Interview with Moïra Fowley-Doyle for All The Bad Apples

All the Bad Apples

by Moïra Fowley-Doyle
Publisher: Penguin
Release Date: August 1st 2019

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery

Read more about the book:

Goodreads

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Amazon | Waterstones | Google Books

Buy the book in the US:

Amazon | B&N | Google Books

Other international sites:

iTunes | Bookdespository | Kobo

Synopsis:

The day after the funeral all our mourning clothes hung out on the line like sleeping bats. 'This will be really embarrassing,' I kept saying to my family, 'when she shows up at the door in a week or two.'

When Deena's wild and mysterious sister Mandy disappears - presumed dead - her family are heartbroken. But Mandy has always been troubled. It's just another bad thing to happen to Deena's family. Only Deena refuses to believe it's true.

And then the letters start arriving. Letters from Mandy, claiming that their family's blighted history is not just bad luck or bad decisions - but a curse, handed down through the generations. Mandy has gone in search of the curse's roots, and now Deena must find her. What they find will heal their family's rotten past - or rip it apart forever.

Can you briefly describe ALL THE BAD APPLES and the characters?

All the Bad Apples is about 17-year-old Deena, whose older sister Mandy goes missing after having told Deena about a curse on the women of their family who do not conform. While Deena’s other sister Rachel is sure Mandy is dead, Deena believes she can't be — especially after she starts receiving letters from Mandy asking her to follow the history of their family across the country in order to break the curse before it comes to her. Along with her best friend Finn, a family member she never knew she had, and a sweet stranger met along the way, Deena travels to places in her family’s past, uncovering the stories of a long line of bad apples, in search of her sister, and the origin of their family curse.

Who would you say is your favourite character from the story and why?

Ohh, this is a really difficult choice. I wrote through so many voices, between Deena, Mandy and their ancestors, and loved delving into each of their stories. I had never written historical fiction before and was surprised at how easily Mary Ellen (whose story takes place in the late 1800s) came to me, and how much I looked forward to writing her chapters. I loved setting up the contrasts between adult twins Mandy and Rachel — hot and cool, wildness and stability — and then exploring their own teenage years. And I loved writing Deena, who’d been knocking about in my head for about a good decade, whose voice was the first thing I heard when I told myself I was going to write this book.

Did you find inspiration anywhere?

I have, so far, stolen the characters for every book I've written from my younger self. When I was 18 or so I started writing a book about the Rys family, and Deena, Rachel, Mandy and Ida came from that, although Ida in particular changed a lot from first to final draft.

The idea of a family curse that is really a curse on women who don't follow the rules was built out of the fury and helpless of the whole country as horrible truths started coming out about the mother and baby homes, as we fought hard for reproductive rights that didn't seem like they'd ever happen. I read a lot of first-person accounts of Magdalene laundries, of having to travel overseas for abortions, and those stories inspired the history of the Rys family.

If you could choose one song to describe your book, which one would it be?

Three Babies by Sinéad O’Connor. I listened to it every day I wrote the second draft of this book & cried every time.

If your book was going to be made into a movie, who would play your characters?

To be honest, my dream cast would be of unknown, age-appropriate Irish actors. I've always had issues with 28 year olds playing teenagers and don't know of any Irish teen actors offhand who fit any of my characters!

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish ALL THE BAD APPLES?

If you want witchy feminist rage, queer characters & stories set in Ireland, please read the stunning Perfectly Preventable Deaths by Deirdre Sullivan and Other Words for Smoke by Sarah Maria Griffin — you’ll fall deep & fast.

What’s next for you?

I'm working on something so new it's too fragile to talk about yet, but it looks like it will be on the more magical side of magic realism, and I'm drawing up a lot of birth charts for it — including one for a house.

Moïra Fowley-Doyle is half-French, half-Irish and made of equal parts feminism, whimsy and Doc Martens. She lives in Dublin where she writes magic realism, reads tarot cards and raises witch babies.

