Synopsis: When teen witch Ivy MacTavish changes a lizard into her date for a Halloween dance, everything turns to chaos. And when no one is powerful enough to transform him back except Ivy, it sparks the rumor: Like father, like daughter. Ivy has heard it all before - that her father, who left when she was seven – was involved with the darkest of magic. Making the rumors worse, someone uses an evil spell book to bring back two of history's most nefarious killers. Ivy's got a simple plan to set things right: find the real dark spell caster, steal the book, and reverse the spell. No problem! But she’ll have to deal with something more dangerous than murderous spirits that want her and her friends dead: the school’s resident bad boy and hotter-than-brimstone demon, Nick Marcelli. Nick’s offering Ivy more than his help with recovering the missing book – he’s offering her a way to ditch her scaly reputation as a lizard-lover. Demons are about as hard to handle as black magic, and as Ivy soon discovers, it’s going to take more than a lot of luck and a little charm if she wants to survive long enough to clear her status as a dark witch, get a warm-blooded boyfriend, and have her former date back to eating meal worms before the week’s end.
Michelle was kind enough to answer a few questions about the book and her journey as a writer:
How did you come up with this unique story?
I got the idea for The Book of Lost Souls because of my love of Harry Potter. I loved the whole series, but especially miss the early books where things are funny and innocent and new. It seems that most books that are on shelves for young adults is dark and dystopian, which is fine - I love them too. But, I just wanted something light and fun. So, I wrote the story in my heart. The Book of Lost Souls is what I call my Disney book in that it’s appropriate for teens, tweens, and even adults who want something lighter to read.
Can you tell us more about your writing and your experiences since you got started?
I’ve been writing for years, and I did try the traditional publishing route. In fact, The Book of Lost Souls was with a great agent at a major New York agency for a while (over a year). But, an established client decided to write something similar, so they couldn’t represent The Book of Lost Souls. They said wonderful things about it, so I decided to go the indie route after reading about Karen McQuestion, J.A. Konrath, and Amanda Hocking. There wasn’t any point in letting the manuscript languish away on my computer.
Since then, I decided to stop querying and continue with the indie route. I don’t have to wait months to hear back from agents, wait for months to a year to hear from a publisher, and then wait for a publication date. Readers don’t have to wait for my next book. Well, aside from me writing it, having it edited, get cover art, and uploading it. The downside is that it is harder to get the word out about my books. That’s changing in the traditional world too, though. A published friend has to do all her own promotional work.
It's wonderful to know that there are a lot of options, for both writers and readers! Thank you, Michelle, for sharing your wisdom and experiences. Here's some more info about Michelle and where you can find this great book:
Blog: http://michellemuto.wordpress.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/MichelleMuto
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michelle-Muto-Author-Page/154882381238003
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4712387.Michelle_Muto
Books available on:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Michelle-Muto/e/B004RWAZCK/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/michelle-muto
iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/michelle-muto/id428434082?mt=11
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=Michelle+Muto
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Michelle has kindly offered a free ebook copy of THE BOOK OF LOST SOULS to a lucky random commenter! (Wish I could participate!) I'll choose the winner
4 comments:
Sounds like a fun read - and it is good to hear from an author a bit about their experience in publishing, and going the indie route. Thanks for the post!
That's really generous of her! And it sounds like an interesting book, too, so count me in!
If you need it, my email address is ria(at)bibliotropic(dot)com
This sounds like such a fun book. I'd love to read it and add it to my collection of stories to give to my future child, who will most certainly be a fantasy/scifi fan and a great reader. ^_^
I've felt the same way about Harry Potter for a long time. What a great route to take! Sounds like a fun book.
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