Out of all the characters in The
Queen’s Gift who is your favorite?
I’d have to
say Karen Kim. She’s so conflicted and desperate to fit in, when there’s no
chance of that happening.
Why place the book in Tokyo?
Because
it’s one of the coolest cities I’ve ever been to by far. The scale of the city
is mindboggling. It’s the only place I’ve ever traveled that you cannot see the
end of the city no matter what direction you look. I also really like the
Japanese people, though that may not come through in the first book.
Will the other books be set in
Tokyo, too?
It’s funny,
but I’m actually trying to decide that now. When I originally planned The
Queen’s Gift, I intended to change the location for each year she’s in school.
There would be specific mythology based on each location. I even have the other
cities picked out, photographs and all. When I entered a writing contest—The
Queen’s Gift won First Place YAY—one of the things the judges brought up was
keeping the book in Tokyo. It came up enough that it made me wonder if I was
doing the right thing with changing locations. Ultimately, I think it will be
up to the characters.
How did you come up with the lead
character, Jean?
Jean
started with one question: What would happen if you were a Genie and couldn’t
grant wishes? To make it worse, I made her mother one of the most skilled
Genie’s in the world.
How did you come up with the idea
for Jean’s world?
I wanted to
write a story that poked fun of a lot of books that I’d read over the years. I
looked at all the characters that have populated books and noticed most were
portrayed in a positive light. What I mean by that is that most were super
cool, amazing looking, great at everything, love triangles, etc.
No
characters seemed to be suffering from typical school issues like zits and
other maladies. None of the characters really had to face not getting the guy
or girl of their dreams. Every time I read one of these books, I thought about
my high school experiences. I realize I was reading fiction, but it made me go
in another direction.
For
example, Karen Kim is a ghoul with greenish colored skin who dreams about being
a super model. She’s the size of a linebacker. She will always be the size of a
linebacker. Stefan is a fainting vampire. He’s always forgetting to get his
iron shots from the school nurse. Chloe has to worry about bursting into flames
every time she sneezes or farts. Like I said, I wanted to write something a
little different, so I did.
You said that you wanted to make fun
of the tropes you’ve read about, yet there is a love triangle in your book.
Why?
I do have a
sort of love triangle happening in The Queen’s Gift. The big difference is that
it’s resolved by the end of the book…maybe. ;)
If you could travel anywhere, where
would you go?
I have so
many places I want to travel to right now. My top six are: Thailand, Vietnam,
New Zealand, China, Egypt, and Jordan. Given the unrest in the entire Middle
East, I’m not sure when I’ll be able to make it to Jordan and Egypt, but I’d
really love to see Petra and the pyramids before I leave this place.
Do you have any travel plans?
I spend
quite a bit of time in the United Kingdom. I’ll be hitting it again in the
summer.
What are you working on now?
I am
currently working on the first book in a new young adult series. I’ve had the
idea for quite a while and I need to get the first book done so the characters
stop bothering me.
Final question. What do you do for
fun?
I read. I
go to the movies a lot. And I travel. Thank
you for having me.
Book & Author Details:
The Queen’s Gift by T.R. Allardice
Publication date: December 15th 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Publication date: December 15th 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Synopsis:
Fifteen-year-old, late-bloomer Jean
Elliott dreams of becoming a Genie like her mom. When her family relocates to
Tokyo, Jean is forced to use sleight-of-hand tricks to fool everyone at school
into believing that she’s a normal Preternatural or risk expulsion. When her
power finally appears, it comes in the form of the Queen’s Gift–an unspeakable
magic that strips power from all Preternaturals and heralds the arrival of the
new queen.
After an absence of two hundred
years, not everyone wants the monarchy to return and they’re willing to go to
great lengths to keep the status quo. When buried secrets rip Jean’s family
apart, she has a choice to make: Walk away and hope for the best or embrace the
power that’s known to lead to madness in order to save her family.
Jean’s greatest dream has turned
into her biggest nightmare and no matter how hard she tries, there’ll be no
wishing the Queen’s Gift away.
Purchase:
AUTHOR
BIO
T.R. Allardice writes young adult, new adult, and humorous
horror stories. Most of what she writes incorporates several genres.
The content won't always be 'safe'. What's the fun in that? She is a
member of the Horror Writer's Association, Novelist Inc. and the
Author's Guild. She has thirty-one books published under another pen
name. To find out more about her upcoming work, go to: www.trallardice.com
Author links:
Author links:
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