Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Interview & Giveaway with Carrie Vaughn, author of Steel

Carrie Vaughn is the author of Steel, a time-travel adventure in which a teenage girl named Jill travels back in time and finds herself on a pirate ship. In addition to this interview with her, thanks to HarperCollins I have one copy of Steel to give to a lucky winner. The details for the contest are listed after the interview.

About Steel:

Sixteen-year-old Jill has fought in dozens of fencing tournaments, but she has never held a sharpened blade. When she finds a corroded sword piece on a Caribbean beach, she is instantly intrigued and pockets it as her own personal treasure. The broken tip holds secrets, though, and it transports Jill through time to the deck of a pirate ship. Stranded in the past and surrounded by strangers, she is forced to sign on as crew. But a pirate's life is bloody and brief, and as Jill learns about the dark magic that brought her there, she forms a desperate scheme to get home—one that risks everything in a duel to the death with a villainous pirate captain. Time travel, swordplay, and romance combine in an original high-seas adventure from New York Times bestseller Carrie Vaughn

The story of STEEL is very unique compared to most YA books - what was your inspiration for the story?

I wanted to tell a pirate story -- this is in reaction to some other pirate stories out there, including a certain movie franchise. But I wanted mine to be different -- as historically accurate as I could make it, for one. And I wanted it to be about swords and swordfighting, since I'm a fencer (like Jill, but not nearly as good as Jill). I think every modern fencer wonders how they'd do fighting with "real" swords back in the day, and this story gave me a chance to explore that.

If you could be like Jill and travel back in time, where would you want to go?

A lot of people have been asking me this... The answer is London in 1600, so I could see an original production of Shakespeare's plays.

What are some of your own favorite books and authors?

Robin McKinley is probably my favorite author, especially her Damar books, The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown. I love Peter Beagle's The Last Unicorn. Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series, which is space opera.

When you aren't writing, what do you enjoy doing?

I travel quite a bit. I walk my dog. Watch movies. I'm a bit crafty -- I do some costuming, and I'm learning to knit.

Is there anything else you would like to add? Such as your website, info on yournext book, etc.

My website: http://www.blogger.com/www.carrievaughn.com
My latest book, After the Golden Age, just came out. The next book in my Kitty series, Kitty's Big Trouble, will be out in June.

Contest details:

To enter to win a hardcover copy of Steel, leave a comment with your email address
U.S. mailing addresses only
Must enter by Wedneday, May 4
Extra entries: +1 for linking to this interview & contest on Twitter, +1 for linking to it on your blog

15 comments:

Jessi E. said...

Thanks so much for holding this giveaway. Can't wait to read this book!

jlelliott08 AT gmail DOT com

Sweet Vernal Zephyr said...

This sounds like a lovely adventure. Thank you for the chance to win!

mdwartistry at yahoo dot com

http://twitter.com/#!/SVZcontests/status/60730769852735488

http://sweetvernalzephyr.blogspot.com/p/random-links-of-interest.html

Stephanie (Books Are A Girl's Best Friend) said...

Fantastic interview! I really like the sound of Steel- good luck to everyone who enters :)

vvb32 reads said...

cool interview! an original shakespeare production would be awesome! wonder if carrie has a play preference?

Alexa S. said...

This book sounds incredibly intriguing! I would love to read it!

alexalovesbooks AT gmail (dot) com

vampireprincess said...

Love the cover . Sounds great
vampireprincess2468@yahoo.com

Cialina at Muggle-Born.net said...

Cool! Great interview. Love that Carrie Vaughn is a fencer.

books[a]muggle-born.net

Erica said...

London in the 1600s would be really awesome to see an original Shakespeare production! That is awesome that Carrie fences - I really wish I could do something like that!

:) Erica
thebookcellar @ wi.rr.com

Jessy said...

I think that is so cool that you fence. I wish I did something like that.

findjessyhere at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

Great interview... Now I 'd like to read the book!
natatheangel at yahoo dot com

donnas said...

Thanks for the chance! I love the Kitty books. Looking forward to this one.

tweet -
http://twitter.com/#!/DonnaS1/status/62038501704740865

bacchus76 at myself dot com

Anonymous said...

Would love to read this book.

wandbp@gmail.com

Nicci @ Paper Dreams said...

This book sounds so good and I am in love with the cover! Great interview and thanks for the giveaway! :)

+1 http://twitter.com/#!/hallowswitch/status/65798334912266240

theatredreamer08(at)hotmail.com

Elf said...

Steel is amazing. I wish I had found your blog in time to try to win it! I don't like Carie Vaughn's Voices of Dragons, though.

Elf said...

I love the cover, too. I drew it and it looks really cool. I'm hoping to take up fencing soon.

 
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