{Interview/Giveaway} Christopher Healy, Author of The League of Princes Series

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where you can access the schedule!
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Check back TOMORROW at The Book Rat 
and FRIDAY at A Backwards Story
for posts revealing some of the cover art
from THE HERO'S GUIDE TO STORMING THE CASTLE!
...and there will be a SECOND giveaway!
~*~
Misty and I will both be reviewing ...STORMING THE CASTLE closer to release,
but we both reviewed THE HERO'S GUIDE TO SAVING YOUR KINGDOM
during last year's Fairy Tale Fortnight!
*My Review   *Misty's Review  *Ashley's Review
~*~
Links from last year's FTF:
*Story Excerpt/Illustration from ...SAVING YOUR KINGDOM:
*Mine  *Misty  *Ashley
*My interview with series illustrator Todd Harris
*Misty's Interview with author Christopher Healy
*Ashley's guest post with author Christopher Healy
~*~
THE HERO'S GUIDE TO SAVING YOUR KINGDOM
has been on sale as an ebook for $1.99 for a while now.
I don't know how much longer this deal will last!

~*~

Christopher Healy has spent nearly a decade immersed in children's pop culture as a freelance reviewer of books, movies, music, toys, and video games. His work has appeared in multiple magazines and websites, and he continues to post reviews to his own blog, KidPop and Beyond. 

His first novel, THE HERO'S GUIDE TO SAVING YOUR KINGDOM  is a comedic adventure that follows the exploits of four different Prince Charmings in the aftermath of their not-quite-accurate fairy-tale fame.  His second novel, THE HERO'S GUIDE TO STORMING THE CASTLE, launches on April 30th.

Chris lives in New Jersey with his wife and two children. And he can assure you that everything that appears in his book has been studied and approved by his nine-year-old daughter.

Visit Christopher on his blog and Twitter!

An interview with 
Christopher Healy

How many books do you think will be in The League of Princes series?

I just finished the first draft of what will be the third book, which completes the trilogy. With the end of this story arc, there are no immediate plans for a fourth book, but there are a lot of tales left to be told in this world and I certainly wouldn’t mind returning to it sometime in the future.

I love the concept of the series being from the perspective of a band of princes who we all know as "Prince Charming" despite the fact that they are all unique individuals. How did you come up with this foundation for your series?

Every fairy tale has its own ridiculous, nonsensical aspect, but one recurring issue was the facelessness of Prince Charming. Reading stories to my kids—especially my daughter—I’d think to myself, “What kind of message does it send that the supposed hero and love interest of this tale is defined solely by his wealth and stature?” If these princes were going to be heroes, I wanted them to have to work to earn that title.

As much as we may love any particular tale, each has its own "problematic" aspects (for me, I can't get over the fact that Prince Charming has to find Cinderella, the glorious love of his life, by matching up her feet. I mean, really?). Which problematic aspect of a tale really gets under your skin?

It’s gotta be that the prince never rescues Rapunzel. It wouldn’t have been that hard. You get a ladder, you get a rope—anything that could help the poor girl get down. And yet, this guy never does it. In some versions of the story, the prince visits Rapunzel multiple times in the tower and still never brings something to help her. He’s either an idiot or a real jerk. That’s why I felt I had to put a little bit of both into Gustav—though I worked to make him lovable as well.

Someone gives you a key ring and says you can open any door you want, save one. Then they leave you alone with all those keys and doors. What do you do?

I’m naturally curious, so I definitely open every door that I’m allowed to. But I’m also a goody two-shoes, so I stay away from the one forbidden door.

What made you fall in love with fairy tales--and decide to write one?

It was probably the wonder of fairy tales that made me fall in love with them, the way literally anything could happen. Those stories worked on their own logic—and it wasn’t always a logic that gelled with ours. And that’s a big part of what made me want to write one—the chance to create a world where I made all the rules. Some people have joked that, in Hero’s Guide, no kingdom is more than a day or two’s journey from any other. I did that intentionally, because: a) it’s not necessarily entertaining to read about people traveling for weeks on end, and b) I like the idea that these kingdoms hold vast realms within their tiny borders. It’s a kind of magic unto itself. And to me, it’s very fairy tale.

