Guest Post with Alane Adams - The Blue Witch

Photo Content from Alane Adams

Alane Adams is a children’s author, professor, and literacy advocate. She is the author of the Legends of Orkney fantasy mythology series for tweens; she also writes Early American picture books for young children. Adams lives in Southern California.

        

Series: The Witches of Orkney (Book 1)

Paperback: 216 pages

Publisher: SparkPress (October 23, 2018)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1943006776

ISBN-13: 978-1943006779

Praise for THE BLUE WITCH

“An enchanting new book full of magical mischief and adventure, Alane Adams’s The Blue Witch is guaranteed to please” ―Foreword Clarion Reviews

“Bright, brave characters star in this exhilarating tale of magic and mystical creatures.” ―Kirkus Reviews

  

What’s one thing that readers would be surprised to find out about you?

I haven’t always been an author! In fact, I have a CPA license and spent most of my career working in a family-business as the CFO. It wasn’t until a few years ago after I stepped away from the business that my then 12-year-old son asked me to write him a book he could read, and my life-long dream of becoming an author became reality. I think the biggest challenge to any one pursuing a dream is finding that champion who pushes you along. Having my son not only push me to finish, but have absolute confidence I could do it, gave me the courage to actually dive in.

What advice would you give to someone who wanted to have a life in writing?

The hardest thing about a life spent writing is learning the process of becoming a writer. The first step is to write every day without excuses. So many wanna-be authors have a dream but no discipline, like the person who has a gym-membership but doesn’t go! The only way to become an author is to sit down at the computer and write, even when it’s hard. The next step is to finish a first-draft without bogging down in critiquing it along the way. A first-draft is meant to be ugly, it’s a product of the creative side of the author brain and not intended for publication. So many struggling authors bog down in trying to fix as they go along and never get to the end. Once a draft is finished, then the editorial brain can come out, but here is where I think many authors fall short because they don’t realize how much work is still to be done to make that manuscript publish-ready. 

Your Favorite Quotes/Scenes from THE BLUE WITCH

One of my favorite scenes from The Blue Witch is during History of Witchery class when Abigail’s arch nemesis, Endera, uses magic against her and dumps a pail of dirty water on her head. The headmistress, Madame Vex rushes in at the ruckus, demanding to know who did it, and the entire class is sure they were going to be punished, but Madame Vex just smiles and says:

“My little witchlings, have you learned nothing in the weeks you’ve been here? This isn’t the Balfin School for Ill-Mannered Boys. It’s the Tarkana Academy for Witches. Witches,” she added for emphasis as she prowled b ack and forth like a panther in front of them. “And witches are wonderfully wicked. So I ask again, which delightful witchling used magic like this?”

Writing: Behind the Scenes

I think one of the hardest parts of being an author is coming up with unique names for your characters! I’m constantly scanning phone books and magazines for unique spellings and quiz fans at book signings on their names. One time, I was searching for a name for a witchling and I had a bottle of Perrier in my hand. I sputtered and tried out ten different variation on it and came up with Perrin! She’s one of my favorite characters in the Legends of Orkney series. 

Meet the Characters

My main character is a nine-year-old witch named Abigail who is just starting out at the Tarkana Witch Academy. She loves to wear her hair in twin-braids and hopes to become a GREAT witch someday, but unfortunately her magic hasn’t come in yet. She meets a young boy named Hugo who wants to become a scientist and is fascinated by magic. When they are attacked by a vicious sneevil, a desperate Abigail finally gains her magic, only to find out its different than every other witchling’s. As Hugo and Abigail try to uncover the mystery behind her magic, Abigail’s nemesis, Endera, is determined to get rid of her any way possible, including sabotaging her in class and cheating to win the Head Witchling competition.

Before Sam Baron broke Odin's curse on the witches to become the first son born to a witch and the hero of the Legends of Orkney series, his mother was a young witchling growing up in the Tarkana Witch Academy. In this first book of the prequel series, the Witches of Orkney, nine-year-old Abigail Tarkana is determined to grow up to be the greatest witch of all, even greater than her evil ancestor Catriona. Unfortunately, she is about to fail Spectacular Spells class because her witch magic hasn't come in yet. Even worse, her nemesis, Endera, is making life miserable by trying to get her kicked out. 

When her new friend Hugo's life is put in danger by a stampeding sneevil, a desperate Abigail manages to call up her magic―only to find out it's unlike any other witchling's at the Tarkana Witch Academy! As mysteries deepen around her magic and just who her true parents are, Abigail becomes trapped in a race against time to undo one of her spells before she is kicked out of the coven forever!

Rich in Norse mythology, The Blue Witch is the first of a fast-paced young reader series filled with magical spells, mysterious beasts, and witch-hungry spiders!

You can purchase The Blue Witch at the following Retailers:

        

And now, The Giveaways.

Thank you ALANE ADAMS for making this giveaway possible.

Winner will receive an Exclusive THE BLUE WITCH by Alane Adams Gift Box..

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