Hola everyone!

Today I have the one and only Kirsten Fichter (otherwise known to me from the blogging world as Kiri Liz), with me. I had a lot of fun doing the interview and I'm super excited for a debut release of The Rose and the Balloon. 

See the pretty cover?

Now let's get the interview going...

I LOVE your stories and stalking your Pinterest boards! How did you get the inspiration for The Rose and Balloon? 

Aw, thank you so much! I'm very particular about my Pinterest boards AND my stories, so it's a blessing to know that more people than just me enjoy them! 

Where did the inspiration come from? Truthfully, the Rooglewood Fairy Tale contest. A few years ago, they announced the Beauty and the Beast retelling contest, and I thought, "Why not?" But I didn't want my retelling to taste cliche. So, I attempted to plot it as backwards as possible. For example, in the original fairy tale, Beauty's dad steals a rose and that leads to her meeting the Beast. In my tale, Beauty's dad owns the roses, and the Beast's mom destroys them accidentally. That's where it started, and then I kept going, just trying to keep things as backwards as possible, yet still clearly Beauty and the Beast.

Were there any movie soundtracks that you enjoyed listening to while writing? 

Gracious. I probably listened to so many soundtracks while writing this book. I usually do. Soundtracks are my one weakness. *sheepish grin*Eragon by Patrick Doyle was probably one of my go-tos. A gorgeous soundtrack, but I really don't care for the movie. *rant deferred* The Three Musketeers by Paul Haslinger was another favorite for this story, as it helped get in a bit of the steampunk flair. And also Mirror Mirror by Alan Menken. I love Menken's style for fairy tales. I usually have some of his albums as a major part of most of my playlists. I would have listened to Beauty and the Beast for obvious reasons, but I can't write and listen to singing at the same time. I get too distracted singing along.

Who is your favorite character in your book and why? 

Probably the young Prince Nicolas. A prankster, a troublemaker, a spitfire... he's just loads of fun. I would write another book in a heartbeat just to write more about him. He has the best adventures. Although, don't tell his twin sister I said that. Nicoline would have my head. 

Was anything in your book (a character, scene, line, etc), inspired by something in real life? 

My dad used to be a teacher in special education, so I've grown up a little around people with special needs. And I'd always wanted to write a story that got to focus a little on someone with special needs. Queen Maeva is mentally handicapped, and so I guess you could say that she was inspired by some of real life. But the biggest point for me there was to still show her as a real person, because she is. Even though she has the mind of a child, she still has a quite amazing grasp of life and love around her. 

What do you hope readers will take away from The Rose and Balloon? 

This tale wasn't initially meant to be anything deep. I wrote it mainly for fun, and now I want to share that fun with my family and friends. It's a Beauty and the Beast story that is as backwards as possible and makes a few jabs at the beloved Disney film. However, there are some deeper themes that come forth, mainly those of sacrifice, selfishness, and true love. I hope that some of those will impress my readers and be, at least, a little thought-provoking.  

And lastly, do you plan on publishing more books sometime soon?! 

Nothing incredibly soon! I wish I could, but I'm beginning my junior year at college this fall, so I don't have as much time for writing/editing/publishing as I'd like to! I do hope to be publishing another book in the next 2 or 3 years as I know a lot of people are eager for me to get my lengthy Cinderella retelling completed. In addition, I'm working on a sequel to The Rose and the Balloon, a Sleeping Beauty story, that I am praying to have published within the next couple of years. 

Thanks for doing this Miss Kirsten! ♥

 

If y'all want to check out my cover reveal post as well as find out more info on The Rose and the Balloon you need to head on over to this corner of my blog here. 

Have a lovely week readers!