Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Blog Tour: The Adventures of Fawn with an #interview




Children's Books 
Date(s) Published: 
Book 1: September 21, 2014
Book 2: July 4, 2015
Book 3: August 18, 2016


     The Adventures of Fawn is a ‘coming of age’ series chronicling the exploits of the precocious, young daughter of legendary reindeer, Comet and Vixen. The year is 1849, and all three tales happen in the months leading up to….but ending just before Christmas. A deadly North Pole blizzard; a fierce, hungry arctic wolf;  a scheming sea captain capturing animals to take to a New York City zoo; an evil former elf princess out to destroy the pendulum that enables Santa and company to live for hundreds of years; the trials and tribulations young Kristoff Kringle faced before he became the icon of Christmas; and a conniving stranger with a magic stone determined to steal Santa’s reindeer team …all of this and more await the young reindeer and her companions.
    
 Interview

Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?

     The books are basically about friendship, love and self-sacrifice. I suppose if there is any ‘message’ being put forward…it’s that love for family and friends…when it’s real, should be somewhat akin to the title of the first book---‘til the last snowflake falls. It just keeps going…without end. And when you have that kind of feeling for someone…you can’t help but give everything you’ve got…without hesitation, or reservation


Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

     While I’m certain it’s different for every author, for me….writing three books has been a learning experience. I suppose the old adage: ‘Nothing is written in stone.” holds especially true for me.
     A number of times…I have liked a certain wording…or passage….only to have to eventually discard it, or revise it…in order to make the overall scene, dialogue, or chapter better or more coherent.
     That…and the job of editing and editing, and re-writing and re-writing. I’ve learned the best method (for me at least) is to write something…and let it sit for a few months before trying to edit it. By doing so…I read what is actually ‘written’ on the page…rather than what I’m assuming is there….just because the story is so stuck in my head already. Much too often…I didn’t read what was on the page…but rather what I thought was on the page.
     Developing characters who were decidedly unique from one another…and engaging for the reader was an interesting process. In the beginning, I had to decide what each one was like…and try to stick to it/bear it in mind. But as I progressed into the other books…I ‘knew’ the characters and that, in itself, made the stories flow quite nicely.

     Also…I’m not that great an artist…but I ‘know’ what my characters look like. Doing illustrations is always time-consuming…and I’m quite often disappointed with my work. I want something a little less ‘Disney-looking’ and a little more akin to the illustrations one would find in books from the 19th century. I suppose I’ve compromised with something ‘in-between’.

     On the other side of that coin…the easiest part is the writing itself. I usually sit down at the keyboard and let the story tell itself. Many times I’ve found myself writing 20 or 30 pages without missing a beat. I’ll sit back in my chair and think: “Wow! That was interesting…I wasn’t expecting that to happen!” With each book, the story I thought I was going to write…and the story that eventually appeared on the pages turned out to be distinctly different.


How many books have you written and which is your favorite?

     To date, I’ve written just three. While I certainly like them all…if I had to choose my favorite, I’d have to say the third book, ‘Far And Yet So Near’. Because I ‘know’ the characters so well at this point, it was a very enjoyable experience. The passing of a few months in the storyline allowed me to illustrate the main character’s growth and maturity in a number of interesting and fun ways.


If you had the chance to cast your main character from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?

     As the main character is a young reindeer, the role would certainly be one of ‘giving voice’ to her. I’d have to say either Emma Watson, or, Kristen Bell.


When did you begin writing?

     I began in the spring of 2014…at the ripe old age of 60.


How long did it take to complete your first book?

     I wrote the first book over the course of about 8 months. The reason for this was because I originally wrote a short story…perhaps 4,500 words in length. At the time, I thought I’d written a cute, short children’s story. I imagined it might make a nice picture book.
     About 5 months later, another idea came to me, and I began writing again. This time I had about 35,000 words. This was considerably longer than the first…even though it employed the same characters. I knew there was no way Book 1 could be so short…and Book 2 so much longer.
     So…I joined them together. Once that was done, it was just a matter of fleshing out the story to its obvious conclusion.


Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?

     The authors who inspired me the most are:

                        Margaret Atwood ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’.
                        James Clavell ‘King Rat’.
                        J.K. Rowling ‘Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone’.
                        Charles Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’.
                        J. Meade Falkner  ‘Moonfleet’.


What is your favorite part of the writing process?

     I think just sitting back after I’ve written a number of pages and reading what I have is the best part. Generally, the stories tell themselves, and I often sit back laughing at what I have on the page…or thinking to myself, “Wow! I wasn’t expecting that to happen!”

Describe your latest book in 4 words.

     Inspiring, heart-warming, humorous, and adventurous.


Can you share a little bit about your current work or what is in the future for your writing?

     At the present time, I’m toying with the idea of writing a fourth installment for The Adventures of Fawn. The first three books carry the reader from late September 1849 through to mid-December…about two weeks before Christmas.
     A voice in my head keeps asking, “What happened then?”



     Through almost 40 years as a Santa Claus, Al E. Boy developed quite a repertoire of tales to explain and answer the many questions children ask about Santa, the North Pole, his reindeer, and his friends, the elves.
     It was this collection of tales which prompted him to begin writing The Adventures of Fawn. Through the young daughter of legendary reindeer Comet and Vixen, he's been able to weave an exciting, colorful, imaginative world which will delight readers of all ages!
     Mr. Boy not only hopes you enjoy these tales, but make reading them part of your Christmas traditions, as well.

Contact Information


Purchase Links
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting

Kimberly @ Turning the Pages said...

These sound so cute! My Sister in law is trying to read more indie authors to her kids so I'm going to suggest these ones :)


-Kimberly @ Turning the Pages

Al E. Boy said...

Thank you. It looks great!!

Al E. Boy

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