I had
completely not planned on, but who swept into his first scene and said “here I
am, how can you resist this face”. There’s
Levi, whose people have lost a treasure, and it’s his duty to get it back. There’s Jason, the undercover agent who isn’t
sure how he feels or what he should do.
Then there’s the king hooligan, Trevon.
I’m still not sure if he’s a good guy or not, and I’m three full length
books into the series now.
I think, though,
that my favorite to write so far, has been the downfall of Phillip. Without saying too much, the human mind is a
fascinating thing. Again, he’s a
relatively normal guy. But what happens
to him and what he does is a far cry from the reactions Blue had to her situation.
I could keep going,
but then this would be a LONG interview, and maybe just read the books?
Can you tell us a little bit about your next
books or what you have planned for the future?
Well, I’ve been
hard at work to continue the Blue series.
There is a follow up novella to what happens after the adventure, and
two more full-length that continue Blue’s story. I have three more planned in this series, as
well as a sort of prequel series set in the same universe.
I also have a
trilogy in the works that is a mix of Irish and Egyptian mythology, which has
been extremely fun to research, and get writing on. (As a side note, both of those mythologies
are open to a LOT of interpretation…)
Oh, and something
with imaginary friends, as told from their viewpoint.
And about four more
ideas that aren’t really fleshed out yet… so, basically, plans for the future
are to keep writing all the stories clamoring for attention in my head. And when those are done, think up some new
ideas!
How long would you say it takes you to write
a book?
It honestly
depends. If it is a sequel, and I’ve
already done all the world building and such? Maybe a little over a month. That doesn’t include editing, that’s just to
get it to the point of sending to the editor.
Including editing? About three
months. However, if it is a first in a
series, or even a standalone, I usually spend at least a couple of weeks
researching and world building, sketching out maps and making character sheets
and fact checking. And that couple of
weeks is true no matter if the story is a series, full length standalone or a
novella. That building happens for every
tale I tell. (It’s kind of the most fun part).
What is your favorite childhood book?
Uhhh… how am I
supposed to pick just one? How about the
one that popped to mind as I read this question? I used to love Arthurian legends. Still do, though I am not quite as obsessed
with them as I used to be. There was one
book that I must have read fifteen or twenty times. Hawk of May by Gillian Bradshaw. I read it at way too young of an age, and
most of it went over my head, but here’s what I loved about it. It told the tale of Sir Gawain (though that
was not his name in the book) and it was just the type of story of love,
loyalty, friendship and family that drew me in.
Gwalchmai ap Lot (his name in the story, and I can’t believe I remember
that) was the middle son, with a too good older brother and a too bad younger,
and he basically found his own way. Even
when I was little, I loved a good underdog story, and that’s what this was.
There are other
books I loved, and read multiple times, but this one has stuck with me.
If you could spend the day with one of the
characters from A Girl Named Blue who would it be? Please tell us why you chose
this particular character, where you would go and what you would do.
Well… probably
Trevon, the king hooligan. We’d hit up
all the seedy underworld and mercenary bars one night, then dine in a five star
restaurant the next. He’d get me in
trouble, but have enough clout to get me out of it again. Though, if I spent more than a day straight
with him, I’d end up slapping him silly…
What was the hardest scene from A Girl Named
Blue to write?
I think the opening
one. I rewrote it about five times, trying
to capture a good balance of sorrow, hope and determination. That point where someone is ready to move on
from a loss, but they still feel it.
What made you want to become a writer?
I’ve always loved
words, how they sound, how they can flow, how they can evoke images and
emotions, or just sound pretty. Then two
things happened, years apart, that started me down this road. A cousin passed away suddenly and I was
unable to make her funeral (she was out of state, and I was stuck in work and
finals). In lieu of showing up, I wrote
a letter to
her one year old
daughter. It had everything in it I
wanted to say to my cousin, her parents, and yes, her daughter and husband who
had been left behind. I sealed it in an
envelope, and asked my parents to relay that it could be read whenever someone
was ready.
They didn’t end up
reading it right away, and that’s okay.
They read it about a week later.
I got the most beautiful message back.
Because one of the things I had included was some of my favorite memories
of my cousin. And one of the side
comments from my uncle had been “you should be a writer.”
That in itself
didn’t set me off, but it planted the seed.
Years later, I was
frustrated. I couldn’t find anything I
wanted to read, anything that matched what I half envisioned in my head. Then I read an “about the author” for another
writer, and it said she started writing what she wanted to read. I thought, “why not?” And THAT was the point. I asked myself “why not?” and just started.
Just for fun
(What is your
definition of fun? I hate choosing these
things… kidding, I’ll do my best.
Disclaimer: these always change with my mood…)
(a Favorite song: Very
much depends on my mood. At the moment,
I’d have to say either Human by Christina Perry or Human by Rag n’ Bone Man.
(b Favorite book: What
if I pick a favorite series? The Others
by Anne Bishop. No joke, I want to be
her when I grow up, or at least be able to create worlds and characters as well
as she can.
(c Favorite movie: This
one is almost as hard as the other two above!
And I have no answer. I’ll list a
few: Hunt For Red October, Scent of
Woman, Goonies, Princess Bride, Easy A
(d Favorite tv show: Eureka
(e Favorite Food: Cake, or tacos. Or maybe queso. Now I’m hungry.
(f Favorite drink: Mochas
(g Favorite website: Ummm… this one I don’t know how to
answer. I’ve never really thought about
it.
Thanks so much for visiting with us today!
Thank you for
having me!
Author Bio:
Cecilia Randell is the pseudonym for a lady author that has not quite worked up the courage to give you all her real name. She loves a good story, and often finds herself thinking “what if…”, so decided to put some of her ‘what ifs’ down in words for others to, hopefully, enjoy.
1 comments:
Thanks for being on the tour! :)
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