Moïra’s first novel, The Accident Season, was shortlisted for the 2015 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize & the North East Teen Book Awards, nominated for the Carnegie Medal & won the inaugural School Library Association of Ireland Great Reads Award. It received two starred reviews & sold in ten territories. Her second novel, Spellbook of the Lost and Found, was published in summer 2017, received a starred review from School Library Journal and was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards.

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🍎 G I V E A W A Y 🍎 A nice, normal girl. Dublin, 2012 On my seventeenth birthday, two things happened. I came out to my family (somewhat by accident). And my sister Mandy disappeared. Died, Deena, Rachel said - our other sister, the middle sister, the one who came between us. Died, not disappeared. But I knew Mandy wasn't dead. ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ . Hello everyone and Happy Wednesday! The week is going so fast! 🌿 . . Today I have a book I have been dying to share with you: #AllTheBadApples by Moïra Fowley-Doyle (@moirawithatrema). Filled with mystery, heartache and magic, Moïra's new book will catch your attention from the very first page. . . Here's the author's TLDR about the story: ATBA is about 17one-year-old Deena, whose older sister Mandy goes missing after having told Deena about a curse in the women of their family who do not conform. While Deena's other sister Rachel is sure Mandy is dead, Deena believes she can't be - especially after she starts receiving letters from Mandy asking her to follow the history of their family across the country in order to break the curse before it comes to her. Along with her best friend Finn, a family member she never knew she had, and a sweet stranger met along the way, Deena travels to places in her family's past, uncovering the stories of a long line of bad apples, in search of her sister, and the origin of their family curse. . . We have partnered with @penguinukbooks, @penguinrandomhouse and Moïra, to bring you ALL THE BAD APPLES to @theffbc tours and to give you the chance to WIN 1 of 3 copies of the book. . . 📖 HOW TO ENTER 🎁 All you need to know is go to @theffbc website and find the TOUR SCHEDULE for All the Bad Apples and fill out the rafflecopter. You can do this 2 ways: 1) Using the search bar under our logo, on the right side of our website. 2) We have a Current Giveaways widget on our right side of our website. Just find the book and click on it! 3) Scrolling through our posts until you find Jill's book. Make sure you find the tour schedule, since it is the only post that has the rafflecopter! Also, don't miss my interview with the author! Good luck and hope you enjoy this book as much as I did!

A post shared by Patricia Lopez (@whatmakespatri) on Aug 21, 2019 at 1:07am PDT

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My Bad Romance & Tips to avoid a Bad Romance

Today, I am participating in the Bad Romance blog tour organised by Fierce Reads to promote Heather Demetrios' new book.

I did not have an abusive relationship whatsoever, but I did suffer from a bad romance. I spent 8 years with my ex-boyfriend and the last 6 years of my relationship I was not happy. I use to think that I was the one to blame. You see, I am Spanish and I can sometimes be compared to Gloria from Modern Family. So I have a quite strong character and it can be a lot to handle. However, being in a relationship means that there are two people sharing and caring and contributing to the partnership in equal parts. When you don't, is because there's something broken.

Therefore, I had some sort of blame in that relationship. I was comfortable with what I had and I was afraid to be alone since I had been in a relationship with the same person since I was seventeen. I did not know how to live on my own. It was easy to rely on someone that always agreed to what I wanted to do. Even banal actions such as going to the cinema were unthinkable when I thought about being alone. And I kept asking the same questions: How would I do it without him and Who am I as a person without him? Everyone knew me because of him and as a part of him. So that left me alone and friendless. Believe, it is the greatest terrifying feeling ever.