QUICKFIRE FUN STUFF:

This or That?

Tower or Dungeon?

Tower. Like Lila, I’m pretty good with heights, not so much with depths.

Seven League Boots or Glass Slippers? 

The least tough decision ever. Think how much I’d save on airfare with Seven League Boots.

Prince or pauper?

Oh, I’d be a prince. I wouldn’t let the wealth go to my head.

Hans Christian Andersen or the Brothers Grimm

Brothers Grimm. They were less preachy.

Would You Rather...

Ride in a pumpkin carriage (sticky) or climb a hair-rope (tiring) to get where you're going?

I’d climb the hair. There are few things I hate more than being sticky.

Face 3 Billy Goats Gruff or 3 Bears from Goldilocks?

If you think about it, those goats do a lot more damage than the bears ever do. So I choose bears.

Drink an Alice-ish "Drink Me" potion or eat part of a witch's gingerbread house?

Assuming the witch is not home, the gingerbread house. I love gingerbread.

Be cursed with blindness (Rapunzel) or knife-like pain when you walk (Little Mermaid)?

Since I already have bad knees, I guess I’ll say the second one. But, yikes… talk about no good choices.

Thank you so much, Chris!
The League of Princes is a great, entertaining series, and so was your interview!
I'll be sad when the series concludes,
....but hopeful that Dreamworks goes beyond its option 
and makes a movie for REALZ! 

  ~*~

O F F I C I A L   I N F O:

(of the series)

Title:  THE HERO'S GUIDE TO SAVING YOUR KINGDOM
Author: Christopher Healy

Release Date: Out May 1, 2012

Publisher: Walden Pond Press / HarperCollins

SUMMARY:

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You've never heard of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively, and yet, thanks to those lousy bards who wrote the tales, you likely know them only as Prince Charming. But all of this is about to change. Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their castles, Liam, Frederic, Duncan, and Gustav stumble upon an evil plot that could endanger each of their kingdoms. Now it's up to them to triumph over their various shortcomings, take on trolls, bandits, dragons, witches, and other assorted terrors, and become the heroes no one ever thought they could be. 

Debut author Christopher Healy takes us on a journey with four imperfect princes and their four improbable princesses, all of whom are trying to become perfect heroes--a fast-paced, funny, and fresh introduction to a world where everything, even our classic fairy tales, is not at all what it seems.

Title:  THE HERO'S GUIDE TO STORMING THE CASTLE
Author: Christopher Healy

Release Date: Out April 30, 2013

Publisher: Walden Pond Press / HarperCollins

SUMMARY:

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You remember them, don't you? They're the Princes Charming who finally got some credit after they stepped out of the shadows of their princesses - Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, and Briar Rose - to defeat an evil witch bent on destroying all their kingdoms. 

But alas, such fame and recognition only last so long. And when the princes discover that an object of great power might fall into any number of wrong hands, they are going to have to once again band together to stop it from happening - even if no one will ever know it was they who did it.

Christopher Healy, author of the acclaimed THE HERO'S GUIDE TO SAVING YOUR KINGDOM, takes us back to the hilariously fractured fairy-tale world he created for another tale of medieval mischief. Magical gemstones, bladejaw eels, a mysterious Gray Phantom, and two maniacal warlords bent on world domination - it's all in a day's work for the League of Princes.

***GIVEAWAY***

Walden Pond Press and Christopher Healy are giving away

one hardcover copy of

THE HERO'S GUIDE TO STORMING THE CASTLE

and an autographed bookplate!

Stop at THE BOOK RAT tomorrow and back here on FRIDAY for more giveaways with Walden Pond Press and Christopher Healy!

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