Interview with Maggi Anderson
MA: WAVING AT THE MOON by Maggi Anderson
Young Adult Fantasy Novel, PG -13
Available from Eternal Press in print and e-book from 7th September.
BUY LINK: http://www.eternalpress.biz/book.php?isbn=9781615721955
Also Amazon Kindle
Blurb: In a post-apocalyptic world, Evie French has just turned seventeen. She and her cousin, Marcus Peters, sixteen, struggle to survive after being left alone in their parent’s bed and breakfast hotel in outback Australia. An endless drought has killed Evie’s father’s avocado trees and all the surrounding habitation. Nothing grows in the fetid soil. Hope comes in the form of a nineteen year old boy, Joel Pitt. He arrives on his motorbike with his dog, Rasputin, bringing supplies. He climbs the tallest tree on the crest of the hill, and locates an area of green down along the coast, hundreds of miles away. The three pile onto the bike, with Marcus and Rasputin in the sidecar, and embark on a trip that will take them over mountainous terrain with a limited supply of food and water. What might they find if they reach the coast? Will other people have survived the devastation? And who bombed their country? No one seems to know.
CTR: What inspired you to write this particular story?
MA: It’s hard to say, but I think it was news around the world at the time. Several post-apocalyptic novels appeared at about the same time I wrote this one. Australia was considering going down the nuclear power track at the time. People feel vulnerable about that here. But there’s much more to Waving at the Moon than that, which I can’t tell you about here!
CTR: What do you find “hot” or especially appealing about blue collar lead characters?
MA: My heroine, Evie French likes it that Joel Pitt can fix anything. A man who is good with his hands is very attractive, for many reasons, J. They are manly, although more cerebral types have their own kind of attraction. Maybe it goes back to the cavemen killing the beast and dragging it home for their women to cook. We’ve lost a bit of that feeling along the way haven’t we?
CTR: Where do you find the main inspiration for most of your work?
MA: Reading mostly. Movies too, particularly old black and whites, they have such great plots. The people I meet, although I don’t draw characters directly from them. I’m no different to any writer in so much as I like to study human nature.
CTR: Have you ‘always’ wanted to be a writer and worked toward that goal or did the urge hit later in life?
MA: I began to write at about eight, which seems to be the age many writers begin. I got distracted for a while when I married and poured my creative energy into my children. I returned to university and studied for two degrees, and then began to write with a view to be a published author. It took a few years, I had much to learn.
CTR: What else would you like to tell perspective readers about this book or others you have available?
MA: Waving at the Moon is a great adventure story, and a bit of mystery as well. I love the characters; they seemed to come fully formed in this story from the very beginning. I have another young adult coming later this year, Dog Head Code with Wild Child Publishing. My other books are contemporary romantic suspense and historical romance. I have a Georgian romance coming out later this year.
CTR: Where can we find more about you and your books?
MA: My website lists all my books and you can join my newsletter to receive news of new releases: http://www.maggiandersenauthor.com/
You can keep up to date with my writing by visiting my blog. It has links to a lot of great research sites. http://www.maggiandersen.blogspot.com/
CTR: Thanks Maggi for this glimpse into your world and books. I actually read quite a few YA books myself and often find them very exciting and inspiring. I also have seem teenage grand daughters who are avid readers so I’ll check this out for them. Now lets have a couple of short excerpts from Waving at the Moon. By the way, I love that title!
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