But when you are left behind, forgotten and unloved, you don't have a chance. You need to survive and try to crawl out of the hole you created for yourself. And that's exactly what I did. I met new friends which are now my best friends, I started doing activities I had never done with him (even boxing!) and I moved out of my parents' house and to another country! I had the best summer of my life with my friends and I found myself. I learn how to love me and how to appreciate small things. I became a strong independent woman and I have to thank him for giving me the chance at being happy again. Merely, because I was so scared and so trapped that I would have never left him if he had not left me. And I am not being the stereotypical woman who says this as a resentment for what happened. I am honestly thankful for giving me those years with me and for letting me go when he knew it was over and it was pointless to continue. Even though, I was terrified of terminating what I considered my whole world.

My advice? If you are not happy, it is a bad romance. Do not settle for something or someone less than what you deserve just because you are scared of the unknown or to be alone. Sometimes being alone can help you discover yourself, you can meet amazing people and you'll have thousands of adventures and experiences you one day will explain to your kids and grandchildren. Moreover, you can meet the person that was meant for you all along. Who knows?

We all want to fall in love, find our soul mate and, if not, find the closest thing to our book boyfriend(s). However, even though I suffer the risk of becoming a cliche, sometimes love is not enough.

1) Be honest. In order for a relationship to work and to be healthy, you need to be able to talk to that special person without any barriers. You need to be comfortable enough to talk about any topic and knowing it's going to be okay because the person on the other end is just going to be there to support you.

2) Trust. If there's no trust in a relationship, is there really anything going on there? And it works both ways. You also need to be comfortable enough to trust the person you are with. If you do not, maybe there's a problem.

3) Always On My Mind. I believe that if you fell in love and it's a good relationship, that special person it's always on your mind. From small gestures like going to the supermarket and buying something special for him/her just because to having a conversation with your friends and not being able to talk about anything else (well, almost!).

4) Respect. We are all humans, we make mistakes, we can argue and drive each other mad up to a point. But there's always that fine line called respect that no one should surpass and it should always be respected in order to have no regrets and don't hold a grudge for a comment said later on. 

5) Talk. I do not believe that bottling everything up and keep it inside it's a good thing. If you are having a bad day? Talk with someone. If something is bothering you? Talk. If there's something in your mind? Talk. Talk. Talk. You can even yell if given the occasion. Sometimes, getting all out is better than keeping it all in. Because believe me, one day you will pop and it's going to get nasty.

6) YOLO. I apologise for the silly acronym, but sometimes it is useful. If you are in a relationship, let things flow. Do not pressure anything, do not overthink everything... Just relax and enjoy. If it's meant to work, everything will happen accordingly.

7) Be comfortable. If you trust someone enough to love them, you are comfortable to the point of being able to show all your vulnerabilities to that person. Because that person is going to cherish even the saddest and darkest side of you.

Bad Romance
by Heather Demetrios
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Release Date: June 13th 2017

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

Grace wants out. Out of her house, where her stepfather wields fear like a weapon and her mother makes her scrub imaginary dirt off the floors. Out of her California town, too small to contain her big city dreams. Out of her life, and into the role of Parisian artist, New York director—anything but scared and alone.

Enter Gavin: charming, talented, adored. Controlling. Dangerous. When Grace and Gavin fall in love, Grace is sure it's too good to be true. She has no idea their relationship will become a prison she's unable to escape. 

Deeply affecting and unflinchingly honest, this is a story about spiraling into darkness—and emerging into the light again.

Heather Demetrios is the author of the critically acclaimed YA novel Something Real. When she's not traipsing around the world or spending time in imaginary places, she lives with her husband in New York City. Originally from Los Angeles, Heather is part of the Summer 2014 Writing for Children and Young Adults MFA class at Vermont College of Fine Arts and is a recipient of the Susan P. Bloom PEN New England Discovery Award forSomething Real.

Book Blitz + Giveaway: You Give Love a Bad Name (Mirabelle Harbor #3) by Marilyn Brant

 

You Give Love a Bad Name (Mirabelle Harbor #3)

by Marilyn Brant
Release Date: January 24th 2016
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

“Nothing but love, 24/7” is the slogan of Mirabelle Harbor’s only radio station, 102.5 “LOVE” FM. On the verge of turning thirty-five, local DJ Blake Michaelsen is well-known for several reasons: his very sexy on-air voice, his omnipresent family, his eligible bachelor status, and his reputation as one of the most impulsive men in Chicago’s northern suburbs.

