Today my guest is Middle Grade and
Young Adult author Suzanne de Montigny. Her first novel, The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Legacy, won the gold Global E-book award for Best Fiction/Alternate
History. I asked her discuss her path to becoming a writer. And if you leave a comment at the end of this blog, you might just win
a copy of her award-winning novel.
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Thank you for having me as your guest,
Anne.
I have to say I was mighty delighted
when I heard the news I had won the award. It’s always nice to get a bit of
verification that I’m on the right track.
I’ve been writing most of my life, I
guess, but I only got serious about it about six years ago, after my father
died. You see, oftentimes when someone dies, people are stricken with hyperscribia, a humungous need to write.
So they write a poem or a speech, and that’s that. Well, not with me. Turns out
I’ve had a writer screaming to get out of me for quite some time.
It all began when I was living the
comfortable life of an unsuspecting teacher in a perfectly ordinary elementary
school. Because I taught music, I taught just about everyone in the school. It
was fun. I enjoyed being music teacher because kids see you in a whole different
light. They share secrets with you, they talk to you about their problems, you
know, that sort of thing.
Then one day, it happened… I had just
given a test and had five minutes to kill, so I thought I’d tell a story about
a werewolf. I totally made it up on the spot, hiding behind the piano with all
sorts of noise makers – howling, screaming, shaking rattlers, etc. I thought it
was kind of a lame story, but when I came out the other side of the piano, thirty
very round, terrified eyes stared back at me. Hmmm, they liked it, I thought. After that, every class ended with
a story. Even kids I didn’t teach stopped me on the playground to hear my
stories.
Well,
life went on and I got married and had kids. My husband and I were so busy
juggling everything that we decided I’d take a couple of years off to raise our
young boys. That’s when I began to write. Then last year, my first novel, The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Legacy
was published by Muse It Up Publishing. (Have I ever told you how great this
publishing house is?) And now, it’s officially coming out in print. I just
can’t wait! Woohoo! It’s like waiting for that baby to be born.
The story doesn’t stop there. I’m just about finished the
second of unicorn series. It’s called, The
Shadow of the Unicorn: The Deception. I won’t tell what’s going to happen
except to say, they find Darius again and are hit with another huge natural
disaster happens. And I mean huge.
SYNOPSIS:
A loud, hissing sound filled the
air. The unicorns looked up, their eyes filled with horror.
Azaria, a
unicorn colt, is intrigued when the young, clairvoyant dinosaur, Darius,
foresees a terrifying change to their world. When a giant fireball smashes into
the earth, the unicorns struggle to survive the hurricanes and starvation that
follow. But nothing compares to the danger when the
creatures-that-walk-on-two-legs settle in the valley, and their leader
discovers the healing power in the unicorns’ horns. Greedy and ruthless,
Ishmael will stop at nothing in his pursuit of wealth – even the complete
extinction of the herd. Azaria must find a way to outsmart Ishmael before it’s
too late.
Click here to watch the book trailer!
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Learn more about Suzanne de Montigny by visiting her website or following her on Facebook or Twitter.
You
can purchase The Shadow of the Unicorn:
The Legacy directly from Muse
It Up Publishing, plus on Amazon,
Barnes
& Noble, and other online retailers.
