Monday, July 25, 2011

Win a signed copy of VILLAIN SCHOOL, by Stephanie S. Sanders!


Please join me in welcoming debut middle-grade author Stephanie S. Sanders to Project Mayhem today. She is the author of VILLAIN SCHOOL: Good Curses Evil, coming August 30, from Bloomsbury! 

The lovely Stephanie S. Sanders
OFFICIAL VILLAIN SCHOOL BLURB:
Three delinquent villains. A school that will teach them to be bad. And one unbelievable assignment. Rune Drexler is a student at Master Dreadthorn's School for Wayward Villains. It's like a military school for the children of evil villains. Rune is nearly failing his villain studies, so he's sentenced to a Plot by his father, Master Dreadthorn. In one week he must:

1. Kidnap a princess
2. Steal a baby
3. Find a henchman
4. Overthrow a kingdom

If he succeeds, Rune will be promoted to Fiend, if he fails, he'll be exiled from the villain community forever. Luckily, he may choose two Conspirators, so Rune chooses his best friends Countess Jezebel Dracula and Big Bad Wolf Junior. Only one problem, Rune's not very evil. In fact, his behavior on the Plot seems suspiciously heroic….

Villain School is a world of fairytale villains that kids of all ages will enjoy!

Doesn't this sound fantastic??! In honor of her debut, Stephanie will be sending one lucky win a signed copy of the Villain School ARC!

LET'S MEET STEPHANIE:
Stephanie, sum up your book in a tweet! 140 characters only!
A wayward warlock, a cocoa-loving vampire, and a not-so-Big Bad Wolf set off from Villain School on a Plot to prove they can be villainous.

Stephanie, tell us something cool, creepy, or special about VILLAIN SCHOOL: GOOD CURSES EVIL, that's not in the blurb!
One of the main characters not mentioned in the blurb is Chad, Rune’s cookie-baking roommate. Curly-haired, blue-eyed, freckle-faced Chad doesn’t seem like much of a villain, but looks can be deceiving.

What inspired you to write this book? Had the idea been brewing for a while, or did something inspire you out of the blue?
This book was completely out of the blue. I awoke one morning with a vague idea and jotted down a few words in a notebook: “Evil Villain School. Hero School. Villain father is angry his son is questioning evil ways.” Those few words sparked a whole book! And although I never got a chance to write about a Hero School in this book, it’s something that fans of Villain School might get to read about in the future.

Now, I know you've written more than one book. Is there a method to your madness or do you approach each book differently? In other words, explain your writing style!
This is tough. Lots of writers talk about the writing process and how they have a whole series planned out from beginning to end before they even pick up a pen and put the first word on paper. I’m not like that. My ideas are rarely in order. They flutter and fly and roll and tumble through my mind, and I have to catch them like butterflies or pick them like flowers or sometimes run through them like rainstorms until I’m soaked through with ideas. Then I can wring them out, put them in some kind of sensible order, and that becomes a story. Sometimes I have to rearrange my ideas or even (and this is the hardest part) start completely over. If I’m lucky, in the end, they make some kind of sense and can become a great story, like Villain School! 

NOW FOR SOME FUN!
What's your favorite food?  
Dutch letters! These are sweet flaky pastries in the shape of an S (for Stephanie!) and filled with almond paste, which sounds gross but tastes amazing.
Describe yourself in four words:  
Shy, creative, sarcastic, hungry.
What's your guilty pleasure TV show (be honest!)?  
My family and I ditched cable, so I have to catch re-runs on Netflix. I tend to get addicted to one series at a time. Then I watch every episode straight through for days on end until I’ve seen them all. The last couple addictions were The Adventures of Merlin & The Legend of the Seeker. I’m a sucker for fantasy shows (and stories).
If you weren't a writer, what's the one thing you'd want to be?  
A writer. (Love this answer!)

You can find everything Villain School & everything Stephanie HERE:            
Book website:    www.villainkids.com
Author:             www.stephsanders.com
Publisher:          www.bloomsburykids.com
Agent:               www.nancygallt.com

GIVEAWAY RULES: Easy-peasy rules, people! Simply follow the Project Mayhem blog if you don't already, and leave Ms. Stephanie a comment! That's it! Winner will be announced Tuesday of next week! ;)

On behalf of all Project Mayhem Team Members & Head Mischief Makers, CONGRATS, Stephanie!!!

13 comments:

  1. Congrats, Stephanie! My boys would love this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wonderful interview! Stephanie, your novel sounds fantastic!!! I was totally charmed just from the description. I can't wait to read it!

    I liked the show Legend of the Seeker too. I'm bummed it only lasted two seasons. Richard was YUM! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am excited for this book. What a fun concept...and it seems just the kind of world that could hold many future stories.

    Shelley

    ReplyDelete
  4. Okay, I totally have to try Dutch letters now! I'm so intrigued! Stephanie, congrats again! We are all super excited for YOU!

    xoxo -- Hilary

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks, Hilary, for the opportunity to interview. And thanks, everyone, for the kind comments! We'll have to plan a party with plenty of Dutch letters and a Legend of the Seeker marathon! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congrats Stephanie. Your book sounds awesome because it's so unique. A story about a school for villains sounds awewsome.

    And I love Legend of the Seeker too.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratulations, Stephanie, and wishes for great success. Your Dutch letters sound scrumptious. Save one for me, okay?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Neat idea! Sounds fun to read. Good luck with it!

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is on my TBR list!

    ReplyDelete
  10. New follower, and middle grade students DO like villains! I'd love to win a copy for my library, but I'll try to read it even if I don't win.

    ReplyDelete
  11. A cookie-baking roommate who's deceptively evil? That wins me over. :P

    YAY! We're almost breaking 300 followers -- thank you everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Man, these giveaways are frustrating when you can't win. Congrats, all!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks for posting the giveaway, your book sounds like villainous fun!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for adding to the mayhem!