Thursday, March 31, 2016

THE CLASSY CROOKS CLUB by Alison Cherry / Blog Tour: Author Interview


Hello and welcome to the next stop in THE CLASSY CROOKS CLUB blog tour. Today I'm so thrilled to have author Alison Cherry on the blog to talk about her new release! First, here's a little bit about this fantastic middle grade read! 

ABOUT THE BOOK 
By: Alison Cherry
Published by: Aladdin
Released on: March 29th, 2015
Purchase from: Amazon | B&N
Add it to Goodreads

Twelve-year-old AJ dreads spending an entire month living with her strict Grandma Jo. Not only does her grandmother dictate how she walks, what she eats, and which rooms she can enter, she fills all AJ's free time with boring sewing lessons. Grandma Jo wants nothing more than to transform her adventurous, fun-loving granddaughter into a prim and proper lady.

But AJ’s dull summer takes a sharp turn when she discovers that her grandmother's "bridge group" is actually a heist club. When Grandma Jo offers to let AJ learn lock-picking instead of embroidery in exchange for help with a few capers, AJ is happy to join her grandmother's madcap band of thieves, who claim to steal only for ethical reasons. But even the most respectable ladies can hide truly surprising secrets, and AJ finds she must decide for herself what it means to be one of the good guys.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW



* How would you describe your book in 5 words or less?

HOLY CRAP! GRANDMA'S A THIEF!

* Which character did you have the most fun getting to know? Who surprised you the most? 

My favorite character is Grandma Jo's friend Cookie, who dresses entirely in red, has been married five times, uses her oven as a shoe rack, and describes her profession as "muse." Writing her dialogue was the most fun part of the whole process, and it came very easily to me! (Maybe that's what I'll be like when I'm old? Let's hope.) AJ's archenemy Brianna was the character who surprised me the most; she started out as a pretty stereotypical mean girl, but she turned out to have significantly more depth than I expected.

* What's something you admire about your main character, AJ? 

AJ probably wouldn't agree with me about this, but I think she's incredibly brave. It takes a lot of courage to stand up for what you think is right, even when it means you might lose the respect of the people around you. (For that matter, it takes a lot of courage to break into someone's house and steal a taxidermy bear.) AJ's also able to stay cool under pressure in ways I'm not sure I ever could.

* I love your book's cover! What were your first thoughts when you saw it?

I am completely in love with it, too! It hasn't changed at all from the initial sketches my publisher showed me; my reaction was basically "OMGGGGG YES YES YES, THAT PLEASE." Angela Li, the illustrator, designed the cover of my next middle grade book as well, and it's equally fabulous!

* Will fans get to read more stories about AJ? 

I don't think so; I like to wrap my stories up and move on to something else. But you never know—maybe she'll pop back up somewhere!

* What advice would you give to young aspiring authors?

In the words of Maureen Johnson, don't be afraid to suck! Your first draft will probably be terrible, and that's totally fine. Every book you've ever read and loved started out as a terrible first draft. Push on through to the end; you can worry about making it great later! That's what revisions are for, and you can't fix words that don't exist.
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Thank you Alison for stopping by Mundie Kids today! Be sure to stop back by later today to read my review for THE CLASSY CROOKS CLUB!

I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~ Anna Quindlen

Good children's literature appeals not only to
the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child.
~ Anonymous ~