30 Dec 2012

Author Interview and Giveaway: Malia Ann Haberman

For details of the giveaway, please see the end of this post.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR



Author of "Chase Tinker and the House of Magic (The Chase Tinker Series, Book 1)," Malia loves dancing, reading, writing, sunsets, ladybugs, playing video games on her iPod, watching TV, and chocolate. She also has terrible motion sickness and hates onions. She's always wanted to have the ability to teleport and the power to move things with her mind. She lives in the Seattle area with her four wild and crazy ferrets.



Book Summary:



In Chase Tinker's world, magic, lies and secrets can be a lethal combination...



Thirteen-year-old Chase Tinker can't understand why he has the power to move things with his mind. Besides that, his dad has been missing for over a year, causing his mom to be too upset to pay much attention to her sons, so now he's been busted for shoplifting. As if this isn't enough to worry about, his younger brother Andy suddenly has a weird magical ability too.



Can things get any crazier? Chase thinks.



Then, a grandfather they thought to be long dead arrives at their door. He wants Chase and Andy to come visit him for the summer so they can learn about their supernatural heritage and why they have magical powers in the first place.



The boys soon find out that Grandfather, along with their cousin Janie, lives on a remote island in the middle of Puget Sound in an out-of-this-world house where fantastic magic can be found in practically every room, stairway and corridor. Chase can't believe their dad has been keeping so much from them.



It's an even bigger shock when Chase learns that all their magic is controlled by a very powerful and mysterious Relic in the attic, and if anything happens to this relic, every bit of Tinker magic will be lost forever. He's even more disturbed when he learns his family has a dark and powerful enemy that is determined to steal all their magic, their house and their relic.



Now Chase must find a way to stop these evil beings, while at the same time figuring out what has happened to his dad, unraveling even more Tinker lies and secrets and not letting on that he has a huge crush on the housekeeper's daughter.






1. If you could work with any other author, who would it be and why?



I think I would pick Rick Riordan to work with. I love his Percy Jackson series. The books are clever, exciting and funny. He shows such a great sense of humor in his writing and if there's anything I love, it's someone with an awesome sense of humor.

2. What would be a typical working day for you? When and where do you write?



I don't really have any typical work day. Since I teach ballroom dancing, my hours aren't regular 9 to 5 so I stick in writing time here and there along with all the other stuff I have to do in life. I write sitting on my floor in my living room with my coffee table as my desk, my computer in front of me and my TV going as background noise. Sometimes I listen to music, but the problem with that is I can' stop myself from singing along and getting up to dance. So it's probably best to not have the music on too much during writing sessions. :)

3. What is the hardest part of the writing for you?



Staying focused. I have a tendency to go off onto other tasks when I should be writing. The Internet, Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads don't help either. (sigh)

4. When and why did you first start writing?



I first started writing around the time I turned 14. That's when I decided I wanted to be a writer. I'd just discovered that boys really weren't that bad so I began writing sappy love poems and stories. Though, I have to admit, most of that stuff was pretty sucky. :)

5. How did you come up with the idea for your book?



About 6 1/2 years ago I was working as a Real Estate Agent. After a day of showing homes to my clients, I guess I had houses on my mind because that night I dreamed I was living in a huge house and every room had some sort of magical power in it. The next day, when I told my daughter about it, she thought it would make a terrific kids' book so we started brainstorming for more great ideas



6. Are you a big reader? If so, what are you reading now?



I LOVE to read. I've always been an avid reader. When I was kid, I never went outside because I was too busy hanging out in my room reading. One day, when I was around 9 or 10 years old, my dad decided I was just spending way too much time indoors reading. So he made me go outside to play. I just sat on the porch and cried. He finally got mad at me and sent me back into the house and back to my books. I was happy once more.



Right now I'm reading "Book of a Thousand Days" by Shannon Hale. It's sooo good. I got the ebook version of it for .99 cents on Amazon.



7. Do you have any advice for other aspiring writers?



Just keep writing and writing and don't give up. Believe in yourself. If someone has the talent and drive and keeps at it, then eventually something should happen.



















Malia is very kindly giving away a copy of her ebook together with five MP3 songs from Amazon of your choice.  For your chance to enter, please see rafflecopter below.  Please note that this prize will be gifted direct from the author.  Good luck!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway



  





1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for holding the Giveaway and doing the Interview with me, Debs! Here's an awesome review of "Chase Tinker and the House of Magic" if anyone wants to check it out. :)

http://readrw.blogspot.com/2012/12/review-chase-tinker-and-house-of-magic.html