Friday, July 13, 2012

Author Interview: Pam Mingle


I have an amazing author interview to share with you all today! Pam Mingle, author of Kissing Shakespeare, is here today to share a little bit about her new book! So give a warm welcome to Pam! 

How would you describe Kissing Shakespeare in three words?
Romance. Intrigue. Drama.

Why Shakespeare? Are you a fan? 
The possibility that Shakespeare had been a “schoolmaster” when he was a young man, before he went to London, fascinated me. I hadn’t read the plays since grad school. When I began re-reading them, I realized how powerful they are, how timeless. So, yes, I guess you could say I’m a fan!

Where'd you get the idea of having a young actress go back in time to Shakespeare's life? 
Originally, I intended Kissing Shakespeare to be a straight historical. Then I tried a dual point-of-view, with a POV character from the present (Miranda) and one from the past (Jennet). I couldn’t make that work, but I still wanted a blend of contemporary and historical. That’s why I ultimately decided on a young girl from the present traveling back to Shakespeare’s time.

How do you feel about publishing your first YA novel? 
 Thrilled. Excited. Terrified. All of the above!

I read on your Goodreads profile that you love traveling to England and that is where you found the setting for Kissing Shakespeare. Can you tell us a little more about that? 
 My husband did the end-to-end walk in England—from Land’s End in Cornwall to the northern tip of Scotland. I did some of it with him. On one of those trips, we were near Hoghton Tower and stopped in to take the tour. At that time, I’d already decided on it as the setting because, if Shakespeare had been a schoolmaster, it was one of the more likely places he would have ended up.

Do you travel a lot? If so, where's your favorite place to go? 
We travel more than some people, a lot less than others. It’s mostly been to England or Scotland the past few years because of the walk. I love the isle of Mull, in the inner Hebrides off the coast of Scotland. It’s a magical place. We’ve been there several times, even though it’s not that easy to get to. Something keeps drawing us back. The wild beauty of it, I guess.

What do you do when you're not writing?
Read. Walk. Go to movies. Hang out with friends and family. I love baseball, so in the summer you might find me at Coors Field!

What's your favorite book? 
Pride and Prejudice, among the classics. I love Austen! Contemporary YA: Graceling, Daughter of Smoke and Bone; contemporary adult: I’m a fan of Anne Patchett, Geraldine Brooks, and Chris Bohjalian.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three things would you want with you?
A copy of Pride and Prejudice, a knife, a deck of cards, so I can entertain myself with solitaire.

What's next? 
I just finished a new book. I’d love to write more of Miranda and Stephen’s story, but I need to wait and see what the response is to Kissing Shakespeare.

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Thanks so much for being here Pam! I'm so excited to get into Kissing Shakespeare because it sounds so good! Make sure you all check it out when it comes out in August! Here's some more about the book: 

Kissing Shakespeare
By Pam Mingle
Release Date: August 14, 2012
Summary: Miranda has Shakespeare in her blood: she hopes one day to become a Shakespearean actor like her famous parents. At least, she does until her disastrous performance in her school's staging of The Taming of the Shrew. Humiliated, Miranda skips the opening-night party. All she wants to do is hide. 

Fellow cast member, Stephen Langford, has other plans for Miranda. When he steps out of the backstage shadows and asks if she'd like to meet Shakespeare, Miranda thinks he's a total nutcase. But before she can object, Stephen whisks her back to 16th century England—the world Stephen's really from. He wants Miranda to use her acting talents and modern-day charms on the young Will Shakespeare. Without her help, Stephen claims, the world will lose its greatest playwright. 

Miranda isn't convinced she's the girl for the job. Why would Shakespeare care about her? And just who is this infuriating time traveler, Stephen Langford? Reluctantly, she agrees to help, knowing that it's her only chance of getting back to the present and her "real" life. What Miranda doesn't bargain for is finding true love . . . with no acting required.




For more information on Pam and her new novel Kissing Shakespeare, check out these sites: 



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