Hey Everyone!
Welcome to another FFBC Event to celebrate the launch of Daughter of Chaos
by Jen McConnel! Read on to find out more about this new book
and about the author!
Daughter of Chaos (Red magic #1)by Jen McConnel
Publisher: Month9Books
Release Date: March 25th 2014
Synopsis:
There comes a time in every witch's life when she must choose her path. Darlena's friends have already chosen, so why is it so hard for her to make up her mind? Now, Darlena is out of time. Under pressure from Hecate, the Queen of all witches, Darlena makes a rash decision to choose Red magic, a path no witch in her right mind would dare take. As a Red witch, she will be responsible for chaos and mayhem, drawing her deep into darkness. Will the power of Red magic prove too much for Darlena, or will she learn to control it before it's too late?
DAUGHTER OF CHAOS is the first in the RED MAGIC paranormal YA trilogy.
Jen McConnel first began writing poetry as a child. Since then, her words have appeared in a variety of magazines and journals, including Sagewoman, PanGaia, and The Storyteller (where she won the people’s choice 3rd place award for her poem, “Luna”).
She is also a former reviewer for Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA), and a proud member of SCBWI, NCWN, and SCWW.
A Michigander by birth, she now lives and writes in the beautiful state of North Carolina. She's a graduate of Western Michigan University, and she also earned her MS in Library Science at Clarion University of Pennsylvania.
When she isn't crafting worlds of fiction, she teaches writing composition at a community college. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time.
Follow Jen on Twitter @Jen_McConnel, and visit www.jenmcconnel.com to learn more.
Tough question! One of my favorites is The Farthest Away Mountain by Lynne Reid Banks.
Coffee beside me, the cat on my lap, and an uninterrupted stretch of time: that’s my idea of perfect!
Right now, I’m obsessed with Once Upon a Time, but I also loved The Gilmore Girls.
Another tough question! I adore The Philadelphia Story with Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, and Katherine Hepburn. My favorite recent movie? Catching Fire.
Sunny and crisp, warm but not hot, and plenty of time to be outside. Add the beach, and I’m all set!
I’ve always loved Billy Joel, and “Only the Good Die Young” is my all-time favorite.
(*fangirling right now for Jen's pick*)
Chocolate. Or maybe bread and olive oil. Hooray for comfort food!
I will always love Laurie from Little Women (although I didn’t want him to end up with Jo).
Both!
I love reading paranormal, historical, and mystery, but I’ll read anything that strikes my fancy!
“Trust your heart, and trust your story.” Neil Gaiman, from the poem “Instructions”
Well, when I met the author Jennifer Armentrout last summer, I made a total fangirl fool of myself. :) I’d also probably swoon if I met George Clooney.
Only one? Okay, I’ll say Jane Austen, since I’ve been binging on her stuff lately. I bet she’d be snarky and brilliant.
My mom, for so many reasons.
“It’s the End of the World As We Know It” by R.E.M.
Cary Grant forever.
Y’all are amazing!! Thank you so much for helping me celebrate the release of DAUGHTER OF CHAOS. *cupcakes and chocolate for everyone!*
Sure! :) DOC is about Darlena, a powerful 16-year-old witch. She swears to practice Red magic without really knowing anything about it, but the magic’s not nearly as dangerous as the goddesses who are now on her tail.
Darlena’s still figuring that out, so I can’t give too much away, but Red magic is chaos magic. Darlena is one of the keepers of chaos, and the gods and goddesses who work with Red magic are waiting to see what kind of disasters she’ll cause. It’s a dangerous path, and Darlena has no idea what’s in store for her.
Darlena’s sixteen, headstrong, and powerful. I think the best thing about her is her loyalty; she’s loyal to her friends, and she’s even loyal to her crazy path (despite knowing very little about Red Magic). The worst thing about her? She usually acts before she thinks, and that gets her in trouble.
I used to do creative writing days with my students when I was still teaching middle school, and I started DOC then. We were using story starters, and for some reason “She was a funny looking old woman, but...” turned into DOC. The story swept me up and surprised me at every turn, and I really loved writing this book.
Not yet, but every time I was getting ready to write a particularly chaotic scene, I’d listen to R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” before I started writing. It helped set the mood! ;)
Darlena’s still hung up on Justin, her ex, and he’s more than willing to help her out when things get crazy. I won’t tell you why they split up, but I will say that the feelings they have for each other are beyond complicated. Justin’s a good guy, though, and he and Darlena work well together, despite being pretty much polar opposites personality wise.
You know, I see a lot of myself in all my characters, but even though I feel incredibly close to Darlena, I don’t think I would choose Red magic; too much responsibility and danger! I like homey things, so I’d probably pick Green magic.
That’s a tough question! I’m going to reach way back to my query for this one:
“Darlena must master her powers quickly or face responsibility for the deaths of those she loves.”
Without giving too much away, I’ll just say the first scene with Hades. You’ll know what I mean soon enough!
This one springs to mind; it’s about Justin. :)
“Kissing him literally created sparks. It was like holding a hot wire while eating candy: dangerous, sweet, and strange."
Oh, wow, that would be AMAZING! Maybe someone like Vanessa Hudgens for Darlena? I think she could play fierce and powerful! I could totally see Dylan O’Brien as Justin. This is hard!!
I don’t know what part he could play, but I’d love it if we could give Harrison Ford a walk-on role. (Not that I grew up on Indiana Jones or anything!).
Gladly! I’m hard at work at the rest of the Red Magic series, and I’m also gearing up for the sequel to my NA novel, THE SECRET OF ISOBEL KEY. 2014 is going to be a wonderful, busy year!
Thanks so much for helping me celebrate the launch of DAUGHTER OF CHAOS! Y’all are amazing! <3
Question of the Day!
Answer any of the questions above
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Posts
Thank you so much for hosting me! I had a blast with the interview questions! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Jen for allowing us to host you :)
DeleteIf I could meet any author it would be J.K. Rowling. I have many favorite authors, and I would love to meet all of them but Harry Potter the first book I read, and I started reading because of them.
ReplyDeleteJ.K Rowling would be a dream come true <3
DeleteMy favourite TV show is Once Upon a Time
ReplyDeleteI like Once Upon a Time too - but this season has not been my fav.
Deletemy favorite TV show right now is Scandal.
ReplyDeleteScandal is one of my favs now too :)
Delete