Ask the Author: Amy Ephron
Answered Questions (7)
Amy Ephron
The Paris of Jean Rhys "Good Morning Midnight". Which isn't really fictional but it's the world she set the "fictional" novel in. Have coffee and croissant at Cafe de Flores. Take it from there. And stay up late and take notes. Make friends with artists. Try not have my heart broken more than six times. Try not to have my heart broken in ways that could never be mended.
Amy Ephron
Hoping to re-read Magic Mountain; South Wind, & some of the Oz books.
Amy Ephron
Thanks Candis! So fun to be in your librar!y book group! Was hoping to get to Maine this summer but I didn't happen -- have a new book coming out October 15th (The Other Side of the Wall) from Philomel/Penguinkids...) And hope you'll let me tag you if I magically get anywhere near your neighborhood. #believeinmagic and #libraries !!
Amy Ephron
It's a funny thing about writing a book -- sometimes in the best cases, usually -- the book takes on a life of its own. And it engages you in a way that's difficult to disengage from. The world they're set in, the time period, the characters are always in your head, even when you're not physically writing. And the lens through which you see the world is skewed sometimes to how your character might react to it. And the book itself, the work itself, in the best cases becomes inspirational. (And sometimes you just have to sit down, sans inspiration, and do the work and then push it so that it's at least an attempt at a personal best.) But if you ever get really stuck -- and this has only happened to me once or twice -- you can actually skip ahead, if you know what's coming and write that chapter and then go back, so you don't waste any time. Note to self: On deadline.
Amy Ephron
The hotel room was inviting, the couches soft, elaborately upholstered in red and green floral brocade that looked as if it was from another time. She set her suitcase down on the floor, closed the door behind her and watched as the key turned itself closing her in.
Amy Ephron
When I was little, I thought of books as magical places to get lost in. I thought the characters were real, the places they lived were real. I think Misselthwaite (sp?) exists and that "The Secret Garden" might well be a work of non fiction. I even think (I admit it) that Mary Poppins is real and that Oz exists somewhere if only I could get there...
I wanted to write a modern day mashup of an old fashioned children's novel like the ones I loved when I was kid (and still reread) that somehow married the contemporary world to magic which is why I wrote "The Castle in the Mist." Almost magical realism, because you can't tell at times if the magic is real or if it's imagined. And it relies on the belief that wishes can come true. And the conviction that it's essential to believe in yourself. (Both of which I think are also an excellent motto for life.) #believeinmagic and the fact that sometimes wishes do come true.
I wanted to write a modern day mashup of an old fashioned children's novel like the ones I loved when I was kid (and still reread) that somehow married the contemporary world to magic which is why I wrote "The Castle in the Mist." Almost magical realism, because you can't tell at times if the magic is real or if it's imagined. And it relies on the belief that wishes can come true. And the conviction that it's essential to believe in yourself. (Both of which I think are also an excellent motto for life.) #believeinmagic and the fact that sometimes wishes do come true.
Amy Ephron
This is an old post. So happy that The Other Side of the Wall, the third Book in The Other Side series has also just published in paperback as well as hardcover from Philomel Books/Penguin Kids! #believeinmagic and Tess and Max...and magical adventures in England...,
Working on a secret book that is just finished.... Stay tuned! Very fun.
is launching October 15th! It's Christmastime and Tess & Max go to visit Aunt Evie in London. After a freak snowstorm and a visit to Hyde Park, Tess is charmed by a boy having tea alone in the dining room of their boutique hotel, The Sanborn House. But how come no one else can see him....?
That was written a year ago.
the secret's out. "Carnival Magic" the companion book, companion not quite a sequel, book to "The Castle in the Mist" will be published May 1st by Philomel Books/Penguin Kids.
Can't imagine what trouble Max and Tess got into this time............ #touch the sky
That's a secret. But the moment I can tell, I will. Promise. #believeinmagic
Working on a secret book that is just finished.... Stay tuned! Very fun.
is launching October 15th! It's Christmastime and Tess & Max go to visit Aunt Evie in London. After a freak snowstorm and a visit to Hyde Park, Tess is charmed by a boy having tea alone in the dining room of their boutique hotel, The Sanborn House. But how come no one else can see him....?
That was written a year ago.
the secret's out. "Carnival Magic" the companion book, companion not quite a sequel, book to "The Castle in the Mist" will be published May 1st by Philomel Books/Penguin Kids.
Can't imagine what trouble Max and Tess got into this time............ #touch the sky
That's a secret. But the moment I can tell, I will. Promise. #believeinmagic
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