Blog Tour: Ondine - Ebony McKenna - Author Interview & Giveaway

Hello everyone, welcome to day two of the Ondine blog tour! The tour stops are all listed at The Teen Book Scene. The tour is stopping over at Brent's blog, The Naughty Book Kitties, next, so don't hesitate to check out his posts. :) 

I had a lot of fun cooking up questions for Ebony, and I absolutely loved her responses. I can't stress enough how awesome Ondine is, and I hope you all enjoy the interview! Giveaway "rules" and information will be placed below the interview. Thank you, Ebony, for being here today! :)

LFW: What is your favourite line from Ondine?

EM: Oh! Don't make me choose! *grins* My favourite scene is where Ondine and Hamish kiss properly for the first time. I'd had the idea early on and writing the book was a case of building properly towards that scene and giving the reader a satisfying payoff (before things go horrible again).

But I think my favourite line is a footnote, early on in the book. The reason it's my favourite is not because it's the funniest, but because it was a turning point for me. I never intended to write a novel with footnotes, but when I put this line in, just as a joke for me, it set something off in my brain. It made me think I was on to something.

Hamish says: ‘I’m nae rodent, ye bampot', Which lead to me putting in footnote 5:

"Silly person. Daftie. Gets low grades at school and later in life rarely

earns more than minimum wage."

LFW: If you had to choose between breaking a spell on Hamish the ferret, or keeping him as a pet ferret, what would you do, and why?

EM: That's a no-brainer! Hamish as a man in a heartbeat! I mean, he is very usefull as a ferret, but he's altogether more fabulous when he's human. Why? Because I live vicariously through Ondine and she needs him. It wouldn't be fair to break her heart, would it? Plus, he charms all the patrons in the restaurant and earns loads of tips!

LFW: What would the front page headline of a newspaper say about you?

EM: Oh dear! *laughs uncontrollably* Only bad news ends up on the front, doesn't it?

OK, entering fantasy land, it would be awesome to have a front page headline saying:

McKenna wins readers' choice award, spends it on chocolate.

LFW: Was there any specific music that helped you while you were writing? If so, do you have a playlist?

EM: I've been writing for about 13 years (and before that I was a journalist) and I usually had the news radio on or played music while I wrote. I adore Crowded House and Paul Kelly. They were perfect when I wrote science fiction. Love songs are always fabulous when I'm writing romances.

When it came to writing Ondine, I didn't have any music playing. Perhaps because I didn't want any distractions? The characters were so strong in my mind, sometimes I had to race to keep up with them.

There are some songs that make me think of Ondine and Hamish, though. I am a massive fan of the Eurovision Song Contest and the winner last year was a lad with a song called "Fairytale". It is a gorgeous song and made me think it could be Ondine and Hamish's theme song.

I loved this year's winner too - another song about love from Germany. 

Plus, the Kelly Clarkson song where she's crying her heart out and asking 'is it over yet'. That song is perfect for when things get really, really bad in book three. (I'm writing that at the moment. Poor Ondine!)

The song from Cyprus this year, 'Things will be better in spring' also had me thinking about Ondine and Hamish. :-) The singer is a bit cute as well!

LFW: If you had a spell put on you, which animal would you want to be turned into, and why?

EM: These questions are awesome! My first answer would be a domestic cat, because they're lazy and get whatever they want. But they don't live long enough. So I should be an elephant because they live for decades - but it would be hard to type with those big feet! And elephants are pregnant for two years! (Not that I'm having any more babies. But, urgh, two years!)

Hmmm, I'd need to be an animal with at least fingers (if not opposable thumbs - despite being a girl, I'm very good at getting lids off jars!) I could be a cockatoo and type with my beak! They live for decades, they can talk, and they're entertaining! Yes, I'd be a cockatoo.

If someone put a spell on me, the choice wouldn't be mine, though, would it? They'd probably turn me into a ferret to give me a taste of my own medicine.


I absolutely love your answers, Ebony! Thank you for taking the time to answer the questions, and for making this interview process so much fun! I hope things don't get too bad for Ondine and Hamish later on. (I hope things work out eventually!) I think I'm in love with all of the songs too, and agree that "Fairytale" should be their theme song! You have no idea how many times I play these songs, over, and over, and over again... but you get the point. ;) For those of you who haven't read Ondine yet, you need to! Otherwise, you are missing out! 

Giveaway  "Rules"

Ebony has graciously provided a copy of Ondine: The Summer of Shambles for me to give away. Thank you Ebony!

1. Contest is open to residents of the US and Canada only. (Sorry for those who are international!) :(

2. Contest will end September 3, 2010. Contest has ENDED. Thank you to those who participated!

3. Comment on this post to enter. Please leave an email address where I can contact you if you win. 

4. There are no extra entries. Your comment is your entry. Thank you! :)