High-school French teacher and lifelong romantic Vicky Bernier is not at all wild about people who exhibit reckless conduct. (Blake.) Or men who have gigantic egos. (Blake.) Or grownups who still act like teenagers. (Blake, again.) She deals with enough adolescent behavior during the school day. Unfortunately, she’s the staff advisor to the Homecoming Committee, and they’ve chosen him as their DJ for the big fall dance.

What happens when a man whose job it is to play love songs for a living is forced to admit his deepest secret—that he doesn’t believe in true love—only to discover that the one woman who might capture his heart is the same woman who distrusts him the most?

No matter what you call it, with love there’s an exception to every rule. YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME, a Mirabelle Harbor story.

**Note: YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME is Book 3 in Marilyn Brant’s Mirabelle Harbor series, but this story and all of the contemporary romances in this series can be enjoyed as stand-alone novels.

Other Books in the Series:

TAKE A CHANCE ON ME (July 2015)

THE ONE THAT I WANT (July 2015)

YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME (January 2016)

STRANGER ON THE SHORE (Coming Spring 2016)

And more…

Blake

One of the perks of working for a radio station was that it wasn’t a nine-to-five kind of job. There was some built-in variety.

So, after a long on-air rotation on Thursday, I was still technically on the clock when I arrived at Mirabelle Harbor High School around 3:15 p.m. and was greeted at the office by a chatty member of the Homecoming committee. Alexis something or other. She escorted me to the meeting location.

Whoa. And there was the French teacher babe, pacing in the middle of her classroom. Gotta love “community outreach” and the surprises it could bring. I had a fresh appreciation for the variety of my job. Spice. Of. Life.

I removed my baseball cap and slid off my sunglasses when the babe—Vicky—looked my way.

“Hey, there,” I said, extending my hand to her.

She looked at me suspiciously, like I might be holding a grenade or something. So I twisted my hand a bit, so she could see my open palm. Her smile seemed forced as she reached out to grasp it.

Small hands. Soft skin. So feminine. I reluctantly let go as she pulled away. She seemed a little off kilter, still staring strangely at me. I sent her my most charming smile.

She took a literal step back, cleared her throat, and said stiffly, “Hello, Mr. Michaelsen. I’m Vicky Bernier, staff advisor to the Homecoming committee.”

Very formal and controlled. Hmm, that was no fun. I wanted to throw her off balance again because she was cute when she was flustered and, hey, I was that kind of guy.

So I beamed an even bigger grin at her. “And you’re a friend of my sister’s,” I said, curious to see if that would disarm her or make her more concerned.

From the expression on her face, definitely the latter. Huh.

“Yes,” she said slowly. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Shar.”

Damn. What did my sister tell her to make her scowl at me like that? Couldn’t be good.

I turned my attention to the four teens in the classroom who were gaping at us like we were cast members on some reality TV dating show.

The chatty girl who’d met me at the office was the first to speak. “On behalf of the Homecoming committee, we’re all so glad you could meet with us today, Mr. Michaelsen. And we’re super psyched that you’ll be DJ’ing our dance.”

“Thanks for the warm welcome,” I replied. “And call me Blake. All of you. I promise we’ll make this fun.” But to myself I couldn’t help but add, Whether or not your teacher wants it to be…

Marilyn Brant is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of contemporary women’s fiction, romantic comedy & mystery. She won RWA’s prestigious Golden Heart Award (2007) for her debut novel, According to Jane, and was named the Author of the Year (2013) by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. She loves all things Jane Austen, has a passion for Sherlock Holmes, is a travel addict and a music junkie, and lives on chocolate and gelato. The Mirabelle Harbor series is her latest project. Visit her website: http://www.marilynbrant.com

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