GIVEAWAY & INTERVIEW w/ MARTHA BROCKENBROUGH

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- Win THE RIFTS OF RIME by Steven Peck (Ends 6/4)

DEVINE INTERVENTION

       by Martha Brockenbrough

       Arthur A. Levine Books
       Ages 12 & up
       304 pp.

      There is a great legend of the guardian angel who traveled across time and space for the human girl he loved, slaying those who would threaten her with a gleaming sword made of heavenly light.

     
This is not that story.

     
Jerome Hancock is Heidi Devine's guardian angel. Sort of. He's more of an angel trainee, in heaven's soul-rehabilitation program for wayward teens. And he's just about to get kicked out for having too many absences and for violating too many of the Ten Commandments for the Dead.

     
Heidi, meanwhile, is a high school junior who dreams of being an artist, but has been drafted onto her basketball team because she's taller than many a grown man. For as long as she can remember, she's heard a voice in her head - one that sings Lynyrd Skynyrd, offers up bad advice, and yet is company during those hours she feels most alone.

     
When the unthinkable happens, these two lost souls must figure out where they went wrong and whether they can make things right before Heidi's time is up and her soul is lost forever.

     
Author  Martha Brockenbrough's  young adult novel, DEVINE INTERVENTION, debuts June 1, 2012. Martha stops today to share a few thoughts on her book. She has also graciously provided a signed copy of her book and some other surprise goodies for one luck reader. Details on how to win are at the end of this post.

      1.  Tell us about DEVINE INTERVENTION in one sentence.

It’s about the world’s most inept guardian angel and the girl whose life he accidentally ruins.

2.  What inspired you to write this story?

I used to be a high school teacher and my students, as I did when I was their age, often talked about “when my real life begins.” Guess what! It has begun! So on one level, it’s a story about realizing your life and your choices are you own, even if they don’t feel as though they are. It’s also about finding your place and your voice in the world. It’s not as serious as it sounds, though. I’d like to think that it includes some of the definitive squirrel mayhem scenes in modern literature.  

3.  Tell us a little about your journey to publication.

It’s good that you asked for only a little. Otherwise, I would have to dump this epic journey on you, which would include scenes of ugly crying, mortification, and intermittent bleeding. I have published two books for adults, including a pretty funny grammar guide called Things That Make Us [Sic]. Writing for children has been much, much more difficult. I never thought I’d sell a book to the editor of Harry Potter, let alone two. But Arthur Levine and I met in person and hit it off, and the rest has been the happy adventure of my professional life.

4.  What books did you enjoy reading when you were young?

I read whatever I could get my hands on, which included lots of Nancy Drew, everything Lloyd Alexander and Judy Blume wrote, and the Betsy-Tacy books until those jerks said, “She named her dolls ugly names. Like Martha and Jemima.” Whatever.

Seriously, though, it was whatever I could find. I used to get in trouble for having my nose in a book when my hands were supposed to be pulling weeds. When I ran out of kids’ books/got tired of rereading The Westing Game and Harriet the Spy, I swiped reading material from my mother’s bedside table and still don’t understand why she snatched this one book right back just when I got to the part where a guy with full body tattoos was about to unzip a woman’s ... See? I never got to find out what was going to happen. Unzip her parka? Her knee-high boot? What! Sheesh!

5.  What do you enjoy reading now?

I am a more discriminating reader than I was when I was little. Now, I enjoy reading really well written books with characters I love and plots that keep me guessing. With few writers, I’ll read anything they put out: Megan Whalen Turner, Jaclyn Moriarty, Lian Hearn, Marcus Zusak, M.T. Anderson, A.S. King. These are all writers I don’t know but would love to meet. (I also have a long list of writers I know and adore: Justina Chen, Kevin Emerson, Lorie Ann Grover, Dia Calhoun, Karen Cushman, Melissa Walker, Holly Cupala, Kirby Larson … I could go on for days.)

6.  What can we expect from you in the future?

My next book in the publication queue is a picture book called The Dinosaur Tooth Fairy. You probably thought Spinosaurus parents had to slip meat under their hatchlings’ pillows. Wrong! They had their own tooth fairy, and this is a story about what happens when she finds a tooth she really needs for her collection. Also, I am working on my next novel and am VERY excited about it.

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

Martha Brockenbrough has provided a signed copy of  her book and some surprise goodies for one lucky reader. All you need to do is fill out the Rafflecopter below. There are plenty of chances to win.

This giveaway will end on June 6th.

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