Meet Us At The Crossroads Tour Day 1: Joy Preble

Welcome to Day 1 of the Crossroads Tour! Since my first featured author is Joy Preble, at the end of this tour I will be hosting a giveaway for her book DREAMING ANASTASIA!



1. What inspired you to write Anastasia's character?

I’ve always adored the historical Anastasia. Such a horrifically tragic story of a smart, funny, beautiful girl who was murdered before she even reached her prime and definitely before she reached her full potential. She’s one of my favourite historical characters, so much so that somehow she wormed her way into my very first novel.


2. What was the first book you read that made you fall in love with reading (past or present writer)?

I have always loved to read, but the first book I consciously remember reading and thinking, “Wow! Did this author write anything else? I need to go back to the library and check” was Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, which is still probably one of my favourite childhood novels. But even before that, I fell in love with reading through the classic picture books: Stone Soup, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel, Ping, Make Way for Ducklings, Ferdinand… I love them all to this very day.


3. What paranormal author are you currently addicted to?

There are so many; Holly Black’s writing is amazing. Libba Bray’s Great and Terrible Beauty series just blew me away. Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely and all the books that followed were a revelation. And Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver and Linger are just soooo romantic. Cynthia Leitich Smith’s Tantalize series is also a favourite. Oh and Cassie Clare’s work. Oh my gosh – I really can’t pick.


4. What band or artist currently tops your play list?

I’m an omnivore when it comes to music; I listen to just about anything. Right now I’ve been listening to a lot of country (mostly because I’m writing a book set here in Texas – Carrie Underwood, the Dixie Chicks, Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Tim McGraw…) but my playlist is varied – everything from Godsmack and Kid Rock to older bands like Aerosmith, ACDC, and Guns N Roses… And Lady Gaga… and of course the greatness that will always be Led Zepplin. Of course I would be remiss if I did not plug the musical awesomeness the world’s only all YA author band, Tiger Beat, with my own former editor Dan Ehrenhaft on guitar. You haven’t heard music until you’ve heard Tiger Beat.


5. Do you have any projects you are currently working on that you are able to share? And can you give us a little teaser?

Well, I am plotting out what I hope will be the third and final book in the Dreaming Anastasia series. But beyond that, I’ve been working on a book set here in Texas; it’s a project I had to set aside when the opportunity to write HAUNTED popped up and I’m delighted to be back at it. But that’s all I’m prepared or able to say about that right now.






HOW THE TOUR WORKS:

Each day of The Crossroads Tour, a new research question will be revealed on The Crossroad Blog Tour main page, and each day the answer to that question will be found within one of the 16 different blog posts by Crossroads Tour authors. Your job is to get the question, read the blog posts, and collect all 16 answers by the end of the tour, on Halloween.