Anstice Brown

Masquerade: Oddly Suited Anthology

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Author Interviews

Masquerade: Oddly Suited Anthology

I asked the author’s of Masquerade: Oddly Suited the same two questions and these are their answers.

The Questions Each Author Answered

1. What would be your logline if you were pitching your story to a publisher as a single story?
2. Name three things about yourself or your character that you think readers would like to know. 

Elizabeth Mueller:

1. What would be your logline if you were pitching your story to a publisher as a single story?

 Ivy is sucked into a grandfather clock when it strikes 13 as a clockbound prince summons her to free him.

2. Name three things about yourself or your character that you think readers would like to know. 

I can’t help but feel that every writer’s psyche is manifested in one form or another through the stories and characters they write about.

Here are three things Ivy and I have in common: First, we both find the inner workings of analog–especially grandfather!– clocks fascinating. All those spindly gears spinning and causing a reaction with their neighboring wheels? Second, masquerade balls! Everyone is beautifully dressed and the mysticism is magical. Third, neither of us like being locked in dark buildings with the feeling of being watched. *shiver*

Jennifer Lane:

1. What would be your logline if you were pitching your story to a publisher as a single story?

Who can help her through a meltdown on the pitcher’s mound?

2. Name three things about yourself or your character that you think readers would like to know.

1. Andie Wilson puts too much pressure on herself, believing she has to earn a college softball scholarship to win her parents’ affection.

2. Cole Turner knows that life can be short and painful, but losing himself in baseball makes life a little better. Meeting a cute, feisty softball pitcher might help, too.

3. Jennifer Lane loves the striving, friendship, passion, and romance of sports. One of her favorite quotes, by Babe Ruth, is “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.”

Chelsea Marie Ballard:

1.What would be your logline if you were pitching your story to a publisher as a single story?

My logline would be: Remy and Rudy share an bond beyond their circumstances, but when things go south on the night of Masquerade Ball, Remy must decide between a life of protection and a life of love.

2.Name three things about yourself or your character that you think readers would like to know.

1.   This is my first piece of published writing. Ever.

2.   “Remedy” was named by husband, who liked the couple mash up name of Remy and Rudy. I eventually agreed because I liked the idea of the couple using their love to remedy their world.

3.   I won the Goblet of Fire at my local library for decimating at Harry Potter Jeopardy, along with every flavor beans and a pin. The beans went in the trash after I ate a dead fish flavored one, but I still display the pin proudly. 

Deborah Solice:

1. When a young girl faces the most tragic night of her life, a hero materializes out of nowhere to rescue and watch over her. But, is he a figment of her imagination conjured to keep her sane or is he something else…something more?

2. Like me, Savvi Jo (MC) is from the south. Although I am from the USA, I now live in Moscow, Russia and before Moscow, I was in The Middle East in Doha, Qatar as a teacher.  I am partial to romance, time travel, and happy endings.

Angela Brown:

1. What would be your logline if you were pitching your story to a publisher as a single story?

 – What’s a gamer girl to do when her first chance at love collides with a once in a lifetime quest?

2. Name three things about yourself or your character that you think readers would like to know.

 – My character and I both share an understanding of what it means to move from being a victim to living as a survivor (different situations, of course).

 – My character and I both have a special love for the Mad Hatter.

 – My character and I both think black cats aren’t bad.

L.G. Keltner:

Logline:

A teenage girl hopes to get through writing and filming a Valentine’s Day video alongside her crush without accidentally revealing her feelings for him.

Three things about me:

1. I love astronomy. I insisted my family make a round trip of a few hundred miles in one day so we could see totality during the solar eclipse on August 21, 2017. It was a long, exhausting day, but it was worth it.

2. When I was a kid, I used to fantasize about making first contact with an alien species. That probably has a lot to do with my lifelong science fiction obsession. Even now as an adult, I think it would be cool to meet an alien. As long as they’re friendly, that is.

3. One of my favorite things to write is witty banter between characters. I have so much fun exploring my characters through their verbal interactions with one another. That’s one of the reasons why I had so much fun writing “Oddly Suited.” Witty banter abounds in that story.

Myles Christensen:

1. A young woman in Moorish southern Spain, fleeing the unwanted advances of her guardian, must join forces with an enemy Christian fugitive in order to avoid being discovered by soldiers sent to find her.

2. (1) After high school, I spent two years in southern Spain, and the first three months were in Ronda (the setting for the story). (2) The name Zahra is an acceptable transliteration of two distinct Arabic names. One means beautiful or brilliant. The other means flower or blossom. Both would be applicable to the character in my story. (3) The antagonist, Hamet el-Zegri, truly was the alcayde (governor or commander) of the mountain fortress of Ronda during the Reconquista of southern Spain by the Spanish monarchs. The other characters are fictional.

Anstice Brown:

1.    A shape-shifting siren refuses to become the monster her bitter guardian has trained her to be and sets out to reunite a handsome young man with his missing fiancée.

2. Here are a few things readers might want to know about my main character, Mairg:
-She has suffered greatly and her current lifestyle holds no joy for her.
-She would do almost anything to protect her sisters. 
-She longs to be seen for who she really is, no matter the cost.

C.D. Gallant-King:

1. What would be your logline if you were pitching your story to a publisher as a single story?

The new girl in town falls for a mysterious boy who is maybe… probably… most definitely, a vampire.

2. Name three things about yourself or your character that you think readers would like to know.  

-The protagonist of our story moves to Paradise, Newfoundland, which is indeed a real town in the province of Newfoundland & Labrador. It’s down the street from Conception Bay, and about an hour from Dildo, which are also both real towns in the province of Newfoundland & Labrador. 

-I was born and raised in Newfoundland, though sadly not from a town with such an interesting name as any of those. My father is from a place called Joe Batt’s Arm, though.

-I once got a job at a book store when, during the interview, I told the manager that I thought Twilight wasn’t that bad. I don’t know what that has to do with anything, but it’s just something I’m not proud of that I always felt I needed to get off my chest.

Carrie-Anne Brownian

1.  Two black sheep in 1767 Colonial Charleston meet at a masquerade ball and develop a powerful connection, though a chaperone’s interference leaves them wondering if they’ll ever meet again.

2.  Iynx Praxithea Wildblood, known as Jinx, attends the Ursuline Academy in New Orleans, the first (and oldest) girls’ school in the U.S.

She, like all her siblings, was given both a first and middle name from the more obscure, lesser-known reaches of Greek mythology.

She’s considering attending the University of Bologna in Italy, which both of her parents attended, one of the rare few universities accepting female students at this time.